Happy beginning of your school year, Little Way crew.

To be invited into a great love

That has been my story. 

This has been His story. 

With its new beginnings 

and rip-your-heart-out endings. 

I have loved a place--

with its noisy heater

and its beat-up walls. 

Walls bruised from 

pins and nails and tacks and tape. 

Marks of work and of learning. 

This place has heard a million stories

has seen an even better story

The unfolding of a story 

filled with life.

Filled with dreary mondays,

cranky mornings,

joyful prayers,

forgotten lunches,

successful equations,

dog-chewed homework,

curious hypotheses,

headaches, earaches, temperatures, 

historical ponderings, 

sick stomachs,

breathtaking essay endings, 

 twisted ankles, 

distraction

fascination 

disinterest

delight

failure

success

boredom

joy

But hidden within the folds of this unfolding, 

within the wrinkles of the everyday mundane, 

has been the heartbeat of a remarkable story. 

One story with multiple simultaneously progressing plots--

each reaching lowest valleys,

highest peaks. 

I have been written out of this symphony of stories 

so a new chapter can begin. 

I suspected I'd know anger, frustration, anxiety. 

But there is a peace in trusting the omniscience of the Storyteller. 

Each story must make room for new characters. 

Each good story needs a new discovery, 

a plot twist, 

a change of scenery. 

It is humbling to recognize that the plot twist comes for the sake of the little characters--

so that the story can become that much better. 

This story is a mystery

But will, without a doubt, be punctuated by great love, 

just as I've seen take place up to now. 

I couldn't be more proud to pass along the great privilege of teaching at our little school. I will miss you all from Michigan, but can't wait to hear of your tales of adventure and greatness. 

Happy beginning of your school year, Little Way crew. Keep being extraordinary.