Perfect Timing

Bear with me as this might get a bit rambly - I have a lot of thoughts and feelings and as so often happens with this blog, I wanted to get them down before their meaning is lost.

The Olympics have been on and I love watching them. The amount of skill and finesse that being an athlete at that level requires never ceases to astound me. The shear insanity of what some of those skiers and lugers and skaters attempt blows me away. The Olympics are arguably the biggest stage for them to show their best and their timing has to be perfect - not only to win the gold but in some cases to just stay alive. Quadruple jumps landing on a butter knife, speeding head first at 85mph down an icy track, jumping off a mountain 3 stories high - all require perfect timing and hours and hours of practice. One misstep and lives are changed, medals are lost, and injuries can result.

In other realms we often joke about 'perfect timing'... we're running late and then spill coffee all over ourselves. We pay a little extra on a bill only to have the car blow up and wish we had that money back. Other times it works in our favor - feeling sad or confused, a card arrives to cheer us up. Perfect timing. We're hungry and forgot our lunch and the boss surprises you with subs or pizza. Perfect timing.

Perfection takes work. It is difficult to attain and nearly impossible to sustain, which is why this first year of teaching it nothing short of a miracle and why I can't help but thank God for His perfect timing because I never would have guessed that my life would be here right now. He knew.

Getting pregnant at 19 seemed to be anything but perfect but it set up my life for some pretty perfect moments. I had Ciara, got a job with the City of Seattle in their Specialized Programs section, met Gary through one of their programs, married, had Scott, bought our house in MLT, worked in Shoreline Schools which introduced me to one of the most amazing families. Went on to work at Cedar Way and get to see my kids through all of their school years. That student I met in Shoreline is the one who, years later and as an adult, found Bono and gave him to Scott (who he knew as Mrs. Rink's son) (and we know how much I love that cat). Ciara's biological aunt met my brother at graduation and they married. Because my kids were older, I could go back to school and because I had them younger than anticipated I am still young enough to have passion and energy to devote to my classroom. Perfect timing. Perfection in imperfection. I may not have trained in the traditional sense but every experience, good or bad, was preparing me for this. Every day has moments that make my heart sing and cause it to swell with joy. I could blog each day (if I wasn't preparing for the next day).

Today is Valentine's Day. It's never been my favorite holiday as an adult. It's grown too commercial and I remember (fondly now - not so fondly then) trying to 'help' the kids fill out their valentines and painstakingly write out their name and that of their classmates for so many years or trying to find the right 'i like you but not really' gifts for the middle schoolers and the 'i have to get something for my 30 best friends' in high school 'but it can't be one of the 'baby' valentines'. I was excited to celebrate with Team 17. I wasn't sure what to expect but we planned our Friendship Feast, inviting the parents to come and celebrate with us and to share a food from their country. We made mailboxes for the kids and passed out a list of names in case they wanted to bring valentines. The kids said to make sure I put all of the names of our volunteers because they wanted to bring something for them too. They are always so thoughtful. As they started to arrive they brought little tokens and candy to my desk. Some boldly and other more shyly but always with a smile. Their notes and messages made me 'misty'. They buckled down and took their tests in the morning and as they turned them in several said, "Mrs. Rink, I tried my best because I know you want me to". And then it was time to feast. I was amazed at the variety of the foods that came in and the countries they represented, Ethiopia, El Salvador, Vietnam,Samoa, Ecuador, Columbia, Egypt, Austria and more. Parents stayed and ate with us and shared in our poetry reading (the kids all wrote friendship poems and stories). They exchanged valentine's and the boxes for the kids and volunteers were overflowing. They had more joy in giving than in getting (and there was a LOT of joy in getting too). They remembered each and every person who has helped in our class. Several of our students have never experienced a Valentine's Day and it was so cool to see them open notes and candy. We went out to our extra recess that we earned for being the class with the most PAWSitive behavior last month and it was so much fun to run around and play with them and to see the parents laughing and the volunteers smiling and romping around with the students. We found out about 45 minutes before the end of the day that one of our students was moving and today was his last day. It was a shock and I admittedly did not handle it as well as I could have as I broke down and started crying when I was telling the class. This then had a ripple effect of making the student cry and then several others started crying too. We are just such a team that my heart was aching to see a member go. One student immediately said we needed to make him a card and so we did. What made me want to cry even more was how they surrounded him and loved on him and just wanted to make it better. They told him how much they liked him and how much they would miss him. (which only made him cry even more). They teach me so much.  On a day like today I can't imagine being anywhere else. I absolutely know in my heart of hearts that I am where I am meant to be and doing what I am meant to do. Destiny. Karma. Providence. For me it's God's Perfect Timing. A split second difference and my life would/could be so different. I am so grateful for that perfect timing that lead me here and I wouldn't change it for all of the chocolate hearts in the world.

Oh, and who wouldn't agree with me when you have a student that writes this as his FRIENDS acrostic and reads it during our sharing:
F- Friends are honest
R - Real friends do not be rood
I - laughing is nice (he thought the 'I' looked like a lower case l)
E - Earwig (as he says, "I couldn't think of anything else for E")
N - NO Earwigs!!! (and starts to chuckle, which ripples through the class)
D - real friends Do not lie
S - Smacking is not nice

BEST JOB EVER!!!!

Don't forget to look for perfect timing in your life and to be grateful when you find it. And if you need a dose of love and compassion and laughs, come visit Team 17. We have lots to share :) Until next time.