What's been going on?

What a week!! We've had some serious fun at VBS this week!

We've had an average of about 30 kids each night, which is great!!

I challenged the kids to raise $125 for missions this week. We'll give the money raised to a girl in the church that is overseas right now.

As of last night, we've collected $180!! WOO! We're hoping to reach the $200 mark tonight, which is Family Night!

Speaking of challenges, I challenged myself to run 30 minutes everyday for 30 days (Sundays being my rest days). It was going GREAT until I fell and skinned my knee last Friday.

I haven't run since. Sad!

But, my knee is healing nicely and feeling better, so I'm hoping on running today.

52 in 52 has been rough the past few weeks! No real excuses other than me being busy with school work and VBS prep the past couple of weeks. I didn't even realize that I hadn't posted about it last week until last night.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:13

joy, peace and hope

I want it to overflow!!!

Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit.

Psalm 147:5

This is our theme verse for VBS this week! My prayer for them is that they've truly experienced God's amazing power as they learn about Him this week!

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summer walks and undivided devotion

Izzy and I are enjoying our summer so far.

We went on a "long walk" last night and this afternoon. They're long walks because it's about 30 minutes as opposed to our walks of going out, Izzy doing her stuff, and then us coming back inside.

We're going to take a long walk everyday.

That's the plan anyway!

I've come to the conclusion that I am a stay at home mom during the summer. I just happen to have a baby with four legs that wears a harness while we walk instead of riding in a stroller.

That should help my, "I want a family"-itis...right?

Hope so! :)

So far, during the first week of summer, I have...

-Spent two mornings working out with a couple friends. Love them!! (the workouts...and the friends)
-Bought more [clearance] plants for my garden. Hope they make it!
-Spent an entire day...minus about 2 1/2 hours...devoted solely to grad school work. I got most of it done! Woo! About 2 1/2 more assignments to go for now.
-Challenged myself (and have already started) to eat healthier and be more mindful of what I put into my body.

And that's about it. Doesn't look like much, but it's been pretty busy so far!

Okay, so since I mentioned my "I want a family"-itis, I guess that's a good segue into my 52 in 52 for this week...

An unmarried woman is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is conceded about the affairs of this world-how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord.
1 Corinthians 7:34-35

I apparently have a thing for the books of Corinthians. This is my 4th verse from these two books, which is the most from any book so far.

This isn't the first I've come across this passage, or the first that I felt compelled to camp out and store its words in my heart.

Not sure when I wrote that, but it is most definitely still my heart's cry today.

This season of being single (well, more like life since it's all I've known lol) can either be a blessing or a hardship. I pray that I allow it to be a blessing for me.

A time of growth in Christ, devotion to God, and learning to live for Him. 

And then when He blesses me with more than what I'm experiencing now, it will be all the sweeter.

Right now, though...

Undivided devotion.

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the Lord is my portion -- 52 in 52

I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him."

Lamentation 3:19-24

Honestly? I haven't started working on this passage memorization yet for this week.

It's been a bit of a crazy week with something going on each evening, and this evening I find myself still sitting in my classroom, which is now silent outside of the occasional person wandering the halls and the praise music I have streaming on Pandora. The stillness is rather relaxing.

Later, I will make my way to an ice cream place down the road to scoop ice cream for Panther Spirit Night. Maybe I'll see a few faces from my classroom.

The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.

Wow.

As I memorize this verse, I have to really search myself and ask whether or not this is true reality in my heart.

Yes. I love God. I love Him with everything in me.

Does my heart long for things that I do not have yet though? Absolutely.

Talking with a friend a couple months ago, I realized the root of the feelings that I have in my heart and mind. They are not feelings of not being content. I'm content. I love living by myself, going home to a quiet house (aside from the barking of my little ankle biter of a dog), and the peace I find after a crazy (but fun) day at the school. I love it.

It's actually better than I thought it'd be. I was honestly a little concerned about getting lonely and such. That's only happened a couple times since I bought the house about 7 months ago.

Even though I'm content, I'm happy, and I wouldn't change the fact that I bought a house last year, my heart is still longing.

I don't feel fulfilled.

I don't feel whole.

Someone is missing when I wake up in the mornings. Someone is missing when I cook supper at night (which is obvious since I usually have enough for another two meals after I eat my supper). Someone is missing when I have exciting news to share late at night, yet no one to share it with.

No, it's not about being content at all. I absolutely love my life. However, I am not fully whole yet. My heart longs for my husband. It hurts not knowing who he is or where he is. And sometimes I wonder if he is at all. Or if he is not. And that it's just me.

As I typed out the verse for this week's 52 in 52, I had to ask myself whether or not I truly meant what I was typing. I didn't start this journey at the beginning of the year just hoping to store away some random passages. No, I wanted to learn, grow, change, transform, and mold into someone new. My desire is that through these 52 weeks, the 52 passages I select would have an impact on my heart and my life. And in turn, I will be a new creation in Him.

So, can I truly claim the Lord as my portion?

I pray that I can. I pray that my longings do not draw me away from God and from my desire to live solely in Him. I desire to love Him with an undying passion that grows every second of my life here on this earth.

Yes, I am content. I have my God. He is my Father, my Lord, my Savior. He is my Companion.

And until He introduces me to the man He has hand chosen for me to love, marry, live life with, and die holding onto, I will continue to seek God with every ounce of my being, and I will pray for him, his safety, his walk with God, his family, and his life. And even after I meet my man, my prayer is that through my relationship with him, I will never cease to seek God's face.

Yes. I will say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him."

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my security ... 52 in 52

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Romans 8:38-39 

Ever feel like something you've done has totally taken you away from God and that there's nothing you can do to recover from that?

I've been there before too. But God isn't like that. He loves us, cares for us, and forgives us. Nothing we do, and nothing anyone or anything does, can ever take us away from His extreme love for us.

I can fully rest in this security.

52 in 52 Week 10, and my 10 week recap

Edit: So, apparently I can't count. Good thing [most] students come to first grade knowing how to count to 10, right? lol It's only been 9 weeks so far (I skipped 3), so this is now a 9 week recap, not 10. I'll keep everything else in the post the same though. I'm too lazy to go back and correct it. Enjoy!

I thought it'd be a good idea to have a 52 in 52 recap at each 10 week mark. So, here are the scriptures from the first 10 weeks (including this week). There will actually be 12 scriptures since I started early, but that's alright. You'll forgive me though, right?

I'd love to say that I could rattle off the scriptures week by week without needing a reference to remind me which scripture comes next. Or, I wish I could even just tell you all of the references without needing reminders of which scriptures I memorized. However, to do this recap, I brought in my flashcards that I've made over the weeks (these usually stay in my bathroom since I do most of my studying while I blow dry my hair each morning lol), and I just flipped through them to catch the scripture reference for each week. Everything else was done by memory though. :)

52 in 52 Recap:

Week -1 (sinceI started a couple weeks before New Years): Romans 12:1-2 - I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy, to present yourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, His good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Week 0: Isaiah 9:6 - For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Week 1: 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 - So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you do not fall. No temptation has taken you but what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

Week 2: Ecclesiastes 3:11 - He has made everything beautiful in its time, and He has also set eternity in the hearts of man, yet they cannot fathom what He has done from beginning to end.

Week 4: Proverbs 30:5-6 - Every word of God is flawless, He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Do not add to His words, or He will rebuke you and prove you a liar.

Week 5: Romans 15:4 - Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the scriptures, we might have hope.

Week 6: Psalm 96:4-6 - For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise. He is to be feared above all gods, for all the gods of the nations are idols, [here's my favorite part!!!] but the Lord made the heavens! Splendor and majesty are before Him, strength and glory are in His sanctuary.

Week 7: 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 - Everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible, but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good but the good of others.

Week 8: Galatians 2:20 - For I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live [exist], but Christ lives [exists] in me. The life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.

Week 9: 2 Corinthians 10:5 - We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ.

And this week's verse:

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:8-9

Do you sometimes struggle with the fact that God isn't tangible? Of course, many of His blessings are very tangible: a new job, new babies, a loving family... but sometimes I just want to give Him a hug. Be held in His arms. Smell His aftershave. Surely that's what He smells like, right? I remember being a little girl and smelling my daddy's aftershave (or was it his shaving cream? Whatever he smelled like, I liked it!). Such a sweet, comforting, and secure feeling.

Okay, so maybe God doesn't smell like aftershave. But He does smell of gorgeous sunrises, stars twinkling in the sky, and sweet little baby cries. His "scent" is everywhere. And although I can't touch Him now,  and I can't be held by Him, I do have this outrageous joy knowing that someday I will! His outstanding love for me gives me such hope in where my future lies. Knowing that He loves me even though I've sinned and done stupid things, this gives me a reason to smile and be happy.

So, it's been 10 weeks so far. I must say that I'm pretty proud that I've stuck with it this long. I've never been that great at keeping resolutions, but I've been determined with this one. 

I have 42 weeks left in my 52 in 52. You could totally start now and do 42 in 42. What do you say?

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waiting

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope. Ps 130:5

That doesn't say "I will wait for the Lord." No, it's in the present tense - it's right here and right now.

What does it look like to wait? Different people do it in different ways.

Waiting for recess in my 1st grade classroom is pretty difficult. My students are constantly asking if it is time to go out yet, watching the clock very closely (although they're not exactly experts at telling time - even when they try to tell me it's time to go out), and wiggling in anticipation. They're not exactly very patient wait-ers.

Waiting for my sister's attention is difficult for her two oldest children, however she has definitely trained them to be more patient in their waiting. If she is talking on the phone or with someone that is there and her children want to tell her something, they've been taught to put their hand on her arm until she has a moment to speak with them. Do they do this always? No way. But, do they do this at times and with reminders? Certainly! I think it is the most ingenious idea ever - I've even thought about implementing something of the sort in my classroom...but it'd be difficult to have 21 little hands on my arm at the same time since they all need me at once. :) So, although my sister's children are bursting with some important piece of information, they can wait semi-patiently by practicing what their momma has taught them.

Waiting at a stop light is not always fun. I was running to Target one night this week, and while I was sitting in the turn only lane, I sat through at least 3 red lights - all of which skipped our left turn signal. Yes, I was a little impatient. But, I waited, at when the light turned green for me to turn, I was so super excited and pumped!!

Waiting on God and His timing is sometimes hard as well. Okay, let's be honest - it's usually a hard thing to do. But think about it - when we are patiently waiting for something, the moment it happens is much sweeter than if we were fretting the whole time. And as humans, we're not exactly born as great wait-ers. It's something we are taught (or not taught, depending on the parents). It's the same thing with God. He teaches us to wait.

So, I wait. My whole being - heart, mind, will - wait on His timing for His blessings in my life.

Hopefully there is a bit of patience in my waiting.

going home

Over the past few years, my family has had to deal with a lot of death. December of 2008, Uncle Mike was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of cancer. In February of 2009, just a month and a half later, he died from it. Then, in December of 2009, my grandma died. And just last night, my grandpa died.

He was an amazing man. Full of love, a deep passion for flowers and gardening, and fun fun laughs. He was tall, strong, and strikingly handsome. He always reminded me of an older Andy Griffith, and everyone knows his good looks. :)

He told my parents this past fall that he had a talk with God. He said that God told him he would be going home in the springtime. And he did. The weather is changing, warmer days are coming, and we're soaking up the springtime weather.

We may have lost three very special and dear people in our lives, but they are now partying with Jesus in heaven. Selfishly, I want Grandpa to stay here with us. I want him back - the old grandpa that I knew and loved growing up. Selflessly and joyously, I celebrate in the fact that God chose to heal him completely and make him whole again.


In the midst of our pain, there is a bright hope for tomorrow.



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