I'm Alive Again!

I just thought I should update this thing to let all of you know that I am much better!!! Yesterday was my first full day back at school, and my kids and I had such a fun time together. I just enjoyed being with them again after missing almost 2 whole weeks of school! Here are some highlights and smiles from yesterday:

*First thing in the morning, one of my girls (the sweetest, most adorable girl ever and who missed me and prayed for me a lot while I was sick) was talking to me. Here is our conversation:

GIRL: "Miss Metzler!!!!! Are you going to stay all day today?"

ME: "Yes, I am going to try very hard to stay all day, but if I get too tired I will have to go home and rest. I don't want to leave though."

GIRL: "But Miss Metzler, if you get too tired you can just sleep here so that you can still be with us. That would be better."

ME: "You think I should sleep while all of you are in class?!"

GIRL (pauses to think): "Um...no. Um...maybe during recess? Yeah, during recess you can sleep so you can be with us all day."

*My kids get out of Spanish at 2:00 and then we have an hour left of school before it's time to go home. Yesterday I picked them up from Spanish and one of them said, "Miss Metzler, are you going to stay all day?" I told them that I was going to stay all day because we only had an hour left of school and I still had energy. All their faces lit up! We got back to class and they were working so hard and so quietly on their Spelling that I got an idea. I got out my candy jar and interrupted their work and told them that I was going to give them all a piece of "Yay! Miss Metzler stayed at school all day" candy. They got so excited and clapped and cheered and started screaming, "Yay Miss Metzler!!" "Miss Metzler is better!! Yay!!" So we had a moment of absolute craziness while we celebrated the fact that I was still at school and the day was almost done. :) I love them!

*One of the teachers at school has a son who was diagnosed with leukemia back at the end of February or beginning of March. She and her husband went back to the states with their son to get treatment for him and they will be there for at least another year making sure he gets the treatment and care that he needs. Well, on Friday we had a Jeans Day at school and raised money for this family to help with his medical expenses. Students were asked to bring $5.00 if they wore jeans and a different shirt (other than their uniform), but they could bring more if they wanted to. (I had kids bring in various amounts from $5.00 to $85.00!) Anyways...that's the background information you need for this story about yesterday. Yesterday, one of my kid's moms came up to me after school and handed me an envelope. She said it had money in it for this family and that she didn't want to send it to school with her son on Friday because it was too much money for him. I told her I'd get the money where it needed to go and she left. I looked in the envelope since it wasn't sealed shut...$500.00 was in there! Five one hundred dollar bills! I almost started crying when I saw the generosity this family has for another family in need. Wow! They are such a good example of the way that we should give...sacrificially and secretly as we see need.

*This same mom (as the story above) also told me about how much money her son had donated on his own. His parents told him that he could give as much money as he wanted but he had to work and earn the money. This family owns a pizza restaurant and their son works for them by folding the pizza boxes. They give him 1 peso for every box he makes. (He LOVES doing this, he'd do it even if they didn't pay him at all!) He told his parents he wanted to give 500 pesos and they told him that he could if he made 500 boxes. Well, he tried to do that but he only got up to 200 boxes, so he brought 200 pesos. I love the life lessons of working hard and earning money and being generous with that money that they are already teaching their son. Something I need to keep in mind for when I have kids someday.

*Just walking across campus yesterday afternoon brought a smile to my face that I could not get off my face. I probably looked a little strange walking across campus alone with a HUGE smile on my face, but I didn't care! I was HAPPY because I was at school in the afternoon and I knew I was going to make it all day and I still had plenty of energy to spare! It was SUCH a good feeling!!! What a blessing it was to feel so good yesterday!

Things you could pray for:

*The Estrella family. This is the family with the little boy who has leukemia. His name is Elias and he is only 6 years old and also has Down's Syndrome. He has 3 older sisters. The oldest two girls are in middle school and they stayed here. The younger one is in 3rd grade and she stayed here for awhile but just recently went to the states to be with her parents and brother because it was too hard on her to be away from them for so long. Just pray for Elias' health and that he would respond to treatment well, and also for the rest of the family as they are separated from each other during this hard time. (Right now Elias is doing very well, but they still need prayer.)

*My friend Jenny (the Art teacher at school) might have Dengue now, which is what I just had. She called me and asked me the symptoms...everything I mentioned she said, "uh-huh," so it sounds like she has it, but I'm praying she does not!

*Continued strength for me. I'm better, but still get tired quicker than I normally do. This is normal for people getting over dengue, so I'm not worried, just trying to make sure that I don't push myself too much too quickly.