...and came home to an empty house.
I still needed to eat breakfast and fix my hair--all of that stuff that I procrastinate doing as I pull life together each morning. But I decided that I was just going to give myself 15 minutes of stillness; of quiet. And that's exactly what I did.
Fifteen minutes to focus on living abundantly; fifteen minutes to find stillness (God); fifteen minutes to simply be quiet and find purpose for my day.
And once that time passed, I felt peace at my core. The stress was gone--totally relaxed.
And that peace has stayed with me throughout this entire day.
While I was teaching my freshmen this morning, I wanted them to understand what a caricature is as they had to create their own caricatures of a chosen character in a story we've read. So I pulled up some caricatures on Google Images and, of course, they were of people that are familiar: Angelina Jole', Will Smith, Obama, etc. So we talked about what aspects of their character the caricatures exhibited--and they loved it. They laughed, they discussed, and then they created. I love it when a class period is successful--when they 'get it' and have fun with it. Nothing better.
And then this evening there was a message in my Facebook inbox. I love getting messages. It's so exciting--not even kidding--seeing that I have a message. I get giddy inside, can't click on that little envelope fast enough to see who 'messaged' me. And this evening? It was Marcia Beaumont--one of my most favorite people from Wisconsin. I taught her two kids 'back in the day': Laura and Aaron. So many wonderful things I could say about this family. When I think of Wisconsin, their faces always come to mind. So when I saw a message from Marcia, I relished every single word. She inspires me with her kind spirit and purposeful living.
Many things to be thankful for today: Philip Thomas told me that his wife Alicen got a job (yay!!), we ate dinner in the caf (who doesn't love it when they don't have to cook or wash dishes??), Roy's clinic was a success (in fact he's in a dead sleep in 'his chair' as I write this. Poor guy--exhausted), it's cold outside and I was reminded of that as I walked to the caf--quite comfortable in my Fish Creek sweatshirt that always makes me smile, and this entire evening has been rather endless--plenty of time to talk to Darian and laugh at Sparty and chat with my sisters and all in all have a day that makes me glad that I'm 45 and alive and well in Asheville, North Carolina.
You don't really realize how much free time you had before until you are really busy! And this week I'm really busy, too - and barely finding the time to get dressed and to school - let alone find that quiet time. So I'm gaining a little peace for myself by reading about your peace! And the joy I'm getting from being around these silly, adorable kids keeps me hanging on until I can get my own piece of the peace!
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