The other day as I was working with my favorite Grade 1 student, the white board easel which another teacher was using, on the other side of the room, crashed to the ground.
This is the conversation that followed
Student: Oh my goodness!! (While running to the other side of the room )
Me: Wait!! Stop!! Where are you supposed to be?
Student: But Ms. Thomas
Me: No!! Where are you supposed to be? What are you supposed to be doing ?
Student: Sitting at the desk and working…. But… When I heard the crash I thought. Can I tell you what I think ?
Me: Do you think this conversation is important right now? In the middle of the activity?
Student: Yes! Of course!
(Without waiting for my response)
Student: See, When that sound came, I thought that the board fell on Ms.A, then Ms. A fell on the chair, that the chair broke and Ms. A and the chair fell on the desk. As the chair fell on the desk, I thought I heard the floor break and I thought that Ms. A will be falling into the next classroom (my classroom is on the 1st floor). So see Ms. Thomas, this is what I thought and when I thought that, I thought that I should go and see if there is a hole in the floor like I thought.
(After seeing my blank stare)
Student: Now, wasn’t that important?
Yesterday, I woke up earlier than usual. So that gave me time to nurse my sore throat with a hot cup of green tea and pray. As per my normal routine, I got dressed for work, picked up my lunch bag and stepped out the door.
I normally put my hand inside my handbag; touch my keys as I close the door. Yesterday I did the same thing. Well I THOUGHT I did. As I see the door close the reality of the situation hits me. The cold metal I felt in my hand bag, the cold metal I THOUGHT were my keys, were actually a pair of earrings. Did I forget to mention that by keys, I mean the key to my house, my car keys and my office keys! Since there wasn’t anything I could do about it at 7 am, I decided to take an auto to work.
Ever since I got my car, I have rarely used an auto so I had conveniently forgotten the art of haggling. I should have been suspicious but instead was surprised and proud of myself when the auto driver willingly reduced the quoted price of 150/- to a 100/- on my first demand. Later in the day however, when I proudly spoke about my regained haggling techniques did my colleague lovingly remind me that the normal charge is 50/-.
As I drank my way through 5 cups of green tea feverishly praying that the sore throat I had doesn’t escalate , I kept in touch with the security guard of my building and the maintenance manager and they assured me that in the evening they would arrange for someone to come and open the door. And true to their words after I had returned from work ( thanks to a colleague who decided that my haggling techniques weren’t that advanced and dropped me off ) , I was introduced to a gentlemen who was equipped with 3 things, a rope ladder, hammer and a chisel. He said he would be able to retrieve my key for 600/-. Keeping all that had transpired in the morning in mind, I very quickly said YES!
Even though the day I had was tiring and I wouldn’t want to repeat this any time soon, I went to bed super grateful.
Grateful that God provided me with an auto that got me to work on time.
Grateful that God provided me with a job that had facilities to allow me to drink umpteen cups of green tea
Grateful that God introduced to me to a wonderful colleague 2 years ago who would help me out by dropping me home
Grateful that there was someone around who would help me retrieve my keys
Grateful that in a situation that would normally have me panicking, He kept me calm and gave me an opportunity to be grateful.
At the end of the day:
"God's Grace is immeasurable; His mercy inexhaustible; His peace inexpressible."