It Was Worth It

So tonight I just completed my first year of being a catechist for religious education at my parish. For much of this school year, I have spent my Wednesday nights trying to keep a class of third graders under control and hopefully teaching them something about our faith. I will never forget one of the first classes when one of my students prayed for diamonds when I asked them to share intentions during our prayer time. I didn't know whether to laugh or throw my hands up and walk out of the room. But as the weeks went on, the kids began to show me so much beauty in their own faith. Words came out of that same little boy's mouth only weeks later that stunned me regarding Christ dying for us. It was like God was saying, "Give these kids a chance. They have a lot to teach you too."

As the year went on I did notice a transformation in all of us. They became more conscious of the needs of everyone around them. They started thinking of some really amazing questions about our faith... a lot of things I had to go home and double check on myself. And those questions sparked many long conversations between myself and Dan that I am so grateful we had. Those conversations have been some of the most beautiful moments in our marriage because I absolutely love that we can share so much with one another through our faith.

As things have gotten crazy at work and as spring started to fill the air for these third graders, everything seemed to be complete chaos the past few weeks. I had just about given up on trying to get through to them. And then came tonight... that last class. As a catechist, I can only hope that I taught them something this year. After a really loud and overly energized class tonight, one of the parents approached me to say thank you. And what she said left me with tears in my eyes. She said that her daughter has learned more this year than any other year. And more importantly, her daughter has been waking up Sundays and bringing their family back to Mass. Praise the Lord! That one conversation made the entire year completely worthwhile.

So even though lately I feel myself asking God Why??? an awful lot. Why are we still waiting for our child? I am seeing some of the ways He has moved my life in this time before baby. I never would have signed up to teach once we had a baby. I wouldn't have wanted to leave him/her more than the few days I have to work. But now that I have seen how much teaching has helped me to grow in my faith, my marriage, and even moved some of these kids... I know that no matter what comes up, teaching religious ed is COMPLETELY worth the sacrifice.

Just Magical

I know I am going to sound ridiculously cheesy describing it this way, but our school's first prom was absolutely magical. I now understand why parents cry at every major event in their child's life. I held back tears more than once on Friday. If you could have seen the students! Almost all of them came in dressed up, girls in dresses and guys in dress shirts and ties. It was just beautiful. They may not have completely understood this whole idea of a prom, but they did understand that they were a part of something special.

The day started with what you would typically expect on prom day...waiting for the girls to arrive :) Once the ladies made their entrance, boutonnieres were pinned on, corsages placed around wrists, and we were ready to go. The rest of the school lined the halls cheering on all of our high schoolers as they made their way to prom. Talk about a proud moment! I was not the only one with tears in my eyes. The rest of the day was spent taking pictures, eating some amazing food, dancing the afternoon away, and the crowning of our prom king and queen. 

Days like this remind me how much I absolutely love my job. The day wasn't about their disabilities or limitations. It was about enjoying the high school experience, about getting dressed up and feeling special, smiling from ear to ear, stuffing our faces with delicious food, and dancing like no one is watching. This experience gave me the chance to take a step back and look at what really is important in life. It's so easy to let all the paperwork consume me at work. At the end of the day, what matters is that I give my students the best version of my self every day. It is my job to be an advocate for them, push them to their fullest potential, and most importantly bring a smile to their faces every day. Knowing that the work we put into this prom gave our students a very special day just makes it all worthwhile. 

Unfortunately I can't share any pictures of my students, but trust me- they looked amazing and would bring a smile to your face instantly! The best I can do is a picture of the gym all decked out. By the way, this picture doesn't do it justice. It looked pretty amazing, for a gym at least.

Prom Countdown!

Yes, you read the title of this post correctly. We are hosting our first prom at my school this Friday for the high school students. For those who don't know, I work at a school made up of only special education classrooms. Our high school students have never had the opportunity to attend a high school dance, let alone prom. So this is kind of a big deal! And so, I end this simple post with a countdown of less than 3 days until our first annual prom! Woot!

And I leave you with a trip down memory lane with my lovely prom picture...

Hanging with my date, my close friend Tom. And yes, we were in the prom court...

Divine Mercy Sunday

Today, Dan and I decided to continue our new tradition of attending mass at St. John Cantius for Divine Mercy Sunday. Our close friends joined us for the Latin mass, and we got to witness about 30 or so kids receive their First Communion. The church was absolutely beautiful, and their choir was wonderful! One of the main reasons I wanted to go there today was that last year they had the relics of
St. Faustina on display, and I was hoping they would again today. And they did! I was thrilled! Since it was pretty chaotic in the church with the First Communion, I didn't get any pictures today, but here are a few Dan took last year.

  

In the middle, is a first class relic of St. Faustina. 
We are not sure but think it may have been a drop of her blood.


















These are additional relics from the house in which St. Faustina encountered the visions. Dan said he read that the medal he circled in red touched the actual image of Divine Mercy that she received from Jesus. Again, we're a little fuzzy on the details, but very cool nonetheless.

Later in the day, we attended a service at our home parish. Since we have a large Polish population at our parish, it was a bilingual service. It was pretty cool hearing parts of the Divine Mercy Chaplet prayed in Polish, since St. Faustina was Polish herself. Dan and I determined that the Polish language is crazy hard to read unless you have an idea of how to speak the language (which we do not). So as it turns out, today we have prayed in three languages: Latin, English, and Polish. Pretty impressive considering we only speak one of them :)