Life Isn't Fair

 We often complain that "life isn't fair."  It's true.  Life isn't fair.  I came home today with a deep sense of gratefulness that life isn't fair.  For some reason about 16 years ago God blessed me with 5 wonderful girlfriends that changed my life forever.  It was with this group that I learned what it means to pray and expect answers.  Through the ups and downs of youth group days, we bonded and encouraged each other on.  We challenged each other to stand for right, to fast and pray, and to trust God with our futures.  Each time we prayed, we checked off the requests that had been answered and our faith grew.  Oh, we had our share of disappoints and misunderstandings.  At the end of the drama, the reason for our friendship was still there.  I wish this blessing would happen to every teenager.  But it doesn't.
Today we were together again.  It doesn't happen very often.  As always there was plenty of laughter and quite a few tears.  Life hasn't always turned out the way we would have chosen.  As we ended our time together praying for a few of the more painful situations at hand, I was blessed.  Of course no one chooses hardship and pain and I would never wish it on my friends.  Still I am blessed to see the grace that God has given in the times of heartache.  I'm blessed to hear words of trust in a God that doesn't always fix problems in the way we ask.
Sometimes we pray and God give us the miracle we ask for.  I know it happens because I've seen it.  Other times I think the miracle happens in us as God walks with us through the valley and out the other side. Today I saw a maturity that is far beyond what was there 10 years ago.  So today I am thankful that life isn't fair.  And I'm still smiling because after all these maturing years, we still burst out laughing in the middle of our prayer times.  I'm grateful for that, too.

First Grade Field Trip

The long awaited day arrived.  My first graders were beyond excited this morning.  We started out with a story in the classroom (my way of calming them down).  Then we were packing up and headed down the road.
First stop: Zoo America.  If I was ever there before, I cannot remember it.  The students were not disappointed even though there were no elephants, tigers, or giraffes.  The animals were out and about for the most part.  I think the only animals that never appeared were the prairie dogs.  It was too bad since one student saw the picture on the map and thought the prairie dogs were bears.  I was hoping to clear that up by observation.

After exploring the zoo and eating lunch, we drove the short distance to Hershey Chocolate World.  They loved the little ride, but of course the gift shop took much longer than the ride.  I see why the ride is free.  The students were fascinated by the penny stamping machines and most of them went home with a stamped penny.

At this point in the trip my photo taking ended.  I should have gotten a picture of all the students crowded around the penny pressing machine.  There was time left at the end of the day to spend an hour at Terre Hill Park.  I think the first graders should sleep well tonight.  I am grateful for the beautiful weather and all the moms that went along.  My job was made easy.