Quick Update..

God is so good! Sometimes I have to wonder why He is always so good to me, even when I know I don't deserve it. He has truly blessed Matthew and I in so many ways and I am so grateful. We are doing great, very busy, but doing wonderful.

School is going well, my class has come a long way since day 1. It was looking a little scary at first, but it turns out they are a really sweet group of kids. I do love still seeing my kids from last year too. They come and hug me every morning on their way to class...so sweet!

We have gotten to do lots of fun things lately such as go on the marriage retreat in Charlotte and eating at Cheesecake Factory (which by the way, is the best food I've ever had)! I think I have told everybody that will listen about it. We also went to the Billy Graham Library which was really cool. Last weekend, we went to the Third Day concert with some of our bestest friends...it was awesome, even in the rain!

Short and sweet! Life is good!

My 10 Compliments

I recently read one of my friends blogs in which she made a good point....we often think kind things about other people, but we do not always voice our compliments to the people. I wanted to steal her idea and write out the first 10 compliments that come to mind. Here we go!

1. West Campus Praise Team- I want to compliment each of you on your dedication! I don't know if any of the members actually read my blog, but I am always so impressed with how they use their talents to lead people into the presence of God with humility.
2. Jessica- I tell you this all the time, but you inspire me! Thank you for your heart for the Lord and for so freely sharing your love and talents with so many around you. I love you and can't wait to see how God uses you in your future journey! I will call you..even if it's $20/minute.:)
3. Caroline- Thank you for being real and allowing me to be raw with you. I love that we don't have to do anything special....I just enjoy your company. Thanks for all your advise and for allowing me to trust you! :) I want you to know that I think you are a fantastic wife and mommy too!
4. Donna- You are one of my heroes! I admire the witness that you are....you are such a Godly woman and I know the Lord is pleased with you.
5. Jen C- You make me laugh, thank you! Also to Jon, great job with the youth!
6. Kurt- You do a great job at keeping Matthew sane. You are great friend to him...and me, we appreciate you. I'm so glad you're predestined! LOL! :)
7. Susan I.- You are so creative! I love how you use your creativity for God's glory. You rock!
8. Tina- You are a great teacher/administrator both in your career and in ministry. Your efforts do not go unnoticed.
9. Kathy R.- You are so sincere, genuine, and trustworthy. I appreciate your honesty and friendship.
10. My small group girls, Carrie, Brooke S., Lyn, Carol, Erin, Jen, & Erica. You are so much fun to be around. I look forward to our time together every Sunday night.
11. Christine-I LOVE your voice! Wednesday night was so refreshing!

Oop! 1 more! I saved the best for last...
12. Matthew- You are such a fantastic husband. I don't know why God decided to bless me with you, but I am totally thankful. Your love for the Lord and your humble leadership in our marriage, and in ministry are a blessing. You make me so proud! I love you!

Just as Rachel challenged me, I will challenge you to compliment 10 people and bless their lives either through blog, e-mail, phone, or in person. Once you start it is hard to stop....I could think of so many more nice things to say to people, but I already exceeded my limit! :)

Mission Opportunity

I went to dinner the other night with a friend of mine and we were talking about how we feel like we could be so much more useful to the community and in showing the love of Christ to those around us through simple acts of kindness. We talked about how we often look to the needs of people less fortunate during the holidays, but we rarely try to reach out and be involved in helping throughout the rest of the year....so we decided to start a little year-round ministry. I am SOOOO excited about it and would like to share it with you! I think that part of the reason why I love missions so much is because of the lives that are touched through simple Christlike services...no strings attached. Sometimes people really need to see Christ's love displayed before they are willing to open their hearts and minds to the gospel. So here is our project plan...

We are going to begin collecting staple household items to make packages for each home we will be delivering to. We have already chosen the community that we are going to serve and there are currently 87 residents in this community. We would like to eventually be able to deliver a package to each door and allow this to be an ongoing process. We would also like for as many people to help as possible! I will post a list of the items we will be collecting at the bottom of this blog. If you are interested in donating, please let me know and I will be glad to pick the items up from you, or they can be brought to the church. I have had a lot of people tell me that they read my blog, so now it is being used for advertisement! :)

If you would like to help stuff the packages, deliver the items, etc. please let me know that as well. We are going to take the next three or so weeks to get the word out and try to gather donations, based on where we are at that point we will decide when to deliver, etc.
Through doing this and having a presence in the community, we hope to build relationships and share Christ with those who may not know His wonderful love. Look forward to partnering with you in sharing the love of Christ to our community!

4 packs of toilet paper
2 packs of paper towels
laundry detergent
soap
trash bags
toothbrushes & paste
wash clothes
Bibles (Spanish and English) Church may have some too...

So Random....I guess that's what summer brings!

Well, I thought I would be better about keeping my blog updated since it is summer and I have so much more free time, but I guess I am still a slacker! The summer has been great so far, we had a wonderful trip to the beach back in June, but since then I haven't really done a whole lot...nothing really exciting at least.

I have not really taken on any summer projects and now I am wishing I had been a little more productive. I'm not sure what my problem has been. I will usually come up with things to do to keep myself busy, but this summer I really have not done that. I have spent most of my time at home. I have been able to read a lot which has been nice. Maybe God is showing me contentment, I don't know.

I've also been leading a women's group on Friday mornings which has been a lot of fun. I love small groups! You can truly see how God opens doors for people to share and be real in a small group settings. I'm thankful to have the time to do this during the summer it has been so refreshing. God always teaches me through other women, for that I am truly thankful!

Matthew finished his summer class last week so we have been able to spend some more time together which has been nice. He is like a different person when he does not have the pressure of school hanging over him. He will go back in mid-August for his final semester. I cannot wait for him to be done. We can see the light, praise the Lord!

Well, that's life. Like I said, nothing too exciting.....kind of a random blog actually! :)

Idols

Well, it's been a while since my last post but I'm hoping to be better about keeping up with my blog now that school is out. We shall see...

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about idols since Sunday night when we were talking about this in my small group. I was immediately convicted by an illustration that I saw because it was picture of what I often do in my own life (I wish I had the ability to draw it on here to show you, but that's not possible). Sometimes it is just so easy for me to put other things in front of God in my life. They are not necessarily bad things, but it's the fact that they are more important to me in the moment that concerns me.....

As I was thinking about this issue, and many other conversations that I have recently had with people, I realized just how much of a struggle idolatry is for so many people who truly want to follow Jesus. The world has created these man-made standards that many of us feel like we have to measure up to, whether it be with our jobs, parenting, marriage, body image, possessions, sex, addictions, social status, hobbies, etc. The sad thing is we want to meet these standards or feel a certain way about ourselves so bad that we allow ourselves to lust after these "things" that have no eternal value whatsoever! We will do just about anything, including sin, to fulfill our desires. In turn, we create alters in our hearts and we worship these certain areas/things in our lives, we do everything in our power to find fulfillment. In the process we neglect the things in life that are most important. It's sickening! This is nothing new, it's a topic discussed in churches quite frequently.

I think about all of these things we chase after, then I think about God. My Creator, Sustainer, Provider, Redeemer... and the fact that He loves me and He thinks I'm perfect, in fact He made me this way. He desires more than anything else for me to love Him and follow Him with ALL of my heart. He promises to meet my needs in EVERY situation. He promises that I can find true fulfillment ONLY through Him. If this is true, why do we spend so much time trying to fulfill other temporary desires???? ---Deception!

It bothers me because I REALLY want to be fully reliant on and fulfilled by Him. I don't want to just say it, but I want it to be. I think of how sad it must be for Him to watch his followers bounce around from one thing to another trying to find joy, peace, and acceptance when all we really have to do is look to Him. He is the only thing that we have in this life that is of any eternal value, why not invest in Him instead of our own selfish desires? When we leave this world, we are not taking any of our "stuff"(jobs, houses, cars, bodies, friends, family) with us.

So I ask myself, Is God enough for me? I have a friend who has posed this question before and it really made me think.... If you lost everything you had, your home, family, job, possessions, every sense of worldly security, would God be enough for you? Would you be fine with JUST Him? Do you know Him well enough to feel confident? The first time I thought about this, I honestly had to question myself. Then when I have times like this where I really ask God to search my heart and reveal to me any unknown sin or anything that I am putting before Him, and He does... it really puts things into perspective and makes me see how much I do not rely on Him in ALL areas of my life. It also makes me see how much I want to truly, truly, truly say, "You're enough for me, God."

What's Up

There are only 27 more days of school left and I can hardly wait! I LOVE summer vacation. Matthew and I will be headed to Pawley's Island the first week of summer...so excited! We thought about going on a cruise, but we really wanted to go with other people and that just didn't work out. It is probably for the better since our alone time is pretty limited. Matthew decided he was more "into" the beach idea than a cruise, he said he just wants to relax and have no agenda. I don't blame him and I know he needs it. Hopefully our departure will go a little more smoothly this year.....

In the meantime I am totally loving my class! I'm gonna miss them so much next year. It seems like every other year is a really good group. Hopefully next year will be just as pleasant. I also love the people that I teach with. I have such a good team...so thankful for them. Today the second grade teachers started our workout program after school. We are doing kickboxing in the gym everyday after school. We had a lot of fun today. I think I can hang....it was pretty easy today so I'm hoping it gets more intense as we progress. One of the second grade teacher is the owner of a Tae-Kwan-Do gym in Mauldin so she is leading our "workout program." I love doing it at school and with other people. I just go in the bathroom after school and change and workout....it's much better than trying to get motivated after coming home. I also love the feeling of coming home and being "done" for the day. I have been kind of slack about working out lately because we have been so busy. I can't stand the way I feel when I am slacking. I can't stand the way my pants feel either! It's also good because we start right at three o'clock so if I do have something to do I still have the rest of the afternoon to do it, perfect! I hope it continues without fizzling out.

Something else that's exciting for me is the Women's Retreat this weekend! We will be leaving on Friday around noon for a weekend in Charleston, I can't wait. I always have so much fun on the retreats! I have the best roommates in the world too so that's a huge plus! On Saturday we have the afternoon to do whatever we would like...I think shopping is on the agenda, yay! I feel like I need a weekend getaway to refresh and refocus, I know it will be great! I am also taking Monday off to relax and recover, aahh. I saved my two personal days just for this weekend and it has FINALLY come.

Matthew is doing well too. He has been very busy lately with his school semester coming to an end. He is actually in class right now and I think next Monday night is his last class. He will be going up the KY in a couple of weeks to take another three day class then he will be done for the summer. His last semester will be in the fall, then graduation.... Praise the Lord!!!! He is still trying to perfect his skateboarding techniques so he goes to the skate park whenever he has spare time which is pretty much never....maybe once or twice a month. He did his fourth funeral today for one of the seniors that passed in our church. I wasn't there, but I'm sure it went well. He stays on the go most of the time, but he absolutely loves what he's doing. He's so passionate and motivated, he continues to amaze me everyday.

That's us! God is so good and we are so thankful!

Short, But Sweet.....

That's how I felt about my visit with my two sweet friends last night. We met at Starbucks and I felt like we had been there for 20 minutes, (which was really an hour and a half) and we had just gotten our conversation started and it was time for them to close.... and time for us to say goodbye. :( I probably could have stayed and talked all night, but I was thankful for the time that we did get to spend together.

It was great to catch up with Carrie and Rachel . We laughed and just really had a great time! They always say, "time flies when you're havin' fun," isn't that so true!

Wanna Know Why I Never Cook???

There is a reason why I never cook....it's because I have a very serious phobia of burning the house down. This is a new phobia that has just recently come about in the last two weeks since I almost burned the house down for the second time in three years. I'm not talking about a little bit of smoke, I'm talkin flames and fire on the stove.....twice now!!

The first time this happened, we had just moved into the house. Literally, I think we had maybe lived there about a month, max. It may have even been one of my first times using the stove since moving in. Matthew was headed to the church for a brief meeting and I told him that I would cook while he was gone and it would probably be ready about the time he got home. So, I turn on the stove to start boiling the water and all of a sudden the eye of the stove just burst into flames about two feet high. I didn't know what to do so I ran for the door (I guess I was going to just let the house burn down) but Matthew had locked the front door when he left the house and there was no time to find the keys and try to get out. I was screaming at the top of my lungs and crying hysterically. I was afraid to pour water on the stove because my neighbor growing up did that and it caused the fire to spread. I couldn't find the phone to call 911 and the fire was growing hgher and higher by the second. I finally grabbed the pot and filled it with water and took my chances. I figured I was going to die either way because I was locked in the house anyway. I poured the water on the stove and the fire died out. By this time, maybe a minute had gone by, I was pouring sweat and hyperventalating. I went in the den, sat on the couch and bawled until Matthew got home. It took me a while to recover from this, but I finally did...

Two years later ( few weeks ago), and a remodeled kitchen later....I had just finished cooking dinner for Lyn and Cameron, some friends whose baby had surgery. I decided to stay at home while Matthew delivered the meal so I could cook dinner for us. Again, the eye if the stove caught on fire and it was burning hard. I starting my hysterical screaming, crying and running around. My first instict was to call Matthew (before putting out the fire). Obviously I don't think straight in those kinds of situations. I got halfway through dialing his number and the fire was getting higher so I hung up. I quick tried to move the pot that was on top of the fire without buring myself, then I turned off the stove and threw water over it again. When the fire was out, I called Matthew hysterical. I was screaming and crying...I couldn't even talk. He started yelling at me to calm down because he couldn't understand what I was saying, I think I scared him too. It was so scary!

Needless to say, we ended up just going out to eat and I haven't turned the stove on since that night. I did make quesadillas the other night and rather than cooking them in a frying pan, I decided to cook them on the griddle. I think I might be scarred for life.....good thing we are not home often to cook and I love to go out to eat.....

Daphney

My sweet niece was born on March 23, 2009. She weighed 6 lb. 11oz. and was 19in long. Her name is Daphney and she is the first grandchild on my side of the family. Needless to say my mom is thrilled to be a grandma. It is so funny to see how excited she is! Everywhere we go we need to look in the baby section and see if there is anything she "needs." I'm excited to be an aunt again too! I thought that this would really be beneficial for me too, I was thinking that maybe my mom would finally stop begging me to have a baby. Has that stopped? Nope, not at all....In fact, I have gotten more frequent requests now than ever before. Goodness!! Gotta love her. One things for sure, this child along with all other future grandchildren will have a grandma that loves them and wants to see them as much as possible. I have posted some pictures of this sweet new addition to our family.

Happy Times

Spring break has been an action packed week with little rest and lots of play. I have gotten to spend time with lots of friends and family, it's been nice. It's hard to believe that it is already almost over! I have gotten to go work-out almost every morning with Caroline and Susan, which has been great. We went to the Chris Tomlin concert the other night which was amazing. I didn't realize that he sang so many songs that I knew....awesome! Life is good here in Simpsonville...nothing too overly exciting, just really good. I love time with good friends and family and I'm so thankful for both. The "cherry on top" of all of this goodness is that I get to see my sweet friend, Rachel from Texas this week too! YAY! I love it!

Off to dinner....I'll continue later...

Palm Sunday

I just love this time of year when the weather starts to warm up and Spring is in the air. I also love this time of year because I am reminded of what Jesus has done for me....and words cannot even begin to express my gratitude. I am reminded of a man who came to Earth with a single goal..a man who never lost sight of why he was here, He never took his eyes off God and what God had asked him to do. Then I have to ask myself, how often do I know what God has asked me to do, but still in the midst of it all I take my eyes off of him? Too often, I know.

Too often I worry about personal comfort and my own self and my eyes are not clearly set on Christ and all that He has for me. As a believer I am called to live a sacrificial life, in fact I am called to face hardships and find joy in trials. (what?) For example, when Jesus was going to Jerusalem he took the twelve disciples aside and told them that everything that was written about the Son of Man would be fulfilled. He said, "He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, spit on him, flog him, and kill him. On the third day he will rise again." He knew what was coming....but he never looked back. As believers, aren't we guaranteed to face similar treatment? I mean, if we truly want "to live as Jesus did?" It can be painful and flat out hard sometimes. Isn't it so much easier to back away and take our own route rather than facing the mocking, spit, and pain?

There is only one way that we can face this kind of life, the life that Christ has called us to, and that is through preparing ourselves for times that may be hard, but also preparing ourselves to do what God asks, no matter what. Being in the Word and knowing the truths of Scripture. We have to be prepared for battle! As said in Ephesians 6 we must put on the full armor of God because when you are following Christ and his plans for you, you better believe there is a war going on.

Jesus was prepared for His death on the cross. Before going to Jerusalem, he sent two of his disciples ahead of Him to find the colt and bring it to him. He was following the path that he knew God had and preparing to make his "Triumphal Entry." Later in scripture it says that "They brought the colt to Jesus, threw their cloaks on the colt and put Jesus on it. As he went along, people spread their cloaks on the road. When he came near the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen; "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in the heavens and glory in the highest!" (what a beautiful picture) Then some of the Pharisees told Jesus to rebuke his disciples, and this was his reply, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." (WOW! We truly can't keep the truth about Christ quiet, we should be shouting our praise... or something with no life whatsoever (a rock) will cry out....He IS that worthy of praise!) It said that "as he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace-but now it is hidden from your eyes. The day will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and your children within these walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you." then Jesus in humility and boldness entered into the temple area and began driving out those who were selling. I imagine he was flipping tables and raging with righteous anger. He told them, "My house will be a house of prayer; but you have made it a den of robbers." Whoa! Can you believe it? He showed them didn't he? As a believer I am called to a standard of living that is attractive and different. As a follower I should also be displaying that same boldness in humility, but isn't it is so much easier to be prideful and passive?
The leaders were trying to kill Jesus, but they were unable to because the people were hanging on his every word. The ultimate portrayal of love and sacrifice was only days away....

What an amazing God we serve!

Tough Stuff

My heart is heavy tonight....I have heard of so many different situations over the past couple of days where people are just under attack and going through some really tough stuff! I am praying fervently for all of these situations and know that the Lord will show Himself faithful. My heart breaks to know that Satan's destruction is everywhere, he is so decieving, and he is so hard at work particularly right now!
I love Psalm 18: 28-29 which says, "You, O Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall." I also love how Psalm 18 starts by saying, "The Lord is my rock." He is safe, secure, and immovable. "My fortress" a place of refuge and safety where the enemy cannot penetrate. "My deliverer" a living protector. "My shield" he is stepping between us and harm. "My horn of salvation" he has strength and victorious power to deliver and save us. "My stronghold" he lifts us above the dangers of life. Praise Him that His presence is never far from us as believers and that we can rely on Him to be these thing in our lives when the ground around seems to crumble.

Whether it be drug addiction, job loss, difficulties in marriage, persecution/slander, financial instability, you name it....we all know that He is bigger than it all. But, I also know what it feels like to be in the middle of a storm. It's horrible and hard! Especially when things are to remain unspoken. I'm praying that God would work through it all.

I am just so upset to hear about so many things going on in so many precious people's lives. For all who are hurting, my heart is crying out for Jesus to be your rock, fortress, deliverer, shield, horn of salvation, and stronghold during this time....

Just Me

These two verses are two that I am striving to fully live out. They are challenging to me personally. I have been reading them for a while and praying that I could apply them more to my life. So often I find myself angry and bruised rather than blessed and rejoicing.

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you falsely and say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” -Matthew 5:10-12


“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” -2Cor. 12:7-10

Love this song....

Matt Redman - You Never Let Go
From the album Passion 06: Everything Glorious

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Your perfect love is casting out fear
And even when I’m caught in the middle of the storms of this life
I won’t turn back I know You are near
And I will fear no evil For my God is with me And if my God is with me
Whom then shall I fear?Whom then shall I fear?

Chorus:
Oh no, You never let go
Through the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord, You never let go of me

And I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
A glorious light beyond all compare
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
We’ll live to know You here on the earth

Chorus:
Yes, I can see a light that is coming for the heart that holds on
And there will be an end to these troubles
But until that day comes
Still I will praise You, still I will praise You

Chorus: (2x’s)

Sleepless in Simpsonville

I am so tired......

Why?

This is something that has been on my mind for a while, and it just keeps coming back to me....

Why do some children have to go through SO much especially when they are so young? My heart is broken for the situations that some children are living in every day. It is so sad what some children face. They are so small and innocent, but in many cases they have overcome more than I will in my entire lifetime. It just doesn't seem fair or right and it certainly is not something that I can comprehend.

My class this year has many unique cases, and God has used this group to heighten my awareness, and to give me compassion. It has also made me very frustrated with these parents that are not taking care of their children.....I hate the fact that there are children that live in fear every night of abuse within the home, children who go to sleep at night to the sound of gun shots in the neighborhood, children whose parents are addicted to drugs, children dealing with divorce, children who are not being taught right from wrong, children who are hungry, and children who don't know where they are going to sleep from one night to the next, children who have never felt stability, safety, and unconditional love. It totally breaks my heart! The thought of a poor child having to go through all of these things....and the saddest part of all is that they think it is normal. I just can't stand it!

I say all this to say, I know some foster children right now that really need our prayers. One of them is an 8 year old child who paces the floors at night in fear of having to go back to birth mom, it kills me! This is one of many, I know. Please join with me in prayer for them. Pray for their living situations, their future, pray for God to break in on their lives and do a mighty work in and through them to break this vicious cycle. Pray for rights to be terminated with the birth mother, God willing. Pray for guarded hearts and understanding. Pray that God would direct their path and lead them to the perfect place, Pray that they would not grow up to be angry at the situations that they are in, but that they would use it for God's glory.

God is greater than all of these situations and He certainly has the power to help these children overcome. There is no doubt in my mind that God has something amazing in store for them if they choose to follow. Pray for His grace to pour over them, and pray that I would be open to however and wherever God wants to use me to love these children as well...

Just to Clear The Air.....

I didn't realize when I posted about being emotional that everyone would think I was pregnant. I had phone calls, comments on the blog, and on facebook. I've obviously never been pregnant and didn't even think that that was what others might think. Just wanted to make sure everyone knows that I'm 100% sure I'm NOT pregnant, just MOO-DEE! :) Ha! Ha!

E-MO-TION-AL!

Emotional....yup, that's me! I don't know what is wrong with me but my emotions have been on hightened alert this week. There is not anything specific that I am emotional about ...just crying to cry I guess...kind of wierd!

If you know me well, you know I'm not a very emotional person, especially in public. Well, yesterday I was out at recess having a good time talking to all my teacher friends, we were laughing and having a good time when suddenly, one of them said something that triggered whatever gets triggered and I just starting bawling, what?? I was so embarrassed! I quickly left and brought my class back inside.

I cried when the pork was undercooked Monday night, and when the garlic bread was burned last night. I know, those are really worth crying over....

I don't know if I want to admit this, but I also cried when I watched American Idol the other night. Explain that. There was a guy on there that had been taking care of his sick mother, yada, yada, yada.

I started laughing at myself when I realized I was crying....so funny.

As I was leaving school yesterday, I ran into a parent that I know pretty well and we started talking about her child...the conversation was one that broke my heart. We sat in the school parking lot and cried together, I cried all the way home, called Matthew and cried to him, cried this morning when I woke up....

Emotions are funny and regardless of how crazy they are at sometimes...
I am thankful that I really do not have anything to cry about, I am thankful that God used my emotions this week to bring compassion and love to someone who was hurting, I am thankful for teacher friends that don't think I'm crazy, I am thankful for life!

Peanut Butter Pie, Stomach Bug, School, & Forgiveness...They all go together right?

Well, I was up all night last night again with a stomach ache and feeling like I was going to get sick at any given moment. I can't figure out was is going on. My stomach has been upset all week, and I had this same thing two weeks ago. I'm trying to figure out if it could be the effects of PEANUT BUTTER pie (before I knew about the recall), or some sort of yucky bug. Whatever it is, I wish it would go away. I think I finally fell asleep around 3:00 last night, so when my alarm went off at 6:00 I was ready to die! As I got up and started my day, I started to feel better...just exhausted! It seems to come at night when I lay down...any ideas of what it could be?

Although I had a rough night and a very sleepy morning, I will say that I was happy to come to school today and not have a single parent note concerning their child's report card. Report cards went home yesterday...and for a teacher the day after report cards go home can sometimes be a day when you have to prove yourself and your student's grades (even though you have already sent them all home for the parents to sign and they are never returned!) I think God knew that today would not be a good day for that. I'm so thankful for my class. I wish they could stay with me again next year. I do not have very many parents that are involved, but my kids are just precious!

One more thought, God has been trying to teach me about forgiveness this year, it couldn't be more clear...He's given me many oppertunities to forgive. I'm going to be honest and say it has not always been easy...particularly right now. Would my prayer warriors out there please pray for God to teach me, change my heart, and help me in this area of my life....

Matthew 5:10-12

The Highlight of "Twilight"

We went to see the movie "Twilight" last night which was not a very good movie in my opinion. It was low budget and very cheesy. I have not read any of the books but I sure hope they are better than the movie! Tina, my sister-in-law had read all the books and she really was not too impressed with the movie either. So, for me the highlight of the movie "Twilight" was having Josh there to bring the real entertainment.

The movie was SO cheesy that you had to laugh....and of course anytime the movie got too cheesy Josh had some great outburst/reaction which had Matthew and I cracking up as well as the people in the row in front of us. There were several times that I was laughing so hard I was crying.

How can two brothers be so different? I don't know the answer to that...but it is refreshing and quite entertaining when they are together. Here's to a horrible movie mixed with good company!

10 Things I Will Not Do In 2009..

Since it's New Years day, I thought it was only fitting to let you know that I will not be making any New Years resolutions this year....I thought Patrick made a good point last Sunday in worship when he said that a resolution is a good intention that is always broken in time. I do not usually make resolutions, I mean, I guess sometimes I think about things I'd like to change or do differently, but I don't ever actually do them. I thought instead of making a list of things that I could change/do better this year that I would just make a list of things I WILL NOT do in 2009. It's much easier.....and I guarantee I can keep these promises. Here we go....

10 THINGS I WILL NOT DO IN 2009

1. Give up sweets

2. Cook more

3. Go on a diet

4. Give up my addiction to Pita Stop

5. Stop loving my husband

6. Wear a bikini

7. Get a summer job

8. Clean my house every single Saturday

9. Go to another New Kids on the Block concert :(

10. Get a perm

Ringin In The New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone! I hope your New Years celebration was as fun as mine. We had a great time at Clint and Christine's last night. Below are some pics.

Just the girls....before the games begin

CRANIUM with 20 + people can get quite interesting! Here we go..

Matthew's team (the losers!)

Clint giving his all....unfortunately no one could figure out his humdinger. That's OK....they won the game anyway.

Chad trying to act out the word "hormone" without talking....hilarious!

Chad still not giving up..even after the timer ran out. Look, Caroline is so sweet....she's embarrassed for him.

My sweet friends, Caroline and Carrie

Time for fireworks...Kurt is wearing Christine's coat, which he says "fits perfectly"...no room to grow in that one!

Cuddle Buddies
It was way TOO cold for fireworks...we stayed inside and watched the colors from the window. We only missed two fires....thank goodness no one was hurt!

There is no other way I would have rather rang in the New Year. I'm so thankful for the blessing of good friends. I wish everyone a wonderful 2009!