The sower and the grower

It is actually now May 5th. I am lying on my couch at 2 a.m., sick and sleepless. Not exactly my favorite combination, but it could be a lot worse. The school year is winding to a close and I have stopped and pondered about how 10 months with my kiddos this year is almost over. It didn't feel like it was flying, but it did. I always have heard adults say times always flies by, but when I was younger it never felt that way. Now I understand. I have so much I want to get done, so much I should get done, but not enough time to fit it all in. I feel like God has challenged me this spring with being on the look out for and taking every opportunity he presents me with to love others, share with them and learn from them. Not a small task I have discovered. I feel so small much of the time and wonder how I, Brandi, with all my flaws and flesh can possibly really make much of a difference for God's kingdom. Then he is faithful and reminds me. I don't know everything (even though I sometimes think/act like I do) and I can't always see the work within the heart. I have two pots with two different kinds of seed on my windowsill in my kitchen. They are in the same kind of dirt, the same sunlight, been given the same fertilizer and same water, yet after 3 or 4 days one pot had sprouted while the other hadn't. I kept watering them, left them both in the sun and after a few more days, the sprouts in the one pot were really taking off, but nothing of the other. I finally started to try to think about if I could actually remember putting seeds in the pot or if I had just thought I had. So I looked at the seed packet and it was opened so there were seeds in there. I stopped questioning my sanity and decided to look at the info for the two kinds of seed. One was to sprout within 4 or 5 days while the other was to take 8 days to two weeks. Even though I had been faithful in giving them both what they needed, one just wasn't ready yet. I now have two pots with sprouts, some much taller than the other, but nevertheless there is growth in both. I feel like this fits so much with God's work. Even though they may be in the same conditions, no two hearts are exactly the same or have had the exact same experience. We know what we are doing for people, but we don't always know what God is doing or at what pace he is doing it below the surface. If I had stopped taking care of the seeds that hadn't sprouted, they never would have sprouted.
So when the task at hand feels big, ll I need to do is love him and faithfully follow Jesus. That is all he asks me for and all he expects from me. When I do that, what does God do in his good timing? He let's a little miracle sprout.
Praise Him. Even though his ways may seem trying to me sometimes, they are actually refining and good for me. Praise him for his love and goodness to us. Praise him that he, unfathomably, loves us. Praise him, that even though we take more from him, he doesn't deny us or give up on us. Praise him for he is generous.

What little boys are made of...

We all know kids love animals. It just seems that I happen to get to have all the animal experiences with the kids at my school. Last year my students found a nest of rabbits, so of course I had to track down all the children who were holding them expecting to take them home and then check their pockets where some more bunnies just happened to appear. The year before that my kids found a baby bird and thoroughly convinced themselves their teacher would let them keep it as a classroom pet. Needless to say that didn't happen. So, dealing with students and animals, no problem for me, I have done it before. Or so I thought.

Today was an early release day at work, so my kids who stay after school were filing into their seats in the auditorium. While waiting for a few stragglers, one of my very, and I mean very, shall I say ornery kids gave me an experience I wasn't expecting and he wasn't even trying to cause problems. He was just being a little boy.

Boy: Miss Borders, can I show you something?
Me: Ummmmm.......maybe.
Boy: Please! I promise it's dead.
Me: You what!?
Boy: It's already dead.

Boy then proceeds to pull his hand out of his bag and opens it up to reveal a dead little snake wound up in his hand. Yuck and double yuck. He had been carrying it in his pockets and bag all day long. So next time you decide to be lazy and not wash your hands, realize you don't know what all your hands have been touching.

My weekend "flu" by

My father had his 56th birthday this past Tuesday (can my parents really be getting that old?!). I decided to go visit him and make him dinner. To make it even better, my mei mei (little sister), aka Qiu Lei, was able to come back with me and we were going to prepare a chinese dinner. Double bonus: I get to share awesome food and an awesome friend with my family and I get to spend some extra time before she graduates. The weekend started out well: B.B.Q for lunch, a trip to hastings for some afternoon fun and then off to do grocery shopping. Evan was finishing up an awesome characature (how do yo spell this word?) Qiu Lei and I were in the kitchen and all of a sudden I felt awful, but nothing hurt. I started feeling worse and worse. Finally, it happened. A little reversal in the lunch process and I have never been so turned off by ribs in my life. It got worse and worse. You would have thought I ate at Fuzzy's. :) I was completely miserable. We were supposed to come back Saturday night, but Evan and Qiu Lei decided we should stay. So...let me just take a moment to say how wonderful these two are. Our friend was getting baptized and we were so excited to go and they had plans for Sunday that they wanted to do. They decided to stay the night Saturday and stay longer Sunday, missing church and the baptism, because I felt bad. I felt so bad for them, but not once did they even act really bummed or pout or anything about having their plans rearranged. To top it off, they stayed up with me and kept checking on me to see how I felt and if I needed anything. My heart was overflowing with love for them and I was so humbled by their humility and serving hearts. So, my weekend wasn't what I was expecting at all, but I got to see my dad, grandma and was reminded just how amazing my mei mei and fiance are.

Ode to too much pop

44 oz of pop in my cup,
44 oz of pop,
Empty my bladder and fill it back up,
32 oz of pop in my cup.

32 oz of pop in my cup,
32 oz of pop,
I'm d.p.-ed out and getting wired up,
28 oz of pop in my cup.

28 oz of pop in my cup,
28 oz of pop,
Will be there in the morning when I wake up,
Because I put way too much pop in my cup.

Chips and Chats

I have concluded that skyping with my best friend is to my heart what fresh out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies are to my tummy. I love my whorts.....bet you don't hear that too often. :)

Horny and more (now that I have you intrigued, you will read!)

I think we all are always in need of a laugh; and well we know that kids seem to pull out some of the best lines, so try this one! My co-worker and I were supervising our kids in the cafeteria while they were eating. She walked by a table of our students and heard one of our normally well-behaved kids say, "I'm not horny!" After the shock of hearing a fifth grader say that, she proceeded with the protocol lecture of what is and isn't appropriate to talk about at school and as a fifth grader. As she halfway through her lecture, she notices the look of absolute bewilderment on his face. She then decides to ask him why he was saying that phrase, to which he replied, "They told me I look like I have horns."

Want another one? Last year, during reading time, one of my girls had her hand raised. She was reading a book about plankton and other microscopic creatures. She didn't understand the paragraph or know all the words. I pronounced phytoplankton for her and she proceeded to read the rest of the paragraph out loud to me. Everything was fine until she got to the parenthesis which said (tiny sea organisms). You can only imagine my shock when what should come out of her sweet mouth but, "tiny sea orgasms." Yes, that is what she said. If you don't get it reread it to make sure you got it right. To my horror, she continued on to read, "These tiny little orgasms....." I finally was able to compose a sentence after using all my energy not to show a terrified look on my face and alarm her. I told her the word was organism, and she of course had one more slip, but after that it was smooth sailing. My praise in both of these situations is that neither one of these two precious children had any clue what they were saying. Praise the lord they still have innocence.

Family and firsts

I went home for a quick trip to see my family this weekend. I went with my mom and grandma to see my cousin's high school basketball game. It was so much fun to watch the social dynamics of high school and junior high. Why walking in and out of a gym 20 times in one evening is so appealing I don't know, but I'm sure I did it too. I also had another first this weekend. I sold my dad's motorcycle. Yep...me, the girl who knows nothing about it! My dad wanted to sell it and told me he'd pay me if I put it on ebay and took care of all of it for him so I said sure. I didn't think anyone would buy it in the next couple weeks. Sure enough though, about 5 days into the listing a guy from said he was interested and wanted to drive up to take a look. I made the appointment and then my dad could make it so he asked me to meet the guy and show him the bike. I showed it to him, but the key wouldn't work.....probably because I brought the spare car key by mistake. In case you didn't know, a motorcycle key is very small. When I brought him the right key he fired it up and looked it over and said he'd take it and he didn't even haggle over the price! Maybe I found a new calling.....but highly unlikely.