confessions of showers of blessings...and the wise little owl...

The first picture is of the rain. Our first really hard rain. It was really nice at first...I began to take some pictures and video of my window that has been leaking---when I realized that the ceiling was leaking as well....I moved my desk and glanced out the window to admire the rain and to thank God for the coolness the rain brings. As I looked out-there was a little owl braving the wind, and rain on the wall (there are many ledges and places he could have gone to take cover-anywhere around the school). He was looking directly at me as if he was trying to say something. I was a bit mesmorized by him and forgot about the mess. As our campus maintenance man was waiting for me to figure out where everything should go-I showed him the little owl and he went to get another teacher to show her. We were all just admiring him when I turned around and the water started flooding in from our little playground into the hallway. I picked up my suitcase, a few boxes I wanted to keep and set them on my tables. I turned around and the water kept coming and coming....and it would not stop. All of a sudden I heard a lot of loud yelling in Portuguese and pretty quickly my room began to fill up with workers raking out the water. First, I ran to get my laptop and unplug and put up all the computer cords. I barely made it in time for the printer. It was almost ruined. I ran around picking up my carpets, mats, books, posters, bookshelves, tables, and chairs to which the water was up to my ankles. Luckily-I dont' think anything is going to be water damaged. I did however have to take everything off the walls by the windows-most of which was ruined. At the end, all I could do was start singing, "Showers of Blessings" and thank God for the sweet, cool rain he brought us. The next week is going to be hard, I know this. It's going to be hard for the kids because they no longer have a classroom and won't for an undisclosed amount of time. I don't think they will let us back in until they fix the problem. I understand that it will take double the work to have a "portable" classroom" but it's okay. No one is hurt, no one is sick, and this too shall pass. Soon-I will be back in my classroom. The next two picturea are what my room looked like right before I left today. The last picture is what my room looked like yesterday.