31 Weeks

The past week has been incredibly busy, but a good kind of busy. The talent show went really well. I was really proud of all the students who had the courage to perform in front of their peers. Some of my students told me the next day, "You did SO good last night, Mrs. Sherrod. I didn't know you could sing like that!" Several people complimented me on my song, so I think it's safe to say it went well. It was the first time I sang a solo in quite some time (over a year), but I felt better about that song than any other I've done before. It was all God though...I did a ton of praying beforehand.

I didn't get much rest this weekend either, but that's par for the course this time of year. My mother-in-law's family got together on Saturday to celebrate Christmas, and we had a great time. Afterwards, Wes and I decided to stop in Savannah to do some Christmas shopping. The traffic was unbelievable, and so was the crowd. It took forever to get out of there. Sunday, we had all the normal church things to do. Plus, Wes had a meeting in the afternoon, and I went to the school for a couple hours to work on some things. Then choir practice lasted until nine o'clock instead of eight, because it was our final rehearsal before the Christmas cantata. So needless to say, I was exhausted on Sunday night. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Amazingly, though, I had plenty of energy at work yesterday and today. It's so hard for me to believe that there are only two more days before Christmas break. A whole semester, over. Wow. I'm very proud of myself for all the things I've accomplished with my students so far. I've stayed very focused and determined to get certain things done before I go out on maternity leave. During pre-planning (in January), I plan to work on as many things as I can for the substitute. Isaac is due on February 22, but he could come early. My constant prayer has been that God will allow me to carry him to term, and it would be so wonderful if that would happen. But, I really don't have any control over the situation. Isaac will be born when God's ready for him to be born.

One thing that has irritated me a bit lately is all the negativity I've heard from people about child-rearing. Don't get me wrong--I want to know the truth, and I want to be prepared for what's coming. But if I hear one more person tell me how horrible our lives are going to be after Isaac is born, I might scream. Yes, I know everything will change. We won't be able to come and go as we please, we'll be sleep-deprived, and we'll have to have a ton of patience with Isaac. But there has to be some joy in parenthood, right? That's what I want to hear more about. I want to hear people tell me how much they love their children and how blessed they are to have them in their lives. So far, those kinds of comments have been few and far between though.

People make the same kinds of negative comments about marriage though. I think it's really all about perspective, and if you really have the drive to make something work. My life verse has been Matthew 19:26, "With God all things are possible." I have no idea how I'm going to survive on so little sleep or how I'm going to be able to juggle home and work. What I do know is that with God all things are possible. ... That's it. Dependence on Him. There are things I won't be able to do on my own strength, but with Him all things (in accordance with His will) will be possible.