Near-death experience...

Today was a stressful day in the middle of a stressful week. So a natural way to wind down at the end of the day is to watch fish. (It's been proven to lower blood pressure) The tank was in DESPERATE need of cleaning, so I took it upon myself to do this before going home. That's when the near-death experience occurred...

for my African Dwarf frog Ferdinand.He decided to jump out the net (in transit to his now clean tank) and onto the floor. It took me at least a good 1-1 1/2 minutes to get him back in the tank.
I was sure he was going die from this experience, but thankfully he seems to be okay. I guess he wasn't ready to go into the light just yet. THAT would make my class even more stressful!

In a mood...

Nothing Gold Can Stay- by Robert Frost

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leafs a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

A Crazed Girl by William Butler Yeats

That crazed girl improvising her music.
Her poetry, dancing upon the shore,
Her soul in division from itself
Climbing, falling She knew not where,
Hiding amid the cargo of a steamship,
Her knee-cap broken, that girl I declare
A beautiful lofty thing, or a thing
Heroically lost, heroically found.

No matter what disaster occurred
She stood in desperate music wound,
Wound, wound, and she made in her triumph
Where the bales and the baskets lay
No common intelligible sound
But sang, 'O sea-starved, hungry sea.'

Yes on Prop 8

Proposition 8 is an important measure coming up on this November ballot. It will defend the traditional definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman. It is more than just a religious movement. The implications that this proposition would have on our society if it fails would be numerous. Churches and pastors could lose their tax exemption if they refuse to marry same-sex couples, children would be taught about gay and lesbian relationships in school without their parent's having the ability or right to protest, and society would be one step away from legalizing a person's right to marry their dog or cat! It is a downward spiral that would ultimately lead to the demise of our civilization. Please take time to think about this proposition, then take the opportunity to vote yes on prop 8 when November comes around.

For more information on this important proposition, go to: http://www.protectmarriage.com/

To donate to this cause so that others can be made aware, please click the link below:
https://www.causes.com/fb/donations/new?cause_id=108612&fundraiser_id=951878&m=ccb734d7

Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken

1. Jesus, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow Thee.
Destitute, despised, forsaken,
Thou from hence my all shall be.
Perish every fond ambition,
All I’ve sought or hoped or known.
Yet how rich is my condition!
God and heaven are still my own.

2. Let the world despise and leave me,
They have left my Savior, too.
Human hearts and looks deceive me;
Thou art not, like them, untrue.
O while Thou dost smile upon me,
God of wisdom, love, and might,
Foes may hate and friends disown me,
Show Thy face and all is bright.

3. Man may trouble and distress me,
’Twill but drive me to Thy breast.
Life with trials hard may press me;
Heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
Oh, ’tis not in grief to harm me
While Thy love is left to me;
Oh, ’twere not in joy to charm me,
Were that joy unmixed with Thee.

4. Go, then, earthly fame and treasure,
Come disaster, scorn and pain
In Thy service, pain is pleasure,
With Thy favor, loss is gain
I have called Thee Abba Father,
I have stayed my heart on Thee
Storms may howl, and clouds may gather;
All must work for good to me.

5. Soul, then know thy full salvation
Rise o’er sin and fear and care
Joy to find in every station,
Something still to do or bear.
Think what Spirit dwells within thee,
Think what Father’s smiles are thine,
Think that Jesus died to win thee,
Child of heaven, canst thou repine.

6. Haste thee on from grace to glory,
Armed by faith, and winged by prayer.
Heaven’s eternal days before thee,
God’s own hand shall guide us there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission,
Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days,
Hope shall change to glad fruition,
Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.

Special new students...

A few weeks into the school year I decided that something was missing. Almost all the other teachers had something that I didn't. Now call me crazy, but I guess having 9 boys and 2 girls wasn't enough. I added three more members to our 1st grade class: a red Beta which the students named Fuzzle Christian (don't ask me why) and two African dwarf frogs named Ferdinand and Isabella. (Obviously I named them not the students)
They are getting along fairly well in their new habitat and have even survived a few weekends and Awana nights. Not only do the kids enjoy watching them swim around, but it's a stress reliever for me after a long day.
I'm proud to say these are my first real pets, so hopefully they will be around for a long time!