Answered prayers..

So most of you may think I'm ridiculously sappy but I have had the most incredible evening. I was laying in bed with a terrible headache and really upset stomach, just the beginnings of what has turned out to be the full fledged stomach bug:(. What could possibly have made it a good evening you ask... I got a phone call that I've prayed about for years now. Lamar got my number from another student who I taught at Jacksonville and called me tonight. I was sick so I didn't answer but I listened to the voicemail and immediately began to cry. His voicemail said, "Hey Jenny, this is one of your favorite students from Jacksonville... call me back.. I bet you can guess who it is". Headache, stomachache and all I called him back. Now my head hurts even more from crying! The Lord has blessed me SO much by allowing me a peek into my students' lives. My heart has been forever burdened for my Jacksonville kids and I pray for them so much. A couple Sundays ago I was in church flipping to the scripture and found a note from Terrell and immediately started to cry. God has used those students to teach me to never give up on people, to pour myself into them and get way too attached and involved because it is my job to make a difference and He will use me to do that. Lamar is doing wonderful. He's getting married in June to a lovely lady. He has a sweet little boy named Lamar Jr. We talked about some of my other students and just about how much I cared about them all. Lamar said he still talked about me a lot and knew that I was one of the only ones who cared. Thank you Lord for the blessings you've poured over Lamar and his family and thank you SO much for letting me catch up with him. I SO miss teaching at Jacksonville!

An apple for the teacher...

One of my old students emailed me on facebook tonight and it was SO sweet. I had asked about his grades and this was his response:
about my grades, well i have all A's except in one or two classes, but other then that there good. Oh.. and my GPA is last time i checked a 3.7, but all i know is that its not no lower then a 3.5, hasnt been since iv been in high school.And while i am talking about school and good grades, if u have not of made me do my homework when i had to, or study for my test when i had one, then i prabably would still be goofin off and not taking school seriousely. So i just also wanted to tell u thank u for getting on to me and making me do everything even thought i somtimes did not want to.
... a little background about this kid. School does NOT come easy for him, he literally works his tail off! He has matured so much since I met him a few years ago. We butted heads almost daily in the beginning. Slowly he came around and really wanted to learn. I taught him a few methods to help with his study skills and he amazed me over and over again with his hard work and determination. I'm so proud of him! When I go watch high school football games, he's the number one reason I'm there!

Happy 4 month Sweet Piper Jane & Muffins for Moms

Piper is 4 months old today. She is still just the sweetest little thing. Her favorite things to do right now are talk, pull her tongue out, spit and flip over:).


This morning was "Muffins for Moms" at Kindergarten. It was so much fun. I've got the cutest pictures of Andrew with some of his friends. There are four of them standing by each other with their arms around each other. As I was taking it I was thinking how we'll probably look back on it when he graduates. I would upload it but don't want to put pics of kiddos on the internet that I don't really know well. Maybe I can do some cute censoring:).
God has really burdened me for a couple of kiddos in Andrew's class. One of them is just unruly but he's dealing with a lot of yucky stuff at home. Then there's another one who Andrew talks about some. I noticed today that his mom didn't come to muffins for moms. I can't go into detail but have learned some really heart breaking things about him, also. I have some free time in my schedule and asked Andrew's teacher if it would be okay if I could come in and work with these two. She thought that would be a great idea. I can't share their names but please pray for them. My heart literally just breaks for these sweet babies.

Perfect lunch dates and my ministry..

Cameron is off every other Tuesday and gets to spend the day with Parker and Piper. Today we thought it would be fun if he and Parker came to eat lunch with Andrew and I. My mom came by and watched sweet little Piper for us. It was a lot of fun. Cam picked up some pizza and we all sat on one of the back tables and ate together. Parker was really excited to see Andrew and Andrew was SO excited for Parker to get to see where he spends his days. Afterwards, we went out to watch Andrew play with his friends at recess. It was so sweet! 

This is my 10th year to teach but my first to teach in an elementary school. I am really enjoying it. One reason is because I truly feel my job is my ministry, definitely a calling. God gives me such a love and burden for each of my students. I spent my first three years at Jacksonville High. I LOVED that place. I think of those students ALL of the time. I'm constantly trying to figure out how in the world to get a hold of McKinley, Lamar and Terrell (yes, I've tried myspace and facebook). My heart aches because I don't know how they are doing. The next three years, I taught in a behavioral hospital. I loved it, also. I believe God has gifted me with a love and passion for kids who have "issues". I have spent many nights in tears and prayer over my students. The last three years, I have taught in a Jr. High. I loved it so much. I LOVED my students. I hated it when they moved up to the high school. God gave me the most incredible opportunity to bring the "world" to my students through teaching about the kids in Uganda. Our Jr. High kids were on FIRE for those kids in Uganda, raising over $7000 to help build a school. I'm so proud of them and truly believed their lives were changed forever. I think they really got it and that's saying a lot for Jr. High kids. I am so thankful for each student that God has allowed me to spend time with. I'm so excited to be working in the elementary school to try to make a difference early on for these kids. God has blessed me so much throughout my career with my masters, National Boards and even a couple of teacher of the year awards but NOTHING compares to seeing that change in my students. A little fellow that I've been "mothering" for the past two years sent me a text tonight. He leaves for Job Corp in 2 weeks. I am SO proud of him and pray so much that he will stay the course. The Lord also gave me the opportunity to share Christ with this young man. I tease Cameron all the time that my goal is to change the world, one kiddo at a time:).