Never a dull moment

A few adventures I've had over the last week....

- wiping the pile of dandruff off my keyboard that was left by one of my students
- having a student storm out cursing from the room, escaping from the principal's office only to run around the building outside to our classroom and yell curses and threats (directed at teachers/students) through the window and later to be apprehended by the police and suspended
- telling upteen boys to pull up their pants and that I didn't wake up this morning to see their underwear
- "encouraging" my freshmen couples to use the lovely seats provided by the school instead of cuddling up on each other's laps
- telling the couples (straight and otherwise) to cool it with the PDA
- listening to one freshman boy make car sounds all through my class
- having to feed by freshmen kiddos who missed out on lunch- one little guy was bawling in class because he was so upset- it was quite precious

And last but not least- enjoying many good laughs with my Amazing department!!!
I really love my job. It is hard some days- full of many new things and often causing me to stretch outside of my comfort zone (I really hate having to call home...)- but God is good! I have great support- really good students and teachers who, for the most part, are willing to provide the accomodations/modifications necessary for my kiddos.

On to other matters....
I went to WOL Inn this last weekend for a Teen Leadership Conference. It was so good. I enjoyed the day off from school and especially enjoyed the time with the other leaders. We had the chance to hear Steve Viars from Indiana and he was amazing! The seminars were very helpful and we got lots of ideas for the coming year. It was good to see that many things they were encouraging us to do, our leadership team had already done (purpose statement, evaluation of space, ministry etc...) . We're on the right track.
Our first meeting last week went well. We had 17 kids and 5 parents with 9 leaders/helpers. A bunch of kids are in sports right now or drivers ed, so hopefully they'll be joining us soon.
The next few months- between now and Superbowl are going to be crazy busy. We have some big activities and service opportunities planned. Pray for us as we plan and organize!

In other exciting news...I'm off to Haiti next week. For a quick 5 day trip (10/5-9) Pray as we plan that we will use our time well and accomplish what God wants us to- we have some pretty important decisions that need to be made while we are there. Also, pray that I will be able to readjust to school when I get back.

I'll keep you posted on things here....hope everyone is well.
~Love to you all~