Dear Reader:

Last week, about mid-week, I sent Mandy a text simply asking how the week was going and how the grandchildren were doing….I got back three words. “I am exhausted!”

Ah…that brought back memories. When Easter arrives late…teachers pay the price. Spring fever becomes epidemic, there are lots of extra-curricular activities going on….especially for special areas with art contests , plays, recitals, competitions, etc.

When Mandy called back Friday…she was so relieved the school week was over. It turned out to be Teacher Appreciation Week so she said that all the nice things the PTA and others did for them definitely helped tired teachers and administrators keep plugging away until Spring Vacation and Easter.

A thought formed in my head that surely teachers have been just as tired and exhausted, from the very beginning, as they continue to be now. There are just too many requirements for a limited amount of time in a school day to accomplish. Poor teachers always feel like they are lagging behind in all their check-off lists.

(One bit of information I can pass along, coming from a retired teacher, is that a teacher will never be finished as long as he/she teaches…The teacher will simply pass the baton down to their replacement one day, and another will take up the endless check-off requirements for another year. A never-ending cycle.)

When I came across this humorous anecdote about the trials and tribulations of teaching…even with Jesus as the Teacher…I had to laugh. Enjoy!

 THE LESSON

Then Jesus took his disciples up to the mountain and gathering them around him, he taught them, saying:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are they that mourn. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are they that thirst for justice. Blessed are you when persecuted. Blessed are you when you suffer. Be glad and rejoice for your reward is great in heaven.”

Then Simon Peter said: “Do we have to write this down?”

And Andrew said: “Are we supposed to know this?”

And James said: “Will we have a test on this?”

And Phillip said: “I don’t have any paper!”

And Bartholomew said: “Do we have to turn this in?”

And John said: “The other disciples didn’t have to learn this!”

And Matthew said: “Can I go to the boys’ room?”

And Judas said: “What does this have to do with real life?”

Then one of the Pharisees who was present asked to see Jesus’ lesson plan and inquired of Jesus: “Where are your anticipatory set and objectives in the cognitive domain?”

And Jesus wept.

…………………………..

So until tomorrow….Thank a teacher for demonstrating the virtues of patience…what would we do without them?

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*These days I love ‘teaching’ my grandchildren. I picked Eva Cate up yesterday afternoon and we came back to “work” in the garden…specifically the new 2017 Fairy Garden. We cleaned out the old wheelbarrow, with dirt filled with old roots and debris, put fresh sod in, added foliage for beauty, cleaned up old fairy items that had been buried in the dirt, and selected a few new fairies to call the wheelbarrow home.

*Honey had made  Eva Cate some fairy mushrooms for the new garden. So much fun!