Learning

I haven't written in this blog in so long. But since March, here's an idea of what I've been learning at work:

How to stay calm in chaotic situations
How to breathe deeply when nothing is going my way
How to keep my composure when everyone around me is grumpy
How to be content with a not-even-close-to-perfect day
How to listen to complaining without wanting to explode
How to let go of unrealistic expectations
How to make it through a day, one half hour at a time
How to smile at people who are looking down their noses at me

It's been awesome! :)

Okay, but in all seriousness, I have been thinking about what I have learned from my work as a preschool teacher over the last two and a half years. The last six months have been really trying, and recently as I've been contemplating them, I've felt a little upset that I didn't go back to graduate school during this time, rather than working too hard for too little money at a preschool. But over the last couple days, I've changed my mind.

I am so glad I chose to teach preschool rather than go back to school. Working with small children has taught me things about people, life, and myself that I don't think any graduate class could have taught me. And, it has brought me so much joy. True, there have been many times I have wanted to scream, pull my hair out, or throw my hands up in despair. But there have also been sweet moments of perfection, when you just want to stop time and savor the sweetness. I've often thought, "Wouldn't that be so nice to have all those moments put together in a music video." Moments of dancing, laughing, hugging, singing, comforting, running, joking, story-telling, tickling, praising, innocent conversation. When I look at my job in this light, it feels sublime.

I had a few of those moments today, and I want to share one of them with you. This week we are learning about Christmas, and so this afternoon I took the time to tell them the real Christmas story of Jesus' birth. They listened so quietly as I told them about angels, donkeys, stables, shepherds, and the Baby Jesus. When I finished telling the story, G* raised his hand and said, "How do you know Jesus?" He was asking me so matter-of-factly, but that question touched me so deeply. While I told the story, I never said that I knew Him, I was just telling the story of His birth. But I do know Him, and I was so grateful that G* asked, so I could tell them. I told them about the Spirit, about scriptures, and about prophets. When I mentioned the Bible, G* said, "Me too!" I could tell he was touched by the Spirit, as we both testified that we knew Jesus. G* is one of my favorite students, almost the same exact age as my nephew Josh, and so this conversation with him was very special.

And on a totally different note, this morning 8 of my 10 children had arrived, and we were talking about which countries their parents came from. Each of my 8 children had at least one parent who came from a different country. Here's the list:
1. China
2. Pakistan
3. India
4. Lebanon (G*'s parents)
5. Nigeria
6. Germany
7. France
8. Denmark