Good Day :)

Today has been such a great day at school that I just need to share. It's not that anything really exceptional happened, but it has been better than most of the days in a while. I have been feeling a little burnt out about the whole teaching thing lately. Maybe the break just ruined me for work. LOL.

Anyway - today was good. My "disturbed" (for lack of a better word) student, who writes very dark things in his journal, came by and discussed the possibility of talking to the counselor about his negative thoughts. Most of the time he seems depressed and according to his journal, suicidal. At any rate, discussing counseling is a huge step for him. Pray that he follows through.

Sandy, the student whose mother pulled her out of school, returned today - a month early. She was so excited to be back! I hope she stays on the straight and narrow. :) I thought she would be back this week, since I talked to her on the phone Monday. It was so dramatic: her ex comes to my door during 4th period, knocks, and then waves for me to go outside. He's like, "Ms. Watkins, Sandy said to call her at this number," and hands me his phone. So I walk back inside to copy down the number. When I take his phone back, I ask, "Is something wrong? Do I need to call her right now?" He shrugs, "I dunno. She just told me to give you the number." Then why the heck didn't she just email me the number?! LOL. Turns out the principal wasn't returning her calls. No idea what she wanted me to do about it. :)

Then Jasmine (my recovering cutter) stopped by during lunch. We didn't stay in touch over the two-week break. She was in Houston, and I was consciously trying to wean her from my attention (for both of our sakes!). She stayed the whole 30 minutes catching me up on everything. She said she was ready to be "done" with Larissa. I think she's beginning to realize how toxic that "relationship" is. God seems to be answering that prayer "slowly" but surely! (I know he's never late!)

Anywho...that was my day. Thanks for letting me share! :)

Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas holiday. I've gotten to see lots of wonderful friends and family members while I've been home. I'm currently at my roommate's family's house in Northport, AL. We are going to head to Atlanta in a little bit for some more Christmas fun. :) I'll be back in C-town on Sunday and then headed back to Texas on Wednesday. Enjoy what's left of your break!

Rollercoaster Week

This week has had so many ups and downs that I'm starting to feel a little bit sick. LOL. First my students were great. Then they all went crazy. Thankfully, most of them have returned to the good side. In fact, I'm really looking forward to my 8th period class today, and I normally despise them. :) J. made her one-month milestone of no cutting on Wednesday but celebrated by going to the movies with L. She even called me that night because it had been a great day for her. Unfortunately, Thursday morning (J.'s 18th birthday, no less) L. started a huge fight that ended with an IM from J. (to L.) saying she wanted to kill herself. It said something to the effect of, "I can't live without you. I WON'T live without you." It literally made me want to throw up. It breaks my heart to see one hold so much power over the other, especially when I don't understand it at all. Please pray. At this point L. may need more prayer than J. I think she may be more messed up than I ever imagined.

Back to the good. My student Jonathan (that I mentioned in the last post) came and found me today during my conference period to give me my Christmas card. What was on the front? A nativity scene. What did the inside say? "May God bless you this season." I couldn't help but smile. Bless his heart. He's so curious.

Well, my team is about to have our little Christmas lunch. See you back here soon!

Last Week of School for 2008

Yay! Only 4 more days of school before Christmas break! :) It should be a pretty easy week; my regular English III classes are finishing The Crucible; my pre-AP class is reading Frederick Douglass's autobiography; and my PSAT class is working online. Later in the week, my regular students will begin an essay, so that will end the week on a quiet note for me! ;)

I got an email from Sandy (the girl whose mother pulled her out of our school) this morning. It was very sweet and reminded me of all the reasons why I'm a teacher. I also got another chance to share my faith with a student after school. He is a junior, recently "came out" to his family, and is very confused about God/church/the Bible. He flat out said that he does not know anything about how it all works, and that he feels like he is already going to hell because he's gay, so what's the point of church? Please pray for me as I hopefully get to continue this conversation. He is very inquisitive, so I'm pretty sure he'll be back. This isn't the first time we've talked about God. His name is Jonathan, so please remember him in your prayers.

Let's Play Catch-Up!

Since it has been a looooooooooooooooooong time since my last post, I thought I'd let all of my readers (the 2 or 3 of you out there...LOL) know what I've been up to.

1. Classroom Missionary - Unless you are a teacher who really strives to get to know your students, you really can't fathom what goes on with them outside of class. Please pray for me and anyone else you know in the classroom. Our kids face issues that we could never even dream of. J is back at school after about 2 months. She says she is finished with cutting; she has, however, resumed contact with L. While J was in the hospital program, I had another student whose mother withdrew her from school to punish her. She is now living with her grandmother in east Texas. Sad, sad situation.

2. Finishing My 1st Semester of Graduate School - Yes, I survived. My last class was the week before Thanksgiving. Praise the Lord - I got an A in both classes!

3. Travelling - I was able to time my trip to B'ham just right. Jack Wesley Farmer was born there as I was boarding my plane in Dallas. :) It was so exciting to be there just a few hours after he made his entrance. I am also thrilled to say that I got to watch Grace in action at a soccer game the next morning. She is fierce! So impressive. Additionally, I got to see their mom, Kerry (one of my longest-running friendships - we go back to 3rd grade!), and their dad, Wes (love him!). Kerry's parents and sister were there, too; they are like family. I love 'em all!

*I was also able to attend MSU's Homecoming football game. Fun weekend!

*I travelled back to MS a few weeks later for Thanksgiving. I had more fun with the Ellis-Farmer family, spent time with my actual family (LOL), and just enjoyed seeing people. I will be back in 11 days. :)

4. Painting - Deanna and Vicki have finally convinced me to try to sell some of my art work. My school is having a craft fair this weekend. Here is what I have painted to sell so far:

I am dying a slow and painful death in graduate school.

On a happier note, I will be at home in Columbus this weekend. :)

Long Time, No Post

Sorry it has been so long! For some of you, it has been a really long time because you only check the blog when your feed reader tells you to, so you never noticed the blog became password-protected for a while! LOL. I have since decided to get rid of the login process after trying several different ways to search for this blog. Without knowing the actual title of the blog, I couldn't find it.


Anywho...back to the real post. J is still making progress and still living with her father. She definitely has bad days, though, so please keep all of us in your prayers. She went to church with us again last week, so please be especially diligent in praying about that. J and L have been "officially" over for about two weeks, and that has caused a least a few setbacks in J's progress. She is VERY upset about the breakup - hopeless, depressed, etc. PLEASE pray...I cannot tell you enough how very much I covet your prayers for this situation.


So, I'm sitting at the Charlotte airport as I type this. Amy had to drop me off early, so I have plenty of time to catch up on my posting. Apparently, BIRDS fly in and out of the airport constantly. I know you won't believe me without pictures, so here you go:

That's all for now. I'm going to go upload pictures on facebook.

~Kristy