LOVE

I'm goign to be starting a serious on LOVE. I'm doing an in-depth study on this topic/word and I will be blogging about it soon. I love this topic.

More to come soon.....

Waiting.....

I'm sitting here on a Saturday afternoon trying to figure out why God keeps things from us, especially when it something our heart deeply desires. I know that God knows what's best for us and that He has specific timing, but sometimes it's hard to wait, especially when you've been asking for something since you were little. I don't really want to get into the details just yet, but I simply felt like writing.

How does one sit back and just wait? I've been trying to do so, but no matter how much I say I'm being patient, or how much I put my trust in God....I still desperately want something that has not yet been given to me. It's hard to put that out of my mind. I have been on my knees with my hands to the sky, but yet nothing has happened.

I'm beginning to wonder if the waiting will ever end. I have always believed that God wouldn't withhold the desires one of His children had in their hearts. Do I keep holding on to this desire or do I give up? If I give up, when do I give up? I really enjoy the thought of my desire, but it's getting so hard to just sit back and wait. Not because I don't want to, but because I'm surrounded by several people who already have been able to start on their dreams, while I'm stuck just watching them and hoping my dream will start soon.

Withdrawals

I am having such a hard time this year not being in the classroom. I didn't realize how hard it would be not to be teaching. It's the first time in seven years that my life hasn't revolved around a classroom in some fashion. It's very weird having nothing to do during the day and trying to find things to fill my day.

Some days I don't have any trouble keeping myself busy and other days it seems like the day just drags on by. I am trying extra hard to grow more as a wife after God's own heart. I mean I have the time to cook, to clean, and to do the laundry as well as purposefully doing things that mean a lot to my husband. Real quick, let me just back up for those of you that don't know why I'm not teaching this year. My husband and I are moving to Virginia because he is going on active duty for the Marine Corps and has some more training to finish out in Quantico. Therefore, I resigned from teaching in my district because I didn't think it would be right to start the year, knowing that I'd be leaving two months into it.

I didn't realize how much teaching was apart of my soul. I LOVE children and helping them to love themselves. Not being around children and able to influence them in this way is hard. I have several friends that have children that I get to see on a regular basis, but it's not the same. I am not ever one on one with them or in a place where I can just devote myself to them in that capacity.

For those of you that don't teach, this probably seems like a silly thing, but I feel like a piece of me is missing and I don't know how to find it or to fill the void. Anyway, don't really know where I'm going with this from here...but that's what's on my heart right now. I'm always looking for good books or good studies, especially since I have so much extra time now, so if anyone has suggestions, please feel free to leave them. :)

One Book Tag

I was on a blog that I like to read and found this Book Tag. I loved reading it, so I thought I'd join and do one myself.

One book that changed your life:
I'd have to say the Bible is the number one book that has changed my life, but after that it would be Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis and the Sacred Romance by John Eldredge. These two books helped to formulate my desire to go deeper in the Christian faith and to not just take things for face value. Lastly, I'd have to say Lady in Waiting by Debbie Jones and Jackie Kendall. This book changed how I viewed dating relationships and was what I followed when I met my husband. Amazing book. I think all high school and college girls should read it.

One book you've read more than once:
I have actually read the above books all more than once. Specifically for this question though, I'll mention that I read The Story We Find Ourselves In by Brian McLaren more than once. I studied it with a community group I use to be apart of. We had some great discussions about it.

One book you'd want on a desert island:
I think that I'd want to take the Bible. It would give me stories to read, thoughts to ponder, and the ability to keep growing closer to God.

One book that made you laugh:
It's a book called Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss. This book is a clever way to show the importance of punctuation. Here's a sample so you can see some of the humor contained within:

"A panda walks into a cafe. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air. "Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder. "I'm a panda," he says, at the door. "Look it up." The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds an explanation. "Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves."
--back cover of the book

One book that made you cry:
I'm a romance novel sap, but specifically a Nicholas Sparks romance sap. I'd have to say a book that made me cry was At First Sight, the sequel to True Believer. Great book. Great story.

One book that you wish had been written:
From a teachers perspective, I wish a effective book had been written about guiding parents through helping their children at home with the concepts they learn at school. Children would thrive so much more if they had reinforcement at home for what they learned that day at school.

One book that you wish had never been written:
I haven't read a book in awhile that I felt this way about, but I remember in high school absolutely hating the book Sarah, Plain, and Tall. I thought it was the most boring book ever and could never understand why it won any awards.

One book you're currently reading:
I am currently reading A Wife After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George (my second time around reading this one).This book really puts into perspective how to live out the life of a wife according to how God calls us to live. This is a book that I will probably pull out every couple of years because it is so practical and such a great reminder.

One book you've been meaning to read:
I've been meaning to read Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell. I have it. I've started it. Haven't picked it up in awhile. What I've read so far is great, just for some reason haven't gotten around to finishing it.

Now tag five people:
If you read this list, then consider yourself tagged. I am not going to go on naming folks on my blog who probably won't do this anyway. I enjoyed it though, and am glad that Michael sent me the email and told me I should do it.

Glasses

Well, it's that time of year where I have to go and get my eyes checked at the doctor. I started wearing glasses two years ago, but this is my first eye appointment since then. I forgot to make the appointment last year. Then I kept thinking, maybe they'll get better if I wait longer, but alas, I need to go in because I now want contacts instead of glasses. I need a change from glasses.

I know you're all thinking...great story, do tell us more, but this appointment has got me thinking and I'm not sure the thought is fully developed, but here it goes.

I believe that being a Christian has similar responsibilities and needing to get your eyes checked. Our eyes could be perfect for years, but then somehow they start to get blurry. If we don't do anything to fix them they get worse. I almost would equate knowing I needed to go to the eye doctor with when one knows that Christ died for their sins. Then making the actual appointment for the doctor, is professing that you know change needs to occur in order for you to continue. The annual checkups at the doctor are necessary to keep tabs on your eyes and to fix them, when fixing is needed. Now we go to God more often than once a year (or so I hope), but it's very similar. We pray to God and talk with Him to keep our relationship healthy, just as I go to the doctor to keep my eyes healthy. When we skip our time with God we're taking a chance that it may be harder to get our relationship back to normal because other factors could have corrupted our thoughts about something.
When we hit a bump in the road in life, if we don't stop and reexamine our hearts and who we are it would be easy to let the blurry vision about God remain and continue to get worse...for example, when a loved one dies, or something unexpected and painful happens in our life, it is easy to get angry at God, but unless we "get a check up" that though process would only get worse.

Today when I go to the doctor, he may tell me my eyes have gotten better, but in reality, there has probably been some type of change that makes it even more important that I go now than it did when I first went to the doctor two years ago. Anyway, the point to what I'm saying is that we should all stop and examine our hearts and figure out what prescription it needs to be fully in love with God and then make a point to keep the lenses adjusted so that we always see 20/20.

Twinkies and RootBeer

This story was sent to me in an email and I thought it was precious....hope you enjoy!


A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with Twinkies and a six-pack of Root Beer and he started his journey.



When he had gone about three blocks, he met an elderly man. The man was sitting in the park just feeding some pigeons.



The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer when he noticed that the man looked hungry, so he offered him a Twinkie.





The man gratefully accepted it and smiled at boy. His smile was so pleasant that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer.

Again, the man smiled at him. The boy was delighted! They sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.


As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired he was and he got up to leave, but before he had gone more than a few steps, he turned around, ran back to the man, and gave him a hug. The man gave him his biggest smile ever.



When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of joy on his face. She asked him, "What did you do today that made you so happy?



"He replied, "I had lunch with God." But before his mother could respond, he added, "You know what? God's got the most beautiful smile I've ever seen!"



Meanwhile, the elderly man, also radiant with joy, returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face and he asked," Dad, what did you do today that made you so happy?"

He replied, "I ate Twinkies in the park with God." However, before his son responded, he added," You know, he's much younger than I expected."



Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Embrace all equally!

~author unknown~



Send this to people who have touched your life in a special way. Let them know how important they are. Have lunch with God!



And .......Thanks for touching my life!

very weird

I am sitting at home today thinking about how weird it is that next week when all of my colleagues go back to work, I won't be. To update those of you who aren't sure why I'm not going back. My husband is in the Marine Corps. In February he passed the BAR Exam, thus he is now being activated by the Marine Corps so that they can utilize him as a JAG Lawyer. This requires us to relocate to Virginia for a little bit. We were suppose to leave in August, but there was a little mix up and now we're leaving in November, but needless to say, I won't be a here a full school year to be teaching.

So, anyway, I think I've realized that I'm bummed about not having a class to get ready for right now. I mean I knew I'd miss it, but I'm so excited about this next adventure with my husband that I didn't think I'd realize how much I missed it...does that make sense? If not, oh well...

I love watching children "get it" for the first time, whether it be reading, a science experiment, how to do a math problem, etc. Children make the profession amazing. Knowing I'm not able to go back right now, has proven this to me. I think the reason I wasn't so sure I'd miss it right away was because of how jaded I was about the politics involved with teaching. I had no idea how many outside influences swayed my opinion of teaching. But, I've come to realize now, it's not the teaching that was being swayed, that has always been my joy, my passion. It was all of the "other stuff," that unless you're a teacher, probably doesn't make much sense.

Didn't mean to go on a rabbit trail, my point in all this is that I dearly miss preparing for a class right now. I want to be in a classroom setting up and getting ready for the school year. I know God has me in this place for a reason, maybe it be simply so I could see how much I truly love teaching, or maybe it's for another reason. I don't know at this point. All I know is that something feels like it's missing and now I know what it is.