No Wasted Experiences in God's Economy

^On my last day at my 4th grade placement, my cooperating teacher created a farewell bulletin board for me made up of all my students' writing that they had done for me. She also gave me a copy of their writing in a scrapbook. It was very thoughtful!

^Here is a picture of my 26 fourth graders. Man, were they a handful. Great kids though. More pictures to come later hopefully!

To all my avid readers, I apologize for the lengthy break in blogging. I have been busy teaching--student teaching. What an experience!!

I don't know how many of you remember the day that you decided "what you wanted to be when you grew up." I know I sure don't. I do know--thanks to my handy-paper-saving-mom--that in first grade I wrote down on the first day questionnaire that I wanted to be a teacher. Wow. That was over 15 years ago...I'm not even old, but that's been a goal a long time in coming for a 6 year old!

And now I'm on the other side of it all. Spirit Lake Elem., Baker Elem, Robinson Junior High, Robinson High School, Hampton-Dumont High School, UNI, Kings College (ever so briefly), UNI. Whew. What an adventure it has been in getting to this spot in life. So many experiences have prepared me....from volunteering in a kindergarten class (alongside my mom) my senior year of high school, which was where I learned I did NOT have the patience for that....observing countless teachers at the lab school at UNI....creating mini-units....creating lesson plans galore....creating WebQuests and mPower projects....tutoring my sweet little 8-year-old that could not add 1+2...and then student teaching. I have been blessed by my experiences, and I don't really have time to go into all the things that I have learned. I will name a few though:

• patience*
• compassion*
• grace*
• joy*

(*denotes a work still in progress :) )

It's amazing how those sound like the fruits of the spirit, huh? It's exciting to me because I think God has me right where he wants me--yay! As my dad would say, "there are no wasted experiences in God's economy." Each of these experiences has shaped me in so many ways.

And now........I will get to get paid to do what I LOVE. I feel so blessed that I made it this far, and I found out that this is what I truly enjoy. I cannot wait for my own classroom and my own students. Wow. I get goose bumps just thinking about it.

How have your experiences shaped who YOU are?