The Quotation Promised

I love the recklessness of faith. First you leap and then you grow wings.

- William Sloane Coffin

For some time, a friend of mine has reminded me that God is pursuing me. He desires me to trust him 100% and he desires to have my heart. As a christian, a follower of Jesus, I think "He already has my heart. I trust him." But, at some point something happened to make me doubt...Life. It never goes just how we plan. And I hit some big bumps during and right out of college. And yeah, college was 6 years ago. But the problem is that I stopped trusting.

As a result, I was afraid of taking any risks. I think I've always taken some sort of risk - going skydiving for my 18th birthday and H.S. graduation, moving far away for college, flying on my own to foreign places, eating food I wasn't sure was legit, paragliding, etc.

Once I got back home it all stopped...and I became fearful. I was no longer doing anything that wasn't "safe." If I noticed something was just a tad bit off, I stepped away. My life was being sucked right out of me.

But in the last two years (and maybe even longer), I've had a mother load of people praying for me (it takes a village). God's faithfulness in pursuing me has been incredible! And even that is an understatement.

I'm thankful that I went to the Willow Creek Leadership Summit in August 2008. I'm thankful that my job search lasted over a year. I'm thankful that even when things don't make sense at all there is an affirmation of the spirit that lets you know you are doing the right thing - I resigned from a decent job without having secured a new one. I'm thankful that for five months, I had uninterrupted HOURS with my Bible. I'm thankful that I met the principal of my school so randomly and that she liked me enough to hire me mid-year. I'm thankful that my kids took well to me. I'm thankful that I made it through my first semester as a teacher successfully. I'm thankful that all of this has not been easy. I'm thankful that I have summer!

You have no idea what this means to me. And I have no idea how to let you know what this journey does to me! :o) I'm so happy! Like so happy that I feel it to my inner core.

I had dreams as a kid...and they grew as I did. The dream: To become a teacher. To help children who need it. To be a summer missionary. To meet missionaries and provide them fellowship and American goods they may be missing. To love recklessly.

As all of this is falling into place, I have to have some Kleenex's with me because I'm overwhelmed at how the desires of my heart are being answered.

So, I'm saying this to you - TRUST HIM! He's asking you to trust him...and when you take that step He will give you wings!

"He has made everything beautiful in its time." -Ecclesiastes 3:11

School is Out for the Summer

Hey! I made it. From February 10, 2010 t0 May 27, 2010. Time flew right by! So fast that I have about three entries in my journal since I was hired. I'm a little sad about that because there is soooo much that happened - to backtrack would just be a bit tedious.

Anyway, yesterday we had our end of the year party and it was soooo much fun! Next year, I'm going to recruit more parent volunteers because they are sent straight from HEAVEN! They were so very helpful and I was VERY happy to have them there! We had pizza, a movie (A Goofy Movie), paper bag puppets, face painting, etc. If you want to help me next year - I'll recruit you too!

And the last day (today)...well, my kiddos were OFF THE CHAIN! OFF THE CHAIN!! We watched the Lion King. I returned a bunch of their old work for them to take home to play school with and also gave them worksheets that they could do while they are home for the summer. I remember liking that when I was kid. I always played school! But unfortunately, the last hour was not as fun as I would have hoped. I'm going to have to figure out how to keep my students a bit more calm next year cause I lost my cool the last hour...or maybe we could just have extended recess?!?

I thought I'd tear up because it was my first class and my teacher's always did when I was a kid...and because I'll admit - I'm a crier! And I didn't. :D

I'm proud of myself this semester. I cried only one time! ONE TIME! One time...and that was because one of my students cut another students ear. I didn't cry in front of them, but I took them to the lunch room and when I went to the teacher's lounge I let go of a few tears. The more experienced teachers said I'd be okay - and they were right! I was!

And so there it is...My first semester! I made it!

P.S. I told my class that we were having an end of the year test...Which was a joke and they thought I was clever. However, I really think I'll do a "test" next year. I think that they'll take it seriously and that will keep them occupied for quite a while!

a WHOLE month?

What in the world!! Where does time go?

I've been thinking up a post...inspired by a quotation that made me very happy. I'll share it with you very soon, but for now I just wanted to say HI! I'm alive and well (except for one of my little toes).

I have SEVEN more days with my first ever first grade class! Eight days of work. YEAH!

Excitement about summer abounds!!