Rancho Days

Last week the fourth graders participated in their second Hands on History field trip, Rancho Days.  I had signed up at the beginning of the year and I feigned excitement as my Lene Bean was bursting at the seams that I got to be a part of it.  I had so much to do: grades were due, packing for Pismo, planning a retreat for my Faith Formation kids, book club the next day. . .my to do list was choking out the excitement that may have presented itself had I let it.

That morning I prayed for a changed heart.  I wanted to feel excited.  I wanted to do this when I signed up.  Why was I letting the drudgery life get in the way of joy?  Thankfully, God changed my heart in the form of spilling my coffee all over my little quiet time space and I remembered it was a choice: it was up to me to make the best of this day.  I could choose to soak in the joy and count it as a blessing or I could choose to remain in my current mindset and call it a burden.  Blessing won.

The day was filled with history and I got to see these kids come alive with hands on practice of the skills that made the ranch work.  They prepared their lunch from grounding the chili, to mashing the beans, to cutting the meat, slicing the oranges, making banuelos and making the tortillas.  They learned a dance and created beautiful flowers out of tissue paper.  They worked in the mud (what a mess, super blessed that wasn't where I was stationed) to make bricks, made necklaces, lassoed horses, and weaved on a loom.  They heard the history of the adobe they walked through--how the Chumash once lived there and how they worked the land and provided for their families.

It was seriously one of the best field trips I had ever been on.  It took a ton of parent helpers to make the history come alive, but wow! It definitely was a blessing to behold. . .an opportunity to look at learning through my child's eyes and see their fascination with the past.  It made me proud to be a part of a district that desires these learning opportunities for their students.  It made me wistful and a little sad that the district I work in has no such thing.  It was a very good day filled with learning and activity and downright fun!  I can not wait for the Gold Rush in May!!!!

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. -James 1:2-4