Things to be Thankful for...

Today was another great day in my classroom. I have been thoroughly enjoying God's way of working in sporadic moments and having me trust in Him to guide the way. Today the students in my class were a little shaken up after the teacher accident that I mentioned in my last post. My students were asking a lot of questions, and they were in a little bit of shock. I proceeded to tell them that when I am unsure and I want to feel calm about something, I pray about that situation. I proceeded to introduce my students to popcorn prayer, and I had a room full of kids praying for Mrs. Andrea! It was surreal. I told them that they didn't need to use big words and they didn't need to make it something fancy, but all they had to do was talk to God. I told them some things that we could ask for, and we brainstormed any others. When I asked if anyone other than myself wanted to pray, 8 kids raised their hands (unreal!). I had one student start the popcorn prayer and I had to guide them through the process. Eventually 3 other students prayed, and then the others said that their prayers were already echoed. I ended off the popcorn prayer, and it was such a real moment with my kids. They reminded me what a childlike faith looks like. Some of them don't even know if a God exists and have told me this, but they prayed to God to ask him for help for Mrs. Andrea today. They prayed in normal child language, and it was the most real prayer I have ever heard. Their heart was echoed in the prayer, without eloquent language and "God language" even being a part of it. Often times these things seem like a required element of prayer, but today this was clearly not the case. A room full of students desperately seeking hope for this teacher they know, did not hesitate to come to God with their requests.

After this, I changed my afternoon plans and went with whatever God had in store for me. I decided that we would do an activity to focus on the things that we are thankful for, to relieve some of the tension in the classroom. I wanted the students to be able to focus on all the things they had to be thankful for, in hopes that this would lighten the feel of the afternoon. It was definitely successful and I learned a lot about my kids. I was so encouraged, and my heart melted a little when these were some of their responses:

This one made me so happy. The student drew me with mountains because he knew that was my favourite thing :) I am not going to comment on the way I am dressed in the picture....haha. 

This was done by one of my lowest students. She actually wrote a whole page of things she was thankful for! This was huge breakthrough! 

I don't think I look like that at all.....but the thought is so cute! 

"I like to thank for you and Jesus that love me"-absolute best! This is from the most athletic football (soccer) player in the class, who is just a sweetheart. 

So many things to be thankful for....my students are just so wonderful!