count your blessings

Today in class we were counting our blessings. Well, really each child got an opportunity to tell what they were thankful for.... which in turn allowed them to see that each of them had been very blessed. I heard, " I'm thankful for: mom, dad, Jesus..." all were very typical answers.... until it was T's turn. He was very proud to admit that he was thankful for the toilet. The more I thought about his answer the more I too am thankful that I don't have to squat behind a tree!

no power

I awoke this morning to thunderstorms. Oh great.... another rainy day. Don't get me wrong, I really love rainy days, but we have had so many lately that I feel overwhelmed with laziness and sleepiness. Rainy days are so cozy that they make you want to lay on the couch and take a nap. Therefore these days tend to make me less productive.

Not only did I awake to rain, but to no power. My first thought was, "What in the world am I going to do?!" As if I was the only person to ever be affected by having no power. So how do you turn a rainy, no power morning into a better day.... you light as many candles as you can, put a clip in your hair, and pray that your eyeliner is straight!

honesty

I have found in my short time as a teacher that for some reason ....no matter how short or long... most kids like to play with our hair. It would not be unusual for you to come to our school's playground and see 2-4 kids gathered around the 2 teachers lucky enough to grab the bench. I happened to be one of the lucky ones this afternoon. After a few minutes of the little girl playing with my hair, she said, "Mrs. Jerkins, your hair feels fake." I guess I used too much hairspray today. Either that or I need a new conditioner.

challenge

Sunday started a 4 day revival in our church. I was excited to see how a smaller church handled "revival." John Bramlett, Don Hammons, Jim Collier, Phil Weatherwax, and John Malley are our guest speakers this week. Last night Jim Collier spoke. It was a great message about true worship. We were all created to worship. We are to worship him here on this earth and those of us who have a personal relationship with him will worship him forever in heaven. Many put on a act, yet there are some who truly worship God Almighty. Jim challenged us to be real. If we really understood where we would be without God's grace then we would unashamedly worship the only one who is worthy of our praise... Jesus.

It's been disappointing to see the lack of attendance each night. Some say they desire revival and want to know Him more, yet they sit at home instead of coming and experiencing God's presence and power. This has been a challenge to me. If I truly desire to know the Lord more then I will do whatever it takes to get closer to him.... I will spend time in his word, I will talk to him more frequently, I will whole heartedly attend church services knowing that it isn't a duty but a privilege. So I challenge you today to be real. Don't put on an act. Understand the price that Christ paid for you willingly and begin to truly worship the worthy One!

Happy Birthday, Maggie!

Today my sweet, favorite, oldest niece turns 4! It's hard to believe that she was once my little moosh-moosh and now she is a very smart, beautiful big girl. Having a conversation with her now is like talking to an adult....literally. There is no one else I'd rather share my silly school songs with or paint nails with. I remember the night Julie and Jeff told us they were going to have a baby. We were so excited! We had no idea just how much fun, laughter and joy Maggie would bring! (We def. love the Lils too, but this is Maggie's day!) So to my very sweet, favorite, oldest niece.... we love you so much! We can't wait to see what God has in store for you! We are thrilled to be apart of your life and look forward to watching you grow! You may be a big girl now, but you were definitely the first baby to steal our hearts! We love being your aunt and uncle!

gold star goes to me!

Hallelujah! After hours of trying to figure out why my blog would not allow you to post comments, I figured it out! And by "I figured it out," I mean that I stumbled across the right thing and it gave very clear instructions on how to fix it! I surprisingly did this without any help from my very own computer genius husband! So the gold star goes to me!

Thanks Rachel

Summer is so close I can taste it! Well... it's more like I hear it. My kids for some reason today thought they were already on summer break because their normal "rule following" behaviors were replaced with outside voices whether we were inside or outside, they whined, some cried, yelled, stole toys, tattled and the moral of this story.... they drove Mrs. Jerkins CRAZY! Now don't get me wrong.... I do have some good kids who I never have issues with, but most of them were in rare form today. This brings me to why I titled my post "Thanks Rachel." Today Rachel posted about a little game that she and her friends play when they're having a bad day. This game reminds them that despite the not so good circumstances they really do have a lot to be happy about and thankful for. The result of this oh so simple game helps turn bad days into much better, brighter days. Her game is called "I' m happy because..." So thanks to Rachel, I will not focus on the fact that I was sneezed on, coughed on, blown on (yes, you heard me right) touched by a million different little fingers, in the midst of the swine flu. (I'm really not one of those freaking about this thing.) I will not focus on the fact that I tie a million different dirty shoe laces, hold a million different germy hands, listen to a million different tattles and whines.... no sirree.... I, thanks to Rachel, will simply be happy because there are only 3 weeks of school left!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*For some reason we're having issues here allowing people to comment on a post. We're working on it so don't give up... keep trying. If you have any brilliant ideas on how to fix this then message me on facebook!