When you soap a mommy's windows...

(with sincere apologies to the author of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie")
When you soap a mommy's windows, she'll head outside with a squeegee and bucket.
When she heads outside, she'll see that the living room window really can come apart.
When she takes the window apart, she'll see that the window sill is really, really dirty.
When she climbs up on the couch to vacuum the window sill, she'll absentmindedly set the vacuum down on the couch.
When she sets the vacuum on the (new) couch, it will rip/burn a hole in the cushion.

So, don't soap windows.  Who knows what havoc you're wreaking in some poor person's house?  

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

Won't you join me in a refrain of that song?  I love everything about back-to-school.  Honestly, my kids have reached their limit in getting along and playing nicely.  They are ready to be back in their routine and see the friends they haven't seen much over the summer.  School supplies are almost ready to go, schedules have been studied and scrutinized, outfits have been paired and re-paired, and a billion hairstyles have been tried out.  I think they're ready!

I'm ready too.  I'm ready to see my coworkers, to plan my lessons, to pick some songs my choirs will like, to hang posters and cheesy puns.  ("I bought this violin Vivaldi money I made" is my favorite!)  I'm ready to see how much my students have grown over the summer, and ready to tackle my Class of '15's junior year.  Fundraising, concessions, homecoming, prom! 

So why is my underlying anxiety ramping up?  The week before and the first week of school I can be an anxious wreck.  Something about it just makes me squirrelly.  After the first week or so, things level out and I feel so much better.  I have to remember that each day is JUST ONE DAY, and that God will give me the strength for whatever each day brings.  I could ask for Friday's strength today, but if God gave it to me, I'd use it all today and have nothing on Friday when I need it.  Does that make sense?  God in His wisdom gives us what we need only when we need it, not necessarily when we ask for it.

So if you're a student or a teacher or parent this week, and you're dealing with feelings of being overwhelmed, anxious, fearful, I'm totally identifying with you.  And praying for you.  Would you do the same for me?