New Beginnings

Earlier this summer, I said I would revisit the idea of this being the best summer ever.  I have to conclude that this has been a great summer, but not the best summer ever.  Last summer was better.

School started on Thursday.  Wow.  People tell you that your first year is crazy and busy and stressful, but I don't think I quite realized how crazy and busy and stressful it would be.  I can't even really think of how to describe the past two days.  I had this wonderful plan and felt organized and ready going into Thursday.  And then the kids showed up and everything crashed and burned.  The short version is that I simply do not have enough help to run my classroom.  Currently, I have seven students and two aides, which probably sounds like a lot, but students with autism need extensive amounts of one-on-one time.  My students are fairly high-functioning, which means that they are supposed to be going into their general education classrooms for part of the day.  Which means that I have seven kiddos running about six different directions throughout the day.  The aides that I do have are wonderful, but none of us can be everywhere at once.  I was told by my assistant principal that I would be getting another aide, but because of budget cuts, the special education director for the district did not approve one for me.  So somehow, we're going to made things work with what we have.  I already do not have a planning period, but this probably means that I will also never eat lunch.  I just have to keep reminding myself that this job is not about me, but about the kids.  If I need to make sacrifices so that they will get a good education, so be it.  I also have to remember that there are plenty of people who are just wishing that they had any job right now, and I get to do what I love (at least I think I'll love it when things calm down!).  I'm sure that God is using this time to make me more like Himself, so I am very grateful for that.

Tim is back in Norman and stayed with us last week.  I'm not sure how happy he is to be back, but we were definitely glad to have him here!  I love Norman, but I really miss my family sometimes, and Tim is like having a piece of "home" here.  Also, my best childhood friend (Carolyn) was in OKC for the past week and a half on business, so I got to see a lot of her. Here we are in Bricktown one night:

The Fenrick side of the family has had some exciting things happen in the past few weeks.  Adam and Melissa (Andrew's brother and sister-in-law) are back in town after spending a year in Japan.  And, Angie (Andrew's sister) is pregnant with their third kid.  Happy news.

Andrew had his last day of work at Paycom yesterday and starts seminary on Monday!  I am thrilled for him because he has never been excited about school before, and I know that he is really looking forward to this.  I think we are only paying about $40 for all of his school this semester, which is such a blessing.  The Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma is paying for all of his classes and $100 of his books.  Andrew will be taking ten hours of classes, which include Biblical Hermeneutics, Old Testament I, Applied Ministry, and Something Else ["I can't remember what the last one was called." -Andrew].  He is fairly sure that he will be driving school buses for a job while he goes to school.  Several other job opportunities seemed promising, but none of them have worked out, so thankfully the bus barn is literally right around the corner from us, pays $11+/hour, ALWAYS needs bus drivers, and Andrew's license is still valid. 

Life is crazy, but we are blessed.

In Christ alone,
Mary Rachel