It's Not Just a Hula Hoop

Today in PE as I held up a hula hoop they all exclaimed excitedly, "Hula Hoop!"
Somethings are even more fun when you get imaginations into gear.
So, then I asked the 2nd grade girls, "What else could this be?"

Here are their ingenious answers:
The full moon
A huge earring
A ring around Saturn
The planet Jupiter
A ball
A halo
A steering wheel
A bracelet

A hoop for a tiger to jump through
A huge necklace
A life saver
A cup holder
A wagon wheel
A ferris wheel


A button
A giant's wedding ring
The letter O
A zero
A head
A lasso

Well, this got me thinking . . . . hang with me here. This is a winding kind of story with 3 parts.

PART 1
Last week, on a day when I was pretty sad, I noticed a little bird outside my office window. I thought, God knows when even a sparrow falls. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:31). He knows every hair on our heads.
(Psalm 139:13) For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.

Trust . . just trust! Just like I used to - when I was really young - I prayed for God to send me a sign that everything would be ok.
I thought and said to God, "If I look out that window into the woods along the fence and I see a deer it is the sign, God."
Feeling a tad foolish and knowing I was being ridiculously demanding of God, but still hoping, I stood and turned to look into the woods. I had already decided that if I saw a deer it would be a miracle and that when I did not see a deer that would mean I just had to have consistent faith. God doesn't always answer in the way we want. But He always answers; He is always with us. So, in that 20 or 30 seconds of prayer-thought I had already decided to trust . . . . . God was already tending to my heartfelt plea by giving me the grace to trust.
I stood and turned and looked down the fence line slowly and with precision.
I did not see a deer.
I saw two.

PART 2
He always answers; He is always with us.
Today I killed a snake on the soccer field. I am not a snake expert but I do not want a snake biting any of my kids (biological or students). I felt I had to do it. It meant kind of stalking the thing and then carefully herding it to a place where I could crush it.
I did -- it wrapped its tail around my foot and that was creepy but I killed it.
I defeated a symbol of evil and fear. What came to my mind was that with God's help - I can defeat real evil. I can rise above fear.

Part 3
What does this have to do with hula hoops? Nothing exactly. But it does have a lot to do with perspective.
The hula hoop exercise reminded me, the teacher, to be open to other ways of seeing things. It reminded me to let God speak to me everyday, in every part of the day.

Everything will be ok (the deer)
With God we can defeat evil (the snake) and be not afraid.