Ready for a change

As I sit here writing my rent check for June, it's hard to believe another month has come and gone. Time really seems to fly at the end of the school year; though, this year I wish it would slow down just a little.

You see, after ten years of teaching I am stepping out of the classroom and into the role of assistant principal...at a different school. (I'm telling the students this Tuesday - pray for us!) I am excited about the new role, but I know there will be things about the classroom and my current school that I will miss. (It's been 7 years at the same school in Chicago - that's a long time!) When I was on the first round of the interview process, one of the interviewers (who was a board member and parent) asked me what I would miss most. Without skipping a beat, I said, "Well, I definitely won't miss the lesson planning or grading." Yes, I was cracking jokes at the interview...and they still asked me back. (When I told my mom, she said, "You're your father's daughter." Yep, guess so.)

In all seriousness, though, change is hard...but it's inevitable, especially if we want to grow and are open to the possibilities. I've thought a lot about this over the weekend - I have the honor to give one of the commencement retreat talks for my classmates this summer (and I wrote the first draft this weekend), and the focus is on how we've been changed (in light of the Gospel about the Road to Emmaus). I like to think of change like Mary Poppins: you come into a place not knowing anyone, you build relationships, especially with the kids, you fall in love with your job and many things about the people and way things work, but, when the winds change, you find it’s time to move on. You hope the changes you made will be carried on, and you trust that the kids will be alright. And you pack your bags - for me, personally, it will be a hell of a lot of boxes of books - and you move on to where your love is needed next. Memories about you and what you did slowly fade over time, but that’s okay because you realize it was never really about you in the first place.

So, these next few weeks I'll be packing up and moving on, who knows for how long or where the road will lead me next. I just have to trust that God will continue to guide my steps, and that God will give me the wisdom and courage to be where I am needed and to continue to learn and grow.

In other news:

May was a full yet fun month (and there are still a few days to go). Here are some pictures from the marathon weekend and ice cream crawl to prove it:

Marathon expo fun

We carbed up for the marathon at our go-to, Olive Garden.

Pentecost Sunday - Come Holy Spirit!

When you get a PR, you get to ring the bell.

We did it!

beautiful tulips in Green Bay

concert at Space with Marisa and Patrick

3rd annual ice cream crawl - stop #1 (Jeni's)

stop #2 (Oberweiss)

stop #3 (Bobtail)

stop #4 (Paciugo)

Summer's almost here - I can taste it. Cheers to that!