116, 92, 68 – I am grateful

116, 92, and 68
Grateful for the in between moments and an awareness of time

This weekend we filled three different marble jars. One jar contained 116, another contained 92, and the last a mere 68 marbles. Each marble would represents the number of months between November 2018, and June of my three kids’ perspective graduating years. The purpose of counting out this particular milestone of marbles is to focus on being intentional during the in between time. While we will continue imparting wisdom on our children when they leave for college and into their adulthood; the time they are present in our home will look different and not be as scheduled.

At the end of each month a marble will be taken out so that the jar becomes a visible reminder of how precious and finate the time we have with our kids is, as well as how necessary it is to be focused and intentional during each month, as the marbles cannot be added back.

When I first proposed the idea of doing this, my husband said, “That is so sad. I don’t know if I want to do a sad activity.” I have to be honest, that was the first emotion I felt when I heard about this idea during a faith legacy event at our church for my 3rd grader. However, the more I thought about it, the more I realized how important it is to have visual reminders that compel us to want to act boldly and make every moment matter.

As the day progressed, the more optimistic I felt. I was truly grateful for the numbers 116, 92 and 66. I decided to change my perspective and see this is a jar filled with opportunities between the next several months. I realized that there are parents who would give anything for this many opportunities to daily share values. If I could see these jars through the lens of abundance- I would be blessed.

The more I thought about how grateful I was to have been given a gift through marbles, I realized I could do the same thing in my classroom. I decided to do a weekly marble jar that would sit on my desk. The jar contains 28 marbles. This number has been adjusted to reflect the weeks we are out of school. I look forward to it reminding me to be grateful for the opportunity to be intentional during the in between moments. And, most importantly realize that every moment, and every week really does matter. My students are only in class with me for a short time.  Minutes, days, and weeks cannot be wasted.  This Thanksgiving one of the things I am most grateful for is an awareness of time and the in between moments that make up that time.