Observation Confirmation

Occasionally someone at church will ask me how I'm liking school. My response is somewhat akin to a B-12 shot of joy for my heart.

Let me rewind for a little bit to my days (almost exactly one year ago) working at an unnamed cell phone company.

Someone would ask me how I liked work, and I would respond:

Oh, you know... it's work.

Or toward the end of my tenure:

I hate it. I absolutely hate it, but thanks for asking.

They would give me a sad little face or a reassuring clap on the back and I would go back to dreading mornings, dreading Mondays, and dreading life.

But now when someone asks me how I like school I've found that I can say with all honesty:

I love it!

I know I'm on the right path.

I know this is what I'm supposed to do with my life.

And I couldn't be happier!

The first time someone asked me I felt the old urge to give that "it's okay" or "it's not my favorite thing in the world" answer, but then I realized that urge is completely unfounded!

Today I observed in my first classroom. I can't even tell you how much I missed kids coming up to me and asking for help putting on their paint smock or showing me their latest Lego creation.

Today the Lord brought confirmation in the form of little kids asking me, "What is your name is?"

I Don't Know What This Says About Me

While meandering around B&N on Saturday I ran across this book:

I can't help it, and I promise I'm not a Twi-hard, but I love this book! Would I buy it for my theoretical children or real life niece...? Probably not. Would I buy it and display it on my coffee table.

Absolutely.

To read more about it and see some other pictures inside click here.

Got My Hair Did

Today I went with my cousin and got a hair cut--just on a whim. It's still long; I went back and looked at old pictures of me with short hair and me-oh-my! I'm pretty sure the ages and stages of my hair could take on a life of its very own!

Exhibit A:

YIKES! That's short! And that's not even the shortest it's been in the past few years. Feast your eyes:

I mean hey now! I'm a pansy about a lot of things, but one thing I've never been afraid to do is experiment with my hair (hence the summer of 2006 when I spent three months with fire engine red "highlights." Ugh.)

So behold, my latest stage:

(Please excuse whatever random face I'm making in this photo. I'm just not photogenic!)

Verdict? Love. It!

Seriously.

Toe Tapper

This song has kept me dancing through a pretty ugly week!

Frumpy Mom-Me

I've thought that I would be a lot of things in my life, but one thing I never thought I'd be is a youth minister's wife. Even when I married Dusty, I never figured the first place we'd end up would be a church.

The thing is, as much as I enjoy the students I don't feel like I get properly "fed." I'm like a frumpy mom of 8-15 teenagers, putting her own children's needs in front of her own--complete with iffy home-done haircut (Hello Bangs!) and clearance priced clothes. Ladies like that either end up in a padded room or on What Not To Wear.

Part of my conundrum is busyness on my behalf and poor time management skills. But another part of it is really a product of my desire to always be hands-on with the students and help Dusty as much as I can; my desire to serve along side Dusty and be open and available to the kids.

Here's a scenario: instead of, say, going to the women's small group Bible study on Sunday nights I make snacks for the youth and then clean up the kitchen while Dusty leads their study.

Here's another scenario: youth worker volunteers at our church are scarce at best so when it comes down to it, it's Dusty and me planning the trips, driving the vans (or dreading driving the vans as I'm wont to do!), doing the Bible lessons, answering the hard questions or whatever. I feel worn just a little thin.

Am I sounding too whiny? I don't think so. Because when it comes down to it, I know that I'm in a leadership position and ultimately I am responsible for my own spiritual well-being.

I guess it's just that being a youth minister's wife is different than I thought it would be in a lot of ways, but I never really expected this kind of dryness.

Who ministers to the ministers, you know?

Happy Monday!

How do you spend your Monday mornings? Having fun like Dusty and Gabby? Or sitting in class, like me?

Confessions

I am re-reading one of my all-time favorite books: a little work called Confessions by some guy named St. Augustine.

As much as I love to read I sometimes have a very low tolerance for classic literature. I get bored with it unless I can make myself focus enough to get engrossed in the story. In other words, I'm a true product of my generation. However, it's not a problem when I read just the first paragraph from this book:

"Can any praise be worthy of the Lord's majesty? How magnificent his strength! How inscrutable his wisdom! Man is one of your creatures, Lord, and his instinct is to praise you. He bears about him the mark of death, the sign of his own sin, to remind him that you thwart the proud. But still, since he is a part of your creation, he wishes to praise you. The thought of you stirs him so deeply that he cannot be content unless he praises you, because you made us for yourself and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you."

Besides the Bible, I've never come across a book before or since Confessions that has prompted me to spontaneous, often time riotous worship right in the middle of a sentence!

What? You say you'd like to read it as well? Lucky for you I have a back-up copy!

I Return!

It has indeed been a long while since I've written a blog post! For the two people who read it, I'm sure I've totally lost your interest!

I spent the first half of this month traveling through Ohio with my mom. It was a great time, very emotional though. You may not know, but my mom's sister//my aunt was diagnosed with cancer a little over a year ago. We had a good time visiting with her and my grandma. They live super close to Lake Erie, which means we just had to get fish sandwiches down by the bay. (Where the watermelon groooow! No, kidding, not really.)

My grandma can be pretty goofy sometimes!

Yesterday I started my first official semester at ECTC (or as I like to call it, Greendale.) This is my first real dose of IECE (Interdisciplinary Early Childhood Education) courses. I'm not stressed yet, but I feel like I should be. I have a very large load of observation hours to complete. But right now I'm just enjoying the fact that all my tests are take home! I never even hoped for that at Campbellsville!

I had this surreal experience in which I sat on a bench under a tree with Luke, my youngest cousin as we were both awaiting our next classes on Monday. I never, ever thought I'd be going back to college again after graduating once, let alone a community college with the youngest member of my family (excluding Isaiah, of course!)

It feels a little surreal that summer is over. School is back in session for our youth kids which means I have to remind myself that there are such things as "school nights" again. (For them and me!) While I'm more than ready for cooler temperatures, football season, and an excuse to bake with pumpkin I know that this summer will be a time that I will look back on fondly, and even miss a little.