The Big Celebration!

It was a wonderful day today!  The kids and I were excited all day and couldn't wait until the big celebration!

I shared a special story about a butterfly of course.  I wish I knew who the author is because this story has meant a great deal to me over the years.

The Cocoon

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly.

One day a small opening appeared, he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole.

Then it seemed to stop making any progress.  It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go not farther.  then the man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon.

The butterfly then emerged easily.

But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.  The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened!  In fact, the butterfly spend the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.

It never was able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were God's way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life.  If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us.  We would not be as strong as what we could have been.

And we could never fly.

I am so proud of all of my student's parents.  They let their children struggle a little bit.  They let them empty their piggy banks, give up their tooth fairy month, sweep driveways and all kinds of other chores, and create a market to raise money for children that need wheelchairs.  The students wings are so much stronger now and they will be able to fly to higher heights!

The kids each shared what they had done to raise money and then Steffani, the Director of First Foundations, thanked the kids for all they had done.  She held up a check revealing to the children how much money they had raised, 

$3,000!

Enough for 20 wheelchairs!

I introduced the children to Eric who is the Area Director for Joni and Friends.  I think he was surprised by how much the kids knew about Joni and her ministry.  He gave them special gifts and one of Joni's beautiful paintings for our classroom.  He was such an encouragement and even had tears in his eyes as he thanked the kids.  

It was a special day and I feel so honored and blessed to be able to watch it happen!

I love my students so much and I hope as they head off to "Big kids" school they will remember the things they have learned.  They have met a number of powerful people over the last month.  I hope the children they encounter next year will become dear friends, no matter what their abilities are.