It’s the end of the year as we know it….

 And I feel fine! ;) haha

We are in the final countdown of the school year with seven student days left of school, but who’s counting?! Tonight we had our end of year Awana celebration and we celebrated Maddox finishing his third book! He has one more year and one more book to get the Timothy Award! He has already diligently worked on the written portion of the fourth book so he will memorize the verses next year and be ready to achieve his goal of earning the Timothy Award. All three cousins who are in AWANA got medals for the books they finished this year! I’m so proud of all of them!  We fit it a Carolina Core game last night and were able to (finally) celebrate the boys’ honor roll for 3rd quarter report cards with their “good grade donuts” from Krispy Kreme. We might be a little behind on the celebration but we are so incredibly proud of how hard our boys are working in school. Maddox also found out this week that he made a travel soccer team for next year that he tried out for which he is quite excited about. Zander’s tryouts are this upcoming week… stay tuned…

We also had end of grade testing this past week which made for a hard week for the test takers and the testing coordinator (me). One of my friends made us matching shirts that said “Houston, We’re ready for testing” (quite appropriate with my last name and job responsibilities). Maddox’s teacher did an experiment the day before testing to make their worries disappear. Check out Maddox’s surprise face! While our boys did an awesome job on their end of grade testing, I really loved the letter that Maddox’s teacher gave to the kids on the night before testing began. I pray that they always know that their identity and worth is found in Christ and not in specific grades or scores. I am so thankful for how well rounded our boys are and for the young men they are becoming. Finally (for this post), I included a card from one of the families at our school. Since this blog is where I document our lives so the boys will have these posts to reference with their families one day, I really try to “keep it real”.  This year has held a lot of uncertainty with my job. I’ve been in public education for 21 years and it is becoming more challenging each year to stay in the teaching field. Due to decreased funding and our district’s mismanagement of funds, my position was cut for this upcoming year. My principal (who thinks I do a great deal for our school) was able to find a position within our building that I could fulfill this upcoming year while also still completing tasks within my former job title. Basically it will be more work for the same pay and I will officially be doing the job of 3.5 people (who used to be paid to do all these things). We will take it one day at a time and I’m so thankful I can finish out Maddox’s fifth grade year with him at the same school. I don’t know what the future holds as my limited plans had me retiring from this school one day. I know God has a purpose for this upcoming year and what happens next. I am trusting in his providence and provision. This sweet family’s letter below reminded me that I do make an impact daily and I pray I continue to see my purpose where God has me.