Attitude is Everything!

From Sophmore year on I was in marching band. Believe me when I say I LIVED for it! I practiced in place I memorized my music, and I perfected my posture. We had to memorize a call and responce. It pumped us up and reminded us that we were ONE unit. The Call and responce went like this:

How are your feet? TOGETHER, Stomachs? IN, Chest? OUT, Shoulders? BACK, Eyes? WITH PRIDE, How are your eyes? WITH PRIDE!!, What is our Motto? ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING, I Didnt Hear You! WHAT'S OUR MOTTO?! ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING.

At first I wasnt a big fan of the motto. Attitude is something I was taught NOT to have. I shouldnt have attitude with my those in Authority. I slowly began to realize that like most other things, there is a bad attitude and a good attitude. That was the emphasis of the message my band instructor was trying to get across to us. If you had a good attitude, it would be a good rehersal, if you had a bad attitude, you would make it a bad rehersal. Make the choice to have it be a good rehersal.

On days like today this helps me. Now I have the benifit of adding Christ into my picture. I can choose to have a bad day and let this sinful world take its toll on my outlook and attitude, OR I can choose to look at the cross rejoice in everything HE has already done for me and make it a joyus day in the Lord.

My attitude is everything.  :-)

The Unwanted

There are a great number of people who ask me why I would ever want to go into the Public School System. This is an issue near and dear to my heart. I get questions ranging from "Do you hate homeschooling?" to "Why do you want to teach where you can't use the Bible for class or discipline?" I am here to put all these questions to rest, and to explain why I want the unwanted. 

To start off I went to public school from Kindergarten through 12th grade. The incident that made the most impact on my desire to be a teacher was in the 3rd grade. There was a child transferred into my class because the other teacher couldn't handle him. My 3rd grade teacher accepted him with open arms and told him that no matter what he did, she would never, EVER give up on him, or hate him. What followed is something that I will never forget, he became a kind little boy. This is not to say that there was never any issues, but he knew that no matter what happened she would never give up. This showed me that teachers DO make a difference, teacher DO touch lives, and teachers CAN make an impact on the future generation. 

Now, do I hate homeschooling? The answer is a resounding no. God leads some to home school, some to teach in Christian, and some to teach in public. I do not think any less of one or the other. For me, God has put a burden on my heart for the unsaved children of this world. The public schools need Christian people more than ever. I know it is not for every teacher, but for me I know that is exactly where God wants me. So, wherever God wants you, serve Him there to the best of your ability.

Lastly, why do I want to teach where I can't use my Bible for teaching or discipline. My reason (besides this is where God wants me) is that I want the unwanted. The children that most teachers reject, put in the back and ignore, or even the children who are not wanted at home are the ones my heart craves to help. God gave me a loving home, and a caring family to be around. I will always be grateful to them for their gentleness and kindness, because it made me into the person I am today. Now I want to share it with all of my students and let them know that someone notices when they get an A on their paper, someone cares if they fall on the playground, and someone misses them when they aren't around. I care so much about those precious little children that words can barley express how I feel. If I'm not there to show them even a little glimpse of Christ's love, will they ever see it? That is what drives me.

The Unwanted, the Unloved, the Children most people shy away from, the ones that do bad things so they get ANY form of attention they can because otherwise their parents don't care. Those are the children I want, and those are the children I pray for already, even as God prepares me to be a teacher. So, to sum up my view, I believe that you should serve God to the best of your ability weather he puts you in Public School, Christian School, or Home school. Honor Him in all you do, and touch the little lives that need and crave Him.

The Journal

I have struggled over the years to get a consistent routine down of devotions. I tried to find books to prompt me, intensive studies, reading through the Bible in a year, and they all fizzled out. This January however I knew I wanted to look at it from a whole new perspective. I needed a new outlook on things. 

As I was falling asleep on New Years Eve when I remembered something. I had read books in my teen years about a girl who did her devotions by journaling every night. She journaled half a page about how her day went spiritually, and then the rest of the page was for her to write about her devotions. It allowed her to see how she had implemented what she learned the day before.

I was still sketchy because SO many times I had failed at this, but I needed to try. I decided to dive right in on New Years Day. It was hard to get into the routine of doing it every night, but I finally started doing it daily. Coming up to college I was determined not to let the change get the better of me. I kept it up without missing a beat.

It has now become something I look forward to doing every night, and am growing SO much because of it. I love how much it has infiltrated my life and how much of an impact its making. I can't wait to finish this journal and start the next. :)

A Different Kind of Christmas

As a child I dreamed of making cookies with my parents, putting candy canes on the tree (eating a few while mom was in the kitchen), Christmas Dinner with ham, mashed potatoes, gravy, and all of those other wonderfully bad things to eat, I remember watching Mickey's Christmas Carol with buttered popcorn, and Hot Cocoa with extra chocolate and more peppermint.

Yet this Christmas is not filled with candy canes, buttered popcorn, or even Extra chocolate hot cocoa. Why? Why is this Christmas so different? This Christmas is the first Christmas my two best men, (my father and Fiance) are going to be healthy. The air not filled with Gingerbread, or sugar cookies, nor is the tree trimmed with candy canes. But Guess what....

It's ok. It does not have to be the candy filled Christmas, or even a Christmas that we eat so much we take a nap after eating. This is a Christmas that my men are healthy, and happy, and they are gaining better lives. For that I am extremely proud. So instead, We make healthy cookies (which by the way, are REALLY good!) we drink Hot Tea instead of Hot Cocoa, we decorate the tree with home made decorations, instead of Candy, and we watch movies eating pretzels instead of Popcorn. Even though it's a different kind of Christmas... It's a good Christmas after all.

Giving it ALL to God

Thus far in my life I have been trying to do everything on my own. I accepted Christ at a young age, but I have not been dependent on Him for my peace. In going through my study of the names of God (an excellent one by the way) I found one and it stopped me. Yahweh Shalom. The Lord is Peace. My God, the ruler of the Heavens and Earth is a God of Peace. He wants me, as His child to be at peace. Where am I?

If you were to create a person that is the opposite of the definition of peace you would probably get me. I prefer my life to be drama free, but when it comes to trials, tribulation, and worry. I take the cake. I worry about everything from family safety, to if I will get an A, from the responce of people, to if I'm pleasing God. It got to the point last year were I would have to take medicine to keep me from getting sick because of my worrying. My dad has always joked I'll have an ulcer by the time I'm 30. I thought he was kidding, but now, he may be right.

I don't even know why I hold back on giving it to God. Pride? Control? Selfishness? Whatever it is, I cannot live like that anymore. I am a child of God, the God of peace, and as such I need to begin to give everything to my Father. So, as my siblings in Christ, I am asking you to keep me accountable. Help remind me not to worry, and that my God, my Father, My Lord of Peace has it all in control.

Life

This past week has pushed me to the highs and lows of emotion and spiritual endurance. I have wept for unsaved people, I have laughed so hard I cried, and I have been frustrated to the point of exhaustion. I feel like the opening line in A Tale of Two Cities "It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times..."

Through the roller coaster of the week I found something amazing. I found my self craving church. I could not wait to get to church or to talk to Steve about a passage I read. Sure I knew that God draws us near to himself when we experience hard times, but to experience the pull brings it to a whole new level. God knew the
verses I needed to hear, the smiles I needed to see, and the prayers I needed to say and He worked it out so I could experience all of this. God knows my needs and will supply exactly what I need at exactly the right time.

Dear God, Thank you for drawing me closer to You when I needed you the most. You know me so well. Thank you for giving me the strength to get through this week and the blessing church has become for me. Help me to always remember to draw close to you.

My Family

For most, family means the people you see on Thanksgiving and Christmas, the people who you go see on special occasions. My friends talk about family and I'll hear them say, "I have to go call my mom again. She cant go more than a week without hearing from me." or "My Dad is such a pain sometimes, he has to make sure I'm doing everything right!" It breaks my heart to hear statements like that. To hear people talk about their family as if they are to be put up with.

I call my Mom every other day almost. I talk to my sister at least once a week. As for Daddy and I, well its quite frequent. I'm fortunate enough to have my Uncle live in the area. I meet him every Wednesday night to eat out. I talk to my Uncle in Iowa City on a regular basis. My family means everything to me.

God has blessed me so much with these people. I love spending time with them and enjoying their company. Family time is very important to me. God has blessed me with the most wonderful people to be related to. We don't always get along, but there is one thing that is never absent, and it's love.

Please enjoy your families because we only have a short life on this earth. Each person is a gift from God. Appreciate them, and enjoy time with them. You don't have to like them, but you can ALWAYS love them. <3