Warner Update
Making a difference, one person at a time
Don't Lose Your Joy (February 7 - 14)
"Life is a matter of choices, and every choice you make makes you."
-John C. Maxwell
Today's article is an excerpt from Joel Osteen.
I've heard it said, "Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond". Some people are frustrated because they're trying to control the 10%. They're not going to be happy unless everything goes their way, and everybody treats them right, all their plans work out.
I would suggest a different approach. You can't control the traffic, whether or not we have a snow day, or how you are treated by others. All you can control is your own response, and that's where the power lies. Not in trying to control everybody and everything.
Make sure you're not giving away your joy over something small.
Says in proverbs, "A relaxed attitude will lengthen your life." But when we're uptight and everything needs to go our way, this creates a dark cloud around us and it has the potential to be shortening our life. Don't fight against everything that doesn't go your way.
One time, Victoria and I were at Disneyland with our children and it was 10 o'clock at night. We'd been at the park all day long, and as we were leaving, Victoria wanted to go into the gift shop with our son, Jonathan, and pick up a few souvenirs, and I was carrying our daughter, Alexandra. She was two years old and she was asleep on my shoulder, and I was hot, tired, been walking around all day.
I said, "Victoria, no, I don't want to stop at this gift shop". She said, "Come on, Joel, it's just going to take me a minute". I said, "All right," and I went out, sat on the bench at the entryway to Disneyland. Just so happened there was a big clock up in front of me. I waited 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes. You know how when you're waiting, things seem to take a lot longer than it really is.
Now, I got on the tram, still carrying Alexandra, took the 15-minute ride to the parking lot. The only problem was, I couldn't remember where we had parked. We were driving a white rental car. Do you know how many white rental cars there are at Disneyland in the summer? I bet there's 10,000. I went up and down aisle after aisle after aisle, so tired, totally sweaty.
Finally, I had to do what no grown man likes to do. I had to go to the tram station and say, "I can't find my car." Might as well have said, "I'm a loser." There was an older man there and he was very friendly. He said, "Don't worry about it, I'll help you. Did you park in the Mickey and Friends parking lot, or did you park in the Lion King parking lot?" I said, "I have no idea." He said, "Well, did you see Mickey Mouse when you drove in or did you see Simba?" I said, "I don't know who Simba is." He said, "Do you know who Donald Duck is?"
Long story short, I parked on the other side of Disneyland. I had to get back on the tram, go back to where I started, catch another tram. An hour later, I showed up at the car. Little Jonathan was about five. He came running out, "Daddy, I found you."
I learned my lesson(s).
Number one... be patient. Number two... let Victoria shop as much as she wants to shop. Number three... don't give away your joy.
Jesus said, John 14:27: "'Stop allowing yourself to be upset and agitated.'"
Notice, it's a choice. He didn't say, "I'll take away everything that will cause stress and frustration." No, he said, "It'll still be there, but if you have the right approach, it doesn't have to upset you," and we all have to deal with not only delays, inconveniences, but we have to deal with people that are hard to get along with, people that are rude, inconsiderate, annoying, and sometimes it's not a stranger.
Next Week At A Glance:
Monday, February 10th: Board Work Session 6pm
Tuesday, February 11th: 9am Bible Release
Tuesday, February 11th: 10:30am 5th Grade Band Fitting
Tuesday, February 11th: 4pm Admin Meeting
Wednesday, February 12th: Student Count Day
Wednesday, February 12th: Happy BDay to Shirley Campbell
Wednesday, February 12th: 8:45am Assembly Grades 3-5
Wednesday, February 12th: King Arthur Flour Assembly with Grades 4-5 at 1:40pm
Wednesday, February 12th: PLC
- Back to Basics...Question 1...What do we want our students to know?
- How will we know they learned it?
- Focus on Formative Assessments
Wednesday, February 12th: 3:20pm Building Wide School Improvement Discussion in Library (Attendance not required)
Thursday, February 13th: 5th Grade to All-Skate
Thursday, February 13th: Lunch (subs and chips) provided by AIG rep. Answers Q's on 403B's.
Thursday, February 13th: After School - Good News Club
Thursday, February 13th: PTO Meeting 6pm (Mr. Cole presenting on Zones of Regulation)
Friday, February 14th: No School (4 day weekend)
* Huge Shout Out to ALL that stepped up last week. We have endured a rough patch of staff absences and I'm beyond grateful for the willingness to rise up and support each other. These are the times that our TRUE colors shine brightest. THANK YOU!
* Gentle reminder...it is your benefit to answer the notice & wonderings following a class observation.