Message From The Bus

There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for everything  under heaven.  Ecclesiastes 3:1

So I’m a little slow this morning!  This is a first; I’m blogging from a bus…full of middle lovelies…on our way to an amusement park for a class trip.  As you might imagine, it’s not what I’d call a peaceful writing environment!  My head and heart are full so I think the Holy Spirit can move my fingers in spite of the hilarious singing, bad jokes and general middle lovely chaos swirling around me right now!  

Every class that passes through my classroom has a different set of gifts and personalities.  They each teach me something different and leave something unique on my heart.  This years class was no exception.  It was the year of surprises!  They surprised me with their wit, their humor, their attitude and their faith.  They plunged into the beginnings of adolescence with a style all their own.  More than any class before, they had a harder time saying good-bye.  Their tears and resistance to leaving the building caught me by surprise but it also taught me some things and I’d like to share what they taught me because there is a lesson for us all.

*Most classes can’t wait to bust out of elementary school and head off to bigger,  better and more important things.  They have visions of things being exciting and fancy and they plan to enjoy so much new found freedom.  This year the word was content.  These kids were invested in each other and they could find joy in all the regular things that made up their day.  They were happy to laugh and dance and be goofy wherever they were.  One of them told me that he felt no need to look for something new when he was surrounded with so many things he liked already.

*They realized that the root is people.  These kids have spent years developing relationships and these relationships of course have had their ups and downs but they were the foundation.  They absolutely had those days when their patience ran thin with each other but they had a sense of family that they aren’t ready to see change.  I was surprised at their ability to appreciate and value each other in spite of their differences, quirks and attitudes.  Tolerance based on love is a beautiful thing to see.

*Change isn’t always easy.  You may not love the idea of change but it happens anyway and you can either fight and fuss about it or ask God to go ahead of you and lead the way through it.  So many of them prayed on our last day together for God to help them get used to the changes in their new school.  Many prayed for God to protect their friendships and bless the new ones they would make.  They realized that they needed a guide in this new adventure and they picked the best one available.

*The more grateful you are, the better things will be.  They demonstrated time and again that opportunities don’t always seem exciting but if you can be grateful that someone needs your help or be grateful that you can do yucky jobs surrounded by friends it becomes much less about the task and happy hearts do great things.

*Finally, this class took the saying “Dance like nobody’s watchin!” to a whole new level.  They showed me day after day that life is so much less complicated if you just be who you are without worrying so much about what everybody thinks.  They weren’t afraid to be who they were and they didn’t feel like they were in competition with each other or the world.  

They may only be 12 but they had lots to teach their old teacher.  It’s that time of year when I worry and ponder and feel that catch in my breath wondering if I did everything they needed and took them as far as God wanted me to.  I hope I planted the seeds that were mine to sow and I hope that the team of us that taught them gave them all they needed but in my pondering, I am reminded that the the Father loves them more than I do and he’s got a beautiful future planned for each of them.  So for now, I will save this writing, hope for wi-fi inside the park so I can post it  later today and just close my laptop and enjoy the sights and sounds of a bus full of fabulous middle lovelies one last day.

A Seed To Plant:  Pick one of their lessons and put it in place.
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Blessings on your day!