Tomorrow is the beginning of Orthodox Lent. No animal products and no hanky panky. A lot of praying (not to give up!). Seriously, it’s a time to carve out time to connect with God and listen to the Holy Spirit. I need it. I am tired. Testing and teaching at the same time got me wanting to spend an entire day napping. Thankfully, God is helping through one day at a time.
Today, Mitya and I beat Sasha and Andy in badminton and I hugged Mitya and sang We are the Champions. I am always singing with Mitya. Yesterday, I was singing Ochi Cherniye and he was giggling so hard. What a character. They all are, really. And speaking of characters, I had to test one this week. People, she ran away from me and then refused to take the test. I had to reach out to my friend and my co-test administrator reached out to the special ed director. Let’s put it this way—-I changed my whole testing environment for this student. Girl, I had fireplace noise from YouTube on the smartboard for her. When she came in, there was a special womb chair with pillows and water and a cookie just waiting for her. The therapy doggie was right next door. I made sure she had her lunch and recess time before we started testing. This girl had an actual smile on her face. I mean, I obviously can’t do this for everyone, but she was a special case. She needed that TLC. And she finished the four-day test! That’s all I wanted, really. Sometimes we all need to feel special.
How does this connect to Orthodox Lent? I think that even though it seems extreme, it’s a way for our tired souls to sit at God’s feet and listen. I am glad that things worked out with this girl but I am also tired. I just want to sit and be fed spiritual food. I want to read the Psalms. I want to sing songs (more songs, since I already sing all the time with Mitya). I want to spend time putting God first. I put so many others first. It’s exhausting. I want to make time with God my priority. I need it because I am also a character.
The truth is, we all need a little tender love and care. May this time of Lent bring us closer to God so that we may feel how much God loves us and how special we are to Him.
Elena