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.

Weekend Update!

Well I had another fun weekend! Saturday I spent the day at a friend from high school's wedding shower. Everything was so beautiful, but I forgot my camera! They had beautiful tables set for all of the guests and the food was fantastic! It was good to see several friends as well!

Sunday I went to a bridal show with Mandy and Jason. Why, you ask? Well Mandy is starting a wedding company where she is going to make aisle runners, invitations, etc. and we were scoping out ideas/the competition! Jason was scoping out ideas for cakes, and I went because I never got to go to one while we were planning our wedding. (FYI: I think they are much more fun when you are actually planning a wedding!)


We finally found our dinnerware. The dinnerware I first picked out when we got married was discontinued by Bed Bath and Beyond right before our wedding, and two of the sets we got had broken pieces in them. After that I couldn't find anything that looked similiar in full sets. So I've been looking for over a year and puchased a set which we took back, but FINALLY we have dinnerware. TA-DA!!!

What do you think?

A Fabulous End to Summer...

Although I'm not officially ready to admit that Summer is over until the first day of school, I am headed back to work on Wenesday. My amazing husband arranged to take this past Friday off of work and plan a wonderful day for the two of us to spend some quality time together before I started back off to work.

We slept in, and then he surprised me by taking me to lunch at one of my favorite restaurants, La Madeleine! Yum! Then it was off to The Modern, the Fort Worth Museum of Modern Art...

We saw some really neat pieces there. We ended the afternoon with a trip to Coldstone Ice Cream, a craving we have both had for awhile. Cheesecake ice cream with hot fudge and strawberries...To die for! We got so spoiled having several in Lubbock, and the closest one is across town now. :-( Then we headed to Central Market. I had never been before so we had a good time roaming the store checking out all of the amazing and yummy products. While we were there we found a mix of spices they were cooking and decided to try it for dinner. So for dinner Jason made Tomato Basil Chipolte Chicken and Penne Pasta! It was a great day, and I felt so blessed to have such a thoughtful husband to plan it for me!

Saturday we celebrated Andrea and David's wedding in Dallas, which was beautiful and a family birthday!

And yesterday we went to Six Flags on the fly with my parents! My mom had free tickets. We had so much fun riding rides and seeing shows with them!

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!

Go Big!

http://www.glocal.net/blog/comments/faith-the-1-missional-value/

This past Sunday I was challenged by a thought that our minister presented us with...He was speaking on how the church Jason and I are attending has grown so much and done so much mission work throughout the world that other churches are now asking them to help them follow this mold or pattern you could say. But how he didn't feel there was some 10 step pattern they could give anyone to follow...What made the difference was that they from the very beginning were willing to have faith to do the unthinkable and go to Vietnam to do God's work. They didn't start small and work up, they started with something that was so big, that they weren't sure they could accomplish it, but they had to have faith and trust God. And in doing that, in going big, I guess you could call it, they pushed their limits from the very beginning. And in pushing themselves, in being willing to do the unthinkable, reaching out to local ministries became so natural, because they had already done so in such a large way.

That started me thinking about how willing I am to go big for God. Last year when I was looking for my first teaching position I had found a place where I really felt like was right for me. However, Jason and I were two weeks from getting married, neither of us had jobs, and we had no idea where we would be living when we came back from our honeymoon!


(Side note: Good is an amazing provider...In one week he provided jobs and helped us find our first home! It was certainly a lesson of his provision for us in the beginning of our marriage!)

I had not felt very anxious about not having a job/home. I had truly felt peace that God would provide and take care of us in his timing until that 2 week mark hit, and then along with all the craziness of the weeks leading up to a wedding, I started to worry...

I had interviewed at several places and really felt a strong pull to one. It was a dance position, and I felt very comfortable in the interview and with the people I had met at the school. However, I had some holdups with when I would be allowed to take my dance certification test, which was holding up them pursuing me as a candidate. In the meantime I got this great offer from another well respected school district, and with a feeling of responsibility as an adult dependent on my husband and myself, I felt like I could not turn this other offer down with no guarantee of another job.

I had a very challenging year, but it certainly taught me a lot about calling myself to a higher level as a teacher. I also learned a lot about myself. In facing very challenging times, from many trials and errors I learned about my priorities and how to handle very challenging times where I frequently felt in over my head. Unfortunately many of these times I chose to try to press on and conquer it out of my own will and determination instead of falling into the arms of my Savior. I am very thankful for the lessons I learned. I know that that experience happened for a reason, and pray that I was able to touch many of my students' lives, as I know they touched mine.


This year I had the opportunity to find out the position I had felt called to originally was open again, and was blessed to receive the job I have today.

I do believe that as adults sometimes we have to make do with what we have presented to us, and we make our decisions with the information we have at the current time.

I do believe I God molded me and used me where I was.


But thinking back on Sunday, I couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if I had been more patient and had enough faith to continue to trust that God would provide in me passing my test and in waiting for this job.

I have had times in the last few years when I have doubted how God was providing for myself in my job and others in my family after the accident. I never doubted that he was taking care of me or them, I just didn't feel like I agreed with how it was being done.

I came to a point where God convicted me to give up my pride in doing things myself, and in questioning his plan. I broke down. I asked forgiveness. And then that morning I felt he called me to give it up, it was amazingly so easy to give it away.

I have yearned for being nearer to God for quite some time, but am in need of continually working on my discipline in doing so.

I felt him speak to my heart Sunday, although I'm not sure for what yet..."If I call you, will you go big for me? Will you continue to trust me in my provision and have faith in my plan for you? That I will take care of you? Will you be encouraged in what I have for you? Will you take joy in it?"

I am blessed right now to believe I am fulfilling a purpose he called me to my freshman year of college as a drill team instructor. I feel a sense of belonging and a call to make a difference.

I'm not sure what God has in store for my path this year or for my life...But he quieted my spirit this past Sunday with the idea from our pastor that if I trust Him on the path that I see in front of me, He will lead me into a journey that is more than I could ever imagine or dream of. And if I trust him in the big things he calls me to do, I will also trust him in the small.

So I want to commit again to give of the reigns and trust God in where He is leading me, and that if He calls me to go big I will go without hesitation and be patient and trust in his timing. And that as times get hard I will fall to him for renewal of my spirit.

Women of Faith

My cousin Jill left Sunday morning for a mission trip to Turkey. She will be there for the next few weeks working with a team of women from her church to work alongside many Turkish women in encouraging them in their faith and hopefully bringing more people to come to know our Savior. This can be dangerous, as the Turkish women's lives are at risk daily for practicing their faith.

The team has established a blog with specific prayer requests. I would encourage you to check it out, and continue to check back to it over the next few weeks, as these women proclaim the gospel among the nation of Turkey.

http://turkishcoldcuts.blogspot.com/

A wonderful 4th!

July 4th, 2008

I had reminiced earlier in the day yesterday of many memories of past July 4th Independence days. My family used to get together on my dad's side, and cookout during the day, and then we would go watch fireworks over the Trinity River. All of the kids would climb on top of my uncle's van to watch the fireworks get the very best view! And then we would go back to my grandparents and have homemade ice cream, made from my great grandmother's ice cream maker, the kind you had to crank! And we would light sparklers in the back yard. (I was always a little leary of the sparklers.) However, those are some great memories!

Jason and I had joked this year, that we weren't sure we were going ot be able to top last year, where we watched the Macy's fireworks off the harbor in New York on our honeymoon. And while I can't say the wow factor was quite the same, as I sat holding my husband's hand, watching the fireworks, surrounded by both of our families I was reminded again how very blessed I am in life! It was amazing to me to think of how as I had sat in this very same place oh so long ago, God could forsee the amazing blessings he had in store for my life in my husband and our family!