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Lesson: Trusting God's Plan

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This summer, we have experienced the top of the mountains and the lowest part of the valley. It has been an emotional trip, but God has gotten us through. It is amazing how God gives us exactly what we need at exactly the right time. Starting at the beginning, before we even got married, both Brandon and I had some concerns about infertility, each for our own reasons. We knew that we just needed to trust God on this journey. We have been praying and praying, that God would bless us with a child in His perfect timing. My hope, my plan, was that we would conceive in June, giving me three months of maternity leave and then three months of summer to spend with our precious little one before having to figure out child care. I have heard so many mommas talk about how hard it is to go back to work. I had everything planned and I knew it would work out perfect. God heard and answered our prayers. 1 John 5:14  And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we a
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God of the Hills and the Valleys

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It's funny, I have not been on here in a year. I have thinking about things to write, but just have never taken the time to sit down and write. But today, I need to. So I logged in, and there was an unpublished post, from just about a year ago. I looked at the picture that I had put with it and read the first few lines. We are in a similar place today as we were a year ago. Different circumstances, but a time of stress, and a time that we are desperately depending on God.  So, why today, did I chose to sit down and write?  About 4 weeks ago, I found out that I will be moving jobs, AGAIN. I have moved every year, a different building, different grade levels, different teammates. Every year I look back, and I know with full certainty that it was for the best that I was where I was. And of course, having been here so many times before, I do know that where ever I end up next year, will absolutely be for the best. God has a great plan and He will put me where I need to be. As muc
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Trust- A year ago

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These last couple of months have been really tough.  I was anxious about Brandon leaving for his mission trip to Kenya. We had a couple of different boys that we were hosting through safe families. For some reason, I feel like I was behind all quarter, and not serving my students to the best of my ability. I was also anxious about my job for next year (I have no idea where I will be). I had a really tough week teaching intercession (half days of school during our breaks). Then Brandon came home and he threw out his back walking around in our apartment and to put a cherry on top, his truck decided it had had enough and we were already pouring money into chiropractic care because both Brandon and I have messed up backs.  It really wasn't that bad. There really is not any one thing that I could pin point that made it seem bad. But, I feel so much more at peace right now.  Brandon's back is finally getting better. We found a new vehicle that we could get a loan for and tha
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A Beautiful Thing

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There are a lot of incredible things going on in my life right now.  The most beautiful thing though is seeing people come to God.  Two and a half years ago when I met my now husband, he didn't have his faith in God. He knew who God was, he had grown up in the church, but he didn't have a relationship. He was seeking that. It has been such an amazing thing to go on this journey with him, so watch him grow that relationship!  While I have watched him grow over the last two years, when he came back from Kenya, he was the most changed. He is a little more on fire now than he was before he left. When I saw fire, I mean like the fire that come upon the apostles head when the Holy Spirit came down on them (Acts 2:1)K, maybe not that extreme, but you get the point.  It has just been so awesome to see and more importantly, to be able to walk along side him. That we can seek God together.  But, what really inspired me to write this was a smaller friend of ours.  Brandon an
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Encouragement

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This week was a long week. I came home Friday completely exhausted. At one school, it was the last week before our 3 week spring break! There was so much excitement and just so much other stuff going on.  But come Friday, I got the encouragement that I needed.  At the end of my math class, I asked the students what the best thing has been about their year so far. They all had some great things to share! I was so excited to hear them reflect on their great year. But what was really touching to me, was that for some of the students, their highlight (that they were thinking about at that moment) was getting to be in my class, or for one student, getting to see me at church (she gets double doses of me!) and it allowed me to see that these kids know that I care about them. They want to be in my class because they feel loved when they come in the room. That is my goal as I know I've written before. So many days I wonder, but these moments let me know that I am doing something ri
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The Power of an Apology

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I have a student, almost every teacher can say at some point that they have had that student. Not a bad students, but the student that takes more attention and needs more love. I do absolutely love this students, but he can also exhaust me. Everyday is unknown. Someday are great and some days are not. Somedays, he is super focused, on task, and lots of fun. Other days he cannot complete a single task without one-on-one attention.  One day, we had a bad day. WE, not just him, but me as well. I don't remember why, but for some reason, I was short that day. We both knew it. We both knew that two people having a bad day do not lead to a good day. I think because we both knew, it didn't turn into anything worse. Really just frustration.  The whole point of me sharing this is what happened the next day. I hadn't told anyone about this bad day that we had both had. I knew that because I was not in a great mood, I couldn't really fully complain about his behavior. But th
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The Last Day of School

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So tomorrow is the last day of school!! I’m sure I have a lot of things to be doing right now, but I do not know what… We’ve been building up to this moment for the last few months! Tomorrow, I will say good-bye to twenty amazing kids who have touched my heart, and who I will most likely never see again. I want this day to be special, I want this year to have been memorable, I want to leave a great last impression. But how am I going to do that? I have been trying hard in this last week to lower my expectations, and to up my energy. I have been letting them give me as many hugs as they may need and trying not to push them away even if I’m crazy busy! I’ve been trying to read fun stories and spend some extra time dancing and playing games. Have I been successful? I don’t know. I may never know.  But what does it mean for a teacher to be successful? Does it mean that my students have to grow the most on their test scores? Does it mean that my students need to come out knowin
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