May Day!

Well it has been a while, and this won't be a long post...but I always feel guilty when I got to read every one's updates, so I thought I'd drop a quick line...

The house is coming along well...almost done! We went through and did the first walk through and they are doing cleaning and touch up work now. They installed the carpet and had a cleaning crew come through. The house looks amazing. I am in awe that we will be living there in 3 weeks!

We haven't started packing, and I am getting more anxious as to how we are going to pull this off each day! I have 3 days of school left, so I am trying to get all my grades in. I'll have the weekend to relax and start packing, and then next week I take my officers to camp for 3 days in Dallas. Our final walk through will be next Friday. We have a dance convention at the school the next weekend, and then we start open studio Monday -Thursday for 2 hours a day, and we close on that Thursday. Whew...prayers would be much appreciated for the next few weeks.

My JV Team had an end of the year celebration last Friday and I enjoyed it so much! I am so proud to see them going on to Varsity! It was very meaningful to hear how much they had enjoyed the year, learned, grown, etc. At the end the girls circled up and said a prayer led by one of my officers, and it was such a sweet joy to hear them lifting up their praises to God! Although my job requires many long hours, and heartache/stress at times, I am thankful for where I am, and in knowing I am where God has called me to be during this season of my life! It is bittersweet to see our seniors on the Varsity team graduate this week! I will miss them dearly!


Here's a few pictures from the party...


My team



Cake...The girls all wanted to eat the piece with their name on it! haha!

Here's a few of our house...Please pardon the blue tape marks...That shows them where they need to go back and touch up stuff.

They stained the front door, so the outside is done!


Looking at the front door from the inside...And the tile! Please don't judge the light fixture...It wasn't the one we picked out and we're changing it because we find it offensive...LOL!



Carpet in the Living Room

Competition!

I promised I'd update with a picture and all the details about competition...So here it goes...

My girls after the Awards Ceremony...




Both the team, and my officers won a Sweepstakes Award, scoring a 90 or above in all of their routines. They also won a Choreography Award and High Point Award for their Novelty Routine.

Here's a link to some professional pictures that were taken while the girls were dancing during each routine.


I haven't put many pictures of them up, for lack of time, I am always running around so busy to take any! :-) But I got a copy of their team picture this year
recently so I thought I'd post it as well!

My JV Team!

Ok, I've promised pictures of my JV Starsteppers team...My parents came to the game last week, and my mom got a few I thought I would share...I will try to post more as the season goes on...

In the stands...

Out on the field before they danced at halftime

Heavy Heart, Amazing God

Well, I made it through the first week of school again! More on that later...It's been a rough week for many of those that I know.

Tuesday, we got a call that one of the girls on our Varsity Team was taking her dad to the hospital. He is 39 and did not have any prior health problems, but they found him not breathing that morning. They rushed him to the hospital and kept him on life support for much of the day, but finally took him off late in the afternoon. It was her second day of school her senior year, and she lost her father. The team has been amazing about being there for her. We all attended the viewing on Thursday. Please pray for her as she goes through this hard time.

When I left the viewing I got a call from one of the mom's of a girl on my JV team that her grandfather had passed away. She was supposed to see him for the first time in awhile this weekend.

Both girls could use as much support as possible right now, your prayers are greatly appreciated.

Friday night I spoke with one of my best friends who lost her job earlier that day unjustly. She is an amazing woman who has dedicated much of her life the past 7 years to serving children and growing the program, so this is a very painful and frustrating time. Please pray for God to give her peace and surround her in His love as he guides her on a new path.

Saturday morning I received word that the two sons of the head band director were involved in an accident with a drunk driver the night before. One, a freshman in high school was treated and as I understand released yesterday. His older son however, a senior in high school, was care flighted to the hospital and was in ICU in a medically induced come for what they thought would be 72 hours because they believed he had brain hemorrhaging.

I did not know it but the family used to attend the church my parents are now attending. This morning the whole church took time to stop and pray for him. Less than 30 minutes later they received word he had woken up on his own and told his parents he wanted to go home. Praise God!!! It gave me chills when I heard it.

Whenever I hear about situations and accidents like this it truly makes me stop, and think back to our accident. I know the feelings and the fear and pain the family is going through. I am still so eternally grateful for all of the people that prayed for Mandy and my family during that time. I was overwhelmed with the response in prayer that we received in that time. I know that truly made a difference then and once again, we have seen the power of prayer come to life.

From experience I know that the worst isn't over for his son and family in the coming days, weeks, months. and possibly years, so I ask that you please, please continue pray for him. His name is Justin. I will keep you updated on the situation.

So, it has been an emotionally draining week as my heart has hurt for these people. But I know I am where I am supposed to be right now, and even through all of this, and somewhat even more because of it, I am confident in the plan and purpose God has for me now.

Speaking of school, I think I managed pretty well this week. I am floating from classroom to classroom, upstairs to downstairs, from one side of the building to the other each period, and I was anxious about how that would work out last week. I think I have a system now. I have a classroom in a box. Ha ha! You think I am kidding, but I'm totally not. It is teaching me to be more creative and flexible in my teaching.

The varsity drill team had their first football game this past week and their performance was wonderful! They did such a good job, I was so thrilled for them, and excited to be a part of it all. My JV team's first performance is this week...I hope we are ready in time! Also, although this is small compared to my other prayer requests, please pray that the tropical storm that is supposed to arrive in our area on Thursday doesn't make my girls not be able to perform that night. They have worked so hard all summer, I really hope we are able to pull it off, and that the weather cooperates!

It's been a trying week, but I believe through it all that I serve an amazing God who is watching over and caring for each of these situations. Well, that's all for now. Thanks for praying and I will keep you updated. I am working on getting some pictures up soon as well.

Camp, Camp, and more Camp!

I'm back! I haven't posted in awhile, but I have been crazy busy with drill team camps! We've had 4 this summer total, three of them being in the last 2 weeks! Both JV and Varsity teams have done tremendously well! Here are some pictures from a few of the camps!





I am enjoying my last week of summer. Next week I will start inservices and start gearing up for another school year. I am excited about my new job, but also sad to see summer go. Although I have worked much of the summer, I have enjoyed my time off and all the extra time with Jason and my friends and family! But we are about to launch head first into football season, so there will be many more pictures to come!

We Must All Show Up

It has been awhile since my last post...I have been super busy! I took my students to the Texas Association of Future Educators State Conference this weekend. They did really well, and won a whole bunch of awards. I was very proud of them! I am still recovering though from the stress and lack of sleep that go along with taking an overnight trip (2 nights!) with kids...It's exhausting! Anyways, here is a picture from the conference...While at the conference, I got to here the National Teacher of the Year speak, and she was incredibly inspirational! Education has changed alot over the years, even since I was in school. Today we focus so much on test scores and measuring success, that sometimes we lose the most important component...The relationships we must form with our students in order to figure out how we can help them reach their goals and dreams. One thing that struck me most was a story about her dad who was also a teacher. Some one had told her about a student that her dad had in class that had had alot of issues and was very close to dropping out of school, but his parent moved him to a new school. In this new school, the student was placed in her dad's woodworking class. The student was so imspired by her dad that he went on not only to graduate from high school, but also receive a college degree in civil engineering. The amazing thing about her story was that when she told her dad, he was just as shocked. His response was that this student was not one of those that you see immediate success in during the year while you are teaching him. Her dad had felt like he wasn't sure if he had done enough to help this kid graduate or make it in life. One great point she made was that all too often teachers do not see the difference they are making in student's lives down the line. I have found this to be very true this year. I often work with students who I do not always feel/know if I am doing the right things, but I do the best job I can for them, and hope that in the long run, somewhere down the way I have planted a seed that they can develop and grow.

I have been very blessed to have a few of those cherished moments this year though when I have seen or been told the difference that I have made, and those are definitely the ones that keep me going on my hardest days.

Last semester I lost a student from my Ready, Set, Teach program who was a senior. She passed away suddenly over the weekend due to a long term heart condition. It was very difficult. The week before I had just seen her teach a lesson to the third grade class she worked in and she had done an amazing job preparing her lesson and interacting witht he kids. For you teachers out there she hit almost every part of the lesson cycle, which is a feat for a high school student in my book. Watching her I was so proud of her, and I felt like I could finally see that I had been able to give a student something that they could take with them and use to be successful in life. A week later when she passed away I struggled with the loss of a young life and future teacher who had the ability to impact so many lives.

Over the next few weeks, God revealed many truths to my aching heart...With the outpour of love and sympathy from her friends and classmates at her school and at the school she worked atI realized that my student didn't need to go to college and get a degree and have heer own classroom to make a difference. She made a huge difference in so many of her friends, classmates, and students lives already that you wouldn't believe it. It wasn't about a loss of potential impact...It was about doing what you are called to do by God when He calls you to do it...It was about showing up and being obedient. That lesson the week before and semester she worked in the classroom was the opportunity and the time God had given her to fulfill her dream of being a teacher and make a difference in others' lives. And she did it to the utmost of her ability. And without me even realizing it, I had been called to plant and nurture that seed in her. I am honored and thankful to have had her as a student and to learn that lesson early on...

As teachers we never know how or when our students are going to use the knowledge, skills, and life lessons that we pass on to them, but we can plant the seed, nurture it, and do what we have been called to do in our student's lives, to have the privilege of making a difference in the lives of many others and helping them to achieve their dreams and in turn inspire others.

This is a message to all of us...We only have a limited time on this Earth to do what our God put us here to do...We have opportunities and we make choices as we walk with Him. We must prepare as he leads us, even for the unknown, and show up each time He calls us to, because we never know what difference he has for us to make or what purpose he has for us to fulfill in His kingdom at any given time.