A Hard Lesson Learned.....

Today was a pretty good day at school with just a few situations that happened with some students. The kids are always usually much better on Fridays but then they have the weekend to run free at home! (making Mondays hard). All was fine...I had just finished the day and returned to my classroom to put things away. I was happy to have completed another week of school. All was fine...until about 3:00pm.....

There was suddenly a lot of people running around in the hallway and all the students from outside were coming inside to wait for their rides. Not knowing what happened, I asked another teacher who replied "Someone fell from the roof". This immediately gave me this sick feeling in my stomach. Here at the school/church, they are building a new tall roof to the parking lot, which can be used for sports and other activities. One of the construction workers on this roof fell from where he had been working. The paramedics arrived but were unable to help him. He died from the fall.

Some of us gathered to pray for this man, his family, and the hard times we have had at the school. What is going on? At the end of September, a dad of 2 students at the school was shot and killed in their home. For me, today's devastating accident has taught me an important life lesson. It puts my life into perspective. As hard as my job is, as much as my students drive me crazy most days, I still couldn't imagine if one day they never came back to school. I can't imagine my life without knowing these kids (and oh the stories that I have from knowing them too:-). It makes me thankful for the things God has given me. Here I have been inside teaching at the school, and this man has been outside in the heat working on this roof. Wow!

I later went back into my classroom and TRIED very hard to get work done. I just was not motivated. It just wasn't that important at the moment.

Please join me in praying for this man's family and all the other workers who knew him. Pray for our school and the students who may have witnessed this accident. Pray for the church as they explain to the congregation what happened. This is all tough stuff and a hard lesson learned.