About three years ago, I was teaching an adult Sunday School class. I loved it! It was a great challenge. Most of my students were older than I was. Most had gone to Sunday School for most of their lives. Yet, they loved my classes. I think it was because I didn't do what most of the other teachers did. Most of the other teachers concentrated on the lessons in the little books we received at the beginning of the quarter. I figured they were all old enough to read those books on their own and concentrated on the stuff that wasn't in the lessons that were straight out of the book. And I gave the class contemporary examples of what I was talking about.
Sometimes, I didn't always have enough time to do as much research as I wanted to do. A prayer to the Holy Spirit was offered up before class and I sometimes was led to teach things that I might not have otherwise taught.
I was very disappointed when I lost my class. Actually, because I was moving much farther from the church, I used that as an excuse to stop going. But, I might have ended up going to a different church anyway. Why? Because I was removed from my position as teacher for the stupidest of reasons. I am a woman. And in this conservative Baptist church, once there were enough males that wanted to teach Sunday School, women were no longer welcome to teach above the sixth grade level. It's a shame because they lost a good teacher. Just ask anyone who was in my class. They were all disappointed with the subsequent teachers.
What has that got to do with dogs and kids? One of the things that I learned and taught was this: I won't pray for patience any longer. I learned a lot about patience when I had to teach the book of Job. I found out that if you pray for patience, the Lord doesn't give you patience--He tries to teach you patience by giving you a problem that will take time to resolve or put you in a situation where the only thing you can do is wait--wait upon the circumstances and wait upon the Lord.
When my mother was 42, she gave me some advice. She said, "Don't have kids after the age of 30. You don't have the patience then to cope with them." Of course, that was said at a time when the youngest ones were 10, 11, and 12.
At age 45, raising kids that are 7, 8, 9, and 10, I am sometimes inclined to agree with that statement.
Yesterday, I woke up with the idea that I would start to do diary entries in parts. A little entry in the morning, then in the afternoon and then after the evening addition, post it. Then I went downstairs and all thoughts of this diary went out of my head.
I came downstairs to find that Tabitha, our loving golden retreiver, had been having a lot of fun while the family slept. She had tipped over the wastebasket in the kitchen and there were watermelon rinds, watermelon seeds, papers, cans and lots of other fun things strewn throughout the living room, kitchen and this main room that I have taken to calling the computer room.
When I did get on the computer, I made a couple of awards to add to my pages and played catch up with other things that I needed to do on my site. Guestbook entries had to be visited in order to evaluate them for awards. Award winners had to be added to the winners page. I had received two awards which had to be added to my pages. See, Faye has Sunday and Monday off from work. Since I have the computer five mornings a week, she takes over on those days and I don't get very much done. Tuesday mornings I end up doing maintenance work on my site.
I am breathing a little easier this morning, though. The kids are back at school and silence is a wonderful thing.
I don't know how homeschooling parents do it. I mentioned to John's teacher, who had commented on how well-behaved he was, that I wish he would behave as well at home. I also told her of a conversation that I had with my son about this. I said: "All your teachers tell me how well behaved you are. They love having you in their classes. Why can't you be good at home?" My little angel replied, "I work so hard at being good in school. When I get home, I'm too tired to be good."
At least I feel better knowing that his teacher has the same problem with her son!
It's been a loooooong weekend, at I'm glad the kids are back at school!
for the border background.