20 days left

20 days  . . . 20 days until the end.  My head knows that I will see most of them again but my heart is having a hard time with this reality.  This has been one of the hardest years of my teaching career. It ranks right up there with my first year of teaching when I had just moved 10,000 miles away to Central Asia, had NO idea what I was doing, was the only kindergarten teacher, and was also going through culture shock.  Yep it has been a doozy of a year, but when I look back it has been filled with some of my favorite moments. 

This year I have learned to laugh.  In the middle of the  hard (if you don’t know about the hard this year- take my word for it – it was hard)  God graciously and pointedly gave me moments to laugh, laugh at myself, laugh at funny things my sweet kiddos said and most of all to laugh WITH them.  This year we have learned and come so far  - all of us – and the sound that echoes in my head and heart is the laughter.  What a delightful thing to sit together and laugh!  It is not earth shattering but it does take time to sit and notice and sit and laugh.  I have no regrets about the time it took.  It was good for my heart and for theirs. 

So for the next 20 days, I am going to take the time to laugh and soak up every little moment and relish every bit of it.