Let’s take a break from the fitness talk. Because life is so much more than big muscles and looking great.
Philippians 4:6 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Uncertainty breeds anxiety, and anxiety can overtake us. Prayer is an essential ingredient to build strength and trust in God. During moments of suffering and worry, it is important to take grievances and fears to God.
Sunday afternoon I found out that a previous student of mine, along with his 2 younger brothers and mom who was 8 months pregnant, were all killed in a car wreck Saturday evening outside of Fremont, NE.
This may be one of the hardest realizations that I’ve faced.
Ever since Sunday afternoon my mind has been flooding with the sweet memories that I will forever cherish, thinking about all the time I spent with Julian.
I’ll never forget the first time Julian walked into my classroom. He was screaming and crying at the top of his lungs because he didn’t want to leave his mom. He was only 4 years old when he first came into my life. At the time I was teaching at Head Start in Lincoln, NE which is now known as Educare.
I spent a lot of time with Julian. From holding him in my arms as he came in crying or sleeping most mornings, to helping him write his name for the first time. I still remember sitting down with him as he scribbled out a line and told me that was his name. He was 4 going on 5 and would be entering kindergarten next year. And even though this was my first year of teaching, I knew that going into Kindergarten not being able to write his name was going to present a lot of challenges. I sat with him every day and worked on this until he was finally able to write it out all my himself. Julian was so proud of himself. He wanted to write his name everywhere, all the time because he was so proud of himself. Shortly after we began working on his phonemic awareness. By the end of that year, he was able to identify each letter and sound. What an amazing accomplishment this beautiful boy had made!
His absolute favorite thing to do was ride bikes! We had a playground that had tricycles and a mini track for the kids to ride on. Everyday he would just ride and ride. We may have used that as an “incentive” once or twice.
I will never remember the last hug I gave this sweet boy, along his brothers and mom. With tears in our eyes we said our goodbyes with the hopes of maybe one day seeing each other again.
I ended up moving to Switzerland after I left teaching at Educare. That next year, I received many messages from his mom Maria telling me he was reading on grade level and doing well in school.
Looking back at these pictures, I am reminded of even more precious memories I had with Julian. This is another example that we don’t always understand why some things happen. A beautiful, sweet, loving and caring mother, trying to provide the best she could for her boys and a little girl that would’ve been here in March.
The one thing that is bringing me peace and comfort is trusting God that he has a greater plan than our own. I pray that they are all together in heaven and one day I will be able to see them all again.
❤️Maria
💙Julian
💙Adrian
💙Angel
💗unborn baby girl
