The week before the big week....

It's funny how the week before a school break seems like the craziest week of all.  Somehow, in my mind, I always think that it will be a slow downhill slide to Friday.  And I am always wrong.  This week, I was running Mock Congress with my 12th grade Government students (and video taping it for National Boards), and completing my 2nd semester Teacher Evaluation, and giving Benchmark exams.  In the middle of all of that, Sam had a first grade play AND we managed to keep all of the laundry done so we could easily pack for our Disney trip. That's in addition to all of the ordinary things that we do.  It was nuts!

But in the midst of the craziness that is our everyday life, God never ceases to remind me of how precious and fleeting life really is. This week, at the end of what seemed to be a perfectly normal day, the world changed forever for the citizens of Japan.  And this week, one of our friends from college learned that without God's healing, her earthly father is headed to meet her heavenly Father much sooner than she had planned.  Through these events, God reminded me that we are temporary and He is eternal.  And no matter what happens in my world, God is still God, and God is still good. He is in charge of this week....and every other week from now until eternity.

In the meantime, here are some pictures of my sweet boys enjoying the blessings that we have for now:

Indiana Jones after the 1st grade play

Sam's sweet teacher

Sweet Stephen had a few needs of his own this week.  Specifically, he needed a picture of me and him for a school project.  We hadn't taken one in a long time, so I decided we would give it a shot one night after dinner.  Here's some artifacts from our quest for a "serious" picture.

Take One (wrong kid....lose the bunny ears)

Take Two (ummmmm..... no)

14 pictures later....success!

me and my baby boy

I like how Karen Kingsbury says it. On the dedication page in the front of almost all of her books, she talks about her family one by one and at the very end she gives the thanks "to God who has--for now- blessed me with these." I praise Him for the privilege of my sweet children and the love he shows us in weeks like this.