Happy New Years!

I stole this questionnaire from another blog... You can view the original here. Adam and I answered these questions over dinner this evening and these are our answers. Enjoy! And feel free to share your own answers.

A LOOK BACK AT 2012:
My favorite vacation was.... A & R - our honeymoon!
I liked listening to... A - The Civil Wars / R - KLOVE
I liked hanging out with... A - Rebecca on forever long car trips / R - Adam {Aren't we sweet?! Haha.}
My greatest accomplishment was... A - my grades / R - becoming a wife and receiving Teacher of the     Month
I learned how to... A - make my own breakfast / R - play Call of Duty
I made some extra money by... A - running sound for weddings / R - substitute teaching (during the Summer)
My favorite TV show was... A - Mad Men / R - Once Upon a Time
My favorite place to eat was... A - Wendy's / R - ??
My favorite color was... A & R - purple
My favorite treat was... A - oreo balls or Frozen River Stone / R - Frozen River Stone or oatmeal

A LOOK AHEAD TO 2013:
I want to learn how to... A - grill / R - balance work and home
I want to be better at... A - having a consistent quiet time / R - praying
I want to go to... A - ?? / R - Chattanooga (Shout out to my favorite Schelbs!)
My favorite subject in school will be... A - Greek or Theology / R - teaching
I want to try... A - a new food / R - ??
I will spend most of my time... A - thinking and reflecting / R - working
My goal is to... A - be consistent with a reading plan through his birthday (8/3) / R - keep up with the Scripture Memory Team through Beth Moore's blog; you can find out more here.

I'm thankful for all that God brought for 2012 and I look forward to 2013. Happy New Years!

Semester 1: Complete

I left my classroom today for 2 weeks... 2 whole weeks! I can hardly believe that a whole semester has passed. The teacher in me has grown so much in such a short time. No longer am I intimidated by closing the door with 20 pairs of eyes staring at me and anticipating a lesson! A little overwhelmed every once in awhile, but no longer intimidated :)

At some point throughout the semester, I stopped saying "I'm teaching this year" and began saying "I am a teacher." This seems to illustrate my growth well. Teaching isn't an easy career and it certainly is not without challenges. There were days when I thought "Why am I doing this?" or "I'm terrible at this; these poor kids!" Haha. I'm sure that those days are not over, but they have become few and far between! I have gained a little more confidence, knowledge, and love with each passing day... Oh the love for these students. I still struggle to build relationships with a few of them, but my heart is full of love and hope for these kids. Adam teases me because I call them "my kids" without even thinking about it. At their ball games, I feel myself tense up when it seems that one of "my kids" has been wronged. When one performs poorly (or successfully!) on a test, my heart feels for them! I so desire their learning and understanding!

I know that I have a long way to go. I know of a few specific things that I want to strive for next semester, such as building stronger relationships with "hard to reach" students, solid introductions and closings to each lesson, and writing better tests. There will always be improvements to be made and I know I will never stop learning!

Here are a few highlights from my semester... (These are just off the top of my head and is, by NO means, comprehensive!)

--Students testing my "coordination." This "test" ended with my eyes closed, bowing the top half of my body back and forth like an idiot ALONE in the front of my classroom :) Never a dull moment!

--Student A: Are you going to have kids with your husband? ... Well you need to hurry up!

--Student B: You're more successful than most 22 year olds.

--So many "aha" moments for my students. These are my favorites!!

--Student C: If I come to the game tonight, could I sit by you? Me: Sure! You can sit right between me and my husband. Student D: Dude, he'll totally beat you up! (No clue why they're intimidated by Adam, but it's pretty funny!)

--Receiving Teacher of the Month for October

--First time a student became confrontational with me... My response? "Do NOT argue with me. It will NOT end well." Stellar performance, truly... Haha.

--After asking the class had asked at least 15 random questions about my life, one student stated,"Mrs. Gosnell, you should just write a book." My life is not THAT interesting, sweetheart, but thank you!

When Christmas Is Hard

All of my classes have taken or will take a test this week as we try to wrap up the semester and get ready for their semester exams. I've included the bonus question, "What is your favorite part about the Christmas season?" on each test. As I've begun grading, I was touched and convicted by several who wrote that "worshiping Jesus" or "celebrating Christ's birth" was their favorite part. Was my heart in a place like that in 7th grade? More importantly, is my heart in the right place now?

I've been so frustrated with the Christmas season this year, to be honest. I wanted to be excited about Adam's and my first Christmas together, but I've been tired and unmotivated. Our tree is up (thank you, Adam!), but I haven't decorated it. I've only bought gifts for 3 people (out of 10ish that I intend to buy for). I'm not counting down the days. I'm nervous about going home because of family stress. Etc, etc, etc... A part of me wishes that we could skip Christmas this year.

But my students reminded me that the decorations, the gifts, even spending time with family is not what Christmas is really about. Christmas is a time to celebrate and to remember the joy of Christ's coming. Jesus left heaven and became a little baby... He left comfort and glory to find cold and rejection... He chose to become flesh... Why? So that He could die. So that He could die and we could become sons and daughters of the King. That's what Christmas is really about. I don't need a tree or gifts to say "Thank you." I don't have to count down, because I can worship every day. I don't even need to worry about the brokenness in my family because the King of the World came and brought healing. He is the reason that Christmas is important.

So when Christmas is hard this year, I'll remember why Christmas is worth it. When Christmas is hard, I'll seek Christ's healing. When Christmas is hard, I'll look away from the presents and decorations and I'll look up.

Happiness Is...

Having read these blogs, The Schelbs and The LPM blog, here is my own list!

Happiness is... couch time with Adam every afternoon.

Happiness is... hearing one of my students exclaim, "I get it now."

Happiness is... leaving work earlier than usual (before 5 p.m.).

Happiness is... spontaneous ice cream dates with Adam.

Happiness is... sweat pants and warm socks.

Happiness is... looking through our wedding pictures over and over.

Happiness is... watching our nephew ride his tricycle around the dining room.


Happiness is... a phone call from my little sister.

Happiness is... reunions with my favorite girls from OBU (Dec. 28, here we come!).

Joy is... grieving but WITH HOPE... knowing my husband's sweet friend is now worshiping at Jesus' feet with no more pain.

Joy is... praying and trusting that "the trials of this life are [His] mercies in disguise."

Recognizing Love in All Languages

I know that I have no business giving marriage advice :) We've only been married a few short months, but I believe that God showed this truth to me and I wanted to share it.

Adam was in the shower and I heard him call to me. He didn't hear my "Yes?" from the other room, but I quickly remembered that he was out of shampoo. So I pulled out the new bottle (still in the bag from my errands last night) and went to pass it over the curtain, "Is this what you needed?" "Yes," he replied, "I love you too!" I smiled...

I later realized that when I brought Adam shampoo, he recognized this as an act of service. By doing so, I communicated "I love you" to him and he responded by saying "I love you TOO."

I was so humbled by that. Do I recognize when he is communicating "I love you" to me? Too many times I just rush right on instead of taking time to stop and communicate "I love you too." I don't stop to thank Adam for cleaning up the apartment. Or I take over when he offers to cook dinner. Or I blow him off when he says I'm pretty. (That last one sounds much more terrible in print than I had imagined :/)

Love is a journey. It's humbling and scary and exciting all at the same time. I love you too, Adam Gosnell.

Young Theologians

Recently, I looked at Adam's bookshelf (very tall, very full, and very intimidating) and asked him to recommend something to me. I haven't enjoyed very much time to read since school started, but I decided that I just needed to make time! So Adam made a few suggestions and I fingered through them for a couple of days before deciding on "A Little Exercise for Young Theologians" by Helmut Thielicke.

Let me preface that I do not claim to be a young theologian... although I'm sure some would argue that all Christians are (in some sense) also theologians. Perhaps I should say that I don't claim to be a young theologian from an academic standpoint. In other words, I'm not taking theology classes and no one is waiting on me to translate Galatians 6. However, my sweet husband is. I chose this book in an effort to understand Adam more and to show my support for his calling. His calling (and as a result, my own calling) is very unique and, as I learned from Thielicke, presents some very unique challenges. I'd like to share with you the two that stood out to me the most.

Thielicke believes in a "theological puberty." He says that because young theologians are learning so much at once, it's almost like buying a young child pants that are two sizes too big. We expect him to grow into them, but we don't expect him to model! Thielicke goes far enough to say that "it is a mistake for anyone who is just in this stage to appear before a church as a teacher... During the period when the voice is changing we do not sing, and during this formative period in the life of the theological student he does not preach" (Thielicke, 12). There are several implications here, but there is one that particularly applies to my every day life - not everything my husband says is gospel. I know that those of you who have been married awhile are thinking "Well DUH!" And believe me, I know that he is not right about everything :) But Adam goes to class, studies the Greek or Hebrew, reads a million books, thinks about all these things, etc, etc. and when he forms an idea about something theological, it's tempting to accept it and move on! Please don't misunderstand, I'm not a pushover. I have plenty of ideas. But the fact remains that this is something that I struggle with and Thielicke seemingly "hit the nail on the head" for how I should think and react to my husband's journey right now.

The second point that struck me from Thielicke's book is that young theologians (and theologians, in general) face very specific temptations as a direct result of their theological journey. It was enlightening to become aware of these temptations and learn a) to support my husband through this struggle and b) to offer consistent grace in these areas.

If you are a young theologian or you happen to love a young theologian, I recommend "A Little Exercise for Young Theologians," by Helmut Thielicke. I think his thoughts will encourage you and perhaps help you understand this journey better!

Facebook Rules

We recently attended in-service for the Ouachita School District. An AR attorney spoke to us about social media, ways to protect our students, and ways to protect ourselves. These are his Facebook "rules". He was  very entertaining, but also extremely informative and I think these are good practices to adopt even if you are not a teacher. He reminded us that Facebook or any other social media becomes a permanent record of who you are (or were :/), what you are thinking, or doing. He's seen people's Facebook posts used against them in court as well as grounds for termination of their job. So here they are...

1. Post happy! <Don't be critical of anyone or anything, ESPECIALLY your job.>
2. Not at work... <Don't post while you're at work! The world doesn't understand that you have a lunch break or a free period. They only see that you're online posting instead of supervising/teaching their kid.>
3. Do NOT post about your ex.
4. NO threats! <To anyone or about anything! Even if you're "joking," it doesn't look that way in print.>
5. Not about work. <Do not post about students, school-related incidents, etc. Winning a sports game or something that would be publicized in the newspaper would be exceptions to this rule.>
6. No more than four! <Do not post more than four times a day.>
7. No check-in or four-square... <Hello, stalkers and burglars!>
8. N.W.K.A. <Not with kids around! Parents often do not spend enough time with their kids in the first place. Don't waste your few opportunities by being on Facebook.>