Falling into Place

It was amazing meeting 16 out of the 17 kids on Meet the Teacher night. I could finally put faces to the names I have been writing on name tents, cubbie name tags, and stars all week long. They were so cute, and the parents couldn't have been nicer. All day long I had the biggest knot in my stomach because I was so nervous to meet the parents, but that knot went away the minute the first parent walked in the door with her 3 daughters. The middle one was the lucky one that gets to be in my class all year long. Soon after, more parents and their kids trickled in. We spent 2 hours just talking, touring the room, and sorting the millions of school supplies that accompany one little five year old. The time flew by quickly, but my feet were the brutal reminder of how long I had been standing on them all day.

There was one moment though that just made the entire night so memorable. There was a mom who brought her little boy in somewhere during the middle of the night. The little boy had been crying, and looked as if he had seen a ghost when he had walked in the classroom. I slowly knelt down to get at his level and told him that I was his teacher. I asked him if he wanted to help me find his name on one of the tables. He shyly nodded yes, and his mom and I walked to his table where his name was. He was looking less and less frightened as he got acquainted with his chair and the contents in his spot. His mom quietly told me that his favorite color in the whole entire world was yellow. His spot just happened to be at the "Yellow Star" table. I think this was the sign from God telling me that His hand is in all of this, that He's taking care of me, and the 17 precious kids that He has placed in my classroom.

Tomorrow is the first day of my teaching career, and I feel nervous and excited at the same time but even more blessed to be at Story Elementary, in the room that I'm in, and the team that I'm on. It's all fallen perfectly into place, just as I have always imagined it would.