Amy Writes

As a teacher - or teacher's aide, which was my position - you're not supposed to have favorites. But I did, of course. I had Chloe. Chloe was this goofy, smiley little 3-year-old. She was sweet to everyone and intentionally funny. She had a gorgeous head of dark wavy hair that framed her precious little heart shaped face. I never could decide whether it was her huge, round brown eyes or the smile that stretched from ear to ear that most enchanted me. Chloe came from one of those too-good-to-be true families. Her parents were a little bit older and seemed to have plenty, which, in this particular school usually meant that pick up, drop off and most other parental duties were performed by a member of the family's staff. But not Chloe's family. Chloe's tall, thin, beautiful mommy was at pickup every day, squatting down to greet her baby as if it had been days since they'd seen each other. Chloe would see her mom and virtually explode with joy, jumping up off the ci...

In the last few weeks, 3 friends have had their first babies. Two others are closing on their first house tomorrow. Two more are marrying each other in a few weeks. One made it through major surgery today. One close friend started a new job this week. One close friend has been fighting to keep her job for two weeks. A third lost her job this week. Two more are pregnant, and, closest of all, my sister is within weeks of being matched with her daughter from China. But me? Well, today I trimmed Chloe's hair and sold stuff for Eden's school fundraiser. (need anything? if she sells 300 items we get a Wii.) Clearly, this is not my season of major life change - but I can't help feeling like God has me in the eye of the storm for a reason. Not experiencing the tormenting winds and driving rains, but in the eye, where everything is still, but swirling madly all around. I could see it as an opportunity to serve, but with the exception of providing a meal or two, I'm really feelin...