I had a rough day today from the start and didn't know how I was gonna get through it, but I underestimated how well my Heavenly Father knows my circumstances, once again. I received an email out of the blue today from a mother of one of the students in class. It said:

"Mrs. E,

Mady absolutely LOVES your class and talks about it and you constantly. Thanks for all you do and your concern for her."

My day started to turn around right after reading this email. Then toward the end of the day I had another mother pop into my classroom and thank me for whatever I'm doing with her son because for the first time he actually wants to read and has seen recent success in his reading ability. I told her that it was his hard work that is paying off, but man I feel like I'm on a emotional high every time I get these simple rewards from my students. So by the end of the day I was holding back tears of gratitude for my students and how rewarding it is to help them. The days that I get thanked are few and far-between, but when a day strolls along that's full of thank-yous I start to realize how important I am in these kids' lives. I'm grateful I get to be a part of their road to success. Every minute of teaching is worth it. Especially when my little second graders hug me tight and tell me I'm the best reading teacher EVER or my fourth graders tell me that my class is their favorite and they wish we had a longer class period in there together or even simple things like when my students tell me I look beautiful or that I'm the nicest teacher they know. These things get me through the rough patches in my life.