How We Spend Sundays

Weekends are a blessed time around Yates Avenue. I used to not appreciate Saturdays and Sundays much. Instead, I would spend the entire time trying to get work done or cleaning myself into an absolute frenzy. But God has worked with me this year on slowing down – in many aspects of my life – and truly enjoying rest. Here are a few pictures from today when Kevan, Weezie, and I went to Folly Beach. Weezie had been once before to splash in the waves and she always has a blast. Please note that in my new found appreciation of the weekend, I turn into an absolute redneck for 48 hours (read: watching nascar, rodeo, camping in the backyard, etc.), hence, the camo hat. I pray that you are feeling refreshed and renewed by God’s creation as this weekend draws to a close.

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Updates...

First and foremost, Praise the Lord in Heaven - I passed the PLT! Additionally, I have received my Pennsylvania teaching certification. It's all a bit surreal..for those of you keeping track, I took TWO wrong tests before taking the right one...so this has been a while in the making!

So next comes mailing off packets and updating my online file. Thank you so much for your prayers while the job search continues.The school year is winding down and each year at this time I begin to reflect on how special my students are. Tomorrow, I will go to mass to see one receive her first communion. Having been confirmed five years ago, the experience is still pretty fresh in my mind. As an adult, I know that I processed things more logically than Abigail probably is this weekend, but I'm still excited to see her drink that "nasty wine" for the first time! On Thursday the kids and I went on a field trip. I've posted two of my favorite pics. One is of the alligator we saw in the swamp. The reflection of the girls in the front row is priceless! The other is a group shot. I love the diversity of my group this year!

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I Still Believe

Scattered words and empty thoughts
Seem to pour from my heart
I've never felt so torn before
Seems I don't know where to start
But it's now that I feel Your grace fall like rain
From every fingertip, washing away my pain
I still believe in Your faithfulness
I still believe in Your truth
I still believe in Your holy word
Even when I don't see, I still believe
Though the questions still fog up my mind
With promises I still seem to bear
Even when answers slowly unwind
It's my heart I see You prepare
But it's now that I feel Your grace fall like rain
From every finger tip, washing away my pain
I still believe in Your faithfulness
I still believe in Your truth
I still believe in Your holy word
Even when I don't see, I still believe
The only place I can go is into Your arms
Where I throw to You my feeble prayers
In brokeness I can see that this was Your will for me
Help me to know You are near
I still believe in Your faithfulness
I still believe in Your truth
I still belive in Your holy word
Even when I don't see, I still believe
-Jeremy Camp

Amen.

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Mar said I haven't blogged in a while...

I can't believe that it's been over a month since I've blogged. It's not like nothing has happened worthy of sharing. Indeed, the opposite is true. I finally turned in my National Board portfolio, made the trip of a lifetime over Spring Break with my mom to Pennsylvania, and came across this blog, written by a parent of one of my students:
"...my son's 2nd grade teacher is a moron...apparently, she is a teacher that feels intimidated by parental support in the school. She basically wants to micro manage 21 8-year olds. Best of luck with that."
Now, that is only an exerpt of the page-long entry. I came across it about a month ago and had the urge to puke for about 12 hours after seeing the words scroll down the screen.
God's strength is stronger than words, for sure, and He picked me right up, dusted me right off, and sent me back to work eager to be light, compassion, education, and love for the child of this parent who evidently does not care for me very much.
I first understood the power of words the day that I found out my mom had been diagnosed with leukemia. I went to the dry cleaners and the lady behind the counter was really short with me. I remember walking out to my car and thinking, "she has no idea what I've been through today. How dare she speak to me like that!" That moment was very poignant for me because immediately God revealed all of those moments that I spoke out of turn, not considering where people were coming from, where they were headed, what they had been through...and as I drove out of the parking lot, I prayed that the lady behind the counter would find peace. That her spirit would be stilled, and that she would accept the embrace of Christ.
I've had a similar reaction to being called a moron (and a host of other things as the blog goes on) and it has nothing to do with me! I started a nightly prayer last summer that God would change my heart - into what it needs to be so that I can be effective in His ministry. Some days I feel the hand of God on my heart, tugging, molding, and shaping it...pulling out the impurities and replacing them with His grace.
We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5
Father, I praise You. I praise You for creeping into my thoughts, into my heart, into my soul. Guide me in being Your light. Forgive me, Lord, for the times my thoughts get away from me. Help me as I live by your example.

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My dog hogs the bed...

So I was on my way to bed...in bed, actually...tossing and turning as I have been known to do of late. I used to be a champion sleeper. Once my head hit the pillow, I was out. Now in order to get settled, I have to have Weezie in the bed with me. She is large and takes up lots of space. But somehow her presence, her snoring, that disgusting second eyelid that shows when she's almost asleep...those things are very comforting to me.
My life has been a little stressful. A friend of mine said that I am in a place of transition, even though I'm not really moving anywhere. I thought that was a good idea. Tonight I did not want to toss and turn, so I clicked on the lamp and pulled out my Bible and the study I'm currently (slowly...not as regularly as I should be) working on, Becoming a Woman of Purpose. And before I read anything, I found myself praising God. Just for His presence. I have cried out to Him more in the past month than I can remember for a long time...I've been impatient, frustrated, exhausted, confused, desperate...and yet through it all, I feel His presence, His hand guiding me, His love calming my restless heart. I only read a little of my Bible study because I flipped open the book and immediately read something from my main man (second only to Myron Cope, r.i.p.), Oswald Chambers:
by the reaction of your life on the circumstances around you, you will fulfil God's purpose, as long as you keep in the light as God is in the light...
I don't feel like I've been light for much of anyone lately. I've been snippy with my kids, annoyed with my friends, at my wits' end with the general public. How are my reactions on the circumstances around me showing Christ's love? Are they at all? February was a long month, literally. The fact that this is a leap year was really just a kick in the pants. But the old is gone, the new has come. And I pray that I would continue to feel God's presence and that others see Him through me.
Now it is time to wake the beast...to shove over the 55 pound mongrel who snores next to me...and to rest in God.

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from Him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; He is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
Psalm 62:5-6

On my bed, I remember You; I think of You through the watches of the night. Because You are my help, I sing in the shadow of Your wings. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.
Psalm 63:6-8

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Reflections from Summer Camp

"Booger in my nose...when I sneeze 'ACHOO', out there it goes."

I've been sending messages back and forth all day with a friend I worked with at Seneca regarding a little shtick we did anytime we'd get hit in the mammaries (hard to believe that anyone can come up with a shtick about something like that - the implication is that the contact happened a lot, but it was summer camp, so who knows). We'd yell out "Nancy" (as in Reagan) anytime said contact occured, which lately I have not found as funny since our beloved Nance really is in the hospital.
But somehow thinking about:
-Nancy
-my friend and how when I met her she was losing about 10 pints of blood out her nose
-how when I first encountered a group of 40 people (with whom I'd spend nine solid weeks), none of them would speak to me because they thought I only spoke French
-late nights spent talking in a top bunk
-getting toothpaste squirted up my nose
-feeding pancakes to chipmunks
-watching skunks prowl around girls hill
-learning about what Lyme's Disease is
-covering for friends when they broke curfew
-chasing bats through the condo with brooms and buckets (cue Dwight Shrute)
-getting the call that a friend died
-being stopped TWICE by the Beaver Falls Police for "parking"
-trips to the Salvation Army
-the Chicago Concert at Star Lake
-Vision Quest
-dropping to my knees during a thunderstorm, completely in awe

I continue to be amazed that I pick up with these people, most of whom I have not seen in 10 years, right where we left off. And I wonder only for a moment how in the world we lived together for nine weeks and had less drama, less selfishness, less bitterness than any relationship that I have had since then. I only have to wonder for a moment because the reason is clear: relationships that are built on Christ and His sacrifice are longlasting. I completed a Bible study, "Becoming a Woman of Grace" last fall and at one point listed my "life giving friends." It was discouraging then that so few of my life giving friends are with me physically, but so encouraging that they are still such an important piece of who I am.
Most of you know that I am pursuing a move to Pennsylvania. It's been a long time coming (I first tried in 1998, thanks for nothing Grove City College). I don't want to move to join the union. I don't want to move to hear funny accents. I don't want to move to be close to the Steelers (although that is a big motivation, believe you me). But I want to be close to those I feel connected to. Join me in praying that God might guide me through His will for my life and that He might humble me to His service. Peace to you.

My grace is sufficient for you, my power is made perfect in weakness. 2 Cor. 12:9

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