Final Hours as a Pinares Teacher

It is now Wednesday, June 20th, 3pm. I have two hours left on the clock as a Pinares teacher. I'm sitting in the shell of what used to be my classroom...I can't call it mine anymore, anything I had added to it is gone, taken down...I know that the people who I have gotten to know, the lives that have influenced me here will not be so easily taken down, they will be with me always. It reminds me of when I first arrived somehow. I had come into a room without realizing how much it would mean to me, how the students would teach me, how what would happen there would shape who I was. Now I leave it with a feeling that the next step, wherever the Lord takes me will also shape me.

I thank the Lord that He is with me. I don't think I could just pack up a life without knowing He was with me. That with Him, who is my life, I can go anywhere knowing that He goes before me. That doesn't make leaving any easier, but it keeps me steady. So I shall take action, I shall pray for the one that comes after me, that teacher that will influence those students whom I have grown to love so dearly...I will pray that that teacher will understand their role as a mentor, a friend, a guide, an example of who to be in Christ, that they will listen to the Lord's gentle whisper, that they will give consistent discipline that shows their love, that they will open their arms to accept all that come into their view...I will pray that they learn as I have that time is precious and that what the Lord gives us is a chance to invest that time into His little ones...what a beautiful gift...may we all accept it with honour.