Wow!! I am so excited!! I know this might be small to some of y'all but it is very exciting to me. Just now at the end of sixth period I had one of my students come up after class and asked me if I wanted to come to her church tonight because they are having a revival tonight and tomorrow. I was really excited. That is the first time a student has ever invited me to church, of course I have only been teaching for a year now. I still think that is really cool.
Tonight I get to work the volleyball games here in Levelland. I am excited about that too but it will be the second night in a row that I got home late. Last night was Back to School night so I got to meet a couple of my student's parents which is always an exciting thing. So as you can tell there has been quiet a bit of excitement.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monday, August 30, 2010
Journal Entry
So I was reading through one of my journals the other day and I came across the entry that is below. I wrote it one Sunday when I had stayed home from church because I just needed to be alone with God. I needed to get away from the routine that had become worship and to sit alone with God. I sang a couple of songs and then just prayed. Then I decided to journal a little and this is what came out. Maybe you can relate to some part of it.
My heart aches to be close to you; to feel your joy and your peace all around me. To know that though I sit alone in this quiet empty apartment…you are here. Finally grasping the fact that I am no longer alone that I have a lover with me at all times. I know you have already given me more than I could ever comprehend; that your blessings are infinite and impossible to count. That day in and day out you are walking beside me helping me, carrying me …loving me. Yet there are times I can not feel your gentle touch. Times when I can no longer hear your soft whispers in my ear. These are the times I have left you for another. I have cheated on you; I fell into the arms of another lover. But you wait for me still. You sit there softly calling me back; longing to hold me in your arms again. True Love. That is what your love is. It is not like the other lovers. It does not fill you for only a short time and then leave you feeling alone and empty. Your love calls to me all the time; it fills me completely and never seems to run out. It is a love without conditions, a love that binds me to you and I am yours. You still love me when no one else seems to. You want me when all my other lovers have left me; dirty, bruised and broken. They have taken so much from me, I am so weak and it is hard to hold on any longer. That is when you and your perfect love step in. You sew me up and bandage my wounds. Then you pull me close to your chest and it is there that I will find the rest that I ache for. In your arms life takes on new colors. The world no longer seems so dull with nothing to keep us going. It is now vibrant and alive; there is so much to be done and you are asking for my help. But I look at myself and all these wounds and scars, how could I ever be of use to you? I am….broken. But you tell me that you can use me just as I am. That there are people with wounds just like me. Your love sparks a fire in me; a consuming fire ready to set a flame anything that it touches. I am ready to serve you and to work along side you. You have to help me at first. I am still worried about what they will think of my scars. You have to point me to the people you want me to help. Then I begin to realize they are not looking at my scars, but that they see you! You are shinning through me and for a moment all my wounds and scars disappear and there is only you. Then I begin to desire to see this beautiful new world through your eyes. That I might be able to see who is hurting...who is broken...who is scarred...who is in need of your love. And when I did not think I could burn any brighter the fire you lit inside of me takes on a shade of blue. It is hot now and there are so many torches that need to be lit. You are strengthening me each day, fueling my fire, fueling my soul. Then a rough time comes; a bucket of water is thrown on my fire. It does not get extinguished but it is no longer burning as bright. I have messed up yet again, another scar to add to my collection. I had grown accustom to the routine in my life. I had grown satisfied with the life I had lived, but routine and satisfaction were the buckets that drowned my consuming fire. My eyes and ears had been closed; I thought I was doing well. I had become the person you wanted me to be. But I had not. I finally made my way back to you. Once again I find you waiting… waiting for me to come home… waiting to wrap your arms around me… to lay me against your strong chest. Waiting to wash me clean and fix me up; to give me the rest I needed to get back on my feet again. Then we head back out into the world; looking for people to love. It takes a while for me to regain my confidence and for my fire to burn bright and hot again. Now it finally does, with your help. Now I must try not to become satisfied, try not to get stuck in a routine, but to live each day as if it were my last; to let your fire burn within me and through me.
My heart aches to be close to you; to feel your joy and your peace all around me. To know that though I sit alone in this quiet empty apartment…you are here. Finally grasping the fact that I am no longer alone that I have a lover with me at all times. I know you have already given me more than I could ever comprehend; that your blessings are infinite and impossible to count. That day in and day out you are walking beside me helping me, carrying me …loving me. Yet there are times I can not feel your gentle touch. Times when I can no longer hear your soft whispers in my ear. These are the times I have left you for another. I have cheated on you; I fell into the arms of another lover. But you wait for me still. You sit there softly calling me back; longing to hold me in your arms again. True Love. That is what your love is. It is not like the other lovers. It does not fill you for only a short time and then leave you feeling alone and empty. Your love calls to me all the time; it fills me completely and never seems to run out. It is a love without conditions, a love that binds me to you and I am yours. You still love me when no one else seems to. You want me when all my other lovers have left me; dirty, bruised and broken. They have taken so much from me, I am so weak and it is hard to hold on any longer. That is when you and your perfect love step in. You sew me up and bandage my wounds. Then you pull me close to your chest and it is there that I will find the rest that I ache for. In your arms life takes on new colors. The world no longer seems so dull with nothing to keep us going. It is now vibrant and alive; there is so much to be done and you are asking for my help. But I look at myself and all these wounds and scars, how could I ever be of use to you? I am….broken. But you tell me that you can use me just as I am. That there are people with wounds just like me. Your love sparks a fire in me; a consuming fire ready to set a flame anything that it touches. I am ready to serve you and to work along side you. You have to help me at first. I am still worried about what they will think of my scars. You have to point me to the people you want me to help. Then I begin to realize they are not looking at my scars, but that they see you! You are shinning through me and for a moment all my wounds and scars disappear and there is only you. Then I begin to desire to see this beautiful new world through your eyes. That I might be able to see who is hurting...who is broken...who is scarred...who is in need of your love. And when I did not think I could burn any brighter the fire you lit inside of me takes on a shade of blue. It is hot now and there are so many torches that need to be lit. You are strengthening me each day, fueling my fire, fueling my soul. Then a rough time comes; a bucket of water is thrown on my fire. It does not get extinguished but it is no longer burning as bright. I have messed up yet again, another scar to add to my collection. I had grown accustom to the routine in my life. I had grown satisfied with the life I had lived, but routine and satisfaction were the buckets that drowned my consuming fire. My eyes and ears had been closed; I thought I was doing well. I had become the person you wanted me to be. But I had not. I finally made my way back to you. Once again I find you waiting… waiting for me to come home… waiting to wrap your arms around me… to lay me against your strong chest. Waiting to wash me clean and fix me up; to give me the rest I needed to get back on my feet again. Then we head back out into the world; looking for people to love. It takes a while for me to regain my confidence and for my fire to burn bright and hot again. Now it finally does, with your help. Now I must try not to become satisfied, try not to get stuck in a routine, but to live each day as if it were my last; to let your fire burn within me and through me.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Sleeping
I have been reading in Luke for the Read the Bible in a Year and I came across the story of Jesus and the mount of Transfiguration. It talks about how they got to the top and the three disciples that he had with him were falling asleep. Then there is the story of Jesus praying in the garden and the disciples kept falling asleep there too. And a great analogy hit me. Here these disciples are sleeping through some really important things. I mean if they had fallen asleep on the Mountain that would have missed the sight of Jesus and the two transfiguration. And then here Jesus was counting on them in the garden to pray for him. So my analogy is that we should be Spiritually awake because we never know what is coming that we might miss. God cannot use us if we are sleeping. So we need to be awake and alert. We need to be ready to share our faith and to be excited about it. When we fall asleep we miss out on great things.
Sorry if that was hard to follow, the ironic thing is that while I am typing I am trying to stay awake. This week has been a long first week back to school. But I have really enjoyed it. I am teaching freshmen still and for the most part the kids are great. I went to their game on Wednesday and already had kids yelling at me from the sidelines and one came up and gave me a hug. Then this morning I had another student come in before school just to talk. So it is cool to see how fast some of these kids take to people who should them that they care. Then this year has been great because the first day of school some of my students from last year stopped by to see me. I have really missed my students over the summer so to get to see them again has been great. Over all it is looking like it will turn out to be another great year.
Hope that you all have a wonderful weekend!!!!
Sorry if that was hard to follow, the ironic thing is that while I am typing I am trying to stay awake. This week has been a long first week back to school. But I have really enjoyed it. I am teaching freshmen still and for the most part the kids are great. I went to their game on Wednesday and already had kids yelling at me from the sidelines and one came up and gave me a hug. Then this morning I had another student come in before school just to talk. So it is cool to see how fast some of these kids take to people who should them that they care. Then this year has been great because the first day of school some of my students from last year stopped by to see me. I have really missed my students over the summer so to get to see them again has been great. Over all it is looking like it will turn out to be another great year.
Hope that you all have a wonderful weekend!!!!
Friday, August 20, 2010
The Month of July
So I feel like a slacker. I have not posted in a very long time and it is not because I do not have something to say because I do just didn't always have time to run into mom's office to make a post.
Well with that out of the way let me fill you in on what I did in the month of July. The first couple of days in July I actually spent in San Angelo, helping my brother and his wife move into a retirement center. Yeah I can hear the laughs, they are not even late twenties and they are living in a retirement center. It was fun to get to spend some time with them and the trip with mom was anything but boring. After helping them pack up and move I return to Dublin to pack my bags to head to Greenfield, Massachusetts. I was able to go on a mission trip there to help out Faith Baptist Church. We pulled up carpet, laid new floor, and did lots of painting. Dad and I stayed with a great family who has become my family now. We had so much fun and God showed me that his body is everywhere and that it is so easy for us to connect because we already have so much in common being children of the King. I had to leave my mission trip a little early to head back to Texas for a school event. I was actually kind of dreading it after being in Massachusetts for the week but it ended up being a lot of fun. I was able to meet a couple of the new teachers and get to spend time hanging out with my teacher friends. One of our new teachers I found out is very involved in missions as well and I think a great friendship could be waiting there. After the weekend was up I got to return to Dublin to help out with VBS. I had so much fun with the kids, teaching them sports and listening to the lessons. God really should me that we are Christians sometimes seem to get in the way. We think that we already know all that we need to know and so we don't always have to listen to what is being said so we distract the people next to us who truly need to be listening. (and I am not saying that we all do that). After VBS I got to go and pick up my brother from the airport. It was so nice to get to see him after a whole summer. I had missed his humor and getting to spend time with him.
Well that was my month of July and I will try and be better about not waiting so long. However I am back at school now so that should not be a problem. Well I hope you all had a wonderful summer and that if you are heading back to work the transition is smooth.
Well with that out of the way let me fill you in on what I did in the month of July. The first couple of days in July I actually spent in San Angelo, helping my brother and his wife move into a retirement center. Yeah I can hear the laughs, they are not even late twenties and they are living in a retirement center. It was fun to get to spend some time with them and the trip with mom was anything but boring. After helping them pack up and move I return to Dublin to pack my bags to head to Greenfield, Massachusetts. I was able to go on a mission trip there to help out Faith Baptist Church. We pulled up carpet, laid new floor, and did lots of painting. Dad and I stayed with a great family who has become my family now. We had so much fun and God showed me that his body is everywhere and that it is so easy for us to connect because we already have so much in common being children of the King. I had to leave my mission trip a little early to head back to Texas for a school event. I was actually kind of dreading it after being in Massachusetts for the week but it ended up being a lot of fun. I was able to meet a couple of the new teachers and get to spend time hanging out with my teacher friends. One of our new teachers I found out is very involved in missions as well and I think a great friendship could be waiting there. After the weekend was up I got to return to Dublin to help out with VBS. I had so much fun with the kids, teaching them sports and listening to the lessons. God really should me that we are Christians sometimes seem to get in the way. We think that we already know all that we need to know and so we don't always have to listen to what is being said so we distract the people next to us who truly need to be listening. (and I am not saying that we all do that). After VBS I got to go and pick up my brother from the airport. It was so nice to get to see him after a whole summer. I had missed his humor and getting to spend time with him.
Well that was my month of July and I will try and be better about not waiting so long. However I am back at school now so that should not be a problem. Well I hope you all had a wonderful summer and that if you are heading back to work the transition is smooth.
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