brighter

Back story: As the semester has progressed, so has the time I spend in elementary school classrooms. I go 3 times a week now for 3 hours each day, and as much as I adore each classroom, it is a lot to prepare for. Though I am only supposed to be assisting, I'm finding that most teachers are so desperate for help, that they will happily delegate all they possibly can short of handing me their job!

Well... as of late, it seems that one of my teachers in particular has had no time to teach (due to mandated projects), thus fully delegating that job to me the moment I walk through the door each week. (But hey, at least it's good practice right!?) I have attempted to be as prepared as possible whenever I visit that particular classroom and so far, things have worked out pretty well I must say.

So this week, I was planning to bring in boxes full of fall colored leaves. We were going to talk about fall and how leaves change, then practice classifying and sorting. I have to admit that I was getting pretty excited about this lesson... until a problem arose: many leaves that had failed to change colors and I had no time to hunt down the ones that had.

This is when the fabulous unexpected happened.

I get a call from my teacher 2 days before and she tells me that her class is taking a field trip, so she won't need until Monday. I was so relieved! Time to gather leaves and a free friday for the first time in months!

Then this morning when I woke up I realized something spectacular: apparently, this last little bit of rain combined with cooler nighttime temperatures was just what was needed. All the leaves around my neighborhood have suddenly and fully changed - almost overnight - and they are vibrant! As small a thing as it may be, it was a reminder that God knows what I need and when I need it, and is not above making leaves a little brighter for the enjoyment of kindergartners... and the girl who gets to teach them! :)