Lesson Learned: Sometimes it's not about the details

I've decided to start blogging for a few reasons...

1. I'm trying to broaden my horizons and try new things this year.
2. I teach first grade and some stories are too good not to share.
3. Lately, I've been finding a lot of connections between the relationship I have with my students and the relationship Heavenly Father has with His children. And again, too good not to share.
4. I need a hobby.

So, last week I put on an oh-so-flattering beekeeper suit for my students. Normally, if I were around my peers, I would have thought twice before hopping into the outfit, but when I'm in teacher mode, I will do just about anything to get my kids to learn or to get them to laugh.

My students couldn't stop talking about it. For days. "Remember when you wore that funny outfit, Miss Brown?" (Sure do.) "You looked so funny!" (Thanks bud!) "I wish you still had it so we could see you in it again." (Oh, as do I...)  So, yes, they will forever have ingrained in their little minds an image of me in a bee suit. And while I hope that they will also remember that a boy bee is called a drone and a girl bee is a worker bee and a queen bee can lay a whopping 2,000 eggs a day, I know that these facts might be soon forgotten. And that's actually okay with me.

Regardless of what content knowledge students have learned or not by the end of the year, all students should know that their teacher loved them, knew they could do it, trusted them, and expected a whole lot of them. If they know those things and have the self-esteem that will inevitably come with that knowledge, they will be able to handle whatever life brings them...even if they forget all of their bee facts.

I think it's the same with us. Sometimes I get caught up in all the nitty gritty details of life and I want to be directed in everything. I get caught up in feeling like if Heavenly Father were truly loving and caring that He would tell me where I should live, who I should live with, where I should work, who I should date, etc. I'm beginning to figure out that this is not the case. Heavenly Father wants us to be happy. He wants us to know that He loves us, that He knows we can do it, He trusts us, and He expects a whole lot from us. All the other stuff is just filler. Not to say that we shouldn't try to make good choices and council with the Lord in those choices, but just that sometimes, in the grand scheme of things, there are more important things He is trying to teach us.

Just something to think about.