blurb edition || tidbits

Fact of the day: There's only one month of summer left before school.

I know, I know. You didn't want to hear it and now you're getting all fired up. Well, hate to break it to you but some of you guys have even less than a month before school starts. Gosh darn it. Don't show up at my door with an ax, please. I will soil my trousers. Not a good image. Quick, erase that out of your mind while it's still fresh. What can I say? I only speak the truth. Anybody else want school to start already? Anyone? No? No takers? Okay, that's fine. Yeah, I'll just.. sit over there in the corner... by myself. Come join me when you're ready.

I swear, I'll be a loner for the rest of my life.

Do I sincerely want school to start already? Eh, sort of. Will I be taking that back once I'm a few weeks in? Uh, yes. Will I be crying on the floor in a fetal position, begging for summer to come quickly by the end of the first month? Heck yeah. Then, why in grim's name do I want school to start already? Let's just say summer has been chill around these parts. I mean chill as in eerily quiet. Maybe a little bit too chill for a girl who needs a healthy dose of busy in her life and is slowly going stir-crazy. What exactly have I been doing?

Well, for starters, I can drive now. Whoa now, sit back down. Don't be spitting up at the screen. I know what you're thinking, "YOU'RE HOW OLD AND YOU JUST LEARNED TO DRIVE?!!1111111" Hm. As if all my wonderful friends haven't been throwing that lovely bit in my face, but YES. I JUST LEARNED. DEAL WITH IT. It's so much fun. I've been craving to go out and drive around my neighborhood at (not-so) whopping speeds.

My dad, in fact, promptly pulled out our street the other day, flashed me a toothy grin and said, "Hey look, I'm Ariel. I drive ten miles per hour in a fifteen miles per hour zone. Look at me! I'm not speeding!"

In translation, I'm a noob. I would've punched him. But then, you know what they say, it only hurts if it's true. Meh.

On a more serious note, I've been thinking a lot about how to teach the little precious kiddies at church. I don't want any of it to get in between my priorities as a student but at the same time, I want to invest my energy into making time for these little ones.

They're such a joy to teach and it seems the more I spend time with them and invest my energy into getting to know each one, the more I learn about myself. Interacting with children really stretches you in such ways. I read two articles recently, one about parenting and the other about kids in Sunday school. The first was called "Should I Make My Child Apologize?" It addresses the fear that some parents have in breeding their little ones to be liars by making them apologize for something they did wrong but did not fully understand why it was so. Wow, I thought, parents have to deal with issues like this? It had really never crossed my mind up til that point. The verdict? 

"Don't let the fear of raising a liar keep you from training your children in the liturgy of repentance." 

I'm not a parent, but I couldn't agree more. It made me realize two things: First, raising a child is not all rainbows and butterflies, that's for sure. They are the freaking future of this country. I was suddenly very relieved that motherhood lay far, far away. The second thing I realized was that parents have such important roles. Even with my limited experience teaching these kids, I have quickly come to realize that no matter how much I enforce certain rules in the classroom, if the parents do not cooperate with me or uphold similar standards inside their home, my endeavors are severely limited. Of course, that is not to say I shouldn't continue teaching them to the best of my ability, but parents have the biggest role in a child's life. 

The second article I read was titled, "I Wonder If Sunday School is Destroying Our Kids." Man, it really opened my eyes. As a teacher who's had her fair share of sitting in on Sunday School classes and teaching the class, I was utterly shaken by what the article had to say. In short, it breaks apart a reason why many kids end up rejecting their faith even after being brought up in church while they were still young. No doubt as children, we were often taught to be more like Abraham because he was faithful and that God made him the father of a nation or Joseph because he was a "good little boy, unlike his bad brothers and God made him Prime Minister." Holy barnacles, but we've missed the point of the gospel. What is the point of the gospel?

"The wonder of the gospel is not the love of the beautiful; it's when Beauty kisses the Beast."

We teach the wonder of the gospel. How God loves us despite our shortcomings. How He loves us even before we are good. We teach that "the storyline of the Bible is God's Search and Rescue mission to find the dying Beast and kiss him into joyous life."

In short, the article(s) really changed my perspective on the way I approach my lessons for these kids. Time to start implementing these tidbits. 

Well, I'm off to see the wizard aka the fridge and get some ice cream. Vanilla bean topped with crushed mint Milano cookies are to die for. My soul appreciates good food. My food baby says otherwise. Have a happy Monday! I'll be seeing ya. xo.