Happy Monday

Hey!!! We made it back home around 10:00 p.m.

last night. We didn't do a whole lot but we had a

good time. I enjoyed just getting some "fresh air".

Someone commented for me to have fun where

ever I was going....duh I forgot to mention

that part!! So...........we went to......

The big ole state of Texas!!!

Little man went swimming and his Mom

and me got to do a little shopping. I did

find some new clothes for the new job.

Yay! I'm NOT a Girlie Girl so I'm not a

big shopper.

Now, Denise....I did get to sneak over the

Texas Oklahoma line and eat some amazing

fried Catfish!! I had no idea we were going to

be so close to this Native American state! So,

Denise the next trip I take over I'll let ya know!

We did put up the tent at the hotel but

we ended up crawling in the bed. I didn't

get any pictures before we took it down

but here's a picture of us doing some

"indoor camping" at home! It's the best

camping ever...

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!

I'm trying to catch up on everyone.

A bit of Adventure

Well, I've been invited to go with my sister out of town this
weekend!! God is so good....I so needed some R & R.
My nephew has decided that he and I are going to take his
tent and sleep in the hotel. Yeap, I'm going to do it to. He
will make the trip much fun for me! Hope to get some new
clothes for work this fall.
I have to say thanks to all of you for putting up with me this
week- for loving and praying over me. I wanted to leave
you with one more of the devotions that I received this week.
It's funny now that I read back over it...it ties in with the
picture I posted a couple days ago. I so want to learn this
lesson He is teaching me this week.... to trust Him without
a view of the road ahead, without the perfectly paved row
of stepping stones or even a fancy GPS system...
Love you guys!! "See you" Sunday night or Monday....

The Adventure of Obedience
Glynnis Whitwer

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)

Devotion:
The story is told that when Dr. David Livingstone was working in Africa, a group of friends sent a letter saying, "We would like to send other men to you. Have you found a good road into your area yet?" Apparently, Dr. Livingstone sent this message in reply: "If you have men who will only come if they know there is a good road, I don't want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all."

I wonder if God thinks this about us sometimes. I wonder if He ever calls us to obedience without showing us the path we will travel, or the end result, just to see what we will do. Kind of like a test. Will we obey without a road map?

And I often wonder why following God isn't easier. There are days when I feel tired of getting called out of my comfort zone to obey God. On those days I've been known to whine in my prayers asking God if there isn't any way I can serve Him from the safety of my recliner. But that's not God's ways. God does not wish me to be limited by my desire for security and control.

Maybe there is something within us that is revealed when we are pressured from without. Maybe the call to obey shines light on the truth about our faith. I know that in order to grow, faith must be stretched, and that's often uncomfortable.

You see, I have not learned to trust God in the easy ways of faith. I have not learned to trust God by reading a book or listening to a great sermon. Nor have I learned to trust God by hearing how my friend trusts God. No, I am learning to trust God by stepping out into an adventure of obedience and discovering for myself that He is trustworthy.

This happened when my husband and I started tithing (after I resisted for years), and watched God cover all our needs and more. This happened when I obeyed His command to write a book (even though I didn't know what I would write about), and watched God open doors of opportunity. This is happened when we said yes to adoption, and are watching the blossoming of two little girls who now have a hope and a future.

Obeying when God hasn't revealed the steps along the way or the final destination is challenging. But when we choose to walk by faith and not by sight, God gets all the glory in the end because we KNOW we couldn't have done it on our own!

Peace that pass all understanding

First of all I have to say from the

bottom of my heart Thank You!!

I don't feel that I can explain to

you how much I have felt all of

your prayers today!

I can not find the words to

express to you how good God has

been to me today. I have NEVER

experienced a day of sheer peace

like I experienced today. I honestly

can't explain it.

Here's how the day started.... My boss calls and leaves a message on my cell

phone that she and another staff member would be out. So she told me to

arrange an already overloaded schedule to cover for them. I'm telling you

that when I walked in the door I felt His peace already begin to blanket over

me. One of the young guys on staff immediately commented on how upbeat

I was and when he learned of the schedule confusion he said "Wow, you really

are calm". Here's how we started off staffing this morning- I said some of you

know the scripture in Colossians I'm fixing to quote..."Whatever you do, work

at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.". And that's how

we started off our day.

Has any of the circumstances I'm walking in right now changed? No. As a

matter of fact they got worse today! Still the day and the satan that tried so

hard did not shake me. I feel like today is the first day in a few months that

my head has been lifted from a fog. I still have some things to do to move

past this place and get in gear.

A sweet friend sent me an email last night and was telling me about her

thoughts in her own life about making decisions. It spurred these thoughts

on my circumstances....I've been sitting in front of a calm lake taking in the

beautiful view. In my life right now that means I've become content in my

surroundings and my focus on getting things done have slipped my mind.

God has thrown a rock in the water causing me to snap out of my day

dream. He has my attention and I'm listening.

He has been speaking to me through some devotions that have come my

way. I mean they have come one right after the other. I want to share

one today and the other two tomorrow. This one is Oswald Chambers:

"In stripes, in imprisonment, in tumults, in labours"- in all these things

manifest a drawing upon the grace of God that will make you a marvel

to yourself and to others. Draw now, not presently. The one word in

the spiritual vocabulary is now. Let circumstances bring you where

they will, keep drawing on the grace of God in every conceivable

condition you may be in..... The inevitable barries are there in every

in every one of our lives. They may not be of an intense order....

but the peril is lest we lie down and whine and are of no more good.

The thing to do is to recognize that the barriers are inscrutable, that

they are there not by chance but entirely by God's permission, and

they should be faced and not ignored....The peril of the inevitable

barriers is that if I have not faced the facts sufficiently, I am apt

to blame God for them....It is no use to spend my time saying, I

wish I was not like this, I am just like it. The practical point in

Christianity is- Can Jesus Christ and His religion be of any use to

me as I am, not as I am not? Can He deal with me where I am, in

the condition I am in?"

Thank you guys again for your faithful prayers....Blessings to you!

Standing on the edge

You know, I'm not sure I should go "here"

in a post but my heart is too heavy and I'm

a bit too scared to go at it alone.

This is mainly going to be a big ramble- as

I'm trying to sort things out in my own mind

and heart.

In my last post I told you about a book I was

reading and it's content of talking of stress. I have to read you

this quote "what is stress? It is that confusion created when

one's mind overrides the body's desire to choke the living day-

lights out of some jerk who desperately needs it. Or, more

professionally, it is the non-specific response of the body to

an unpleasant event.".

I found out something a week ago that has made my heart

sink over the new job. Now I still know that God's hands

are still there and that this I feel is just this- another stepping

stone. I think I may see what He is up to but everytime I

think I see what He is giving me glimpses of I'm so wrong.

I was looking for a picture to post on stepping stones and

they all looked so "perfect" that I chose the above one. It

very much describes the way I'm feeling...all these decisions

and not sure which one/step to take.

I wish I could go into all the details of what is going on right

now. I know that some of you are going through things that

far out weigh my situation.

Here's the thing that has me afraid...This situation has one

thought pushing me to another thought pushing me to

another and now I find myself standing on the edge of the

pit that held me captive for the first 31 years of my life.

Last night was a huge battle I had almost convinced myself

that I should go ahead and climb back in because I wouldn't

have to fear failing if I was already back there in failure.

This is a very dangerous place for me and I don't want to fail

this test.

The news regarding the new job has already shown me that

in order to continue working in the area of Special Needs

(which is my hearts desire) I'll have to go back to school.

There are some complications that the university says

makes it impossible for me to do so. Now, I know that my

God is bigger than a university guideline. My prayer is

that God will put me in touch with the right people at the

university and that they will see my heart and help me

finish this dream. God is moving me from a job that I'm

content with to one that I'm not...I believe it is to spur me

on to doing what I need to do.

I received an email devotion this morning and plan to

post it in a day or two....but for now I feel I need to

ponder it alone with just Him.

Standing on the edge...but not sure of what.

Standing on the edge...of fear...of hope...

Standing on the edge...trusting Him to what's below.

Relax.

We had our first training sessions about two weeks ago for the
new job. We were given some books to read over the summer.
My first one to read is titled "If You Don't Feed the Teachers
They Will Eat the Students". Great title don't you think?!
I'm reading today through the intro...yeah the intro is as far
as I've got. Anyway, It gave some characteristics of a well-
adjusted leader. Let's see...
the ability to care and be concerned for others... check
the desire to be successful... (in God's eyes...check)
the ability to handle stress....insert sound of scretching wheels

The third point caught my attention immediately. No, not
handling that one very well. The third point goes on to say
we will discuss more on this in chapter six. So what did I do?
Yeap skipped all other points and went straight to chapter 6.

So I thought I would pose this question to you...
How do you handle stress?

Lost or running away?

I have always loved this picture. I'm not sure why. It's a beautiful scenery.

This is were I am mentally and Spiritually. Right now mentally I feel out in

the middle of nowhere. Lost. The way today went I want to stay there and

not be found. Some things have been going on at work for a long time now

that has my "attitude" in a really bad place. The kids are the only reason I'm

working this summer. So it's other things that have me at the end of my rope.

I'm not going into a new job burnt out but I feel I need to stay because of my

responsibilities to the children.

Spiritually I need to be here. Lost with nobody around but my Savior to

depend on. I received an email devotion today with this scripture found in

Matthew 25:21 "His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant!

You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many

things....". God has intrusted me with a "few things" (and I am in no way

bragging) and now I feel He has intrusted me and said "I will put you in

charge of many things.".

I'm very tired and confused about things right now. I'm trying not to

make a decision in haste but I'm praying about taking a blogging break.

Girls, I got nothing to give right now. There are some of you that are

new to my blog and I hope that you understand because I don't want to

lose any contacts with anybody. If I do take a break here I will be by

to visit you all.

Love you guys.....

Been feeling a bit under the weather. I caught a cold from a
couple of the kids at work last week. I feel soooo much better
today. I just wanted to say hello.
Well, it's finally happened....
Nope, didn't meet the man of my dreams or win the lottery!
My 20..... yes my 2o year High School Reunion is coming up!!!
Good grief has it been that long?!?! Yeah, it has! Why would
they wait and have one this late in life when "old timers" has
kicked in (no fun intended) and I don't remember half of
their names!
I'm still going to share the memories of my elementary school.
For now I hear some fun coming from outside the house and
I intend to be a right in the middle of it! Grilled burgers and
kiddos in a blow up pool!!!!
Love ya and don't forget the sunscreen....and bug spray!!!!!!!!!

A New Day

Uh oh...I just noticed the date on my last post...oops didn't
realize it had been that long since I posted last.

Yesterday was a new day for me. The first day of a twenty
year prayer being answered! I start my training for the new
job. Just a little funny- for the last month since talking here
about the interview and all...every time I time I type the
word job...I end up mispelling it and typing...joy! That's kind
of neat in a way!
Anyway, yesterday felt like a huge weight was lifted off my
shoulders. I'm anxious about the journey ahead but I'm
ready to charge off into it. This is a brand new school. This
fall will be it's first. If you know anything about Charter
Schools you'll know of my excitement. It's a new "thing"
that's allowing the teachers freedom and creativity in the
classrooms.
Here's a quote from the newspaper last week, "One of our
core goals is to equip our students, in whatever their passion
is and to be successful...". That's what I'm talking about!
The only worry I have is being pulled out of the field of
Special Ed. My training is too much not to be used. I know
that God is stepping this thing out and I trust Him without
doubt.
Tomorrow I'll try to sit down and share with you about the
old school I went to and how cool and historic it was.
Until then...hope you have a great Friday!!

"Wh" questions...

"Why is the light of life given to one that is in this misery, that is deprived of
the light of the sun, whose way is thus hid, and whom God hath thus hedged
in?" Job 3:20-23


I don't think I can do this post justice it deserves. However, it's burning a
hole in my heart. I must try.....


As most of you know I work with Special Needs Kids. It's only been two years
but it seems like a lifetime now. Before God blessed me in this "world" of
children- I asked so many times....why? Why does this have to be? Why this
child? Once I was introduced to the need and the knowledge I never thought
once to ask why again. Here's the child. Here's the need. Here's the mission.
And off we go. Until last week.....it's the first week of Summer school and kids
are packed in the time slots for sessions. The first of the year we successfully
potty trained a 12yr old child. This summer we are working on potty training
another. So, here I am sitting with this beautiful 8 yr old girl.
Even in her beauty (that others may not see) the old question finally cripped
back in. I found myself again asking, why God why? Why God did you make
her different? What is the reason? To us it seems unfair and wasteful. So,
I began to pray. This is what I feel He spoke to me....
They have a life- even though it may not seem "normal".
What makes their life different from your life?
I thought back on the Bible lesson we had this week in VBS in John 9.
"His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents,
that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned...
but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."'

God needed a vessel to reveal His Glory. He has done that for me in the eyes and
lives of these children. He has shown me the impossible right before my eyes.
A child learning to talk- be it with his/her hands or voice. Finding the gaps and
teaching them the skills to fill it. I wish you could witness all these things
with me. He is so amazing in their lives. His Big.
I tell the rest of this with tears in my eyes....
A young married couple spreads the news they are going to have a child.
The day comes and the precious little one arrives. In the months ahead
the little one begans to grow. Mom begans to feel something is not right.
A doctor visit turns into weeks of long waiting. The dreaded news comes.
Mary was pledged to a young man and her future planned out before her.
And oneday an angel shows up and gives her news that completely changed
her plans. A new destination. One she/they must open their hearts to.

I had a dad walk up to me the week before Summer school started....
He looked me in the face- he held up one finger and said, "One word
just one word.". His 19 month old son never spoken a word. The little
boy looks and acts so much younger than he is. In that instant it felt
like a huge concrete wall fell on my shoulders. A burden that I can't
carry and a task that takes a miracle. Praise God as He would have
it I don't have to carry it or perform it.....He will. He is the Miracle
Worker!! I'm already seeing it. The little boy has caught on so fast
(just two days) that I'm asking him to do something with his hands.
He is already taking my hand and forming the signs for his wants.

I think it would be okay to give first names...because you my Sisters
are prayer warriors...these kids and their families need prayers.

Amber and Andrew (brother and sister- Amber is the one being
potty trained and Andrew is the 19 month old- yeah that
dad had a lot on his mind that day he caught me in the hall)
Chris
Bry
Jake
Seth
Michael
Taylor (12yr old girl abused by step father)
Parker
Matthew
Coby
Adrian
Beau
Chase
Reid
Seth M.
Ryan

Pray for our staff. We have a young staff that doesn't see
the importance and ergency at hand. I just feel so
overwhelmed and already exhausted. Thank you!

Not by sight...

Kids can say this most amazing things. I thought while I had
some energy and mental ability- haha- I would share with you
something one of the kids said last night. Now, bear in mind
that I am teaching the Preschool class!
We had the story last night of Jesus healing a blind man taken
from John chapter 9. The lesson ended shorter than our
scheduled time for moving from one class to the next...so
our Bible story teacher was trying to stretch out the lesson.
The teacher made a comment along the lines of Jesus coming
to town and the blind man called out to Jesus. Which actually
wasn't the case because Jesus saw the blind man as He walked
along the way. The little boy in class looked straight up at her
and said, "If he was blind how did he know Jesus was there?".
I sat there just blown away by this question then looked at
the lady and said- now there's a question filled with a lot of
thought. He was blind how did he know Jesus was there?!!!
Wow, when we are "blind" how do we know that Jesus is
there?!! When we can't see beyond the present circumstance-
can't see the forest for the trees- when we don't have a clue
what is going on- when we feel we are standing alone in the
dark.... we have the promise from Him that He sees and
He knows. He is there right there in the midst of our
surroundings.
In John 9 after Jesus healed the man the people asked
who opened your eyes and the man answered "a man
named Jesus". Then in verse 12 it says, "So where is he?"
"I don't know". This part of the story reminds me of the
little boys question. I don't just want to know where my
Jesus is....I want others to know where and who my Jesus
is! Just as this blind man's faith led him pushing through
a crowd to get to the Pool of Siloam- I want others to see
me pushing through this life here on Earth and it's hardships
not caring if I have "mud" on my face and what they may
think of me in the moment...but that they see my walking
through it. And that the walk of faith is rewarded and
blessed by Him.
Thank you Jesus for your healing. Thank you for being my
sight and vision. I trust You....

Night One:

Wooo I LOVE Jesus....how about you?

Oh, man God is sooooo Good!

Very busy and crazy day but V.B.S. Rocks!!

Okay, Night one's Bible Point...

God Gives Us the Power to be THANKFUL!

Aha!!

The kids challenge for the night is to go and

tell someone what or who they are

thankful for ...

So I here by issue the same challenge to you...

whatcha thankful for Ladies?

I'm so thankful for my family

my church family

my new job

friends

my blogging Siestas

as my nephew said, "everything"

most of all I'm thankful for a Mighty God

who loves me beyond anything I can

comprehend!!

"Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,

since as members of one body you were called

to peace. And be thankful."

Colossians 3:15