First Week of 2023 – Weekly Reflection
Updates
Sooooooo, I don’t think I will be doing videos anymore. Though it was fun to film and edit the first video (which I never posted), it took a lot of time to do. With me going back to work and following my regular routine, there just wasn’t going to be a lot to film or a lot of time to edit. I will, however, try to post on my Instagram more photos and snippets of my days with perhaps a reel or two thrown in occasionally. I feel like there’s more freedom with that so that’s what I will be doing for now.
Back to Work
This week, I returned back to work after a whole week off for our winter break. I was a bit worried about how this was going to go considering my work-life balance wasn’t great before the break. However, after having such a great week last week, a lot of graces spilled over into this week. Not only that, but work itself was a lot more pleasant and enjoyable. I’m not sure if it was certain staffing changes, my kids growing up and now finding a more stable schedule (having 8 infants on very different schedules is TOUGH), or maybe even my own mentality that made this week so great.
As I’ve mentioned in my Word of the Year post, I am a planner and set goals for myself that I can then make a plan to achieve. I went into this job knowing that this isn’t a long-term job, I don’t expect to be here for more than 5 years so I got to thinking about what’s next. Because of this, I started to think about my next job when I’ve only been at my current job for 6 months. I was so focused on my future that the present seemed almost annoying. I just wanted to get it over with. I remember telling myself, “It’s okay, this is just temporary” while complaining about my job almost every day. I still loved my job even through all the complaining but I still wanted more. I focused too much on what I didn’t have rather than focusing on what I did.
This week, I made more of an effort to give my job my all for myself, for my assistant teachers, and more importantly, for the kids. I realized that I was just doing the bare minimum and maybe some of this had to do with the way I viewed myself and my ability to do my job well. I came back this week confident and ready to educate my kids in ways that are fun and developmentally appropriate. I felt a lot happier in the classroom and rather than feeling completely drained in the evenings, I left work feeling pretty okay (considering I spent 9 hours chasing around babies). It was just a very beautiful week in which I felt happy and loved what I was doing, and even felt loved by the children I work with!
Friendships
This week, I got to spend some one-on-one time with some friends I hadn’t been able to sit down and talk with for a while. I became very aware of how important it is to me to spend quality time with friends like that, from having deep catch-up conversations as the sun sets to casual talks about what we want in life over ice cream or laughs over rice balls! Friends, if we haven’t set up a time to just sit and talk, let’s do that soon! I’m sure we all know how important it is to have a community that supports you and loves you and after graduating, it’s hard to keep the same community as you transition into work life.
Everyone goes into new stages of life with new jobs or maybe even new relationships, while some may even stay in school. Whatever the case may be, I want to be more intentional with setting up time with my friends, God knows I need them.
Prayer Life
My prayer life this week has also been pretty good! I thought maybe with going back to work I might waiver a bit but I actually kept up a pretty good routine. I still haven’t succeeded in setting a consistent sit-down, formal prayer time but I have picked up a few ways I can incorporate prayer into my every day in small ways. I am thinking about writing a post about all the small things I have been doing to keep God at the center of my day so keep an eye out for that but know that even with these small prayers, my days have been drastically different! These small prayers have made my mornings and my entire day a bit more serene and enjoyable.
This week, I also discerned that I will be participating in Fiat 90 starting tomorrow! I made a few adjustments to fit my own personal needs and where I am at in this period of renewing my faith so I am excited to see how this will go! Please keep me in your prayers hehe.
Highs, Lows, G-Mos?
High: Getting to spend some quality time with friends! Like I said, I love one on one conversations so it was nice to get that with multiple friends this week.
Low: I’m starting to feel a little unwell. I’ve had a sore throat today and I hope it goes away soon!
God Moment: Confession this week! Confession is always a God Moment, I am always amazed by God’s loving mercy.
Thanks for Checking In!
If you’re reading this, I just want to say thank you for checking in! Please keep me in your prayers as I continue to not only renew my faith but just enjoy life better than I had been. I will be praying for you all as well and I hope you have a beautiful week. Please stay tuned for upcoming posts!