From Underestimating to Expecting

Many times in our lives as Christians, we underestimate the power of our God. I can generalize to say that we all do that, because it was explained in a very matter-of-fact manner to me. A wonderful woman of God, Rhonda Perry, explained to me that we underestimate our God pretty often, because we are trying to imagine an infinite God with our finite minds. That makes so much sense, and I have chosen to believe beyond my mind on this specific issue: my aunt has a terminal disease.

I don’t know about you, but I believe in a God who laughs at the word “terminal.” My God is not bound by disease, and God Almighty is the one to whom I have turned for Aunt Carla’s complete healing. I’m not settling for less on this one. I want to see a real, full-body, bible-times kind of healing.

My Aunt Carla was recently diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease. For quite some time before that, we knew she was struggling physically, but we didn’t know why. Before she was diagnosed, I was moved by the Holy Spirit to pray for her. During a sermon one Sunday, the Holy Spirit lay her very heavily on my heart. I could just picture her dancing with the saints before the Father, but that wasn’t the end. Like a ton of bricks, it hit me that she doesn’t have to wait until Heaven to dance for the Father. He is Jehovah Rapha, the Lord our Healer. I believe in that God, so I got up and asked the church to lay hands on her and pray for her complete healing in the name of Jesus.

Nothing happened that day, and I’ll admit I was momentarily discouraged. Silly me. God doesn’t work on my watch; He keeps His very own time. When the time comes, I believe Aunt Carla will receive a complete healing from her head to the tip of her toes in the name of Jesus Christ who conquered death and grave to set us free. We are free indeed…from Lou Gehrig’s disease and everything else. My God will heal. He says so.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

My family has chosen to take part in a time of prayer and fasting. We will have a continuous fast for 30 days with each member of the family participating on various days. Pray with us. Fast with us. Believe in the power of God’s healing hand with us.

No More Waiting!

Our Father surely takes care of us! After my last post (Can’t wait much longer…), I got a job. Easy as that, God opened the door, and I stepped right through! Praise Him!

I have gotten a lot of questions about detail, so I’ll tell you what I know: My future father-in-law knows the owner of this wonderful private school. He arranged for me to interview with one of the administrators when I got here in July. During that interview, I fell in love with the school and discovered that they do not have any openings. I was pretty sad. A few days later, I got an email from the Head of School saying that the guy who interviewed me was really impressed. She said they wanted to see if they could find an opportunity for me. A little later, the school had a resignation! I was given an interview with the Head of School on Friday, and she offered me the job on the spot!!!

The Cambridge School is a magnificent private school. We (can I really say “we” now?!!) have a special literacy-based curriculum to accommodate students with learning differences. The special curriculum means every teacher must have special training. Therefore, I will be a “teacher-in-training” for a year. I will shadow a veteran third grade teacher for reading and writing, while I undergo all the training classes. I will also be teaching math and a possible social studies or science class. My training will take a whole year, but I do receive 9 college credits AND the school pays for it!

School doesn’t start for us until September 7^th. I have my first training class this Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. I will be training in Wilson Language Program this time. It’s so great to be packing my lunch and preparing for a full day with a planned schedule again! God is GOOOOOOOD!

Can't. Wait. Much. Longer.

School does start here for another couple of weeks, which is a huge relief for me! I don’t have a job yet, so I’m still hopeful that something will materialize in the next 2 weeks. I have a second interview with an incredible private school this week. I absolutely love everything I have seen so far, and I am hoping to get a great offer from them. Keep me in your prayers!

As you can imagine with school so close and all my friends already teaching, I am a little anxious! Ok. Maybe more than a little. I am kind of nervous about getting a job at the last minute and having to get my classroom ready. Of course, that would be better than not getting a job, but it would really stress me out! There is also a possibility that I will get a job in which I will not have my own classroom, so I shouldn’t be worried yet. I am though.

In order to relieve a little of my anxiety, I painted. My sister has already claimed this picture, so I’m afraid it won’t even make it to our Etsy. If you like it, I can definitely recreate it. Let me know if you are interested. I suppose I would make another for you for around $20.

The painting did relieve a little of my worry, but I decided about halfway through that painting cotton was not getting me any closer to having things ready for a classroom. I obviously can’t spend money on a classroom I don’t have yet. I can, however, start MAKING things for the classroom.

I chose an owl theme, but my reading area will be the Cajun Corner. (I just can’t have a classroom without having a little Louisiana in there.) I made a few little owls that I will eventually laminate and use as decoration of some sort. I was also able to find some cute owls online and make some great stationary and labels for my classroom. I see a future for this theme…

I have also really gotten into teacher blogs. My blog is not all about teaching. It is about the joy of life (a little joie de vivre, if you will). However, I have becom

e very interested in Marisa’s cute little teacher blog. She is a sister of my friend Laura, who also has a sweet blog. Marisa has so many interesting tips for classrooms, as well as a ton of suggested books! Great resource for teachers! I have also discovered Amanda’s blog, The Teaching Thief. Amanda also has a great blog with suggested books, and she even has a giveaway this week! Look out…you may get some free EXPO MARKERS!

I’m getting so excited about teaching now! I NEED A JOB! Oh Father, I trust your plan for me.

Jeremiah 29:11

Reading...Again

I just took a wonderful trip to the beach with my future in-laws, and I’ll post more about that later. It was very relaxing, but you know what a beach trip means…READING!

Jen (my future sister-in-law) gave me Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks to read while the ocean splashed my feet. I suspected that I had read it before, because I’ve read pretty much everything Sparks has written at least once. However, I could not remember what happened in the end, so I decided I would read it again. Of course, it was just as wonderful as the first time.

Safe Haven is an inspiring story of a woman who escapes a treacherous marriage to an abuse tyrannical husband to find the perfect southern gentleman to be her prince charming. Nicholas Sparks does a fantastic job of unfolding the story and engulfing the reader. He allows the reader just enough time to fall in love with the protagonist, before harshly introducing the antagonist. In a twisted whirlwind of events, the love triangle (which includes 2 children on one side) spins into a perfect ending.

If I were the Ebert and Roeper of books, I would give this one (along with most of Nicholas Sparks’ novels) two thumbs up!

Enjoying Free Time

For a while after moving to a new place with no job, I was a little stressed (imagine that) and bored and sad. Then, I realized that I may as well enjoy all the time I have to do the things I love.  It turns out this is just the kind of day I like: wake up, work out, have my coffee and shower, and spend the rest of the day painting and cooking. (Oh, and planning the big wedding!)

I never claimed to be a great artist. I just really enjoy painting. God blessed me with enough artistic ability that I can spend a few hours bringing a blank canvas to life without getting completely frustrated with myself. That’s about the full extent of it though.

Recently, I painted this flower pot. I aspire to have a beautiful garden and flower beds. Of course, that can’t happen while I have no yard. This little project allowed me to start exercising my green thumb. I planted some flowers in the pot after painting it. They have sprouted, so we will see how long they make it.

 

The quote is an Indian Proverb used frequently in LSU’s College of Education: “Great oaks from little acorns grow.”

I have also spent a lot of time experimenting in the kitchen. At my wonderful bridal shower I received a TON of kitchen tools, and I have thoroughly enjoyed using them all. Last night we had shrimp stuffed twice-baked potatoes with sautéd shrimp and toast. It was YUMMY!

Here are the baking experiments from yesterday: Pink Lemonade Layer Cake (from the Deen Brothers) and Gooey Turtle Bars (from Southern Living). Of course, neither went quite as planned. The cakes were baked perfectly, but they split in half when I flipped them onto the cake plate. Luckily I was able to salvage them with the homemade lemonade icing. Doesn’t look glamorous, but I’m assuming it will taste pretty great.

I made this for my upcoming beach trip with the Watson family. I’ll let ya know what they think.

The Gooey Turtle Bars taste absolutely delicious. We shared a few at our game night. However, they won’t come out of the pan. This is one of those eat-it-from-the-pan-while-it-crumbles-in-your-hand kind of desserts. I’m trying to figure out what made the stick to the pan, but not to each other. I’ll adjust the recipe to make it work, then I’ll pass it along, because they really are a wonderful treat.

Mmm. Can’t wait to see what next week brings!