On Halloween...

As much as I love candy, I still don't like Halloween.  And this year's Halloween was especially crazy. I am glad that it's over!
This week of school started out like a normal week until about 9:30am on Monday. That's when I got the email that said we will have early outs on Monday and Thursday due to water issues in Mission. Oh boy... bus time at the end of a school day is always crazy and a little stressful, but when you push it back to 1pm instead of 3:30pm it's ridiculous.  The kids all know that they get to go home early, and they get very, very antsy.  Anyway, that was an adventure... also on Monday 2 of my students missed the bus because their bus left 5 minutes early.  Fortunately their bus came back for them. Then on Tuesday we had an unexpected early out because of continued water issues that day...
Then on Wednesday we had our Halloween carnival which got our students all riled up :) And Thursday was Halloween, so our class went trick or treating in the morning around the town to different businesses that wanted us to come. We got back and made some Halloween snacks, ate lunch, then went home.  It was such an out-of-routine week that 2 of our more difficult students, were more difficult than usual.  Needless to say, I was exhausted, even though I got to come home early because of the early outs.
The best part of this week, though, was when our inservice on Friday got cancelled, also due to the water issues in Mission. It was even better than a snow day! After this crazy week, I'm not sure I'll be able to go back to a normal school week.

As I've struggled through the crazy days and students this week, God has been teaching me a lot.  I've realized that I often respond badly to stressful or irritating circumstances. I am a very impatient person.  This week I got pretty short with several students for not following directions. What I am starting to realize is that most of my impatience and sometimes anger at difficult circumstances is rooted in pride. I want things my way, and I want them that way now.  As I walked down the gravel road today, I knew that I had to put that pride aside and take up my cross and surrender. I can't always change my circumstances, but I can change how I respond to them.  As much as I want to be in control of my students behavior, I'm not, and I don't think I ever will be. That is up to them. All I can do is my best to follow God and leave it up to Him.  It is so hard for me to give up control, even if it is just an illusion.

Those are my thoughts...
Peace