Tuesday, November 22, 2011

A Troubled Day ... to His Glory

Tuesdays in Homeroom are "Troubled Tuesdays." It's the day when the kids can spill out any of the things that are troubling them, we dump it all on the board, and then we pray about them coated in the trust that God knows our troubles intimately and cares about them. Today was no exception, and boy was it a day that would need to be bathed in prayer.

I usually arrive at school around 8:15. By about 8:20 today, I could tell things were setting up to be a pretty crummy day. By 8:55 it was even more definite. Several mean e-mails, two poor tests, and a lunch detention later, I was dropping with hunched shoulders into my chair and just about to pop in the headphones to escape when I heard a small voice behind me, "Miss Custer?"

It was one of my 8th grade girls. Amidst the craziness of the staff room, she came straight up to me, got really close, and asked in all seriousness if we could talk somewhere in private. My heart went straight into my throat, and I have to admit my first thought was, "Uh-oh, now what?" But I followed her out into the hallway and then into the privacy of an unused room, and that's when she opened up. She wanted prayer. She said some really nice things about trusting me and just being in a place right now where she was asking all kinds of questions about God - is he really there for her? Does he care? What are his intentions with her life? Can he be trusted? And then she asked again, "Will you pray for me?"

What a blessing to be able to approach the throne with her, not as a student but as my sister. I wasn't sure about the right words, but I prayed with and for her. And when she left to go back to class, I had trouble fighting back the tears. More than anything, I was completely humbled and frightened - humbled that she had allowed me that privilege, and frightened because I was reminded of the scary responsibility I have here to represent Jesus to these kids. The thought that played over and over in my head the rest of the day was this one: "If they're looking at us, who do they see us looking at?" I sincerely hope they see me gazing intently and forever into the face of my Savior!

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Think Seuss

BFA's music department was feeling especially ambitious this year and decided to put on our first-ever Musical. It was to be a joint venture of the High School and Middle School and include a live orchestra, directed by my friend, Jill Musick. The chosen play was Seussical, and it was an exciting day in the Middle School when our "young ones" nabbed 2 of the main parts. Over all, the cast included some 20 odd Middle Schoolers, 10 more worked on the crew and on the set-building team, and 1 was even in the orchestra. Even among the High Schoolers, I was thrilled to see many of my former students. And THEY ROCKED IT! I can't begin to describe how impressed I was with all of their performances. If I'd been wearing a button shirt, they would've all been on the floor. :-)

MC, representing the Middle School in the orchestra
The center bird is our 7th grader, AM.
I was so proud of my small group freshmen, HH and EE. EE played the General!
Another former student: BD as Horton the Elephant.
Cat in the Hat, Bird, and Jojo (AD, AM, and CC)

Sunday, November 13, 2011

11/11/11 at 11:11:11

My kids begged me to have a second of silence on Nov. 11 when we hit exactly 11:11 and 11 seconds. They're so funny!

Pictures from the AMAZING Fall Musical about to come.