a sign of love

I started to read this great book, Captivating, a few days ago. This morning, before I went to yoga, I had a few extra minutes so I decided to read a little.  In what I read today the authors were discussing God's deep love for each individual.  In the book, they challenged the reader to ask God to show her some sort of sign demonstrating his love, and then they sited examples of what had happened to them when they prayed this same thing.  So, I took them up on their challenge, and then went about my day.

This evening, I was about to retire to the couch to watch a movie, when it popped into my head all of a sudden that I needed to go to the mall to look for one more thing (I had already spent half my day at the mall earlier).  I could have waited until tomorrow, but I decided to go tonight. So, I drove to the mall and parked my car.  When I got out of my car, literally, as if it appeared out of nowhere (it definitely had not been there moments before), this gorgeous rainbow filled the sky. I'm not talking a little splash of color; I'm talking the biggest, brightest rainbow I have ever seen in my life!  It quite literally spanned above me from the horizon in the East all the way to the West. It was stunningly beautiful. I have honestly never seen anything like it.  

I looked around the parking lot to see if anyone else was marveling over this like I was, and there were probably 10 different people milling about who didn't seem to notice it at all.  Not just that they weren't stopped to stare at it, but they didn't even direct their eyes up to notice it was there.  You had to see it to understand, but this was incredibly hard to miss! In that moment it dawned on me that this was my sign.  I have no doubt that this beautiful, perfect rainbow appeared, as if out of nowhere, so I could see it and know I am loved. You don't have to believe it, but I do.

I just wish I had taken my camera with me ...

silver lining

The numbers at my school are not looking good.  And I'm not just talking about first grade numbers, I'm talking across the board.  This is bad, very bad.  Not only might I not be teaching first grade again (which would make me incredibly sad), but if we don't get a LOT of kids registered in the next 4 weeks, I might not even be teaching at my school again.  I keep having to remind myself that I have been through this before and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise, so if it happens again that's how I'm going to have to look at it.  I'm really trying to prepare myself so that this doesn't turn into a "my life is ending" moment like it did 2 years ago.  If I have to switch grades, there is a reason for it. If I have to move schools, then there is a reason for that.  Maybe it will turn out to be a great thing for me, or maybe there will be a kid there that really needs me. Whatever the case, I'm telling myself that whatever happens, happens for a reason.  That has become my mantra: there is a purpose greater than me.

Toady's photo is appropriate:

Every cloud has a silver lining

Sometimes you don't find out what the silver lining is right away. Sometimes you don't ever get to find out what the silver lining is.  But it's there; God can use any bad situation to bring about greater good. He knows what He's doing. He knows the plan. I just have to trust that it will work out okay in the end. Sometimes, you just have to have a little faith.

LOVING summer!

Can I just tell you how much I love summer?  This is the first summer in something like seven years that I have not worked or taken a bunch of classes and I am LOVING having the time off to myself!  I have all the time in the world to do all the things I want to do. I've been renting movies, doing a ton of reading, laying by the pool, and taking lots of pictures. It's wonderful!

Here's a picture for today:

Follow the lights from house to house 

And they will lead you home

"Follow the Lights" - Ryan Adams

"family movie night"

I had such a wonderful time this evening. Sometimes I think I should really be 10 years older with a husband and kids because I would so much rather spend an evening doing relaxing family things than going out to bars and such haha.  Anyway, this evening I went to dinner with A (remember? The student I went swimming last week), her parents, and her brother, at Berryhill.  After dinner the five of us went to the church for "family movie night".  They had a big screen set up in the common area and we all brought camping chairs and lounged around and watched Kung Fu Panda. Super cute movie by the way!

Completely unrelated to my evening, I have recently challenged myself to take at least one photo every day.  It hasn't happened EVERY day thus far, but I'm getting better at it. Some days I've taken pictures but not found anything worth posting; but, the ultimate goal is to take, edit, and post, at least one picture each day.  So, here is today's:

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Matt 7:7)

And finally, in more unrelated news, I have officially decided to teach a kindergarten Sunday School class at my church every week.  I've been thinking about it, and praying about it, and I am really excited about the opportunity! I think it is going to be a lot of fun, and also quite a blessing. I won't be starting for another few weeks so I have some time to observe a class and figure out exactly how this is going to go. I'll keep you posted. And, if you feel so inclined, maybe you can say a little prayer for me and this new venture. :)

Letters from first graders

I got two more letters in the mail today from one of my first graders! That makes 4 letters she has sent me so far this summer.  Man I love that kid!

I love the last part:  "How about coming to my house???? I would love that!" I love kids, they make my heart smile :)

Just a few pictures from around the house today.  Why must it be SO hot outside? I just can't bring myself to go out in that heat for anything.  Definitely not a good time to wander about taking pictures.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path (Psalm 119:105)

Molding young minds one picture book at a time

You have the power to color your world

A splash of summer

When life hands you lemons

It is entirely too hot to be outside taking pictures today.  That, and I've been a little busy between going to two yoga classes and a pilates class, so I just snapped this picture earlier this afternoon while hanging around my apartment:

When life hands you lemons ...

Maybe it's just me, but do you ever find that sometimes it's a little more difficult to find the other ingredients necessary to turn those lemons into lemonade?

Happy Father's Day

Since I don't get to spend Father's Day with my dad this year, I can't post a new picture of us.  Instead, I'll just post my all time favorite:

My dad has this saying, "who you are is where you were when you were ten years old". When each of us turned ten, my dad took us on a trip, just the two of us.  After my tenth birthday my dad and I took a road trip to Mount Rushmore, Devil's Tower, The Badlands, etc. One evening as we were driving, my dad decided to pull over and get a picture of us with the sunset.  He placed the camera on top of the jeep and set the timer.  I had to stand on the back bumper to be tall enough, but had to squat down so as not to be too tall. At the last second, right before the camera went off, my dad turned and tickled me.  I stood up taller, turned, and laughed out loud right as the camera flashed. This picture is the result.  I love the way we are turned towards each other, laughing, with huge smiles.  I remember this moment vividly, and the sense of joy it held. I guess that's why I love it so much.

Happy Father's Day Dad! I love you SO much!! :)

History

I pulled over and snapped this shot as I was driving through old Sugar Land today, and I love it enough I'm going to share it with you. There is something about the architecture of this building that I love and there's so much history behind it:

A small piece of local history

A day with my favorite 7 year old

Yesterday, after VBS was over, I met up with one of my favorite first graders at church (let's call her A) so that I could go over to her house and spend the afternoon with her family.  I must tell you, I had the BEST time with them!  After getting a house tour, complete with a detailed description of each rock in her collection, me, A, her brother, and her mom sat down to a wonderful lunch of salad, breadsticks, fresh fruit, and hot cherry pie for dessert. Yum!  

After lunch we all changed into our swimsuits and made our way down to their community pool.  It was a perfect afternoon for the pool! It was hot, but not scorching because there was a nice cool breeze, and it wasn't crowded at all.  We were all having such a good time swimming, laughing, and chatting, that we ended up staying for almost 3 hours!  When we were finally all exhausted, and it was getting close to dinner, we headed back to their house to put on dry clothes.  

I ended up staying a bit longer so we could all play a few rounds of Scattergories: Bible Edition.  It was so much fun, but let me tell you, that game is hard!  How many cities can you name that are in Israel and listed in the bible?!? I could think of two, and they didn't start with any of the letters we had to play with haha! 

This answer had me rolling in laughter for a good 5 minutes:

A name for Jesus that starts with T: thighmaster

As I was leaving we were making plans to spend a day together again in the next week or so and A's mom suggested maybe next time we will play the original Scattergories and we will all do better. I laughed and agreed.  A's soon to be 5th grade brother then says to us, "OR, maybe we could all just spend a little more time reading our bibles!"  Truth spoken by a 10 year old.

It really turned out to be a wonderful day with wonderful company. I LOVE this little girl A; she's really special to me, so it was fun to spend a day laughing with her and loving on her. Plus, I think her mom is just fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed the time I got to spend chatting with her.  

I'm looking forward to meeting up with them again already!  :)

Vacation Bible School

I've been sitting here contemplating how I can put into words just how amazing this week of VBS was, and I have come to the conclusion that I just can't.  You had to be there. I'll explain as best I can, but my words just won't really do the week justice.

I cannot even begin to tell you what a blessing this week has been!  I had the opportunity to meet some wonderful women, and work closely with one really fantastic woman.  Me and this one other lady ran the 4 year old Bible Learning Activities room.  Each day we had five groups of 8-15 kids rotate through our room.  When they came in we had a mini lesson over different aspects of the Lord's prayer (God forgives, God provides, Praise God, God listens) and then the kids rotated through different centers to reinforce their learning.  We had an art center, discovery center, blocks center, and dramatic play center we had to set up each day (all safari themed).  You know how I am about making lists and being on top of things so as not to be too stressed?  The lady I worked with was the same way, which was SUCH a blessing because the week ended up being completely stress free! I wish you could have heard these kids articulate some of their thoughts on God.  It blew me away more than once! These 4 year olds seemed to have it more figured out than many adults I know. Each day was a wonderful opportunity to spend time with, as Mrs. Pat so wonderfully put it, some of God's perfect little lambs. Those children were quite a blessing to me! It seems the week went just as well for all grade levels. In fact, over the course of 4 days, 36+ children gave their hearts to Jesus. I think that's pretty awesome!

It seems I made an impression on the people around me, because at the end of the 4 days I was approached by one of the ladies heading up VBS, and our director of early childhood programs, and asked how I would feel about giving some of my time on Sunday mornings during the year.  Apparently they had been discussing this proposition they wanted to give to me since first thing Monday morning after seeing how I interacted with the kids in my room.  I'll be in contact with the director in the next few days to work out specifics, but it seems I may be teaching a 4 or 5 year old bible study class on Sundays.  After this week, I feel like that could be a really good fit for me, and I am really excited about the opportunity!

If I had gone to Australia I would have missed all this!  Sounds crazy, but I'm glad I didn't get to go.  In my life, right now, this is better.  Everything happens for a reason; sometimes you just have to wait a bit to find out what the reason is. It's all part of God's plan. 

Look closely or you might miss it

I'm working on a post about VBS, but I'll probably finish it up tomorrow after all is said and done.  In the meantime, here are a few shots I took this afternoon:

All is stripped away

It's in the details

The light shines on in the darkness... (John 1:5)

Love is everywhere

Sustaining life, one sip at a time

And finally, as I was going through all the pictures I took today and doing some editing I came across this picture:

Do you see the face?!?!

Let me help:

I honestly think it's a little creepy. I can't look at that photo and not see the face staring back at me.  How very strange ...

Anyway, tomorrow is the last day of VBS which I am quite sad about as it has been an amazing week!  After the kids leave I will be spending the afternoon at the house of one of my first graders, having lunch and doing some swimming.  :) Should be a wonderful afternoon; I've been looking forward to it all week.

Finding Beauty in the Small Things

So I decided to start a new public blog.  If you already read my other blog, feel free to keep doing so; I'll still use it, just for a different purpose.

One of my new years resolutions this year was to make it a point to notice the beauty in the small things.  Be that beauty in small things around me, or small moments in time.  It's amazing what you can find when you seek it out!  Since I also bought a new camera recently, (which I LOVE!) I had decided that I could use it to document some of this.  I haven't done a very good job of that thus far (the end of the school year is busy I tell ya!) but I'll be better at it now.  This evening I took a walk with my camera. Here are some of my favorites I ended up with:

we're all connected

the road less traveled

fallen beauty

Oh the tangled lives we lead

I love these next two pictures.  They have good symbolic meaning; or at least I think so.  In my effort to seek out the beauty in small things, I realized how easy it really was.  It's not that those things weren't there before, I just wasn't taking the time to notice them.  Life is much more inspiring when you make it a point to notice the small things.  It's all about your focus. Which leads me to my next two pictures:

You can choose to focus on the big things, the things that slap you in the face, the things right in front of you ... OR, you can choose to focus on the small things, the things that are maybe farther away, or not as easy to see. It's a choice...

So, what will you choose to focus on?