Christian teacher. Public School.

This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces from India to Cush. - Esther 1:1 (NIV) It has taken me a long while to write this. There is so much I've learned and I wasn't really sure where God wanted me to go with this. I kept getting the impression that this needed to be about Vashti, and so that is where I began looking. Thing is, finding out anything about Vashti is difficult, and some things actually contradict each other. I looked up what the Midrash had to say about her and found that there are several different ways of thinking. I say this, because I am going to take a bit of license here, but I want to be fully open about it. I will leave links that I used to aid me in writing this piece, should one wish to go down that Rabbi hole (see what I did there). Also, I'm really bad at MLA (sorry Mrs. Alcorn, you tried to your best to teach me) so...links. ------------------------------------------------------------------------...

TRIGGER WARNING:   This post deals with mortality and school shootings. Please skip this post if necessary for you. ********************************************************************************* "We are sitting ducks out here."  I thought during a March fire drill last year. Panic struck, the most recent school shooting running through my mind. I double checked my roster making sure I had all my kids and said a prayer while hoping if something terrible happen all of my students would do exactly what I always tell them to do...run. Run as far away as you can. Get yourself safe and then worry later. And if you have to fight, fight. Don't be an easy target. I caught myself holding my breath as I waited for the all clear to be called so I could shuffle my children back into the semi-safety of my classroom. It wasn't until then that it truly hit me how much anxiety the shooting just weeks before was really giving me. I got in my car that afternoon and cried. ...