Glee? Fame? What???

Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium

Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, and riches take wings.  Only one thing endures and that is character.

~Horace Greeley

Yesterday started off with intensity from the very get-go.  My middle daughter called to say her car quit abruptly on the Rockville Parkway off 495.  She was in the middle of the road and didn’t quite know what to do.  I advised her to stop crying, call the police and call me back. The next phone call revealed that her oil light had come on while on 495, and she had driven another 2-3 miles to find an exit.  Ah – Lesson #1: When the oil light comes on, stop in your tracks.  Suffice it to say that she had: a) blow a seal, then b) blown her engine.  Much trauma ensued.  It was time to play musical cars with yet another of my children, and it took most of the day to accomplish it.  This morning, my trusty red truck sits in my driveway, and the Blue Bomb [affectionately so-called by some members of my BUMC choir] is in Maryland.

My daughter finally got on the road back home around 6:00pm, and I came in the house determined to relax and spend a little time on the computer.  When I opened my Facebook page, I noticed that I had an invitation to visit a new page.  I usually ignore and delete such requests, but this time I clicked on it to view the page.  I don’t believe I have ever been so shocked in my life.  The face staring back at me was my own.  The title of the page was “Ms. Liz Fan Club.”  

I realize that I am an old-fashioned teacher – one who believes that an educator must invest themselves, heart and soul, in the lives of their students.  I know no other way to do my job.  I do not do it, however, for accolades; I do it for the kids.  I am, and always have been, a Martha – one who prefers to be busy in the background.  I have never learned the art of graciously accepting praise.  This was not, however, an individual spouting empty words.  This came from my students – my kids – and I honor them for so honoring me.  An honor such as this comes with tremendous responsibility.  Any time someone puts you on a pedestal, it is so very easy to fall off.  I pray that God will keep me from disappointing them in any way.

Good leadership is a channel of water controlled by God;

He directs it to whatever end He chooses.

Proverbs 21:1 [The Message]