I’ve been spending as much time as possible in our yard planting, weeding, mulching, creating and enjoying.  My hands really do have callouses forming on them.  Guess I should not fret too much about it since soon it will be TOO HOT to work in the yard and my hands can soften back up.

I do not want to form callouses on my heart though.  I want to remain tender to be able to hear the still small voice of God.  Today in church I was affirmed by Pastor Dave’s sermon.  I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately about our need to make intentional connections across the invisible barriers between groups, generations, genders, or any other divide that can make the work of the Lord difficult. 

It appears that it is natural to have certain groups step up to naturally support and work together to accomplish different tasks.  It  has been somewhat difficult to feel like a necessary partner with some of the goups. 

The group that we most naturally fit into is often too busy to work together to accomplish tasks.  You see, it seems that we’re all pulled in so many directions that it makes it difficult to have time to spend together.  A few weeks ago, maybe a couple of months, I suggested that we reach across the imaginary barriers and I was met with nearly the sound of crickets, like I had said nothing.

Well, today Pastor Dave used the scripture from Titus 2:1-8.  The Bible instructs us to reach across the generations to train up the next generation.  I was so excited to be reaffirmed that although others weren’t ready to hear what I suggested, God really was tugging at MY heart strings.  I sometimes have doubt that I am really useful to God, but I have to continually remind myself that those doubts do NOT come from God. 

I am so excited to think that God had planted the seeds in my heart a few months ago.  Now there is a focus from the pulpit.  I know that God has great plans for what will happen in our church.  I want to be open to how I fit into this puzzle.  I have really been thinking a lot about our YWA girls mentoring the younger girls in the church.  I am hoping that the WHFMS ladies will want to mentor the YWA girls.  I can’t wait for our next meeting!  God has great things in store!

This is going to be fun!  Yeah God!

This week I had the privilege of spending 5 hours remediating 20 students who often fly way under the radar during the normal school day.  These students have mastered the concept of sitting quietly, looking like they with you, following what you say, doing their work… but not always understanding what they’re doing or at least retaining the content for longer than necessary to write down the answer. 

These kids are GOOD kids.  FUN kids.  LIKABLE kids.  But, for whatever reason, when faced with the 8th Grade Science test, struggled a bit.  For some, they missed the passing mark by only one question.  For others, it was a completely different scenario.  Sometimes these students KNEW the right answers but get such test anxiety that they have a hard time to focus.  Why do we put such pressure on kids.  For goodness sake.  IT IS ONLY A STINKING TEST! 

During our 5 hours of remediation in only two days this group of 20 kids could no longer fly under the radar.  But, they were REALLY interested in what I had to share with them.  They had GREAT questions.  One boy, who has sat in my homeroom all year was having trouble formulating a question for me and said, “Oh yeah, Mrs. White, what about the aqua tick?”  I looked at him a bit confused and repeated his question in my head.  Closed my eyes to try to focus.  Said it over and over… finally… I figured it out.  He wanted to know about aquatic and terrestrial food webs.  When we finally crossed the language barrier, the question was simple to answer.  Sometimes we put the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLABle and life gets hard to understand. 

Now, I know we had talked food webs many times during the year.  I used the word aquatic.  I explained the word… but somewhere we didn’t understand each other.  So, what do I learn from remediation?  Certainly kids laughed when we decided the difference between El Nino and La Nina was that El Nino is when the Pacific Ocean became warmer and we’d remember that because Elle Woods was “hot.”  We knew that La Nina must be the opposite.  We practiced other strange ways to remember weird sciencey stuff too…. but mostly I learned that we need to spend a little more time understanding each other.  This is not such an easy task when 100 kids come through the doors each day. 

So, what did I learn from remediation?  I had to learn something!  That 5 hours couldn’t have learning that only went in one direction!  I learned some things for sure.  OR at least I saw some things.  You know, I am sure that there are things that God has made perfectly clear, that I should have learned, understood, done correctly, and I simply missed the mark.  You know, I was looking for the aqua tick…. when He clearly laid it out for me. 

I need to slow things down.  Make sure that I take the time to listen, understand, and put the EMPHASIS on what GOD wants me to put it on.  How is this accomplished?  Listen.  Take time.  Be in HIS word and focus on HIM not me.

The poem from my Mother’s Day card read:

I love everything about you. 

I love the gentle patience

I see in you when you’re with the kids,

the genuine caring

that shows in everything youdo.

I love your independence,

and I’m really proud ofyou

for following dreams of your own

and raising a family, too.

I love your sense of humor.

I love that you can find

a bright side to everything,

even when something doesn’t

work out the way we planned.

I love the warmth and affection

you share with me. 

At the end of a long hard day,

after the kids are tucked in,

nothing feels better

than holding you in my arms.

I love everything about you…

because everything you are

is everything I love.

~Renee Duval

 

A beautiful card.  He makes me tear up.  To most he isn’t so mushy gushy but he is with me. 

 

NOW here is the most amazing thing.  He has been working to suprise me for my Birthday (which is this coming Friday… and I’ll be 41.)  Several weeks ago he took the time to speak to the secretary at school to get me a sub for Friday.  He spoke to Angie to see if she’d babysit the kids.  He spoke to Shirley to see if she’d clean the house.  He has made reservations for us in Asheville.  Bought tickets to Biltmore.  Has breakfast and lunch planned for Friday… and I get to choose Thursday’s supper.

Never in my nearly 41 years on this planet have I truly felt so important to another human being.  It took courage for him to plan it all… with the fear that something wouldn’t work out.  He WAS going to wait to surprise me on Thursday… but got nervous when the week was going into overdrive.

I love this man.  Not because of the stuff… but because of the sentiment.  I am the most blessed woman on the planet and I know it full well.

Thanks my Ton.  I love you!

Very Exciting!  Don’t you think?!?

I find that I am so often overwhelmed with how good God is to us. You know, the way he provides just exactly what we need when we need it. I am in awe that this blended family of ours is so very well taken care of. Ok, sure, I have to admit that we don’t drive new fancy vehicles. We don’t have a mansion that we live in. We don’t have big important jobs. BUT, we have 5 healthy children. Well, healthy now that Gideon’s minor mishap and broken arm on his birthday is nearly mended.

We have no real daily worries. We have responsibilities. We have too busy of a schedule sometimes. But, honestly, that is our choice. We choose to work. We choose to have kids activities – and no, we don’t always FEEL like going to them – but how blessed we are to have them to go to. We choose to be involved at church. We choose, we choose, we choose.

It seems like in this country right now, so many people are not having the stability that we’d like to see. People losing jobs. People losing houses. People losing cars. And, as devestating as all of that is, we have something that we cannot lose. No matter what the job market does. No matter what happens in congress. No matter what the Governor of our state decides to do with state employees pay. (If you not from here, she has decided to cut state employees pay by 0.5% and take it away over only 2 months. But, we have jobs… stable jobs… we’ll be ok… just the idea to me I guess.) We have an eternal hope in God who will see us through this crisis. And the next… and the next… and the next… Amazing. In a time when so many people are truly desperate. I do not need to worry. God has my life in control.

The words from an old Second Chapter of Acts song comes to mind…. “Why should I worry? Why should I fret? ‘Cause I’ve got a mansion builder, who ain’t through with me yet.” How very blessed am I? Why God chooses to take care of me and my little, oh so less than perfect family, leaves me with my mouth gaping. I am so very thankful for His provision. For His watchcare over this family. For His plans for our future. Thank you God for choosing ME!

We’ve been busier than a one armed paper hanger in our corner of the world. BUT, we were able to take a couple of days and go to Virginia Beach over the weekend. It was a much needed and way to short respite for this family.

While there we did get to attend two Ellis Paul concerts. Anna got to interview him for a school project and the kids got to swim at the hotel several times.

You know, I look around today at the way our world is. People are getting desperate. People have little direction. It is a scary time to live in so many ways.

But, my life is good. We don’t have our every want. But, our EVERY NEED has been provided for and so many of our wants. SO MANY! We are blessed beyond measure! When I look around at all that is going on, how could I ever complain?

Recently, at work, there has been some really selfish, silly, stress over things that really have no lasting significance. It hasn’t been easy, but it is totally self induced by people who need to step back and appreciate what we have. We have jobs. Not perfect jobs (but none are.) We have friends (some of them are really struggling with health and personal issues.) We have stability. We have hope. We have a roof over our heads. We have food. What more could we ask for?

It is important in times like these that we step back. Look at our blessings and count them!

the-easter-lily1

This is an attempt at a book for our kids Easter Party today.

Now, remember, I’m a SCIENCE teacher… not a language arts teacher. I know there are punctuation, grammar and rhyme issues … but my kids love it.

I’ll post pictures of the kids party later on.