I Think I'm Magic

This week definitely ended with a Friday the 13th feel but it started that way as well... Monday morning I was taking my coffee pot down the hall to clean it out, tripped on a chair and flung coffee everywhere, the order for paper towels had been misplaced so there were none in the school and I stole a HUGE pile of napkins in a lame attempt to clean my mess. Eventually I had to fess up (no hiding a huge stain in the middle of the office) and the janitor had to bring the big Zamboni thing down to clean the carpet- I have been told that I am only allowed water from now on.:(
Pretty much everything I tried and or did this week went the same- splat and made a mess! I did get some things out of my bad week however- God is there, even in my mess providing comfort (he kept me from crying at work several times this week!!), I got 2 new tires (you know there is more to that story), and I got a chance to just let go- sometimes when you are in trouble or things go wrong you finally realize that stressing about it does not change the situation, so by the end of the week I was breathing normally again!
I have figured out why I coach and why I teach- I think I might be magic!! I have about 50 girls of various ability playing basketball with me 2 days a week after school. They are all learning- you don't walk in my gym, right left up for a lay-up, the ball should spin back at you and be shot with one hand not two, etc. Each day I see improvement! I have one girl who is nice and tall and pretty solid- she isn't incredibly coordinated but she is very coachable! She was struggling with free throws and I went over to her, made a few small adjustments, asked her to do a few things and vwalla- she made 3 swishes in a row! She looked at me and said "how did you do that??" I wanted to reply- "I'm magic" but I gave the standard "I've been coaching for a lot of years now". It was great. The next day I did the same thing with another girl and again she asked "how did you do that?" they seem to think it is magic so I figure maybe I should go with that! ;) I went home thinking to myself that is why I put the time and effort and sweat and stress into this job- I love being able to make small adjustments in students to help them see success, sometimes it is getting them to stop cussing and staying out of trouble, sometimes it is getting them to come to school, sometimes it is getting them to line up the numbers right in a math problem, or giving a new way to remember something. It isn't magic but it sure feels that way when you see a child's demeanor change because they have finally seen success and then they want more!! I have no magic wand but I do have prayer and it works!!