Our Home!

So, it's been over a year since my last post. That's pretty lame. Well, my reasoning for this post is simply to show some pictures of our house for those of you who have not seen it yet. If you haven't, let me know when you want to come on by-that way you can see what it looks like now.

Here's the beatiful house we call home.


This is our sweet enclosed patio and well-maintained back yard


This is what our room used to look like. Can you believe it?!


This is what our kitchen was like when we bought the house.


Here's our kitchen during the process of re-doing it.


Yup. That's Britt putting grout in between the tiling that we did ourselves.


What do you think of our office? We left it this color. Yeah right!


Like I said, I hope that you can see what it looks like now because it is totally different. Maybe if you're lucky I can post some pics of that in the near future. But knowing my bloggin status, I wouldn't get your hopes up :-)

Here's a question for ya

Is who you are determined by what you do, or is what you do determined by who you are?

More on Attitude

I think that we have all heard atleast once the phrase Descartes said: I think therefore I am. But how many of us actually believe that is true? Do we really understand how much our attitude affects our lives? I don't think we do.

I have so many different things to think about during my day that I often forget to think about my identity in Christ and who He has called me to be. If I get caught up in all the things that the world says I am or that need to happen, I may not amount to anything more. The Bible tells me that I am so much more than the world does. I want people to see what God has made me. These are some of them:

John 1:12- I am God's Child
John 15:15- I am Christ's Friend
I Cor 6:20- I have been bought with a price. I belong to God.
Eph. 1:1- I am a saint
Romans 8:1,2- I am free from condemnation
Romans 8:35-39- I cannot be separated from the love of God
2 Cor. 1:21,22- I have been established, anointed and sealed by God
Phil. 3:20- I am a citizen of Heaven
1 John 1:5- I am born of God and the evil one caannot touch me
1 Cor. 5:17-21- I am God's temple

We are worth so much. Let's start believing it and maybe we'll start acting it.

A Servant to All?

In 1 Corinthians 9 Paul talks about giving up his rights in order to preach the gospel. He says: "For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them...I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel."

Am I a servant to all? I mean, I make sacrifices for others. I serve in the youth group at church. I teach 5th graders- that's gotta be worth something. But really, I'm not a servant in the way Paul describes. He's talking about preaching the gospel. Sadly, I can't say that I really preach the gospel very much. Now I could go on and on about how horrible I've been and list some reasons why, but I'm not going to do that. What I am going to do is list some things that I will begin doing. I am telling you all this because I want and need your accountability. I can't change on my own.

1) I will have atleast one genuine conversation with my co-workers every day.
People need to know that someone cares about them. I may be the tool God uses to show his love and I don't want to miss that opportunity.

2) I will spend more time meditating on scripture and memorizing it.
The more familiar I am with God's word, the more likely it is to come out of my mouth. I want find ways to incorporate the gospel into my conversations.

3) I will pray for my unbelieving friends in faith that God will lead them to himself.
If anyone is going to accept Christ, it sure won't be because of anything I've done. The sole reason they can believe is because He allows it. I believe that He "desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim. 2:4)

4) I need to spend more time with my unbelieving friends.
How am I to share with them if I don't see them often enough to build a relationship? Why would they listen to what I have to say if they don't know what I'm all about? I need to strengthen those relationships-which will take more time and effort.

These are some things that I need to do so that I may win some for the sake of Christ. I would appreciate your encouragement and any insight or wisdom that you may be able to offer. Pray that I will be bold in sharing and that my words will be "gracious, seasoned with salt, so that I may know how to answer each person." (Col. 4:6)

Attitude

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company, a team, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you. We are in charge of our attitudes.

Charles Swindoll


Would you agree? What's your attitude like? Are you one that makes the most of every day and situation, or do you complain and have a bad attitude? If you're the first, you know how great life can be. If you're the latter, try having a good attitude no matter what life throws at you. I guarantee you will be blessed because of it.

Apologies

Just in case anyone was wondering, I am alive-just very busy. A few people have pointed out to me that I haven't posted since August. So I figured that after six months of getting used to teaching, I could probably spend a few minutes keeping my blog updated. A lot has happened over the past six months and I plan to inform you of the big events up so that everyone knows what is going on.

I also plan to make posts that promote discussion and deeper thought. I really enjoy conversation that is meaningful and building up. When we are having discussions over the blog (or any time) I want them to follow the directions that Paul gives in Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

I look forward to hearing from you all again. May our conversation bring glory to God.

Life As a Fifth Grade Teacher

I have now survived my first two days of school as a fifth grade teacher. The first day was a minimum day and the kids were all a bit shy being back. But today was a different story. It was regular length and the kids were all excited to be back and around their friends. They're also testing me to see how much they can get away with. I had a headache by the end of the day. Please pray that I will know how to handle the situations that come my way. Pray that God will use others to help me with all of the new things I'm dealing with. If you can give me any pointers or specific tips for controlling and teaching my students, please do. I think I am a fairly good classroom manager, but I haven't experienced this before.

I don't know what's in store for this year and it's hard to see the light because of all the chaos. But I do know one thing is for sure: God is still good.

Be An Encourager

Something I've noticed is that it feels great to be encouraged. I try to be encouraging, but I'm sure that it doesn't happen all the time. In this age, people tend to belittle and speak negatively to those around. We are called to be the opposite. How much of a difference could we make if we were to encourage the people we come in contact with? Imagine what people would think. Some people could be the janitor, your boss, your spouse, your kids, your parents, co-workers, the mailman, etc. The list could go on and on. A little encouragement goes a long way.

1 Thessalonians 5:11-24 says
"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. And we urge you, brothers, warn those who are idle, encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.
May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it."

How are we doing at obeying this scripture?