One more thing...

One more thing. Please continue to pray for Rachel. I thank you so much!
Mary

So many things to do...

I don't know...it seems as though I never finish everything that I have on my "to do" list. My days pass so quickly that sometimes a week speeds past and I feel as though I've missed it. Isn't that sad?
I keep thinking that if I stayed home and didn't work, my life would slow down a bit...okay, maybe just a bit. :)
I had the awesome opportunity afterschool to grab my three little ones and snuggle each one. Oh, it was wonderful. I try to find opportunities during the day to sneak a hug and kiss from them. They are quite used to it. :) I also remember to bless them on the forehead each time we part. ...so important to me.
Okay, I'm rambling. Forgive me. Sometimes I just like to type as I think. You, dear reader, get a glimpse of my personality as you read. I small snapshot into my life.
Okay, I'm off to cello lessons with our little Maddie.
Grab your children and hug them. Tell them that you love them. I can't emphasize enough how important it is to do that.
Mary
Jesus, I trust in You!

My Beautiful Students

I have to share this.
A little girl in my class handed me a piece of paper this morning. She handed it to me with a side showing three beautiful flowers and a pretty orange and green butterfly. I commented how beautiful it was and how I could see that she spent a lot of time making it for me. Her smile filled her entire little face.
She walked away from me and I started to take a piece of tape to put it up behind my desk on the wall. It fell out of my hands and as I bent down to pick it up I noticed that she had written me a letter.
This is what the letter said:

Dear Mrs. Johnson,
You are the best. You aren't afraid to stand out. You inspire me to love God more and to do my best. I've never had a teacher as kind and caring as you. You always think of creative ideas and solutions for everything. You'll always be in my heart.
From,
(my student) :)

Thank you God...Teach me to love as you loved and serve as you served, so I can be the body of Christ to others.
Mary
Jesus, I trust in You!

St. Maximillian Kolbe

"No one in the world can change the truth. What we can do, and should do, is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it.'

St. Maximillian Kolbe

Freedom of Choice Act

This is the United States under FOCA (just a partial list):

-Christian doctors and nurses will be sued if they refuse to participate in abortions.
-Religious hospitals will be forced to do abortions or shut down.
-Babies will be aborted up until the day of birth.
-States will have no say in any abortion laws.
-All parental notification laws would be nulified.
-All laws requiring a waiting period before abortion so that a woman could think about her decision would be eliminated

There are many more...

What can we do?
Check out http://www.FOCAfacts.com

Mary
Jesus, I trust in You!

Pray for Life

Today we had an opportunity to take our classes over to Church for Adoration. I cannot begin to tell you how beautiful an experience it is to kneel behind my class, in front of the Blessed Sacrament, and spend precious minutes with Jesus! My students are awesome! They have already grown so much this year and we have just begun second semester. I wish I could let you, dear reader, experience the peaceful quietness of eighteen 10 year olds in silent prayer.
Absolutely amazing!
I am blessed.

Isn't God amazing...spend some time this evening in quiet prayer with our Lord.
Mary
Jesus, I trust in You!

Flood my soul with Thy spirit and love...

Everyday I continue to grow in love for our Lord... Read this prayer slowly, it is beautiful!

DEAR JESUS, help me to spread Thy fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Thy spirit and love. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may only be a radiance of Thine. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Thy presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me but only Jesus. Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others.
--Blessed Mother Teresa

I have a longer version of this prayer but it is in my classroom on my desk. Christmas vacation ends officially today. I look forward to seeing my students tomorrow morning. I missed them over the last two weeks!
I have been doing a lot of deep thinking lately. I have been considering staying home next year to devote more of myself to my family and my home. Please pray for me to know where He needs me to be. Where He leads me...I will go. If you have read previous posts, you know that He has led me to the classroom...
So, dear reader and friend, please add me to your prayers.

Also, I have been listening to a set of CDs called, Thirsting for God: The Spiritual Lessons of Mother Teresa. If you get a chance to listen to her lessons, they are life transforming. She is a beautiful role model and teacher.
Peace to You,
Mary
Jesus, I trust in You!