My heart for the next Jeneration

Can you keep a secret for me?

I love kids.

Oh wait, maybe that's not such a secret.

But really, I am absolutely crazy about those little, messy, rambunctious, sweet, innocent-eyed things that God created. There is so much potential in a child's life: you can form them into absolutely anything you choose to. It's actually a really scary thought to think that I, a future elementary school teacher, will hold the minds of children in the palm of my hand. In a non-evil way, I will have the ability to shape their thinking in whatever way I please. Just imagine. Talk about influence!!

Some may think the job of an elementary school teacher is trivial. That was even my impression. It doesn't seem hard; it's just a couple hours a day of assigning homework and grading papers. But in all reality, teaching is so much more than that! It's more than drawing pictures and assigning the line leader job at the beginning of the week. It is shaping the next generation and planting a love for learning in their little minds, at a time when they can't even comprehend spelling the word generation without a "j."

I can't wait to teach. I can't wait to influence children. I can't wait to be there as a caring adult for kids who don't have loving parents, for the ones with learning disabilities that everyone else has given up on, for the little girl that's swinging by herself at recess because all the other kids make fun of her. I want to be that teacher that works for more than a paycheck.

I am so excited about the future. I can't wait to see what's in store. I am anxiously awaiting the day God uses me as a tool to reach all the little children of the world!

(And yes, I did mean to spell "generation" with a J in the title.)