Cute things from students

On Friday, we visited the zoo and on the bus ride, one student was talking about a lady that makes cakes. He said that she has made his mom's wedding cake. An adult commented that her cakes taste amazing and he told her he didn't know because he hadn't been born yet. :)

Another girl was sharing about when she born..."I weighed 1 pound and 14 ounces and was the tiniest baby that my mom had ever seen and I had no butt crack." Hmmmm...

Coincidence?

I was in charge of a wedding on Saturday. I stopped by CVS right before to buy mints and gum and who do I run into? Jill from the previous post. I greeted her by name (which I knew from listening on Friday) and then went on my way. Unfortunately, I didn't see her at church Sunday, but still. Love the small town feel sometimes!

Power of the Spoken Word

Today I took my car in to have the tires rotated and a realignment done. As I looked around the room, there were five others waiting while their cars were being work on. A high school boy came and sat down next to me, cause there weren't any other places that were open with single chairs, so I shared my double one. I was all set to put my iPod on and read my book, but instead, I spoke. What happened after that was conversation after conversation among strangers and long lost friends. All I said was, "How was everyone's day?"

For the next twenty minutes, we all chatted. Some left and another came, but what happened went deeper than just conversations...one of the ladies knew my dad and asked if I was his daughter. Another guy shared about his wife leaving after 39 years and the lady sitting next to him discovered they had known each other many years ago. The lady across the way (that knew my dad) shared about her accident and losing her job. The lady next to the water cooler attends the same church as I do and had noticed me when I perform with the drama team. The guy next to me attends the high school in my teaching corporation. The other gentleman next to never really joined us (he truly lost out).

The lady (Jill) that attends church with me, thanked me for what I started. I didn't really start it...okay, I did. But what I discovered after chatting with complete strangers is that we live life in too much isolation. I could have listened to my music, read my book, and shut out the world, but instead I chose to engage those around me.

I challenge you, reader, to do the same around you...let me know what happens!

Slice of Life...Watch Out!

Driving to work can sometimes turn into a normal routine, unless I make myself pay attention. This morning, the lady in front of me was using her time at the stop light to either finish beautifying herself or woke up too late and had to brush her hair in the car. Due to the fishbowl effect, I noticed that as the light turned green, her hair kept flipping due to the brush. Okay...she'll stop soon, I thought. Nope! It got worse! Two hands now were being used to brush her hair. Is she serious? We're on a road that curves...hello?!? Driving with no hands because you have to fix your hair? Suddenly, her car moved into the turn right lane on the road. She corrected herself and CONTINUED to brush her hair. I definitely slowed down to give her more space on the road and prayed for her safety (okay, I guess more for the people she was going to come into contact with). I guess it goes to show that some people value what they look like rather than safety for others on the road.

The Sweet Sounds of Friday...

I sit at my desk. It's almost six o'clock. I am finding that I love Fridays after school. Planning, organizing, creating, procrastinating, grading, and refocusing occur in a building that is almost deserted by three-thirty. It's appealing to me. I write our morning messages (which I am loving). On Tuesdays, we always have a joke that I use our color changing markers to reveal the answer and Fridays is a fix my letter. Maybe Wednesdays will become Wow Wednesdays and I'll share one amazing fact. Thursdays could be thought provoking...and discuss at our morning meeting. Which reminds me...my students read the message. How do I know this? I wondered why they wanted to bring their artifacts to the meeting and after I read the message (which I had written two days earlier), I remembered that I had asked them to be prepared to share something for their writer's notebook at our meeting. It warmed my heart!

Tonight was wonderful. As I was working, two old students (really only one - they're twins) came to see me. They are seniors this year. We spent an hour reminiscing about the past several years and just talking about our lives. One of the girls was in my first ever class and they always seem to hold a special part in your heart.

Staying late on Friday will not always happen, but tonight it's energizing!

Using the language...

Today, my students tried to use the language and didn't quite get there. We had decided that books that begin and end the same way would be called circular endings (If you give a pig a pancake...) One of the students commented on how his book was similar to that. One of the girls said, you mean it's a circulation ending.

Not quite, sweetie...but close :)

The other day when they were getting ready to watch the speech from President Obama, they saw a boy getting ready to introduce the President.

Student: Is that Obama?
Teacher: No.
Student:Is it John McCain?
Teacher: No.
Student: Maybe it's his son.
Teacher thinking: Hmmm...I think we need to start viewing pictures of the President and his family.

Love my kids!

Amazed...

I sat tonight in a Bible study about learning to say no. When I began the journey of reading through the Bible, I had no clue how God was going to weave the details of the OT with anything. From talking with my friend last week and then sitting and listening tonight, I am blown away and humbled. He not only brought in the yoke and part of His character from Moses, but also specific statements made by my friend last week.

To take on Jesus' yoke is to be willing to let go of control and to acknowledge that He is the Lord of my life. Jesus is the source of my rest.

Lately, I feel like I've been a little more short tempered with some of my students...tonight the leader said that in our own strength we burn up and snap...I need to repeatedly bow my head and take Jesus' yoke upon myself. I cannot do it all on my own.

I'm so grateful I began the journey of learning about God through reading His word to me...and even more grateful that He would choose to intertwine and weave a beautiful picture of who He is through Scripture and Bible study and fellowship with others.

Woah!

Okay, so I was watching my hit counter (cause sometimes I wonder if people really read this) and was going to post once I hit 10,000 hits...but today I checked it and it's over 11,000! So to all of you who read this...thanks! It means a lot that you take the time to read my words and I especially love it when people comment...cause then I know you are really reading and sharing your thinking (can you tell I'm a teacher?).

Thanks again!!!

Blessed!

It started out as a simple saw off the burning bush so I could dig up the rest of the roots. It turned into pulling the burning bush out with his truck, then the wife and husband team helped me mow my lawn, weed the landscaping (it looks AMAZING), dig out stepping stones that are currently overgrown and placed into my landscaping (which is now less weedy), throw away a ladder, fix a broken pipe, saw off more trees that were growing back, and help me trim my lawn and plants growing. Wow...I am humbled and amazed at the time they sacrificed to help me. They (the husband and wife team that I know from church) are wonderful and God truly blessed me beyond measure today!

Letting Go and Moving On...

Yesterday, I had a great (but at times hard) talk with a friend. I have been struggling with a few things and was able to chat with her. What's so amazing and cool is that as I'm reading through the OT (Leviticus now), God is bringing His Truth VERY alive. After talking with my friend, I've realized that I've accepted lies and entertained them and allowed them to grow. No more! I wrote them out and am offering them tonight as a burnt offering to God. Woo hoo! Letting go of the lies to embrace the Truth. And what's amazing is that as I've been reading through Leviticus, it's spoken about burnt offerings. I'm so excited for tonight! There is power and healing in His Name and I'm bound and determined to be set free from this struggle of not seeing myself as worthy.