Aunt Becca to Many More

This year at Preston High School, we are beginning a wonderful new program called LINKS. This is a small group that meets twice a week for 1/2 hour sessions. The group of 15 students will have the same teacher advisor until they graduate and can have a personal relationship beyond passing in the halls with the teacher and with the other students in the group. When we meet, we discuss issues and participate in self-discovery conversations, set goals, and work out problems. This way, those students who may otherwise get 'lost' in the crowd, will have a group of 15 students and a teacher they can call their own. Of course, this is right up my ally. The couselor in me is loving it! They took the list of 450 freshman (which is my grade level), cut the names into strips, and shuffled them into a giant pile. They then picked the names one by one and assigned them to the teachers until each teacher had 15 students. You'll never guess who is in my group... my nephew Jairus!!!!! If that isn't a confirmation from God that I am where I am supposed to be, I don't what is. I had applied for several positions in elementary schools last year and every one of them fell through by a margin. Of course I prayed that God would put me where he wanted me...and now look. God is good and his plan is perfect. After our first session yesterday, I feel confident that my group is going to be everything I hoped it would be and I am blessed to have an opportunity to know and mentor my nephew - how special. At the end of the session, all this kids asked me if they could call me 'Aunt Becca' and I said that because they were going to be mine for 4 years, absolutely - but only them, not their friends. As they left my room, many said "Bye Aunt Becca!" and I was left with a big hug from Jarius. Praise God.