Things I find humorous from my class today:
1. 5th grade boy leans against back pack cubbies, drinking from a thermos and says, “I’m just taking a coffee break.” (not drinking coffee)
2. 5th grade boy insisting on wearing his back pack all day long. Nothing inside.
3. 5th grade boys coming in from recess with leaves on their cheeks like tribal paint.
4. I made students trade me their shoe for a pencil to borrow during a test. After receiving back my pencil, two boys decided to hop all the way to the front of the class to retrieve their shoes.
As you can see, the boys in my class are characters. I mean there are 17 of them.

“And they lived happily ever after.  The end.”  Mother gently closes the story.  She brushes the hair from Daughter’s forehead, leaves a kiss, and slides off the bed.  “What about my light?”  Daughter shoots up hugging the blankets around her as she gives Mother a pathetic look.  Mother sighs, reaches for the little Mickey Mouse light and plugs it in the wall.  She can’t help but smile at her daughter whose fears seem to melt away at Mickey’s gleaming face.  Mother tightly wraps Daughter in cotton sheets and quietly exits the room. 

It makes sense for a child to want some form of light at night so they won’t have to enter the world of darkness, but what about adults?  When to doors are closed from the outside world, can adults secretly plug in their lights to keep away the ghosts, boogey man, and terribles that linger in the night?  Is it okay for adults to be afraid of the night or is it time to throw away the Mickey Mouse light and grow up? 

I think it’s safe to say not many adults will admit that they are afraid of the night due to darkness, but I have to admit, I find myself, at 24, not enjoying that moment right before I fall asleep.  Not for the darkness, but for the thoughts that enter my mind. 

The moment where I turn off the light and let my head hit the pillow is the time when all my worst thoughts flood the main hall of my brain.  They leave their dungeons and dark corridors for the main meeting area.  Thoughts of failure, all I need to do, my future, my doubts, etc.  All come out just after my light goes out.  Why? 

This is the thought I could come up with:  a break. 

Many of our lives today cause us to move nonstop and we never have time to sit and reflect on our day to day lives.  I don’t know about you, but my profession of teaching has me constantly moving as well as my brain.  When I wake up in the morning, I begin thinking of my schedule for the day and possible activities to do, incase lessons don’t go as long as they should.  I make lists of responses to sassy students and words of wisdom to problems and arguments I will have to help out or solve.  I plan times when I can actually stop and take a drink of water and then I also start thinking of what can possibly get done after school.  When I do find time to just stop, my brain literally shuts off and deals with the present to relax.  It isn’t until the night, when I have to try and stop my thoughts, when all the terribles come and rear their ugly heads.  I mean, when do you think I typed this entry?  Sure it may say a 7AM or 3 in the afternoon, but I typed this at night, when I couldn’t sleep for fear that those thoughts would come rushing into my head. 

On nights where I really dread the night, I don’t pull out some dusty old night light and plug it in; I pull out a very old book, but a gooder none the less.  I flip through and find some passages that will comfort me.  “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105)  This is my adult night light, God’s Word.  Not only does the Bible spell it out for me that God is my night light, but it also gives me comfort from all the terribles that come in the night.  I know that God has a plan for me, so I don’t need to fear my future and God has forgiven the sins I have committed as well as future ones to come, so I don’t have to worry about mistakes and failures. 

One problem.

I’m human and I forget and sometimes I’m stubborn and just want to fester in my terribles instead of call on God to show me the light.  It happens, but it’s just good to know that even as an adult, I don’t need to fear the night. <3e

Due to 2012 coming to a close in a day, I have decided to merge my 366 photos tumblr and my two sparrows sold for a penny tumbler together.  I loved both, but did not need both.  I hope to still show the purpose of both of these two tumblrs through the entries I will post.