Why I LOVE Back to School ....

Ok ... I admit it!  It's not the summers that make me wish I was teaching ... it's now ... with the aisles and aisles of glorious, new school supplies (I might have bought 8 boxes of crayons!!!)  I also might just have bought school supplies for every teacher I know ... it just sucks me in ... I can't resist!!!  I still dream of being able to get a room ready for the first day of school ... put up bulletin boards ... organize stuff.  I am having a really hard time resisting taking over Gavin's classroom (I don't think he's really interested in my girlie touches!  Might interfere with his camo motif!) ... I love, love that getting ready part.  It's really the other 180 days of teaching that are the hard part for me ... well, not even that so much as it's the fact that THIS is what I am called to ...

But you can't blame a girl for coveting some new school supplies, can you???

SOOO, I am rolling my enthusiasm for back to school into being excited about students being back on campus.  We had lots of visitors today ... kind of like open house!  And we're getting ready for our leadership retreat this weekend, so I've been making goodie bags and cookies for my teams, buying a few school supplies (yep, can't totally resist!) and getting excited about the year that's ahead. 

Here's what I am praying:
* For God to keep us focused on the important things
* That we will love the people on this campus well ... that is our theme this year love. (love-period)
* That I will have wisdom in investing and do so with excellence
* That people will come to know Christ ... and grow in relationship with Him through worship and missions and community with others.
* That we will serve and love in a way that brings glory to God and draws people to Him (that means we may have to do fewer things with more excellence)
* For a unity that supersedes our individual agendas
* To come to the end of this new year having grown to know God more, to have invested wisely, served with passion, and to have brought others along with me.

Can't wait to reconnect with students this weekend!  It's ALMOST as exciting as buying new school supplies!

But ... I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the smell of crayons (and those uber big magic markers!)