First of all, let me share how ecstatic I was to be quoted in the TpT newsletter this week! Super exciting to see my name in print and super thankful for the extra blog and store traffic as a result!!! Exciting stuff! This week's TpT newsletter article was about classroom management, a topic covered by many of the resources in my online store. Interested in viewing these? Simply search Shannon Bryant's Brain Train under the topic of classroom management. The original resource is pictured above, and the link is shown below. The one shown here has a traditional train theme, but there are several classroom themes for you to choose from, including farm, bees, pirates, garden, etc. Tons of tips and goodies to try!
This week's post from Mimi is a great one, so I hope you enjoy!!! It literally left me in tears. I am so thankful for God's provision and blessing. Sometimes it is good for me to remember and reflect on just how good He has been--unmerited favor--and I praise Him wholeheartedly for His healing of our Sadie!
This has been a tough week for so many...don't forget to let the ones you love know just how much you love them! Have a wonderful week! Shannon :-)
Hair Bows and Hugs
As I read my daughter’s comments last week, I immediately knew what my post would be about this Monday. It is not about Sadiebug’s 6th birthday, but rather about the second week of her life. Yes, we had a meningitis scare, a hospital stay, a kidney reflux diagnosis, and several sleepless nights. Whew—she came in demanding all of our attention!!!
The scare this brought to our family is as vivid in my mind as the taste of my morning coffee that I am sipping. The times my girls have called me with traumatizing news about lives are branded forever in my thoughts.
But I never want to forget the good that came from it all—THAT is forever branded in my heart.
What do you do when you think you may be losing something so precious, so small, and so awaited? You panic for the moment and pray for the duration…and find a white bow for her hair!!!! I went to my daughter’s house the night that Sadie was so sick in order to keep her older brothers while all of the testing was going on at the hospital.
Shannon was blessed to have her best friend there on staff and guiding them medically, so I took watch of the boys back at home so that Kevin could also head down to the medical center. The boys were sleeping soundly in their rooms, and I was praying sincerely in hers.
By morning, things looked much brighter, and I was off to the hospital to see exactly what was happening. Sweet little 7 lb Sadie was in her white knit gown, adorned with beeping monitors and small tubes—but she was still there, and she would get better!!!!
I was able to navigate her from the hospital crib onto a pillow on my lap. As she lay sleeping peacefully, I rubbed her tiny back and head with all the love a Mimi can muster. But something was amiss!!!! It was her hair bow.
You know how when all first, long-awaited, little girls arrive to a family, we feel the need to shout, IT’S A GIRL!!! It is usually with the color pink, tiny ruffles, or big hair bows. Since, the hospital was providing the plain white attire, I could at least provide a bow!!!! Funny how we long for the little things to bring our hearts and minds back to normality and safety. I can remember thinking that if I could just get Sadie’s bow in place, all would be complete—tubes or no tubes.
When I returned on my afternoon visit, I had found a small, Velcro bow and lovingly placed it atop her tiny head. I returned to my position, holding her in my lap on the pillow, while rubbing the tiny little back, only this time the bow was in its proper place.
I smiled this Friday night—a good 6 years later—as Sadie and I were out in the rain in my backyard, planting broccoli and Roma tomatoes. These plants were leftover from the ones that she had earlier planted in her “newly” decorated pot. Tonight Sadie’s blonde hair is much longer and braided, with a big black polka dotted bow that was now getting damp and dirty as she played in the potting soil.
As Sadie readied for bed later that night, I leaned over hugged her and kissed that sweet head goodnight. Yes, it was resting peacefully on my pillow, and yes, I left the big bow in its place—even at bedtime—and remembered.
What we do to show our love to our children should be as tender and just as personal as in that day; when they are small on that pillow, laying in our laps at a mere 14 days old. But we should also remember to have fun and laugh, even while planting vegetables in the rain. And by all means…it is OK for the bow to get dirty!!!
But as they grow older and busier, a gentler chord should be struck and held by us for each of them. They grow up and grow out of arms reach very, very quickly. Don’t lose the tender moments that love requires. Let your affection manifest itself and be poured out, not just with endeavors, but with a loving hold of their hearts and a tender stroke of their precious lives. When they no longer will fit on the pillow, they always fit in your arms! Blessings, Mimi (AKA Anne)
Matthew 26:6-10 While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. “This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.” Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me.
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