Ups and Downs pt. 1

A couple of weeks ago, I took my 6th graders sledding after school -- we had a blast! Earlier in the week, we received a nice covering of snow, but then the temperatures rose and everything began to melt. Fortunately there was still enough snow to sled, but the ground was quite wet and there were some decent sized puddles at the bottom of the hill. By the time we finished, most of the kids were soaked. One of the boys was so wet that it was pointless for him to wear his coat back to school, so i let him wear mine. I can only imagine what people must have been thinking as they watched me walk down the street in a short sleeved shirt and a scarf.
We then went back to school for hot chocolate and cookies and a movie ("The Princess Bride"). I enjoy hanging out w my students so much. I know that many people say they could never teach middle school students, but I am not sure I would ever want to teach any other age. God gives us the gifts and talents and then places us in just the right spots to use them.
I was thinking about sledding in relation to life. There are many big hills that we face -- I have had many of them recently. We start out at the top feeling great about life and where we are headed, but then we start down the hill, increasing speed as we go and wondering if we are going to make it to the bottom in one piece. Sometimes we get hit in the face with snowballs (one of my students did hit me in the face as i was sledding down), and sometimes we get our feet knocked out from under us when we aren't looking (another student came down the hill when i wasn't looking and knocked me flat on my back). The question that remains then is this: what happens next? Do we choose to stand up and keep moving forward or remain on the ground and feel sorry for ourselves? We know, of course, that God will give us the strength to stand again, and it's much easier to face these situations when we have each other to help and encourage. I have been experiencing some of these downhill experiences recently mainly related to the stress of living here in Moscow. For a while we thought we were going to have to move due to rent increase, but we are able to stay in our apt for the time being. Also, teaching, in general, has its stresses. Sometimes I feel like I don't have the strength to keep moving, and other days, I am flying with all the energy of the wind.
Here are some pics and a video of our sledding party: