Finding My New Normal

This summer I had the opportunity to teach summer school for first grade.  I have taught the little ones before but somehow this summer is different.  The kids are all beloved rascals and quite the handfuls but I am totally falling in love with them.

I have also got to be the school's crossing guard.  It is so peaceful holding the sign and greeting children at adults at one of the most important times of the day whether it is before or after school.

I have also tried some new methods teaching and as a whole I think it has been going well.  It feels good to do something that is worthwhile and works.

Last I talked with my principal today.  She noticed that I am enjoying my role working with  the younger kids. I was originally supposed to teach second grade in summer school.   I believe that when you make the best of a situation the Lord plants you where you are supposed to be.

1 Corinthians 7:17New International Version (NIV)
¹⁷ Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.

Summer Bucket List

 
Time with God. I want this summer to be a time I pray everyday but really seek God in an extraordinary way.  I am planning on starting to think of the future and I need God's direction in all areas.

Family.  With my mom needing more care I need to focus on cleaning.  With my husband I need to focus on meeting his needs.  Having the blessing of pets I need to make sure I am caring for them.  Having a house that is clean is also important.  I hope to make more of a dent in a cleaning schedule, regulaary healthy meals, healthy weight, etc.

Work.  Despite a lot of growth this year I still need to improve.  I will work on getting my IEPS even better and my scores on the district standardized test.  I will also work at being a blessing instead of a curse to my co-workers.

Running.  I love it and I need it.  I also want to continue to pace, blog and coach.  I am so grateful for all the doors it has opened up to me.

Creativity.  I want to write more often, create and use my gifts to make a difference in others lives.  Posters, a newly designed classroom,  new tools for teaching and writing are a part of my future.


Bucket List Stuff. Other things than just my running are included in this.  I am hoping to do some downtown trips this summer, visit some new trails and many revisit my knowledge in sign language and conversational Spanish.  Who knows?

The last couple of summers I have done some bucket lists.  This has been a good idea because it allows me to focus on having significant goals at a time where the pressure of work is not so heavy.  This summer is no exception.  The other day I was walking by a house that you could tell has never been finished and it has been quite a bit of time.   Again I reminded myself I need to not be that house and what I start I will finish.

Philippians 4:6-7 

 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Unfinished Business

 

 

Turning 49 this year I am saying goodbye to my 40s and hello to my 50s.  It is a harsh realization in one moment but also a time to slowly say goodbye to another set of circumstances.

I have been spending more time with my parents due to my mom's back surgery.  This has allowed me to spend the night and the following morning get up early and see my childhood town from a different point of view.  Every time I run I go to a different section of town that brings back memories.  The last time I was down I went to visit the playground I went to as a child, the house where my maternal grandparents lived and the place of work in the 70s for many of the residences that lived in the town of Morris

First of all the playground.  I was very surprised to see the slide, the spinning wheel, the horses  still in the park.  Even though the paint had fallen off from the many times it had been coated on I remembered all the memories from that playground.  I also went past my maternal's grandparents house.  It took me a few tries to find it because they had changed it structurally and painted it very different colors.  But it was still there in its brilliance.  Last I went to the place of employment of my grandparents on both sides.  It was sad to see the overgrowth of the buildings  and the factory.  But like myself time had to move on.

I look at the present.  I see the changes in my parents and sometimes even though they are as sharp and bright as before it scares me. I marvel at my parents growth and willingness to keep a part of ministry and trying new things.

  I see many more people retire, move and change.  I even see differences in my relationships and how I am treated.  Not all are desirable but a part of life.

But in the midst of the change I see some good things.  I see new friendships forming and a self-confidence and peace I have not known before.  I see a set of parents that I am grateful for and how glad I am able to help them during this time.

Despite the good, bad and uncertain I know that the Lord is with us.  Isn't it good to see the hand of the Lord in the past but also in the present>


Philippians 4:6-7 says

6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

References for Philippians 4:6

• Cross References

• 8 4:6 - Mt 6:25-34
• 9 4:6 - Eph 6:18 ; 1Ti 2:1

 

7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 

Trains

 From some of my favorite memories there have been trains.  As a child I found the sounds of the train comforting and it made me think of my grandparents who lived on the other side of the track.  As an adult I loved the train because it brought my then boyfriend now hubby home from work.  I loved the train as a young teacher because I would listen to it go on my corner of my two flat apartment  just like a stereo from one ear to the other on its journey after a long day at work.   I also have always loved the train  because it was predictable and I could count on it to get me safely to my destination.  Even today I still enjoy walking by the train and occasionally taking it into Chicago.  My runs go by the train and it still excites me as I see its journey several times a day going because and forth in my community.

The train reminds me of the Lord.  He is stable, loving always there and brings us our needs.  Isn't it neat to know that the Lord brings us consistency, peace and comfort even in the midst of our worlds instability.

I Corinthians 14:33

33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.

From the Perspective of a Tiny Crayfish

On my walks and runs we have a nearby school that is  near a ditch that allows the water to quickly run off after a significant rain storm.  All kinds of animals use the temporary moisture as a way to survive including very small crayfish.  When it is really wet they will seek drier shelter on the blacktop in the morning behind the schools.  This is really a bad idea because they become prey to birds, children playing on the playground and teachers freakishly trying to drive to their classrooms on time.  But the crayfish don't know that.  They just do what their senses tell them to do and find drier land.

I have noticed them after a rainstorm  and the other day this really tiny one tried to raise it's arms towards me trying to attack me. Initially it was kind of scary but when I compared my shoe to their size I realized I could of easily crushed him.  That got me thinking of trials and tribulations I face and that many of my foes and challenges are just little crayfish trying to intimidate me with their tiny fists.  I can crush or ignore their threats.  When it comes to the big picture God knows the whole situation.  I choose to let the Lord deal with the bigger picture and not let the little challenges  of life get me down.

Romans 8:28 ESV /

    
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Crazy Creative Cottage

In Oak Forest there are many interesting sites to see.  One is not so easily seen to the public one  house that started off at Christmas display showing Disney Characters in their front window.  Initially I thought it was kind of crazy but somehow it seems that many people compare Christmas to Disney so I did not think much of it.  As the seasons changed so did the décor in the front of this house.  This spring it has an assortment of more Disney displays but also pretty fake flowers in front as well decorating  signs in the front.  The lawn is nicely trimmed as well.  I wonder what the neighbors think of this person and how they truly are in person if I met them.  But then I realize I am a lot like the Crazy Creative Cottage.  Do I conform to who I think people think I should be or do I embrace my uniqueness and just be. 

First Kings 3:12  says “Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.”

I am wise.  I ask the Lord for discernment but I rejoice in my own uniqueness and giftness.  Thank you Lord for allowing me to notice this house today.

Lessons Learned from a Struggling Tree

I was out for a walk today and I saw the strangest but most wonderful thing.  It was a tree that was cut because it had gotten in-between a fence and also was close to a power line. Instead of dying like most of the trees there  this tree refused to give up.  It continued to have limbs grow on it despite the fact that half of it had been cut down.  This tree really spoke to me about my life.   As a person that was often ignored in both my childhood and adult life it is very easy to give up and want to be just like the other trees that were in the area. Recently and in the past there have been opportunities that should of been mine but did not come to be.    But then I looked at the bark of the tree and noticed a heart that was engraved in the tree.  At one time I am sure maybe many years ago a couple had inscribed their love to one another.  Probably that couple did not exist today but I truly believe that was a physical sign to me that I need to be like that tree.  Even in the adversity of getting my branches cut I need to continue to bloom and do what I was created to do and that the difference between me and the other tree is my relationship with Christ.  No matter what happens around me and the adversity that this tree encounters being between a fence and near power

lines it continues to grow and bloom.  Hopefully I can learn from this and just do what I am supposed to do.  I see things other people don't see.  I talk to people that others don't see.  I encounter beauty others can't see.  I choose to be that tree today.  Instead of looking at the impossibilities I choose today to look for new roads ahead and see what God has planned for me.

 1Corinthians 2:9The Voice (VOICE)

⁹ But as the Scriptures say,

No eye has ever seen and no ear has ever heard
    and it has never occurred to the human heart
All the things God prepared for those who love Him.^[a]