Sunday, Sunday

I'm trying something new that has served me well on Sundays. I'm trying to make Sunday a no TV day. I very easily waste many evening hours watching mind-numbing TV shows during the week and on Saturdays. I'm trying to keep myself more focused on the Lord to make Sundays my true Sabbath days. As most of you know, I take a nap on Sundays because that's what I was brought up to do. Church in the morning, lunch, nap, church in the evening. I did watch a little TV this evening while I was eating dinner but it got annoying pretty fast. I've also had the chance to read quite a bit on Sundays which I enjoy greatly because I don't really have time or mental energy to read during the week. Free afternoons are also good for getting ready for the Bible study I'm leading on Sunday nights. I've got an interesting and challenging group of girls whom I love dearly and want to help grow spiritually. Pray for me in this no TV endeavour. If you want to join me, then let me know and maybe we can chat when we'd normally watch TV. I hope you're Sunday was great and I'm heading for my chair (see previous post).

The Best and the Brightest

I had the privilege today to take part in the regional interviews for the 22nd class of Teaching Fellows. The Teaching Fellow Holly came out and I schmoozed with the best of them. I was encouraged to hear the excitement in these kids voices about wanting to be teachers. I had the chance to recruit some for UNCA and emphasize how much determined stubbornness it's going to take to see this program through to the end. I told one girl that her first year would be horrible but if she made it through that it was a breeze after that. Surprisingly, it was ten years ago that I sat in that interview chair at Appalachian State and answered some of the same questions. Wow - where have the years gone! Like I told my fellow interviewers today, I have fulfilled my commitment and am still teaching. That says something for the program. It's amazing to see how much the program has improved and evolved over the years of it's existence, but there is comfort in the unchanged parts as well. It was encouraging to hear my future colleagues be so enthusiastic about my profession. It also helped me realize how many people have helped me to make it this far. I look forward to many years of helping the next generation of teachers get to this point. I want to be the "one" who inspired them to become teachers. I want some of my kids to sit in that chair and talk about their math teacher from middle school who loved her subject and more importantly loved her students. I want to inspire this generation to reach their potential. My profession will be the most rewarding when one day one of my kids stands in front of a classroom of their own! Good luck entering class of 2008! May you be the best and brightest in your schools and in your classrooms!

My Chair!

This is NOT just my chair.

This is my island.

My Sanctuary.

It's not just a place to sit,

but an old friend

Whose arms are always open.

It's part meeting place,

Part think-tank and all luxury.

It embraces One and welcomes all.

In my mind this is a perfect chair.

My chair has become my sanctuary in the past few weeks. As circumstances in life have confused and frustrated me, this chair is where I've been able to go to find comfort. It's just a chair right? Wrong! This is where I go to meet with my God who loves me unconditionally and has all my days planned out for me. He reminds me how much he cares for insignificant me and how he wants to pour out his blessings to me. I've prayed some pretty BIG prayers in this chair recently and in return have gotten some unexpected answers. Not too long ago, I sat here and begged the Lord to help my unbelief! I've needed to see Him at work and be reassured that He was there. He has showed up in some very unexpected places, but there is no denying that it's Him in those circumstances and using those people to get through to me. We all have our places to go where we feel safe and secure...my chair serves that purpose for me. May I never pile it under stuff again! May I leave it open so I can sit with my Heavenly Father and let Him love on me! May God be real to you even now as you read this!

Power Tool Adventure!

So this clock/radio/CD player was my grand power tool adventure of last weekend. I have been watching for one of these to go on sale pretty much since Christmas. I wanted music in the front half of my house without blasting it from my bedroom on the backside of the house. Now my house is not that large but it was much more convenient to have a radio in the kitchen. This one was on sale AND had a mail in rebate. After thoroughly reading the directions and gathering very much courage, I decided that I was going to attempt to hang it by myself. With much prayer and stubborn determination I set forth to drill holes into my kitchen cabinet. As you can very well see, I was successful (well in three out of the four holes!). I can now enjoy music in my kitchen while I cook and clean. I feel rather accomplished and like Nana said when I told her "Even if you did mess it up, it's on the underside of the cabinet so no one could see it anyways!" She also encouraged me to brave hanging some shelves in my office. "Holes can be filled back in!" she said. I might get brave in the coming weeks with these bookshelves. Dad said I need a stud finder first. My response was if I could find a stud then he could hang it for me! Ha ha ha...you know I'm funny!

Short Post

So I'm experiencing some technical difficulties tonight that are going to greatly inhibit my post. I had great intentions for what I was going to write about tonight but I'll have to limit it to something simple. When my camera decides to cooperate with me, I have two new pictures to show you. Until then, I'm going to go sit in my chair and spend some time with Jesus before I go to bed. It's been a weekend of fighting stupid thoughts at random moments, which is extra frustrating when many good things happened this weekend. I'll write more tomorrow when my technically moody devices decide to cooperate.

I have returned

So an "old" friend got onto me last night about how I never update my blog. I'll give you the same explanation - my computer is dying a slow, painful death. I have to lay hands on it before I start each time. Then I have to wait patiently while it connects to my dial-up connection, which adds to the slowness. I have a little more free time these days so I'll do my best to update more often. I do want to share a few pictures that have been sitting on my digital camera for awhile now and I have finally uploaded onto my computer.

These two lovely people are handmade Hmong ornaments from Thailand. They hang in my kitchen to remind me to pray for Melanie in Thailand. I was excited to receive them for Christmas and that they were Hmong! They had a special place of honor on my Christmas tree. We have Hmongs here in Catawba and Burke counties!

This is a picture of my front driveway during our big snowstorm in January. I stayed home from school on an optional teacher workday because that's ice in my driveway mostly! I got about 3 inches of snow and about a 1/2 inch of ice that day. It was pretty and I enjoyed a day at home.

Finally, this is my suprise from my parents for Valentine's Day. This lovely little bear is made up of two chocolate cupcakes and a LOAD of chocolate icing. It took me two days to eat it all and I still feel a little buzzed from the sugary icing!

So "old" friend, I hope this is enough to satisfy you for the moment. I love you and will try to udpate more often so you don't worry.