Teacher, Teacher

I should be doing homework.  I should be walking.  Instead, I entered the word "teacher" in the Pinterest search box and was a little weirded out by what I saw.

First thing that caught my eye was this outfit.  I like it.  But then I noticed someone had it pinned to her "Halloween Costume Ideas" board.  Okay, really, no one would look at this ensemble and proclaim, "I know, you're a supposed to be a teacher! Great costume!"  Not to mention that it's really difficult for me to consider wearing such a fetching outfit to work when I think of the kneeling, crouching, climbing, recess monitoring, copier unjamming, and rug sitting that fills my day...

The next thing that grabbed me (and not in a good way), was this necklace.  Um, no.  Enough said.

There was a link to a story about a teacher stabbing a teacher, but for the sake of my profession, I'll leave you to search that one out.

There are lots and lots and lots of crafty ideas for people to make gifts for their kids' teachers, and seriously, though the thought always does count, my room cannot hold any more knick-knacks.  Even cute ones like this:

A couple of years ago, on my old blog, I wrote a post about teacher gifts, and I'm going to link it here just in case someone comes a wandering.  It was pretty well received, and I stand by it still.   Oh, and then I wrote another one...  I think I have those in reverse posting order, but you get the idea.

Know this:  I remember every student I have taught and something specific about each one.  It's not the gifts they've given me, it's their gifts that they've shared and the growing they do in the school year they're with me that is always memorable.  Each and every child holds a place.

Now a gift I got this year on the first day of school did make me giggle, in a good way.  Instead of an apple for the teacher,

a pineapple.

It's going to be a good year!

A disclaimer, I have found some wonderful and useful classroom ideas via Pinterest.  I just don't think I ever did such a broad/vague search before tonight.

A Shoebox

Late last summer, right at back-to-school time,  I was stunned to learn of the sudden death of my blog friend's son.  Jack Donaldson went out to play one afternoon when there was a break in days and days of rain, slipped into what was usually a tiny creek but now was a swiftly flowing body of water and died.

I was debilitated by grief for my friend whom I only know via the internet.  I had read all sorts of stories about Jack and his sister Margaret on their mom's blog, and I had only just viewed the back-to-school photos she posted.

Beyond prayer, I felt like I had no comfort to offer her.  I needed to do something, but what?

In time, Anna asked for Jack to be remembered in gifts to Samaritan's Purse and especially to Jack's favorite charity, Operation Christmas Child.  My class had put together a few boxes the previous year, and then last year with Jack in our hearts we packed up more. I did my own box, a box for an older boy.  Anna guided me, when I asked, with ideas of things Jack would have liked himself or things he would have put in a box for a boy his age.  In the box I included a note about Jack along with a picture of him.

Also late last summer, at the same time, my friend Jenn began in earnest her fundraising to adopt a child from Haiti.  To say she has a heart for Haiti is an understatement.  She very much would like to be a mom, and I helped her a bit in some of her efforts.

Stay with me now, please stay with me.

Last night, my friend Dori sent me a link to a Samaritan's Purse website,  Opened this morning, it was a collection of pictures of children in Haiti receiving Operation Christmas Child boxes.  She told me to scroll down to the photo of a child holding a Snoopy wrapped box.  You see, at my Christmas in July party, I had covered our craft table with some blue Snoopy paper, and she thought she recognized it...

 The photo from Samaritan's Purse

She was correct.  It was the same paper from the party, leftover from the paper I used to wrap the box I thought of as from Jack to "my" boy.  It was the same size box (my son's sized shoes).  Could it be? 

I wept, I laughed, I shouted to call Brad into the office, I contacted Anna, I sent Jenn the link, I praised God!  I went to school and smiled all day at the thought of it all.

Jack + OCC + Haiti = God at work.  There is no other explanation.  

There are links throughout this post, but this one is from Anna's blog--it's her eulogy for Jack, her beloved son who firmly believed in Luke 1:37.

With God, all things are possible.

Blogger's note:  

     This post was recently linked to a post on Anna's blog promoting OCC.  I was touched by that, and I welcome all visitors.  However, one commenter pointed out that this box could not be Jack's box because of the age marked on the label.  I enlarged the photo to determine she was most likely correct.  Then I wrestled with what to do about this post.

     I have decided to keep it up.  I've decided that when I pack boxes this time around, I will think of Jack AND the boy/young man in this photo.  Both their smiles continue to warm my heart and are great examples of God's love.  We must continue to reach out to others, and I reach offering a shoebox in memory of Jack.

Ellen

October 25, 2012

Words for Wednesday