Sunshine Toast

For the past 5 years, August has historically been a month of high energy, excited preparation and anticipation. I used to spend these sweltering, dog days of summer running around buying all the back-to-school things for my classroom, nagged by curiosity about which little humans God had chosen for me to come alongside, whose brains and hearts I would have the opportunity to help mold.

Come May, none of it mattered but those little humans and their brains and hearts.  And being the best teacher I could be didn’t involve the cutest classroom theme or staying at school until 9pm slaving over a perfectly genre-coded library. It involved time for myself and cultivating heart space so that I could give my students my all. But not my everything.

This August looks a little different than years past. There is no classroom to prepare or students to inquire about. There aren’t bulletin boards to be hung or lesson plans to be created. A big part of me is wondering who I will be when I’m not Mrs. Munden 5,348 times a day. But another part of me is also ok with not knowing. Because in just a few short months, God willing, I will go by another name and that name is “Mom.”

In pregnancy, like in teaching, it’s second nature for constant preparation and anxious anticipation to take front seat. The nursery! The classes The registry! However, I imagine in motherhood, like in teaching, there is only so much one can actually plan for. I know the most important work I will do as a mom will center around my little girl’s heart and mind too. The vital lessons I learned from my years as “Mrs. Munden” will certainly travel with me into motherhood. They’re ironed into my soul.

So, in order to prepare my heart (instead of “all the things”)  for this seemingly gargantuan job, I am leaning into rest and stillness. Even if this means going against what every iota of my being wants to do, do, do, I’m making a conscious decision to eschew that insidious guilt that tells me it’s selfish to take care of myself.

My favorite administrator once told me that I can’t serve from an empty platter. So today, I’m taking the time to fill my platter with all of those things that keep me thriving, and a delicious breakfast is an essential part of that. I’m posting this easy “Sunshine toast” in honor of my 2nd grade students, some of whom I know read my blog! This is a quick, healthy breakfast you can make in a pinch, especially once school starts and the mornings are a little more rushed.

¡Buen provecho and happy school year!