Today's Small Thing

Well, today's small thing was to speak with kindness all day. I told Rachel Anne that this was going to be a very difficult thing to do today.....well actually it has been difficult for me to do everyday since school started.

I am a very kind person by nature. Many people laugh at me when I tell them "I got mad today". I mean, I know I have my bad days and all, but for the most part I am pretty easy going!

I must ask you all to pray for me about this though. I have one VERY difficult student. Probably the most difficult I have had in my whole teaching career. It has definitely been a trying year thus far, but I know it will get better!

I not only want to speak to him with kindness today, but everyday!

BYOP (My Class)

Today, over at We Are THAT Family, there is a pumpkin carvin' party going on and my class participated today! Here are a few pictures from our carvin' party!

Overdue!

Below are some pictures I have been meaning to load for a LONG time now! I am just so busy and overwhelmed with all this new stuff at school that I just haven't had the time. SO...here you are....

Some summer fun with cousin Caleb....He adores Rachel!

Rachel and Timothy's first catch.....and some fries!

Timothy, Rachel and I joined Daddy at Disciple Now this year. Carlton wasn't able to get them their own DNow shirts, so I made them their own.....they loved them....and everyone else thought they were cute. Look at her face!!! LOL

My Boy's on Timothy's first day of school!

Timothy and Rachel....they really do love each other like this A LOT!

I don't do pictures well(I close my eyes all the time), and almost left this one out...but what the heck!

Timothy and his Kindergarten teacher.

There....got it done! Can check it off the list....now on to other stuff!!!

Two Shall Become One

Please go on over to Sue's place today at Praise and Coffee. She writes a post every Tuesday titled "Two Shall Become One" and today really spoke to me!

Satan attacked me last night after I wrote the post below, and I let him win! But in the end the victory will not be his....

Finally Free!

There has been SO much going on in my life and I have felt so "pushed down" by it all, however, God is showing me so much hope and peace these days and I feel I should share that with you all.

I have struggled for some time with depression. I have mentioned it here before in various posts. I mentioned it to one of my doctors, and he suggested I try taking a "lightweight" med. for a while. So, I decided to do that.

I know that taking a medication for depression can be a sticky subject among Christians, but for me it wasn't a question this time. My whole person was becoming someone that I couldn't stand to see in a mirror. Someone that I didn't know and someone that I didn't want my kids to know either.

I have been taking this medicine now for3 1/2 weeks. And with the exception of a day or two during "the visit" I have had a pretty peaceful feeling. NOW, do I totally give credit to the tiny pill I take every night before I go to bed.....NO....

I know that God has had much more to do with this freedom I am feeling than this tiny pink pill. Since taking this medicine, I have been thinking a bit clearer, and therefore have spent more time with Him than I had been. So I know that HE is the main reason for this freedom. I do give him thanks for giving me the courage to discuss this issue with my doctor. It had been on the tip of my tongue for some time now, but I just couldn't bring myself to say anything when he would ask, "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Ever been there? I pray not, but if so, share it......

God is opening up so many doors for me right now. Tonight I was invited to a ladies Bible study at a neighbor's house. We (neighborhood ladies) read some scriptures, shared prayer requests and prayed together. Two of us were Baptists, one Methodist, one Catholic, one member of Church on the Rock, and one non-denominational member. It was awesome that we were all able to come together and pray!

Another thing is that God is opening up doors for our student ministry, the girls ministry to be exact. We will be hosting a Sage conference. This is something I have prayed about being involved in for many years, but God has closed the doors many times. Well, He is flinging them open now!! So pray, it's going to be a busy few months. The conference will be the last weekend in February!

Here is a video I posted many months ago....please listen and enjoy!

I vote for LIFE!

I totally agree with my friend Sue at Praise and Coffee on this!

Rachel's Twirling Debut

Well tonight was the football game that Rachel had been waiting for! Well, kind of....

She was suppose to "march" in the homecomming parade with the twirlers, but that didn't work out so well, therefore there are no parade pictures! :) Then after the parade I kept asking her if she was really going to twirl on the track with the girls and she kept assuring me she would. But when we first got there, she didn't want to and she started to cry. :(

However, with the help of some amazing teenagers, she particpated and had a blast!

We didn't stay for the game though since she has still been struggling with the bronchitis, and that didn't make her happy. But I would rather her continue to get well than have her happy this time!

Saying "No" to some guilt!

I have taken myself back to Rachel Anne's for the "Today's Small Thing". And Today's Small Thing was titled "Have a Nice (Guilt) Trip". You ought to check it out.

Well, today I have decided that I am going to make time for myself to GO TO THE GYM. I have been putting off going because I feel guilty.

Guilty for making my kids stay in yet another hour of child care. (However, when I pick up the girl, she begs to go to the gym!) And guilty that I am an hour later getting dinner started, and that I don't have the time with the kids after dinner that I could have if I just went straight home.

BUT instead of feeling guilty I should feel good about this decision. I am overweight a tad, out of shape and stressed all the time. By exercising I can help deminish some of these problems! I will be healthier, not so tired all the time (after I get into the groove of it all that is...) and they say that exercise helps your body deal with the stress.

SO there you have it....that's my way of dealing with this area of guilt. There are many other areas to deal with, but I think I'll take it one baby step at a time!

Praise God!

Well, Timothy is a very bright little man, so says his parents and now his Kindergarten teacher. He has been asking Carlton for several months how to ask Jesus in your heart. He told us that he wanted to go to heaven when he dies. He's a very perceptive little guy and picks up on a lot of things and ever since he heard a preacher say something along the lines that you have to have Jesus in your heart to go to heaven, he has been asking.

Carlton took this situation very serious, as we all should, and started months back explaining to him what it really means to become a Christian, and the seriousness of asking Christ into your heart. He wanted Timothy to understand well enough that he could say his own prayer and it not be scripted.

So, last night they sat at the table one more time talking. Then Carlton could tell he was ready. That he knew and would be able to say this sweet prayer on his own. SO when it came time to pray he called Timothy closer to him. He said he could see that Timothy's eyes were welling up so he looked at him and asked him why he was crying and Timothy told him, "I'm just not sure I know all the words to say." and Carlton told him to just let God guide him.

And so, he did. I wasn't in the room, I was putting Rachel to bed, but Carlton said that he said everything all on his own! He said that when he was finished Timothy looked at him and said, "I did it! Jesus is in my heart!"

Oh, how sweet! When I walked in the room. Timothy looked at me and said, "Momma I am going to heaven! I asked Jesus in my heart!" It was precious! He was SO excited!

Then when I put him to bed, and he was getting ready to pray, he looked at me with the most serious and almost sad face and said, "Momma, what about Rachel...Will she go to heaven?"

I told him that just like God showed him in his heart, He would show Rachel too! Then I told him that he could pray for God to show her, and so he did!

Its About Time

I must have been kidding myself WAAAYYY back when I posted that last entry. To think that I would have the time to "keep up" with posting on my blog was a thought during a moment of insanity!

I have been so busy at work, and when I get home, if hubby has brought his computer home, I just don't have time to get online....heavy sigh!!!

Well, a lot has gone on in the past week and half.

I got rear ended by a student at our school.....

We had Timothy's 6th BDay party. It was a Spurs Basketball theme and his Daddy was so proud. Hubby had designed the cake. He designed the print on the top of the cake anyway. It took him several hours in Publisher, but he got it done....and it was a hit!

The girl was there (the only girl) and had a blast, but fell ill with fever soon after. She ended up in the doctor's office first thing Wednesday with bronchitis and an ear infection. We had to do breathing treatments for 4 days. Timothy was quite bothered by them. She thought they were fun! LOL

Oh, I almost forgot a funny said by her. She called the breathing treatments "my smoke". So, one night after her bath she said, "Momma, can I watch TV while I smoke." HeeHee....I hope I never hear those words in any other context!!!

I'll have to catch you up on everything else later. We are still talking to an attourney about the house. They say we have a case, but we have to hire our own "professional structural engineer" to evaluate the house if we want to assure ourselves "a win". SO, that is going to cost us a hand full of dollars! Just pray the money comes from somewhere!