Of Course!

Today my class celebrated my 1/2 birthday (we have a party any time we can think of a reason to at my school), and two students gave me the following as soon as they walked in the door:

One said, "Happy 1/2 Birthday, Miss Cunningham! We made you a campsite!".

Of course you did!

This might be my favorite student gift I've received. Hidden beneath the tent is another paper person sleeping on a paper sleeping bag. Another message inside reads "Happy 1/2 Birthday".

My students make me smile. A lot! And I hope my paper campsite made you smile, too. :)

Adventures in Dogsitting

This week I've been dogsitting at my mom's house. Let me be honest - I am not a fan of dogs; and unfortunately, my mom's dachshunds don't do anything to persuade me otherwise. In fact, they probably heighten my feelings a bit.

Brownie and Xander are hyperactive, licking machines. Brownie has no boundaries and bounces like a pogo stick, while Xander has no interest in obeying humans whatsoever.

Despite that, we've had a good week, and I even got a fun picture of them below. On Sunday we had snow!!! Leaving church was like entering a winter wonderland!

Look at those sad faces...I'm so mean to leave them in the snow so I can take a picture.

A fire was burning for a large part of the weekend - SO nice. Brownie liked to sit and stare into the flames. A good use of time, Brownie. Well done.

Happy winter! :)

Reason #387 Why I Love My Job

Earlier this morning, I had the following (paraphrased) conversation with two of my 3rd grade students. We'll call the girl student "G" and the boy student "B".

G: Miss Cunningham, B is staring at me from across the room and I can't concentrate on my math facts.

[I look over and see B staring pointedly in that general direction]

Me: Okay, B - come here, please. [B comes obediently] B, what is going on?

B: [Deep breath]...Well, yesterday when you let us practice our math facts with these math cards, I didn't know we could keep them until you told us we could later, so I put them back in your box...I had named mine Kimosabe, and so when you said we could keep them I went to go get them and they weren't there so I had to get some different ones...I figured out G had them and I really want Kimosabe back. So I'm staring at her.

[Thoughts running through my mind...You named your math flash cards Kimosabe? That's awesome!...Seriously. That's awesome.]

Me: Okay, B - are you going to be okay with the cards you ended up with?

B: Yes.

Me: You're sure?

B: Yes.

Me: Then will you stop staring at G while she works? You're kind of creeping her out.

B: Yes.

Me: Thank you.

[Children scamper off, and my day...Has. Been. Made.]

Treasure

Happy New Year! It's hard to believe it's 2011...it feels like just last week it was 2010. [insert pity laugh here]

So. Typically, along with a new year comes resolutions. Grand ideas and goals to strive after in the year looming ahead. I'll be honest - when I've made New Year's resolutions in the past, they don't last for long. Usually they involve goals related to physical health. And usually, they're out the window in a matter of weeks.

This year, Cousin Becca and I decided to take a different approach. After reading a book called "Shopping for Time" by Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters (who are writers for a blog I LOVE), we decided to pray and think through some more specific, attainable, meaningful goals for the year to come. Mahaney suggests making a list of biblical priorities first, and then listing more specific ways we'd like to see growth in those areas. Knowing that it's by the grace of God alone we can accomplish these things (and understanding that if we fail in an area, God doesn't love us any less - if we succeed, it doesn't make Him love us more), we - in typical Cunningham fashion - began making a list. It is not yet color-coded, so don't make fun. :)

Here are a few desires/priorities I listed for myself:

*PRAY - this is a recurring theme throughout my list for 2011.

*humility/confession - I'm asking the Lord to work on my pride this year, knowing that in sharing struggles and confessing sin, I'm pointing others to and reminding myself of my need for a Savior.

*walk at least once a week (don't laugh - it's more than I currently do!)

*evaluate my commitments and see what I need to drop/change

*go to bed at a reasonable hour

There are many more, but I won't bore you with the details. Moving on...

This morning, my pastor gave a timely message about resolutions and goals. This is really what I wanted to share, because it perfectly complimented what Becca and I had done the night before. Here's the gist of what he said:

Goals are not a bad thing, but CHECK YOUR HEART. This is an important reminder that I too often forget. Jesus is after our hearts, not our behavior, and if we're making goals for the sake of proving our righteousness, we need to rethink what we're doing. All is rubbish compared to knowing Christ, and I need to remember that He is my treasure. I don't DO these things to gain favor in the Lord's sight. That's the whole point of the gospel. All our deeds - no matter how "righteous" they may seem - are as filthy rags to the Lord. That's why we need Jesus! Only His perfect life and sacrifice on the cross make us righteous in His sight. When our faith is in Him, He becomes our righteousness. We don't obey to find favor, we obey because we've been accepted by a holy God - not by any merit of our own, but because of Christ alone.

As believers, every act of obedience is out of the overflow of our hearts and because of the work of the Holy Spirit in us. The goals I set shouldn't be the point - Christ should be the point. He is my ultimate treasure.

Pray for me, friends.