Wish Me Luck

I have a job interview today at 2:00 pm. It is for a teaching position, but not sure as to what grade exactly. I know that the school has some primary and upper grade positions available. I am excited about this interview and am hoping it goes well. Wish me luck...I'll keep you updated!!!

It's Over

Well, I finally got a resolution to the never ending saga at work. I was officially told that I will not be asked back next year. I was called in for a "meeting" and there was my principal and one of her boss'. I was told that I was done and I was told my rights and what to expect as far as benefits and how long I had to be out of my classroom. Then, I was given the chance to ask questions...what good that was going to do, I'm not sure...but I asked one question: "Did this have anything to do with the rebuttal that I wrote?" The response was that they couldn't answer, but all they could tell me was that I wasn't "a fit" for the school, whatever that means.

One thing I can say though, is God is amazing. I prayed for a little while before going into my meeting. I asked him to give me strength so that I wouldn't cry, no matter what the outcome. I asked him to give me wisdom as to what to say and when to say it. I also asked for a sense of peace. God provided it all, not that I doubted him, but I walked out of there without shedding a tear, which is a hard thing for me to do. I also only spoke once during the whole meeting and I felt that I was justified in doing so. I also had a complete sense of peace about the whole situation and a comfort that this is all according to God's Will.

If any of you know of any jobs in the Orange County area, I'd love to hear about them. I am open to anything at this point, as my husband is studying for the Bar exam and I am the one working at the moment. I am just seeking a job that will pay the bills and includes health care if at all possible. Thanks for listening!

The Change

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new."

2 Corinthians 3:18 "But we all, with uncovered face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

These two pieces of scripture speak words to my heart. They go along with the message of most of my posts. There has to be a change within each of us when we make the choice to follow Christ. If it is purely about heaven than why claim to be a Christian now? Simply wait until your death bed and accept Him then. There is more to it and so many Christians miss the point because they were either told the story incorrectly or they were led to believe that our God only wants us to accept His son into our hearts so that one day we can be with Him in heaven, yet live in a hellish world while hear on earth without any interaction with God, our creator.

God loves us and wants to be in a relationship with us. He wants us to be the light here on earth. How do we do this? Well, we have to change!!! We have to choose to live as Christ lived, or at least attempt to. We need to live a life of love.

Steven Curtis Chapman has an amazing song called, "The Change." Here are the lyrics:

The Change

by S.C. Chapman/J. Elliot

from Speechless


Well I got myself this T-shirt that says what I believe

I got letters on my bracelet to serve as my ID

I go the necklace and the keychain

and almost everything a good Christian needs, yeah

I got the little Bible magnets on my refrigerator door

And a welcome mat to greet you before you walk across my floor

I got a Jesus bumper sticker

And the outline of a fish stuck on my car

And even though this stuff's all well and good

I cannot help but ask myself



What about the change?

What about the difference?

What about the grace?

What about forgiveness?

What about a life that's showing

I'm undergoing the change, yeah

I'm undergoing the change



Well I've got this way of thinking that comes so naturally

Where I believe the whole world is revolving around me

And I got this way of living that I have to die to every single day

'Cause if God's Spirit lives inside of me, yeah

I'm gonna live life differently



I'm gonna have the change

I'm gonna have the difference

I'm gonna have the grace

I'm gonna have forgiveness

I'm gonna live a life that's showing

I'm undergoing the change

What about the change

What about the difference

What about the grace

What about forgiveness

I want to live a life that's showing

I'm undergoing the change



©1999 Sparrow Song/Peach Hill Songs/BMI/Cabinetmaker Music/ASCAP

What powerful lyrics...they really make me think!

When is it Time to Concede?

There comes a point in life when we will each face a situation where we have to stand tall. We will be called to stand firm in what we believe. At school, I've been going through a tough situation that has called me to stand firm.

I was able to fix what I was upset about, but at the expense of new things being added that aren't the full truth.

At this point, I know that my job is probably at stake. So, I have prayed about this situation and decided to accept my new evaluation, falsities and all, at the sake of preserving the name of Christ and not creating a spectacle.

I do believe God calls us to stand tall, but He also calls us to live by example. If I push this issue any further, I believe I would be dishonoring our Lord. It has begun to feel more like a nitpicking game, rather than the simple task of changing one word like it was suppose to be. It was never meant to offend anyone or to cause a problem. It was simply to change one word that I didn't believe was used correctly.

To say the least, my situation has snowballed and is out of control. I need the Lord's strength to maintain my composure and to keep my spirits lifted. Lord, I give the situation to you and trust you whole heartedly with the outcome.

New Kitten...New Thoughts?!?

I just got a new kitten, Leia, yesterday and watching her interact with my older cat, Roxy, got me thinking. For those of you who have never experienced having to introduce two animals to each other, let me start by explaining what has taken place in my home so far:

When we first brought Leia home, Roxy hissed and then ran off to hide in the bedroom. Then Roxy tried to attempt to sneak up on Leia, who was still in the carrier. Roxy proceeded to try to show her dominance and her resistance to the situation by hiding in my bedroom and groaning and hissing even at my attempts to pet her, since Leia's scent was on me. It continued on like this for most of the night. My husband and I had to keep them separated while we slept to help protect Roxy and allow her to realize that we still love her despite bringing home a new kitten, which may have appeared to Roxy as if we were trying to replace her. Today, the two cats were very curious about each other, having been separated for the evening. Roxy was still very apprehensive about Leia being in the house this morning and kept to her own for the most part. Leia simply wanted to play but Roxy wouldn't let her come near. Then, my husband and I, had to leave for a few hours to go to our friend's graduation party, so once again we separated the cats.

When we got back we opened the doors and let the cats have another attempt at being around each other. To our surprise, they took to each other fairly well. They took turns smelling each other and romping around the house following each other. They are starting to realize that they have more in common than they thought and that maybe it'd be okay to befriend one another.

Sorry for the lengthy play by play of the cat introduction, but I needed to give you the background for how my thoughts started and now to my thoughts:

So, I was thinking about how animals, cats in particular, go about the acceptance chapter in their lives. It's very similar to how Christians and non-Christians relate. Think about it. Christians, I'm referring to the earnest ones, not the "let's see how many people I can bring to Christ and keep a record book" ones, want to begin relationships with people because that is what Jesus was all about. Non-Christians appear to not want anything to do with Christians as a result of the hypocritical Christians in the world.

For my analogy, I will speak of Christians in comparison to my kitten, Leia and non-Christians in comparison to my cat, Roxy. Just as Roxy was hesitant and very angry about the bringing of Leia into her home, so are many non-Christians when it comes to starting relationships with Christians because the intent is unclear. Over a period of time, curiosity sparks among both types of people. For Christians, the curiosity is in where the other person has come from and why they've chosen the life journey their on and is it possible they might not be as happy as they could be. In this case, they are eager to befriend the non-Christian to show them love and eventually over time, help them to find TRUE happiness as opposed to superficial happiness. Now, in contrast, the non-Christian's curiosities are similar to that of Roxy's: why are you here, are you trying to replace me, am I not good enough, what's wrong with who I am...etc.

Curiosities are good, but you have to nurture the relationship to make sure that the curiosities don't overpower one's intentions. Just as my husband and I have to take careful measures to make sure that we don't leave the two cats alone unattended too early, Christians need to make sure they are trying to have a relationship for the sake of having a relationship with the other person, not to merely witness to them. If this is the case, there will be constant fighting and resistance to any relationship. On the other hand, if the proper care is taken and the relationship is the first priority, with living by example and hoping to help the other find true happiness a second priority, the relationship will grow and develop over time. This is the key: over time. Relationships can't be rushed.

After time has lapsed most likely the non-Christian will begin to take their guard down and begin to seek answers to their curiosity, just as Roxy has done. Eventually, the answers the non-Christian will find won't be as threatening as they had once believed and they will begin placing themselves in more vulnerable situations. This is the beginning of the relationship. The key here is that at the first sign of vulnerability, the Christian still needs to keep their motives pure and get to know the other person before jumping into any type of deep personal issues. Leia is very excited that Roxy is wanting to have anything to do with her, let alone wanting to play with her, but she is being very careful not to break the trust she has built up to this point. Whenever Roxy comes over, Leia flops on her back exposing her belly which, in the animal world, is a total sign of submission. But, another thing that is equally important, over time and as Roxy has become more comfortable with this little sprite in her home, Roxy, too, has begun to roll over and expose her belly showing that the relationship is now two-way and can begin to grow equally on both sides.

Because the proper care and time is being used to develop a relationship between Roxy and Leia, they will most likely grow up to be great buds!!!

Seriously.....

Today as my husband and I were driving home from our friend's graduation party, we saw a very disturbing bumper sticker. It read: "Jesus is coming...but don't worry...we'll nail him again!"

Can you believe that? Not only is that flat out rude...it's sick!!! Flat out wrong!!! Now granted I know Christianity is far from perfect and that many "Christians" have given Christianity a bad reputation and as a result our faith and beliefs get scoffed or mocked on a regular basis. But, that bumper sticker went much further!

It wasn't only trying to aggravate Christians, it was making a much bolder statement in my opinion. What it said to me was that they are trying to rid the world of Christianity all together. And to that all I have to say is that sometimes the TRUTH can be convicting and hard to take in, but it sits inside of you and makes you contemplate. Then you have a choice...accept it and change your life accordingly OR reject it and constantly live a life going against the natural way of life, which thus explains this person's sick line of thinking and reasoning.

If you're going against the flow of natural thought and away from truth, you're then heading in the direction of sin and disturbing thoughts. It's people like these that we need to be making more of an effort to befriend, seriously befriend, and just lead by example and share our story with them as time moves in and through the relationship.

All this being said, I still can't believe that I saw this bumper sticker on someone's car...I mean seriously!

Road Rage

Wow!!! I was driving home from the grocery store the other day and this man, probably in his seventies, freaks out at me. I saw him turn his flashers on, so I figured that I might as well move around him. The moment I did this he begins yelling at me. He proceeded to drive up along side me and call me every name in the book. I simply ignored him and didn't give him the time of day, which I think upset him even more because he then pulled ahead and moved in front of me into my lane. Well, I didn't know what this guy was going to do, so naturally I switched lanes. He then proceeded to slow down and roll his window down and give me the finger. Now in my head, I was thinking wow, was all this really necessary? Then I stopped and began to think about Christ and how calm he would have been in the situation. While, I did ignore the man, I didn't go out of my way to love on him or to show him Christ through my actions. While, I think every road rage situation is different, I truly believe that we might be faced with situations as the one I just described, merely to see how we respond to them and to help us reflect on our own character and attitude.