I’m Not Going Back to School

I can’t remember a fall that wasn’t marked by getting ready for a school year.  In elementary school, my mom would french braid my hair and I’d pull on a pair of stretchy pants (which I wore well beyond the time everyone else had moved on from the fad).  In middle and high school, I looked forward to back to school shopping out of town.  In college, there was the long drive back to campus with the music blaring.  After that, I had the tradition of getting a cup of coffee (a really good cup of coffee, mind you) on the way to work and trying to be the first teacher to arrive so I could have the school building to myself for a few precious moments to pray over my classroom and students.  One of my favorite things was that very first calm before the storm of nervous students.  You never quite recreate that tense and expectant calm again; it’s part of the magic of the first day.

 

It’s hard to see the back to school pictures- children with hairstyles their moms clearly had a hand in, backpacks so new they look stiff even in the photos, teachers posting albums of newly decorated classrooms.  I don’t want the familiar pang of longing to creep up.  I don’t want to be reminded of all that I’m missing.  I don’t want to face my own sadness in those smiling photos.  I want this week to be over.

 

It has been painful to be on social media the past couple days and feel a tinge of regret for saying no to what was my dream teaching job.  However, all I have to do is look down into my arms to see what the Lord is bringing forth in this season.  Most mornings I brought my son to daycare, he would ask me why I was leaving him.  Now I get to watch my own child learn and grow and develop.  There is joy in the silly, grown up things he says and the questions about eternity that have been on his mind lately: “Are the ducks going to heaven?  When will I see Jesus?  Where is heaven?  Mama, I believe in Jesus so I’m going to heaven.”  Would I have missed these musings if I wasn’t around as much to hear them spoken in the moment?  I can’t describe how good it is to see the little things unfold in front of my eyes instead of reading highlights on a daily log from daycare.

 

We were also able to accept a newborn placement yesterday.  That is not something we would have been able to do if both my husband and I were working full-time, especially since baby became available and arrived in the first few days of a new school year.  That would have been a disaster.

 

In a cool turn of events, this is the child we were suppose to pick up from the hospital last month.  We didn’t expect to ever meet this tiny bundle, so the opportunity to wake up in the middle of the night and stagger around a dark kitchen to make a bottle is actually pretty darn exciting.

 

In the end, I think I can be alright with still getting that cup of coffee but this time bringing it home, enjoying it in the stillness of my living room, and being enveloped in small cuddles and the fragrance of baby powder.  It’s definitely not at all what I thought I would be doing…  God is kinda sneaky like that though.

 

My arms are full.  My heart is full, and the scars are fading.  Lord, thank you for today and for the purpose you have brought in my life.  Be with those students and teachers, and be present in my home.  Your will be done.

 

10 Comments

  • joltseminars September 7, 2017 at 7:11 am Reply

    It is difficult to transition, but your little ones will never regret your decision. They are only little for a short season. Enjoy that special time with them!

  • joltseminars September 7, 2017 at 7:11 am Reply

    It is difficult to transition, but your little ones will never regret your decision. They are only little for a short season. Enjoy that special time with them!

  • janna57 September 7, 2017 at 9:11 am Reply

    You really haven’t given up teaching, you’re just teaching younger kids than you thought it would be. Those early years are so important.

  • janna57 September 7, 2017 at 9:11 am Reply

    You really haven’t given up teaching, you’re just teaching younger kids than you thought it would be. Those early years are so important.

  • Nicole C. September 7, 2017 at 6:03 pm Reply

    Your classroom is all around you… you are such a blessing to your lucky little man and your foster children… you are so amazing with such insight in everything, you amaze me!!

  • Nicole C. September 7, 2017 at 6:03 pm Reply

    Your classroom is all around you… you are such a blessing to your lucky little man and your foster children… you are so amazing with such insight in everything, you amaze me!!

  • Erin Marie September 7, 2017 at 8:25 pm Reply

    Every time I read what you have to write I feel like we are the same. I just quit my teaching job at the end of last year to stay home with my daughter. We plan on bringing in another baby as soon as my daughter turns three. I just want to give her as much individual love for as long as possible. I agree though, the beginning of this year was bitter sweet, but then she came walking out of her room with a baseball helmet on, a marvels scarf wrapped around her, and a pink dress, and those would be the moments i’d miss if I were working full time. I love reading what you have to say. Thank you!

    • stillorphans September 19, 2017 at 8:23 pm Reply

      Wow, we’re kindred spirits! It’s fun to meet other like minded people. Thank you for commenting 🙂

  • Erin Marie September 7, 2017 at 8:25 pm Reply

    Every time I read what you have to write I feel like we are the same. I just quit my teaching job at the end of last year to stay home with my daughter. We plan on bringing in another baby as soon as my daughter turns three. I just want to give her as much individual love for as long as possible. I agree though, the beginning of this year was bitter sweet, but then she came walking out of her room with a baseball helmet on, a marvels scarf wrapped around her, and a pink dress, and those would be the moments i’d miss if I were working full time. I love reading what you have to say. Thank you!

    • stillorphans September 19, 2017 at 8:23 pm Reply

      Wow, we’re kindred spirits! It’s fun to meet other like minded people. Thank you for commenting 🙂

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