Kiddos!!!

I have come to the end of my first week with the children. I was excited to meet the little first graders that I will be spending the next several weeks with and now that I have spent a few days with them, I am realizing they are not that scary after all. :)

I will be honest and admit that I was nervous. We are certainly outnumbered; 17 of them, and only 2 teachers; but it is turning out to be okay. We definitely have some students that think rules don't apply to them and ones that like to test our patience; but all in all, they are cute and love able.

While I was in the school office this week, one of the administrative assistants asked me what my biggest surprise was now that I was in the classroom with the kids. My response to her was that my biggest surprise was in myself. I was surprised in how well I was holding up when it came to discipline and being "hard." Many of these students need a large amount "tough love" and I was concerned about my own abilities when it came to discipline; however, I have really surprised myself. I have been able to become pretty tough, very quickly.

Each morning as I am driving to school, it is my prayer that I will be able to stand my ground, while also impacting these children. It is important for me to not get a hard heart, especially when it comes to the tougher students. I really do want to make a positive impact and I believe that is definitely an important part of this gift that God has given me. Thankfully I have already received many hugs and that is so worth it to me!