Celebrate Vocations! Meet Sister Sarah
Sister Sarah Heger, CSJ is a teacher and youth minister in rural Mississippi.
"I love the energy they bring me and I'll do whatever I can to share the abundance of blessings with which God has gifted me. I think that's what I said 'yes' to in this life, part of what attracted me to it and I count myself blessed to call them 'my kids.'"
- Read Sister Sarah's blog.
- Learn more about becoming a Sisters of St. Joseph.
5:45 a.m.
Alarm clock goes off too early as usual. Get up and say hello to God. Make bed. Renew vows and put cross on pillow. To the shower.
6:00 a.m.
Eat cereal and read the paper. Do the usual getting ready for work things. Find enough for lunch and snacks to keep me full for the day. Always feel like I pack the whole refrigerator.
6:30 a.m.
Personal prayer. Usually read the first reading (in Spanish for a litte practice) and psalm and a CSJ Maxim.
6:45 a.m.
Join Sr. Kate for community prayer. Read the Gospel. Quiet meditation. Sharing. Petitions. Chit chat before heading to work.
7:15 a.m.
Decide whether to grab my helmet and ride to school or my tennis shoes and walk the six-tenths of a mile.
7:30 a.m.
Sign in at the high school. Make copies, help students who stop in, chat with teachers, etc.
7:50 a.m.
Period 1--special education tutorial. Guide students in 3-D cell creations out of clay.
8:45 a.m.
Period 2--English as a second language. Work one-on-one with a student who speaks limited English. Begin with English basics. Take student to my car to go over relevant words for drivers' ed. Help with World History homework.
9:40 a.m.
Period 3--special education tutorial. Decimal place values with one student. Thinking map on story plot with another. Hope the others are working without my standing right next to them.
10:35 a.m.
Period 4--special ed. pull-out algebra. Fill in pre-algebra gaps necessary for the next algebra lesson.
11:30 a.m.
Period 5--LUNCH!
12:25 p.m.
Period 6--repeat period four.
1:20 p.m.
Period 7--girls' athletics. Run sprints with my volleyball team on the track. Thank goodness for the cooler weather.
2:15 p.m.
Period 8--English as a second language. Group of Hispanic students needing classwork assistance and English language supplement.
3:10 p.m.
Clean up and close up my classroom and head to the gym.
3:30 p.m.
Volleyball practice. Encourage, animate, push, challenge. Hit balls, throw balls, laugh, shake my head and keep moving.
5:00 p.m.
Wait around for the last player to be picked up. Head to the track myself for a quiet mile of meditation and reflection on the day. Walk home.
5:30 p.m.
Shower and heat up a great dinner--a surprise treat a parishoner dropped off early this morning for me. Do the dishes when Kate's phone rings (she always seems to have it timed perfectly).
6:00 p.m.
Walk across the street and knock on the neighbor's door to say hello. Ms. Ruth is turning 85 this week.
6:30 p.m.
Work on my computer: volleyball stats on-line, translate parts of poems into Spanish for students tomorrow, check e-mail.
7:30 p.m.
Chill for an hour with Kate. A small bowl of ice cream in front of the TV.
8:30 p.m.
Good night to Kate. Pajamas. Brush teeth. All those good pre-bedtime activities. Check Facebook one more time. Into my prayer chair to re-cap with God. Centering prayer. Journaling.
9:30 p.m.
Slip into bed to read until my head is clear enough and I am tired enough to sleep.
Somewhere around 10:30 p.m.
One last thank you to God for the day as I close my eyes, ready to begin again tomorrow.
