Miracle Month

I began this month declaring it a month of miracles and they have just kept coming.

During the last 5 years, God has never failed to take care of our needs. We didn't always have room for a lot of "wants"...but as I've said before, we've never been hungry or without a home and friends. And the giving continues.

I was a little concerned about the fact that September was going to be long month without a pay check. I was told yesterday that this school actually pays twice a month (very unusual for education). I will actually begin receiving pay on September 5th!

Teachers have to supply a lot of their own classroom supplies...that's why school needs lists have grown so much over the years. (Yeah, remember when we just had to show up with pencil and paper?) I knew I was coming in with a few supplies, but still had a lot of supplies that were needed. First, my friend Jimi, (boss at mortgage company) told me that she wanted to do something special for me for some extra work I did a few weekends ago. She told me to order some supplies from Office Express and those come in today. Then I came into a classroom with not one, but two, retired teachers' leftovers. Now, I had to throw away a lot...but ended up with staplers, tape, paper clips, colored paper, white paper, markers, pencils, pens, bulletin board supplies, etc. I looked around yesterday and realized that I really don't need anything else for a while.

Zack's laptop broke. It was pretty old, but I knew I wouldn't be able to replace it. Yesterday, room-mate told me that she has an account with Walmart-online that is empty and told me if I would like, I could order a laptop for Zack and make the payments (I can't get credit of any kind). So, Zack is getting a new laptop for his birthday! (14 on Sept. 8...that's another blog for another day)

OK, so the Red Sea hasn't parted...but I know those are miracles straight from God!

I can't tell you how I am truly feeling right now. This time of year has been very difficult for me for the last few years. I love teaching! It has been so tough to watch the school year start and know that I wasn't invited to the party. This year I am going to the party!

I have decided that this month of miracles has been so successful, I am going to extend it. (with God's help, of course) I am believing that September is going to be another month of miracles...I have a couple of friends with cancer...I'm looking for some big ones...but I have a GREAT BIG GOD!

Let the miracles continue!

I'm still here

Sorry all, I have been soooo busy! Obviously I had a lot more time on my hands at the mortgage company.

This week has been a whirlwind and will continue to be such. The school is in the last stages of renovation, so everything is a huge mess. I look at it and once again am amazed at the thought that it will be all done by Tuesday when the kids start filling up the hallways and the classrooms.
My room just happens to be the room where the construction workers store all of their supplies, so I haven't really been able to get up any bulletin boards or decorations yet. Also, the teacher who occupied the room previously must have left in a huge hurry. The desk and all the file cabinets were completely full of stuff. Then another teacher who was retiring had all of his stuff "shipped" to my room...desk, files and about 20 boxes of miscellaneous books. He too, must have left in a hurry because his desk and file cabinets were completely full too. So, I spent Monday and Tuesday hauling trash. Tuesday afternoon I actually got a couple of hours to start filling up my desk and file cabinets and got a dolly and started hauling stuff up and out of there. I have been working hard.

Then I come home in the afternoons and continue working on lesson plans. Since I am teaching 4 different subjects (8th grade US History, 11th grade US History, 9th grade Geography and 12th grade Contemporary World Issues) I have a lot of planning to do. I want to get far enough ahead that I don't feel constantly overwhelmed. The good news is, once I get the original plans done they are good for years to come....just have to tweak a few things here and there.

I wish I could explain to you how much fun I am having. It's hard work and I'm definitely tired when my head hits the pillow...but it's SO MUCH BETTER knowing that I'm where I want to be and doing something that I know I love and am really good at. (I would want me for a teacher anyway.)

Hang in there. My posts may not be as frequent for a while...but I'll get back to it on a regular basis as soon as possible.

Perfect Ending

On the day I began working here (at the mortgage office), my friend Jimi (owner) gave me a gift. It's "Bedside Blessings" by Charles Swindoll. I never took it home. I just left it here and each morning I made coffee, changed my calendar page and read the daily message. So many days the message has been exactly what I needed to read that day. (Isn't God great?!)

Today is my last day here. Here is a piece of today's reading: "(God promises us hope.) So if you want to smile through your tears, if you want to rejoice through times of suffering, just keep reminding yourself that, as a Christian, what you're going through isn't the end of the story...it's simply the rough journey that leads to the right destination."

How very true! These past years I had that hope to hold on to. I got depressed and discouraged and enraged and sad...yet I always believed that God had a destination for me and I just had to keep believing in what He has promised. That's what made me hold on to my sanity, knowing that God has a plan. (thus the title of my blog)

I'm not "there" yet. I know that. I am going into a new phase of life with my new teaching job...but I'm still a progress in work. (some days not much "work" gets done)

This life is still in the planning stages.

Being Significant

I'm going to blow off a little steam here...but it's another good life lesson. (Sorry it's long.)

I took the day off yesterday. As excited as I am about my upcoming teaching job, I know that there will be no more days off for quite a while. Oh sure, there are the weekends...but those don't always count as there is house cleaning, laundry, errands, shopping, and until the year gets really going...lesson plans, grading papers, reading, etc. So, I just wanted a day to do whatever I wanted to do. The first goal was to sleep in. I haven't laid in bed past 8 am for so long...just wanted to lay there for awhile.

However, since I told room-mate and her boyfriend about my day off plans as they were opening their second bottle of wine, I guess they didn't hear me. At 7:30 am room-mate knocked on my door...afraid I had slept in. I probably could have gone back to sleep, but Sammi (our dog) was up then and obviously needed a desparate run to the back yard. I'll admit, I stood there wondering why I told two adult people that I would be sleeping in...and wasn't heard.

Then I went to get my hair cut. It was way past time. I'm seriously NOT kidding about the chia pet thing...it was a mess. Hair cuts never cease to be traumatic experiences and again, it happened. I went to the local hair academy. They are inexpensive and the young stylists still seem to care about doing things correctly. Well, I explained what I wanted (she didn't even know what I meant by "shag...not mullet".) Anyway, the instructor came over and brought several students to see my head. She wanted them to see the example of several types of hair on one head. Then, even though I stated SEVERAL times that I didn't want it too short, but I wanted to have a nice style to it...they proceeded to cut. They cut it dry and as they kept clipping I kept saying, "don't forget...it shrinks another half inch or so"....I almost laughed when the instructor said, "wow, look how much it shrinks" as they were washing it out. Needless to say, I'm pretending to LOVE my hair...but...again left wondering, "why don't they ever hear what I want?"

This morning iced the cake. I realize that I only have 2 more days here...but while I was gone yesterday, someone TOTALLY rearranged my desk. They took my calendar and pictures and stuck them in a drawer....put everything in different places...ate my wheat things...I'M NOT GONE YET PEOPLE!

I had an eye-opening moment during the first year I was a teacher. I had asked the students to answer some "get to know you" questions. One question was: If you had 3 wishes, what would they be?" As I was reading their responses I came upon one that made me cry. George was a tall, lanky boy with very long black hair. He didn't have a lot of friends and early in the semester my impression was that he was not thrilled about being at school...or anywhere for that matter. His first 2 responses were pretty normal for a 9th grader...#1 to be an NBA star, #2 to own a car...but #3 made a lasting impression...he wrote..."I wish that I was not insignificant."

That moment (ok, after a few minutes of sobbing)...I decided that never would one of my students feel insignificant as long as they were in my classroom. I don't know if George realized this or not...but for the next 3 years everytime I saw him I would call out a hello or stop him to ask how he was. It was almost funny because sometimes he would appear to be annoyed that I was stopping him in the hallway to talk to him. I have tried to apply this to my everyday life too. I want people I come in contact with to feel like I hear them and I care about what is going on with them.

I am so lucky to know that I am significant to God...even when I don't feel like anyone else is listening. I know that He listens to me each and every day and He cares about what I am saying.

Make sure those around you know that they are significant!

Went Camping

I didn't grow up in a camping family. As a matter of fact, the first time that I went camping with my family, I was 16 years old. We went for 1 week that year and 2 weeks the 2nd year. The first year we were in tents, the 2nd my parents had found a used camper. It's amazing after those two summers that I ever wanted to go again. My mother made camping more work than staying at home and doing spring cleaning. First there were the meals...breakfast was never cereal or a doughnut (I'm obviously not health conscious.) My mother would fry eggs and bacon, make pancakes or french toast...never using paper plates. It took an hour to make breakfast and at least an hour to clean up. We would get done just in time to start on lunch. Supper would roll around and again, no hot dogs on a stick...instead we had spaghetti, or some other NON-CAMP-TYPE meal. Then there was the condition of the tent (or camper). Everything had to be folded neatly and put in a specific place...well, I think you get the idea. Not much time left over for fun.

While in college I decided to become a camp counselor during the summers. I did this for 8 years. The last camp I worked in was the one that really brought about my love for camping and the outdoors. I worked at a wilderness camp in Northern Ontario. The kids were usually sent by the courts and were there for the entire summer. We would bring a bus up to a small fishing village (Missanabie, Ontario) and canoe nine miles across Dog Lake to our camp. We usually didn't see any other humans until the end of the summer. There was no electricity, running water meant running to the lake and running back. We took showers in home made showers right outside our cabin. You would wash with one hand and bat mosquitoes with the other. As rough as it was, I fell in love with the woods.

When Zack and I started travelling back and forth between South Carolina and Washington, we camped all the way across the US and back again--three times. We found KOA our first summer and did most of our camping at KOA's--mostly because being a single mom with her small son, I felt safer there. We have had some of our BEST times together at a campground.

I am a simple camper. I don't need a camper, I enjoy the tent...though as I get older I find I need something more than a sleeping bag between me and the ground. I don't cook gourmet foods...we do hot dogs on a stick, or our campfire pizzas (made in our campfire sandwich irons). I love sitting around the fire at night, telling stories, roasting marshmallows, laughing, crying, just relaxing. I like to take walks (notice I did not say hikes), I like smelling the woods, hearing the sounds in the woods, (unless it's a deep growl). The whole thing really relaxes me and gives me the feeling of a closeness to God that I find hard to describe.

This weekend I decided 2 things...I love my friends, but I really find more peace when I camp alone with Zack and #2...never again will I go camping with a 4 year old. Need I say more?

Going camping

I won't be around for a couple of days...we're going camping. We're not really roughing it this time (though I do love the real kind of camping). We're going to a KOA and sleeping in a cabin. Here in the Pacific Northwest, you're never really sure what the weather will be like...we decided not to take the chance this time.

Yesterday I went to the school and picked up some books so that I can start working on lesson plans. If you have never been inside a school during the summer, you shouldn't. There is some major "fixing up" going on at our school this summer. As I walked through the halls and looked around I couldn't imagine that the work will actually be done in 3 weeks...but I know it will. I got to see my classroom. The walls are empty and waiting for my maps and posters...student work, etc. It's an exciting work in progress.

I will be teaching 9th graders (a quarter of Pac.Northwest Hist, a quarter of Geography), 11th graders--US History, 7th graders, US History (I think), and 12th graders--Current World Problems. Second semester I will trade the 9th graders for 12th graders and will teach 12th graders--Civics. Some of you are yawning...I am THRILLED.

OK, still have to pack some clothes and grab the making for s'mores. Have a great weekend!

The Countdown

Twelve days until I start being a teacher again. Hallelujah! and pass the biscuits! (That's something my Grandma used to say everytime something good happened.)

I have 6 actual days left here at the mortgage office. It would be 7, but a camping trip has already been planned for this coming weekend. Anyway, it appears that they are going to be 6 VERY LONG DAYS. I'm not complaining...ok, yes I am...but the last two days it has been like a day-care here. I'm all for "bring your kid to work day"...but enough is enough already! The boss (my good friend) has a 13 year old daughter that has been working here all summer. We get along well. She helps me out (not that I have that much to do)...but she has helped with a couple of big things we have done this summer. She also has an "unrequited" crush on my son and has to talk about that at least a couple of times a day. There's another loan officer that brings her 10 year old daughter...so I have 2 of them standing around my desk bickering at each other. (the older can't take too much of the younger just following her around) Then there's the wife of another LO who comes in once in a while. She's been here twice today ( just walked in the door as I'm writing this) . She has one in a stroller and a 4 year old boy. He has the loudest voice I have ever heard come such a little kid. (He also has BIG, GEORGOUS eyes and his name is Romeo.) But I'm grouchy right now, so that's beside the point.

On top of the kiddie factor today, "EX" has had to call me 20 plus times. (He doesn't understand what it means to actually work for a living.) There was the argument about Zack's haircut for school (he wants shorter, I want to find a balance we can all--including Zack, be happy with), then there was the argument about whether or not Zack would come home tonight...and on, and on, and on...the man needs a life. Oh, then he called to get a copy of the our divorce. We got that 4 years ago...WHY would he think I had a copy of it with me at work???? (The crazy thing is, I actually did.) I told him he had a copy, but he insisited that he didn't. I know he does. After he finally got the fax (which he called about another 13 times) he called me again to tell me he already has that paperwork. Duh, Really? Mr. Smart guy didn't know that a "dissolution of marriage" is the same as a divorce. (No wonder we're divorced.)

Don't people understand that I am trying to read blogs!!!! I can't concentrate!

Uh, oh, gotta go...my boss just IM'd me and asked if I could quiet the kids down. (Are you kidding me?)