and then there were none...

No days left I mean! Summer is officially over and I am back to work next week. I have been working this week some just to try and get ready before the deluge of meetings and things to do. It has been a great summer. Bo and I have visited New Orleans again, as we love that place and it holds a special place in our hearts. We stayed there for a week. We ate, and ate, and ate some more! That is our favorite past time when we visit NOLA.
I have been able to spend time with friends and get 5 books read. I have to say that I am embarrassed that as a high schooler I never read To Kill A Mockingbird and how I hate that I missed it as a kids. It was a great book. A classic that everyone needs to read.
Going back always has it's reservations. I get the new year jitters just like the kids do and worry that I won't be able to fulfill my duties as an educator. Being in this for 10 years I have began to understand somewhat; that I can't solve all problems. Taking their issues home with me doesn't make them any less for the kids, but I do know that I love what I do and that just like any other job, there are good days and bad days...
So goal for this year: Love them like they have never been loved, and do my best to educate them and make them successful citizens in life!

Here's to the 2011-2012 school year!

Happy Father's Day!

We are blessed to have many people in our lives who have made an impact on us. Bo and I are thankful for our fathers. We are blessed in the way we were raised and the support and love that they give us in our relationship together every day. To both of our dads, we thank you for who you are in our lives and what you both mean to us!


We love you both very much!

Gardening 101...

About 3 weeks ago I had the biggest craving for tomatoes and cucumbers. So Bo and I decided that we would plant a garden. He has planted one when he lived up North and I had always had one as a child, but I had never done one by myself; I just always ate the goods HA! So while he went to the store to get our plants I dug up grass. He bought tomatoes, cucumbers, mint, watermelons, and pumpkins. My friends let me tell you, diggin that grass was some hard work, but so worth it in the end. We chose a little corner of our yard that I wish got more sun but it seems to be the most convienent place and gets about 5 hours of sun a day. So we planted and have watered twice a day and finally a few days ago we have a little tomato.. Now I just want to do what I can to keep it alive. I know we badly need cages, as the tomato plants are doubled in size and I know will start to lean and fall. That is part of the plan this week: Cages

Here are a few pics of our garden so far and our first little harvest.

Killing Giants...

Many of us have giants in our lives.. No not physical giants, but spiritual giants. Each day we have to face those things that create a barrier between us and our destiny that God has planned for us.
Sunday at Seacoast Greenville we were on part 2 of Killing Giants: The Rise and Fall of David. This week focused on David defeating Goliath. Just wanted to share with you the notes that we were given as they have been a help in starting to conquer the giants in my life.
I will give you the notes that our pastor gave and then I will write what I got out of it with a *.

*Don't let the giant own you because your mind is the battleground!*

1 Samuel 17:1-58
What do I know about Giants:
1. There will always be a GIANT between you and your destiny. *giants= whatever blocks your path to God.
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

*most likely your giant is not a person... look to yourself first

2Corinthians 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

2. Giants never LEAVE on their own. *defeat the giant before it enslaves you*
1 Peter 5:8-9
Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You're not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It's the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith.

3. Giants are a NECESSARY part of your SPIRTITUAL GROWTH. *giants are stepping stones*

*Martin Luther says three things to do and go through a. meditate b. pray c. trials and temptations
James 1:2-4
Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

NOW, how do we kill the giant?

1. Speak to the giant from GOD'S POINT OF VIEW.
2 Corinthians 4:18
There's far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can't see now will last forever.

2 Corinthinas 5:7
It's what we trust in but don't yet see that keeps us going.

2. Speak to the giant with WORDS OF FAITH.
Proverbs 18:20-21
Words satisfy the mind as much as fruit does the stomach;
good talk is as gratifying as a good harvest.
Words kill, words give life;
they're either poison or fruit—you choose.

3. Step toward the diant in the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
1 Samuel 17:40
Then David took his shepherd's staff, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pocket of his shepherd's pack, and with his sling in his hand approached Goliath.

*Faith is moving ahead without fears and doubts*

I am hoping that this will reach one person and make a difference. I know that the reason that I don't always SEE what I think I should be seeing is due to faith... I have to have faith that God has my best intrest in mind. I hope that if there are troubles in your marriage, family, home,job, or finances that something in in this message will help to change your way of living.

Still a child...

Today a friend sent me a blogpost of someone she follows and it is so pertinent to my life right now. I need to learn and understand that God is in control. I am growing and maturing in Christ daily, but it is posts like this one that reassures what I am trying to learn..



Last week I wrote about living life based on feelings or emotions vs. based on a knowledge of the truth. This week, I received an envelope in the mail from my mom, with a photocopy of a chapter of a book she’s reading, that just so happens to be on this very topic. The book is The Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney, and the chapter is titled “What You Feel vs. What Is Real”. Here are few paragraphs that really resonated with me.

On a daily basis we’re faced with two simple choices. We can either listen to ourselves and our constantly changing feelings about our circumstances, or we can talk to ourselves about the unchanging truth of who God is and what He’s accomplished for us at the cross.

Far too often we choose to passively listen to ourselves. We sit back and let our view of God and life be shaped by our constantly shifting feelings about our ever-changing circumstance. Life is busy. Often hard. Full of distractions. And before a morning cup of coffee, our passive listening can take us on a roller-coaster ride as we review a hundred different topics and experience a dozen varied emotions.

…also…

That which is subjective changes regularly, like shifitng sand. But that which is objective is built on the solid rock of the gospel. When we look inward, we live by the subjective, the temporal, the ever-changing, the unreliable, the likely-to-be-false. When we look outward, to the gospel, we live by the objective, the never changing, that which is perfectly reliable and always completely true.

Our life in Christ is based on objective truth, and the chief truth among the innumerable glorious truths of Scripture is that Jesus died for your sins. That’s the heart of the gospel.

Good stuff, right?? How often do we just listen to ourselves and our whims of the moment? How often do we forget that the one rock-solid objective truth in life is the work Jesus did on the cross. That one act which changed everything should impact the way we think and live. But if we allow our feelings to get in the way, we will be pulled to and for like a leaf in the wind.

I am realizing over and over again how much I need to cling to the rock which is Christ. He is the only sound and secure thing in my life. On any given day, in any given week, my thoughts and preferences and moods and emotions changes like a twisting kaleidoscope. A roller-coaster is an apt description of my feelings. God is my rock, and in the midst of the storms of life, I know that there is safety and certainty in clinging to Him. Read these verses on this very topic:

My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold and my refuge; My savior, You save me from violence. - 2 Samuel 22:3

As for God, His way is blameless; The word of the LORD is tried; He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him. For who is God, but the LORD?
And who is a rock, except our God, the God who girds me with strength and makes my way blameless? - Psalms 18:30 – 32

For You are my rock and my fortress; For Your name’s sake You will lead me and guide me. - Psalms 31:3

He only is my rock and my salvation, My stronghold; I shall not be greatly shaken. - Psalms 62:2

Be to me a rock of habitation to which I may continually come;You have given commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress. - Psalms 71:3

I love the language of these verses–God as a rock, a fortress, a shield, a stronghold. Sometimes, I feel the desire to just run away from the problems of everyday life… to go hide in my bed, with the covers pulled over my head to block our the world around me like I did when I was a little girl. It makes me realize how much of a child I truly am. When all is said and done, I am weak and frail, and my emotions are varied and unpredictable. The only way to make it through a day is to continually remind myself that I have a Heavenly Dad, and the truth of His love for me is as stable and secure as a fortress. He is the foundation in my life, the rock on which I plant my feet. The knowledge of this truth casts a whole different light on everything in life!

Good Friday...

Today is Good Friday! I know that around this time of the year I am supposed to be happy as to what is happening in a Christian's life, but I find it very hard to imagine all that our Lord went through. I just am not a huge fan. I think of the harsh things that our Savior had to endure and I know in the end he was victorious, but part of me just hurts and shudders in the thought of what He had to go through. Please don't get me wrong I am so blessed and I know that in the end there is victory! I just guess I am weird. So I know that without the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ I would be no where and through my short journey I have learned a few things.

* He loves me regardless.
* He loves you regardless.
* Through Him I have began to understand what it means to have peace beyond understanding.
* I am beginning to see that I have to live Phil. 4: 6-7 each and every day. Pray don't worry!
* He provides me with Grace so that I can provide others with Forgiveness!
* Our God is an Awesome God!
* Through Him I CAN do all things, I just have to believe.
* He gives, and he takes... We may not see it now, but you will eventually.
* God knew what he was doing when He brought me Bo. God you are a smart one!
* I am blessed, I am blessed, and... I am blessed.

Thank you God for giving me material things, spirtual things, and most of all your grace and forgivess each and every day of my life.

The tragedy of first position

This makes me smile! I have 3 year olds that I teach and this is bound to happen at least once a class!