Reminded

Last week I was reminded of why I do what I do.
What I do is teach children.
Why I do it is simply because I love children! 
Interacting with them energizes and gives me joy.

One rarely gets a chance to step back from one's job and take a complete break.  But this time at home is just that for me.  Aside from a few children here and there, I have mainly been interacting with adults.  I didn't realize that I had been missing interaction with children until I stepped in front of a whole group of First through Eighth graders at Wesley Christian Academy.

At Wesley Christian Academy each class has a Care and Share project for which they are raising funds.  One of the Grade Two teachers, who is herself a missionary kid, chose, with her class, to raise funds to help the restoration process at Sahel Academy.  And so it was that I received an invitation to share Sahel Academy's story with the First through Eighth graders in a special assembly.


 

Cindy arranged this amazing opportunity for me.

 

 

Four of her students introduced me.  The little boy on the end, who happened to be missing his two front teeth, got stuck with my name.  It came out sounding kind of like "Miss Bufferas."  So cute!

 

 

 Mid-Assembly

 

 

 

After the assembly, I was invited back to Cindy's Grade Two classroom where I answered some of her students' questions, read to them from a book that my Sahel Second Graders had created and just generally talked their heads off. 

 

My favorite moment came after I had used a couple of big words - ingenious and deducted- and I stopped and declared my undying love for big words.  One little girl in the back piped up and said, "I love big words too!" Not a second later, the girl behind her looked at her and exclaimed, "You don't know any big words!"  Oh goodness!  I just wanted to bust up laughing! 

 

I walked away from Wesley Christian Academy feeling exhilarated and full of joy, having been reminded that there is a very good reason I teach.  It's because I love it!

 

 

At a time when I am taking a step back from my passion, this reminder was a precious gift from God!