End of the year thoughts

When people asked me how my school year was going, I usually answered, "Challenging." It was the best word I could come up with. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't easy either. There were good times, lots of fun times, moments of laughter, times of frustration (okay, many times of frustration!), and many exhausting days! So as the year came to a close today, I feel a mixture of emotions:

• a sense of accomplishment for surviving!
•  gratefulness for the many people who have prayed me through the year, specifically for my wonderful mom who sent me an encouraging email every day with an inspirational quote and a loving reminder that she was praying :) 
• thankfulness for the time God gave me to get to know my 25 unique and precious students and for the chance to pour into their lives 
• sadness because my time with them is over 
• happiness for all the growth I've seen in them throughout the year and that they are indeed ready to move on to fourth grade 

I told the class some of the things I appreciate about them are their enthusiasm and how they are good friends to each other. It was neat to see them display that by clapping and cheering for each other as I handed out individual certificates of appreciation. I told them that  the hard and challenging times they have as a class can bring them closer together and make them better friends. And as I think back over the year, I realize that one of the reasons I am reluctant to let them go is because the challenges have brought us close together. But like I told them today, I am excited to see how uniquely God will use each of them. 

I read an article in the newspaper last week about a 30-some-year-old man who still writes letters to his third grade teacher and has written two or three times a year since third grade. I told my students about him, and said that if they write me, I'll write back, and who knows? Maybe we'll still be writing when they're 30 years old! :) And then one of them said, "You won't be alive when we're 30!" I sure will miss those one-liners!