Ending a School Year and Measuring its Impact

The humor for me here is that I am finally able to process everything that happened last year and this year has already begun! It all culminated this last Friday when about ten girls from last year's class popped in to say hello. I miss them! I take for granted all the amazing interactions that happen in a class when a teacher really tries to make a one on one connection with each student. The results are amazing, but it isn't just results:
I have FIFTY-SIX people in my life from last year that mean the world to me. Each one of them brought something special to me, and I am not just saying that.
I miss seeing them daily. I miss their humor and struggles. I miss worrying about them and being able to impact them. I now worry that they make the transition from childhood to teenager to adult successfully. Most do, some struggle. I miss my time of being able to influence them daily towards successful adulthood. I have to believe they have people in their lives that will guide them along that path.
Ending a school year is always bitter sweet. It is nice to have the break, but there is always the realization that most likely these interactions with students won't ever be the same again: The inside jokes, the personal struggles and victories, the heartbreaking events in their lives. These are the things that make a school year. The instruction is lovely and fulfilling for me, but the connections and love I gain from being a teacher and mentor to these students is what it is all about.
You cannot measure it. You cannot replace it. It's a blessing in my life.
I have often thought about the path that led me to being a teacher. I can see the Lord's hand in it. He took my personality and some of my desires, and He put me in a position that would be the best for me. He will do that for anyone who wants it. He knew me better than I knew myself. This is my twelfth year and it just gets better. I'm grateful for the stretching that comes from this "job" (honestly, it feels more like a calling most of the time). I'm grateful that there are hundreds of kids that I can call my own and that I love.
Teaching definitely isn't about all the money I'm raking in, for me it's about trying to change a life, and sometimes save a life. Sometimes it's the life of a student, many times it is mine. Teaching success is measured  in more than just test scores. It is measured in love, time, tears and in people.
Lucky me!

Accomplishing Good Things - Thanks Brother of Jared for Your Example

I have had the story of the Brother of Jared - specifically the lights in the barge section - in my mind a lot the last few days. We are considering some big choices at this time and we're trying to do the right thing. I think the principle in these verses is really profound and applicable to many of the problems and situations we face. We sometimes struggle because we "think" that there is "one right answer". The brother of Jared could have just said to himself, "Well we'll just have to cross in the dark because the Lord didn't say anything about lights."
BUT he didn't. He saw an opportunity to make life a little easier an better quality. So he approached the Lord. Did the Lord hand out a free answer? Nope. He said, "[W]hat will ye that I should prepare for you?"
I believe that the Lord expects us to believe that He can and will help us achieve goals, dreams, desires that are good. He can build our faith when we need and want to accomplish some great thing - whatever it is. This whole situation the Brother of Jared found himself in was because he wanted to help his family. It was his desire - the Lord was there to help and offer assistance to righteous desires. So...what does that mean for us?
If it worked for the Brother of Jared, it will work for us. We need to be prayerful and counsel with the Lord about what we desire, about what we feel impressed to do, but I believe the Lord will be there to help us. I think He's happy about us being "agents unto ourselves" (D&C 58:28) and He knows our abilities and strength will grow as we pursue things we want that will benefit our families and the people around us. We need to trust Him more. He's not just a law-giver, he's a helper, a friend, a builder, a guide.
So the actual scriptures are right here. Read them for yourselves, they are pretty awesome:

22 And he cried again unto the Lord saying: O Lord, behold I have done even as thou hast commanded me; and I have prepared the vessels for my people, and behold there is no light in them. Behold, O Lord, wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this great water in darkness?

23 And the Lord said unto the brother of Jared: What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have windows, for they will be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire.

24 For behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth.

25 And behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. Therefore what will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?