In Which the Silence is Broken

oh wow, long pause...

I seem to be in the habit of taking long pauses and habitual breaks from blogging (ugh, still hate that word so much i hate whomever came up with it).  

So during my three month absence, what have I been up to?

I worked very hard. Despite the fact that I love my job, I sometimes also really hate it. The end of last year got very muddy and yucky in the professional department of my life. Things were confusing and downright depressing. The week before Christmas saw a possible redundancy. Need I say more? Yeah, not so great on top of other stressful things that happened at work to dampen the holiday cheer.

But thankfully, thankfully...Christmas holidays meant a trip away. Two weeks out of my life to forget about my problems...bliss. I went to Australia to see my parents (they happen to have done this crazy thing last year where they moved to another country - yeah, crazy). 

But a good excuse to travel right?

A little bit of Christmas magic

That's right friends - 46 degrees. Living on the edge.

High tea with a view.

Oh my goodness, this cutie!!

???

Postcard-worthy

Koala!!!! In the wild ahhh!!!

Right. Definitely a good excuse to travel. 

Since I've been back, it's more work - gosh my life sounds boring - and also some other stuff that is still brewing in my mind and heart. Maybe I will share some of that with you later. Maybe not. For now though...

hi.

Treasure Box

Measure of Love

I am an early childhood teacher. I love my job but it's the kind of job where you give a lot. You give a lot of time and attention and instruction and care and love. Most of all, you give love. It's the number one thing that makes a good teacher great - the kind that children remember forever. And in order to be one of those, you need to give overflowing, abundant love - basically, you give of yourself. 

I find that hard. It takes a lot of energy to give of myself freely and continually. I love it, don't get me wrong, but it's tiring. Draining.

Tonight is another in a string of late nights for me. I'm so tired and this blogging thing is getting quite tricky to stay on top of. So instead of putting my depleted energies into creating the perfect post tonight, I'm just going to put it out there that real life is messy and at the end of the day, I've got to head straight back to the source to get a fresh dose of energy and love in order to give more. That's what I'll be doing tonight - seeking and consulting with my 'source' and then getting some much needed sleep so that I can get up in the morning ready to give of myself again with an abundant measure of love.  

The Wednesday That Was

5:45  ::  Alarm goes off. Press snooze.

6:50  ::  Get up.

7:20  ::  Out the door.

7:40  ::  Car battery dies. Feel slightly panicked.

7:50  ::  Ask a taxi driver if he's got jumper leads. Thank God -  he does!

8:15  ::  Ahh, late for work.

8:35  ::  Make blue playdough.

9:45  ::  Morning tea break.

10:20  ::  Rearrange outdoor environment.

11:30  ::  Lunch.

12:20  ::  Write class update in a blissfully quiet room of sleeping children.  Love it!

1:30  ::  Trying to put a baby to sleep when they really want to play is pointless.  Just saying.

2:10  ::  Outside again. Why can't the weather make its mind up about whether or not to rain.

2:30  ::  Children's afternoon tea - hmm, smoothies.

2:50  ::  My afternoon break - hmm, coffee!

3:30  ::  General craziness ensues.

4:10  ::  Pack down outside.

4:30  ::  Start watching the clock. Why does it seem to slow down?

5:00  ::  Home time!

5:20  ::  Leave work.

5:45  ::  Supermarket run.

6:15  ::  Home at last.

7:00  ::  Dinner.

8:30  ::  What am I going to write tonight??

8:50  ::  Publish

Magical

Her little hands reach upward and I pick her up. She tightens her arms around my neck and I squeeze back. She pulls herself away and gives a quiet but confident, "I luf you". It's the loveliest hug ever. I love her too. Childhood is magical and she exuberates everything that is beautiful about being completely child-like. She bestows her gift of love so genuinely and freely and I feel unbelievably privileged...

Imagine how God must feel when we love him with abandon. With such simple, pure, captivating love. I love my job. ♥