School Is In! the Bus saga continues…

I wish my bus had a smile like that, but we can pretend!  Another school year is well under way.  Some children are the same as last year, some are new, and over all I have a great bunch of kids! I start at 6:30 am and thru the course of a day , approximately 270 kids come thru my bus, twice a day.  Sounds like a lot, but they each have a face, a name, a place to pick them up  and a place to take them home.  WOW God trusts me with that!

Every day, I wonder “why”, you know, why Lord am I here? each year is added more restrictions about what I can say to the children, more is taken away ( i may not hug a crying child, or give a high five for a job well done, no physical contact in anyway). Maybe I am there to pray for them, and that I do.  Maybe I am there to smile for the ones who will not see a smile anywhere else today.

What ever the reason, I am here because I am exactly where God wants me, and even if I never understand completely, I understand that God has a plan, and is in control of every second of my day.  My choice is to join HIM in whatever HE is doing.

Today…HE was nudging me to draw attention to a little girl who rode my Kindergarten bus last year.  This child is never cleaned up, she not only does not smile, she has NO none absolutely any expression ever. She will not answer you, and she is not rude, just silent, eyes never leave the floor, and she is extremely nervous and intimidated, insecure issues seems like an understatement.  So today, I raised attention.  I asked the aide if she knew “Maddie”, she said “I never noticed her before”.  I told her to notice her.  Something is terribly wrong with this child. I mentioned it again to the principal at her school.  I plan on being a real pain! about this until someone looks into what is going on with her.  So tonight when life slows down, and you have a chance to reflect on your day, Pray for Maddie, pray that they will notice her, and that whatever help she needs, she will get quickly. Pray for her safety.  I may not be able to reach out more openly, directly to her, but NO ONE tells God where HE can go, or what HE can do..I know HE hears the prayers of HIS children, and I know HE moved on my heart to DO SOMETHING for her.

Thank you in advance! Jesus loves the little children…all the children of the world..

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Saturday-Bus Saga..goes on and on and on

 

"if you have raw beans, lepracans won't trick you, Miss Darla do you know what raw beans are?"

 

 

 

"I am way too cool for this, but the hat looks good"

 

"i don't like this so much, but i do want to be the line leader"

 

"do ya love my lid? i love everything, i do!"

These are a few of my kiddos, from Kindergarten.  They were alot of fun on St Patricks Day.  Just wanted to give you a visual of what my noon looks like! The first pic uses words like “Dreadful”, and a slight english accent, although no one in her family sounds like that, I think she is a grown up stuck in a little girls body!  She did tell me today “I haven’t been the line leader for ages” ages? huh?  

Peace have a good weekend!

Another day on the bus

This is a few of the conversations I had today on the bus..

Little Girl (7)-Miss Darla, when you were gone we had a man and he was stinky.

Me- I am sure he was trying to do everything well , for you, maybe you can cut him a break.

Little Girl (7) – no, he did stink, he passed gas the whole time.  😯

 

Little boy (5)- I missed you. I told the other driver  I sit in this seat and he said okay, so is that okay?

Me- sit your own seat, don’t lie to the other driver, he believed you.

Little boy (5) – I know that was so cool!

Little Girl (6) – Miss Darla, do you think you will have time to clean the bus today? Its dreadful in here! 🙂 i just learned that word.

Me- I will try.

My son- I can’t go to school I am sick.

Me- okay

(got home a few hours later, the house smells amazing like someone cooking breakfast…find the son..eating a huge breakfast that he cooked..)

Me- are you sick?

Son- I have no idea why I am home, so I thought I would make some food.. 

Me- hit the shower…school soon!

 

I really do love my job, and I really love my son…today feels a little like the twilight zone…oh well, someone has to do it!

Bus Saga

I have a collection of hats, gloves, and scarfs! These little kiddos come so bundled up to the bus stop they can hardly move. Very cute actually. But they leave these things behind, and will not claim them. Behind my seat looks like a yard sale! Not sure how long I need to keep them, but there they are.

My problem kids have all settled down and are now okay with the rules I have on the bus.  Praying for these kids to have someone show them Jesus throughout thier day, and that none will leave here without HIM. 

Driving in the ice is not fun, do-able but not fun. Its always a huge lesson in trust for me, and leaves me exhausted.

Yesterday,

-little boy 7 stopped to tell me that he had a birthday and all the things he recieved,WOW that was alot of stuff for a birthday! I told him, “you got a lot for your birthday”…no he didn’t it was all made up, to impress the kids, and he tried it out on me first. Trying not to smile, I told him no one usually gets that much stuff for their birthday. Just be yourself.

-a little boy 9 years old, not sure what is his malfunction, but at times its just evil.  He has promoted to my misbehaving seat, mostly for his own protection but from time to time I need to tell him to be quieter(loud outbursts of something I never heard before..strange), the other boys pound him from time to time, and I feel sorry for him although he starts it everytime.  He asked me if I love Jesus, which kind of was out of no where…and then said his mom does too.  But he thinks Jesus is strange…(now that is the pot calling the kettle black!)  so he is my boy,  up front with me everymorning and afternoon.  He realized yesterday that its not because he is bad, he said “you kind of protect me here huh?”  all I could say was, “I don’t want you to get hurt”.  Don’t know what happened, but he became peaceful, less agitated, almost pleasant. 

The power of GOD, and HIS plan are awesome, I am always amazed at how HE loves these children.  I love them, but HE LOVES them. 

Comic Relief

One of my afternoon stops,  an older Brown Lab, decides he loves the bus..I can see him running to the bus stop even before I am stopped. The little girl gets off the dog gets on…and lays next to my seat. The owners have to come out and pull him off my bus, he does not go willingly.  The kids that are still on the bus, just laugh and laugh..It is funny and predictable.

Christmas Randomness

I love Christmas, don’t get me wrong. ( i suddenly hear Chrissy Hine singing ..”don’t get me wrong”-wierd) The commericialism is pretty bad, and I can deal with that too. (just stay home) But the one thing that has been totally making me nuts about the holiday is…Radio stations playing non stop Christmas music, and I am not sure why they only each have about 10, so it is so repetitious I want to scream! So I need more cds in my car. My nieghbors house looks like the Griswalds mixed up with Wally World, and I am sure there are gnomes running around over there at night who are threatening to me. I know that is not nice, but I just wanted to share, and sharing is nice! 🙄
I little girl on my bus today said, don’t ever hide anything in your underwear drawer, you know everyone looks there first! Argh! You know I need to move some things..so much for a private safe spot! and yes a 5 year old informed me. She also wears a “warna brutha” tshirt on occasion. My latest thought pattern is stuck on warm weather and how many bloggers can I hook up with this summer not counting Oregon, because that just goes without saying! ya know? My son found my stash of Oreo’s and cleaned me out! no kidding…two left in the bag…maybe it was me, naaaa I think it was him. My man is wanting to drive trucks all over the US, and me I just want a plane ticket that is reusable anywhere anytime kind of thing. Okay I am done for now..I dont remember if I brought the dog in or left her out side..hey she is snow dog..cold weather should be her friend!..
Anything working on you today? please share…

Thankful for..

Here is my short version of my thankful list;

I am thankful for…

– Jesus loving me enough to come here and die for me and raise again.

– the way HE stooped down in the gutter to pick me up and clean me off.

-the way HE walks with me through each day.

-prayer, that HE always hears me, and always answers even if I don’t like the answer.

-my children, although we have had some rough times, I cherish them.

-my husband, who has shown me that there is nothing we can’t get through together, never walking away, just work a little harder, and marriage is terminal (LOL).

-my blog family, how precious they are to me. There are no words for what an awesome gift they are to me.

-the sunrises that are different every morning, and always start me off with delight, and focus on who is responsible for the colors I can not describe.

-the WORD that keeps me going when I just don’t know how to do life, it never steers me wrong.

-the fact that I have a place to live, clothes, and food.

-laughter, and tears, feeling alive, a free spirit, no more chains.

-my son in love who loves my daughter, and cares for her.

-my mom, who could have left me somewhere but didn’t.

-blogged bible study group, who has given me great encouragement, Carl, Nor, Annie, Joe, Michelle, Dale, Scott…these people are my family

-a soft place to land in Jesus.

-heaven, my home, and that I belong to Heaven, and I don’t belong here…Heaven is my home.

-Tam and Brent, who have always been a great encouragement to me, and have truly become my family. 

-my church family, and my Pastor (he rocks)

-each one of the families that God has brought my way to share HIM with, what an honor for me to serve them.

-my bus kiddos, and the heartache and joy that they bring me each day.

Make your own list…and don’t be surprised that once you start it will go on forever…I really could just keep adding to this list.

ON THURSDAY, AFTER YOUR BELLY IS FULL, AND YOUR KICKING BACK…COME HERE AND READ A POST BY A SURPRISE GUEST WRITER.  NOPE NOT GOING TO TELL YOU WHO IT IS, YOU WILL HAVE TO COME AND SEE FOR YOUR SELF. PEACE