"48 Days" COVID-19 School Ending

There's so much that I want to remember about this time. 

I keep asking myself, "how could I ever forget when... (insert unusual thing that's happened as a result of coronavirus)" 

But, I know there will come a time when (Lord willing) this will all be a faint memory for us all.

I've taken a 7 pictures just like this over the span of my teaching career. 

I've finished up 7 school years in "typical" fashion and been more than excited to begin my summer vacation. But, this one sat differently as I thought about wrapping up this...unique school year.

This was not the ending we had hoped for as we packed up our classroom this year. ⁣

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It felt detached and empty. ⁣

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If I’m being honest, this was the most difficult & strange school year I’ve had thus far in my career (before COVID-19 was even present) and as I navigated those days, the words of my sweet Mom came to the forefront of my mind, “What is The Lord trying to teach you through this?” I know that this year especially, there’s so, so much to unpack as I think about answering that question. ⁣

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We haven’t spent the full day with our students (in person) since March 6th, our Superhero Celebration, the day before Spring Break. I was exhausted that day as “special” days don’t always turn out well for my kiddos that thrive on routine and predictability. Although it was fun day, I’m sad that that’s how their physical school year ended—without anyone knowing that would be it. ⁣

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48 school days that we missed getting our morning hugs, completing our centers, working together in circle time, unwinding during sensory time, and telling them we love them as they headed home for the day. ⁣

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There was so much more to come!⁣

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I’m thankful that “distance learning” gave me the opportunity to learn new skills and deepen my relationship with my students and their parents as we navigated this together. But, at the end of the day, nothing compares to face to face instruction and interaction. ⁣

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Coming into a classroom that was completely empty for such a long time felt...wrong almost. THIS classroom is full of life, it is always loud (even when it shouldn’t be 😜), it’s full of various modes of learning, it’s full of unique kiddos, it’s full of working minds, and it’s always full of love & respect for each individual that I’m blessed to call mine. ⁣

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All of that being said, I have a lot to unpack as I ponder Mama Carol’s question that always comes to mind. Usually, I’m ready for summer. This summer, I’m walking away from this empty classroom already counting down the days until that room is full again 💙

A few little things that I wanted to make sure I documented to remember during the school closure:

Making pictures like this to send to our students so they would know we were thinking about them.

Having Jake Johnson, aka Peter Parker from "Spiderman: Into the Spiderverse" offer to send voice memos to our classes--amazing!

Mailing letters of encouragement to each of my students at their homes as they navigate distance learning and working from home with their parents rather than at school. 

Receiving sweet pieces of mail back from them in return. 

Having virtual Awards Day for each of the schools. 

And sending our students off to begin their summer vacation through hosting a drive through "Supplies and Goodbyes" where they could drive around the school, stop by and see their teachers, receive any supplies, awards, and happies and give one last "air hug" or "air five" before ending the school year. 

Quarantine Pt. 2

Here we are, quarantine post part 2. 

It's been 54 days since Part 1 and honestly, not that much has changed. 

We have been sheltering in place other than grocery shopping, working from home, going on walks, and I've been watching Big Brother starting all the way back to season 1 and boy, has it changed. Season 1 is 77 episodes, just in case you were wondering. Like, what?! 77 episodes. 

Needless to say, I have plenty to watch. 

A few things I want to remember from the last 54 days:

 Getting video footage and pictures of this little thing holding a LIZARD!

That is one thing I will not be sharing in with her seeing as how when I see a lizard I run the opposite way. 

Jason's delicious lemon pound cake that was shared with the family for Easter.

 The first time I've ever spent Easter apart from both my family & my church family. 

Something that was circulating the internet was the saying: "Churches are empty this Easter but, so was the tomb" which I thought was such a neat connection. 

This has served as such a tangible experience bringing about the truth that what happens in the world doesn't change what we know to be true about God and what He has done for us. 

 These two cuties in their Easter-themed attire.

And these two cuties taking an Easter selfie while wishing we could all be celebrating together. 

Oh, and more lemon desserts. 

Whoops! 

Papa Steve's belated birthday gift turned out better than I could have imagined! 

Contact Rafael for your own caricature here. He was so incredibly nice and easy to work with.

Our first family get together since quarantine started and it was to celebrated Dad's belated birthday combined with an early Mother's Day celebration. 

It was SO nice to get together with family and feel...normal. 

 We've gone on many, many walks and have seen some of the most beautiful skies. 

 And, I started keeping this little cutie. We've been hanging out for going on 5 weeks now and he's such a little cutie and growing so much. I feel like he changes every time I come over! 

The main thing I wanted to circle back to was how I ended my last quarantine post. 

I asked the question or more so, made the statement:

"Think about what God is trying to teach me and show me during this time, make the best of it."

and what has continually come to the forefront of my mind has been this word: rest. 

It's come up in my daily Bible reading, in my leisure reading ("Even Better Than Eden" by Nancy Guthrie), and in many conversations I've had with people about being quarantined and how we have basically been forced to slow day and take life one day at a time--moment by moment. It's something that has more so, become the norm and it has actually been neat seeing how it's being woven into our lives through a very unexpected, sometimes scary, and very unknown circumstance. 

I wanted to end by sharing a few excerpts from "Even Better Than Eden" from the chapter, "The Story of the Sabbath" because I felt like these words were ringing so, so incredibly true during this quarantine time and it helped me to refocus my thoughts and see this all in a different light. 

"The weekly Sabbath was intended to jog Israel's collective memory concerning God's sufficiency and supply in the past and his promise concerning the future. They were to remember his work of creation as well as his work of redemption."

"Sabbath keeping would set God's people apart as being so well taken care of by their God that they could take a day to rest. It would set them apart as a people who had something to look forward to: unending, all-encompassing rest in the presence of the one true God."

"In this way, they would be reminded of the better land God was preparing and the provision God was making for their rest. In this way, they would be regularly reminded that God would be faithful to preserve their inheritance, not merely in the Promised Land of Canaan, but in the ultimate promised land of the new heaven and the new earth, where they would experience ultimate and unending rest."

"Jesus made clear that the rest of God is not apprehended through our work but, through His. Our work now is to put our faith and trust in His work."

"Of course the greatest work Christ accomplished happened as he hung on a Roman cross. It didn't look very fruitful; it didn't look like he was subduing the earth; it didn't look like he was exercising dominion. It looked like his efforts were pointlesss, like he was being subdued, like the offspring of the Serpant had won. The One who had promised rest experienced on the cross, the greatest restlessness even known to man, the restlessness that you and I deserve to endure forever. There on the cross He cried out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" It was the sixth day of the week when Christ cried to from the cross, "it is finished". The work was done. On the cross, Jesus accomplished his most fruitful work, the salvation of all who believe; he subdued the earth so that it shook in response. By cancelling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands, nailing it to the cross, Jesus exercised dominion. Jesus was put into the tomb, and then there was a day of rest, a Sabbath. "Having worked himself to death, Jesus rested from his labors". Then came the first day of the week, the first day of the new creation, the day Jesus rose from the dead."

"We gather on The Lord's Day to remember creation and redemption as well as to anticipate the new creation. We are reminded that we are not yet at home with the Father; we're not yet walking with Him in the new garden where we will see him face-to-face. We experience a measure of rest as we are joined to Christ in His death and resurrection  but we know there is a better, fuller, final rest in our future. The reality of a greater rest to which this day is just a pointer, a reminder, an opportunity for reorientation."

I am choosing to rest in the certainty that God is faithful and that He has a purpose in this "quarantine life" that we're all navigating and I am choosing to stand firm on the foundation of knowing and believing that He loves me and He cares for me (and for you) and that we are promised rest from this weary world.