One week down . . . thirty-six more to go

We made it through the first week of seminary. Yea!!! I do admit that this morning when the alarm went off I was looking for someone to remind me that I was excited about this on Monday. It is surprising how quickly the kids get into the flow of things. Monday and Tuesday were crazy but by Wednesday we were calming down and on Thursday I actually got to sit down and get some scripture study done. Thursday by 7:10 all but 4 kids were in the building and in the classrooms they belonged in but today was obviously Friday! We had a handful of kids absent and several who came in late. Oh well four days in a row of no absences and very low tardy count is great!

Kevin redeemed himself nicely by being up and ready to go the rest of the week as well as becoming the first of ten kids to pass of a scripture mastery scripture the first week. He passed one off on Wednesday and another one on Thursday. Kaitlin passed off her first one today. Life is good.

And we're off!!

Seminary started today and the principal's son was not in attendance. Yes, that would be Kevin. Since Kevin moves very slowly in the mornings I asked him to set his alarm for 4:30am so we could be out the door by 5:30. He argued that he did not need that much time to get ready etc, etc. I reminded him that he had to get himself up as he is now in high school and no one else was going to take responsibility for him. I came downstairs at 5:20 to get my things together and found Kaitlin ready but Kevin was no where to be found. He had not gotten up despite his alarm going off repeatedly. As Kaitlin and I were heading out the door he came stumbling out of his room but it was too late to wait for him. So out of 10 kids he is the first one to miss his first day of seminary. He also holds the dubious distinction of being the only one not to get himself up and ready to go on his own. I am so grateful for kids who for the last 16 years have gotten up on time and not fussed about attending seminary, most especially Riley, Kelly & Kaitlin who had to set their alarms a full hour earlier than they were used to once I was called as principal. Not one of them complained, they simply got up earlier and got ready so that I could be there in time to fulfill my responsibilities. I should state here that I owe my mom a huge apology for having to force me to attend my first day of seminary! Sorry mom, and thanks for making me go. It made a huge difference in my life.

Other than having to leave Kevin home things went smoothly. We have five classes meeting at our building, two at 6am and three at 7am, but today they all met at 7. Last year Kelly & Riley took roll for me while I met with the teachers for prayer meeting. This year I left the roll with Kaitlin, when I came back Kaitlin handed me the roll and said "I can't handle this, it's too overwhelming!" In her defense approximately 110 kids arrived between 6:55 and 7:05. After some minor chaos we got them all in the correct classrooms.

As crazy as it sounds I am glad to be back at seminary. There is something about being around so many amazing kids filled with excitement so early in the morning! I also have no doubt that I will need someone to remind me of this statement in the weeks and months to come.