Spring

Hello Spring!

We're showing off our flowerpots.

Now we can eat our flowerpot treats.

There are worms on my flower!

The "dirt" is really Oreos and chocolate pudding.

We want to "bee" all that God wants us to be.

Spring is in full force. As I patrol the playground on recess duty, I see this. I feel it. I smell it. (Okay, I could do without the pollen that makes me sneeze, but that’s part of spring, too.) Trees that stood like skeletons just last month are now fully clothed in bright green leaves. Flowers are growing. Grass is growing. The kids are growing.

Some of the children barely knew their numbers and the letters of the alphabet in August, and now they’re adding, reading books, and writing sentences. (And sometimes they even start those sentences with a capital letter and put a period at the end without being reminded!)

Academic growth is not the only thing we want to see, though, is it?

We want the kids to grow physically, emotionally, and spiritually, too.

All the children have memorized the Fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23. These are the character traits we want to exhibit in our lives. The kids can sing them and say them.  But it’s a lot harder to live them. 

So, we’re working on applying these “superpowers” (love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control) in our lives, always remembering that it is only by the power of God’s Holy Spirit that we can manifest these traits in our lives.

When I was in college, I had a sign in my room that read, “Please be patient. God isn’t finished with me yet.” We’re all a work in progress.  The kids are still growing, and sometimes it’s difficult for them to demonstrate things like patience and self-control. But I can see glimpses of these virtues beginning to blossom in the children, and one day, with God’s help, we’ll see their lives bearing the Fruit of the Spirit.