How did that happen?

I'm really lucky to live less than a mile from my school. The fact that it takes less than five minutes to get to work has saved me from being late on many occasions. Well, imagine my surprise when I left for school this morning and before I knew it, I was at 820! I'm not really sure what happened but I definitely missed a turn at some point. Luckily, this was not one of those mornings when it was important to live that close. I think I'm just going to blame it on staying up too late the last two nights!

Defining Moments

I'm definitely the kind of person that sees life as a journey. There is a beginning and an end, but it's all the stuff in between that really makes you who you are. Of course, not everyday is memorable or contains a life lesson that needs to be learned, but the ones that do, always stick out in my mind. It's usually when something happens (or doesn't happen) that is so obviously the result of God's sovereignty that I claim as a defining moment in my life. These moments are little places where I can look back and say, without a doubt, that God is real, God is good, and God knows every little detail about my life.

Last night I had opportunity to attend the Chris Tomlin concert in Grand Prairie. It was incredible! I've been a fan of Chris Tomlin for a really long time, especially when his CD Arriving came out. That CD accompanied me on many, many, many trips home from Waco just a few years ago. In fact, you may not know this, but, when I'm in the car alone I turn up the music super loud and sing my heart out. The super cool part about this is that Chris Tomlin and I sound SO good together! Ha ha, just kidding. I mean, we do sound good, but it's because the music is so loud I can't even hear myself!

Anyway, the point is, I'm a fan of his music. I downloaded his new album, Hello Love, in December but never really got into the new music. Then, when I found out I was going to be going to this concert I decided I should at least listen to the music some. Wow! It's a great CD and I can honestly say that I love all of the songs. I've been listening to it at pretty much every opportunity and still haven't tired of any of them. Fast forward to last night...it was awesome to see Tomlin live, and sing along with him live! It really wasn't a concert at all. It was an amazing time of worshipping an amazing God.

A couple songs into it I thought about the fact that my sitting in that room, with the people I was with, was another great example of God's perfect plan for my life. Is it what I would have imagined for myself 2, 3, or 5 years ago? No way! Is it better than what I imagined for myself 2, 3, or 5 years ago? Absolutely! It's taken a lot longer than I'd like to admit for me to really believe that God knows the plans he has for me, that they are plans to give me a hope and a future. But now I finally get it and last night I saw another great example of it. I'll happily add last night's concert to my very short list of concerts attended as well as my very important list of defining moments.

Now, I've just got to work on being ok with God knowing the plans and not telling me yet!! :)

It's been awhile...

I've been trying to write this post for a couple days but just haven't found the words. I feel like it just needs to be said that I am abundantly blessed. I've had a great couple weeks and it's easy to forget where those good days come from. And it's even easier to question why things are the way they are when the days aren't so good. So I just want to publicly say that...

I am blessed by my family.

I am blessed by my friends. Seriously, they're the best!

I am blessed by my job.

I am blessed by the little people in my life and the time I get to spend with them.

I am blessed.

And I'm very aware that all of those things come from the biggest blessing of all, Jesus. He's been good to me. So very good.

So close, yet so far away!

Today was my first-ever Jury Duty experience! All-in-all it was a pretty pleasant experience. I got to do lots of things that I really enjoy today. Read, find my way around downtown streets on foot, ride public transportation, and hang out with cool kids.

The morning started off with the bus ride. Why do buses always smell bad? Anyway, I found my way to the courthouse in plenty of time to begin my day of sitting. After watching a short video that totally inspires you to want to be a juror, they started the excuse/exemption part. It was kind of awkward to sit there and listen to all the reasons why people were unable to serve today and then the nice bailiff telling them that she was sorry but it wasn't a good enough reason. Then they started giving people court assignments. I'm not going to lie, I totally wanted to get picked for a jury. So the first couple pools of people lined up and left for their courtrooms. I had no idea how long this was supposed to go on for so I was pumped that my name was called in the fourth group. I felt like I made it to Hollywood on American Idol, although I tried to suppress my happiness because everyone around me was grumbling. They called a lot of names in my group so I was certain it was district court (where they use 12 judges instead of 6 like in county court) and it was probably an important case where the lawyers wanted lots of options. Seriously, those were the exact thoughts going through my mind. Imagine my disappointment when the nice bailiff let us know that we were chosen to be the reserve pool, just in case something came up later in the day! So instead of being chosen for the best case, I ended up with the worst possible scenario. Not only did I NOT even get a chance to get picked for a jury, I also had to sit around that jury room all afternoon "just in case." The rest of the room celebrated that they got to go right then.

That all happened by about 9:45 and I didn't have to be back to the waiting area until 1:30. So, I went to visit some former students during their lunch at school. And I'm not going to lie, there really is no better self-esteem booster than to walk into a cafeteria full of former students. It was really fun to see so many familiar faces. I returned to the jury room only to learn, after what seemed like forever, that my services as a juror were not needed this time around. Oh well, all was not lost. It was a great day!

Coincidence?

I am officially older now! According to my Mom I was born at 7:37 p.m., 27 years ago today! Wow, that sounds old.

Anyway, it's been a really great day. It started first thing this morning with some birthday text messages and some cool gifts from some of my students. I had a quick little visit from Deneise's class who brought a cute poster they made and a Birthday Cake candle. Several of my students wanted to actually eat the candle, but don't worry, I stopped them. Then I had an excellent Chipotle lunch with my great friends Kristy, Shellee, Abbee, and Parker. The celebrating continued this evening when I had dinner with the fam. Will and Allie were extra cute, it's been way too long since I've seen them! We tried to take some pictures but with the iPhone camera you have to sit still just a little while longer than they were able to...


The celebrating actually started yesterday afternoon with a little birthday lunch with the Rothenberger family! They are just a few of the amazing people that God continues to use to show His love to me. After church and a great lunch I came home and did something I almost never do, took a nap! I usually don't take naps because it surely means I won't go to sleep at night, which is exactly what happened! I laid in bed for a long time trying to sleep but finally got up around midnight. I decided to read my Bible, hoping that a little Jesus time would settle my head and my heart. Now, occasionally when I don't really know what to read I will go to Psalms and find the verse that corresponds with the day. For example, today is February 9th or 2-9, which would correspond to Psalm 2:9 or Psalm 29 the way I usually do it. However, just on a whim, I decided to read Psalm 2:7, as in how old I was turning today. I also happened to be reading out of The Message and this is what it said...

"Let me tell you what God said next. He said, 'You're my son, And today is your birthday. What do you want? Name it."
Now, as soon as I saw the words "today is your birthday" I was like, whoa, weird coincidence! But then when I put that verse in context with some of the things I've been thinking about the last several weeks, it was much more something that God, the creator of the whole universe, was saying just to me! I could literally feel peace come over me in that moment, it was pretty cool. I still didn't go to sleep for a long time but having that moment changed everything for me today.

I'm so thankful for a great day and for all the friends and family that I got to spend it with! And...tomorrow's Jury Duty, which I'm actually pretty excited about!

I think I'm getting old(er)

The last week or so I have noticed a disturbing trend. I used to be able to stay up late into the night and wake up fairly easily when the alarm clock went off (I didn't want to, but still could). However; lately, I find myself barely able to stay up past nine and then barely wake up in time to make it to school. Not to mention that most days I am ready to eat dinner at about 5 o'clock! It has been suggested that all of this is caused by the fact that I may be getting old! And that, my friends, is just something I'm not quite ready to accept!

Unfortunately, the whole getting older thing is happening whether I want it to or not. I find the older I get the more I worry about things that are pretty much out of my control. My ideas about what I thought life would be like are changing. My time gets more valuable. The important people in my life have become even more important. The dreams I have for my life, while still there, have become less about waiting and wanting and more about believing that wherever my life is at this moment, is exactly where I'm supposed to be. It's about the hope I have in the ONE who doesn't just make my dreams come true but gives me so much more than I could have asked for or imagined. For me, getting older is kind of scary and uncertain, but I'm going to try to worry less and enjoy the ride.

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

~  Isaiah 55:8-9  ~

Hang in there immune system!

I've been pretty lucky in my short teaching career to not get sick too often. In fact, in three and half years I have only missed one day because I was sick. When you think about spending an entire day with 22 different kids and their germs in less than 200 square feet of space, that's quite an accomplishment. Unfortunately, the last couple weeks I've sent more kids to the nurse than ever before and I'm really hoping my immune system can hold out. Not to mention the fact that just last Friday I shared some queso with two people who were diagnosed over the weekend with Strep Throat and Pneumonia!!

Deneise and Marcy - I hope you guys feel better pronto!!

I guess when you're me and you've reached 200 posts you've said about all you have to say. This is all the excitement I have at the moment.