The whole world's gone crazy!

OK, so maybe not the whole world, but my classroom was a big ball of chaos today! I mean if you know anything about my school, I had 14 kids NOT MYD today - FOURTEEN!!! That is insane. When I picked my kids up from lunch one was already in the office, & had to talk the rest of them out of a full scale revolt - apparently they had had some disagreement with some adult during lunch (5th graders are very big on fairness & if they sense injustice of any kind- watch out!) We had a 30 minute discussion about their concerns, fairness, doing the right thing, what is in our power to change in this situation, etc. etc. etc... After going through the whole talk I felt it was time to move on, but before I could say a word, a kid blurts out: "So, can we just start a petition, or come to school with signs that say 'Fire her' or something?" So after cleaning up that mess, we did our reading lesson. We barely made it through & I got the feeling they were pretty much 'at capacity' (i.e. they were still feeling really frustrated about earlier happenings & everyone was getting on every one's last nerve). So what did we do? We went outside to run it off. I simply said, "You know what guys? I love y'all so much that I am going to give you a one time treat: we're going outside." Their reactions were hilarious (picture the people being chosen for the Price is Right). Apparently 15 minutes of outside time is enough to buy the love of 23 kids, in case you were wondering. As I told my kids (and continue to tell myself) tomorrow is a new day. Thank you, Lord! Lamentations 3:22-23 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.