Giving Thanks

• One of my sweet students had been absent for two weeks, but they are back now!
• Pencil sharpeners
• Conference periods when I actually get to PLAN
• Perspective
• God has a perfect plan.
• God doesn't expect us to know every piece of the plan :)
• Apparently my nephew said my name when he saw my picture! (We're still working on him saying it when I'm present. Haha. He doesn't see us often, so he's a little shy.)
• Letting go
• Sleep!!!
• Women who love and support me.
• Spring break is almost here!

Oh Junior High... :)

7th period has ended and my last group of students are finding their way into our classroom. One student comments to me, "You won't even believe what's about to happen." I raised an eyebrow, but I didn't think too much of it... He's a 9th grade boy, after all ;) The bell rings. Students began their Bellwork assignment and I began checking through the roll. "Where's student X?," I ask. "Mmm." was the response that I received. I knew that it was unusually quiet and I was slowly putting the pieces together... My suspicions were confirmed when I began (trying) to go over our Bellwork. My students (sweet angels) decided to be "mute" during class. I was pretty intense with them the day before because they were talking TOO much and so this was their response. Once we established that ignoring a direct question from me was not an option, class was just fine! It was a little boring because they didn't interact with me as much, but we accomplished a lot! Haha.

The "mute" class was 8th period on Thursday. Word must have gotten around, because my 7th period class tried the same thing today... They lost in the first five minutes!

Also heard during my classes recently:

• "My ears are ringing." "Well answer them!"
• Songs from the movie "Pitch Perfect".
• "Student A, what in the world are you doing?" "My pencil is broken. I'm trying to fix it." "Well, you don't take notes anyways, so why do you need a pencil?!"
• "Mrs. Gosnell, why don't you ever straighten your hair?"
• "The book says we should work with a partner!" "When your book stands up to teach this class, then you can work with a partner."

Ch. 1: The Greatest Challenge In the World

I've recently begun reading "Sacred Marriage" by Gary Thomas. So far it's pretty good, so I'd like to journal my thoughts after each chapter. And if I'm going to spend all that time journaling, why not use it as a blog post? So here we are with chapter 1! I'll just bullet point the thoughts that meant the most to me. (All quotes are from the book unless stated otherwise).

• The overarching question or challenge in the book is this, "What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?" (Umm, thanks for ruining my honeymoon phase). In all seriousness, though, Adam and I tried to be honest about this reality before we walked down the aisle - we will not always be happy in our marriage. When Adam asked me to marry him, both sets of our parents were having marital problems... Through watching our sets of parents struggle, we learned that there will be days when the marriage covenant is all you have left. And on those days, that covenant has to be enough.
• "Romantic love... can never be stretched; it simply shatters. Mature love... must stretch, as the sinful human condition is such that all of us bear conflicting emotions." I know that Adam and I haven't been "tested" yet in mature love. I know that we're still in our honeymoon phase and that we experience romantic love much more often than mature love. But that's okay. When the testing does come, I believe our love will stretch.
• Thomas writes about 1 Corinthians 7:2 when Paul says, "It is good for a man not to marry, but since there is so much immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband." Yes, the Greek is referring to sexual relations and the "immorality" is mainly lust, but Thomas suggests that marriage confronts more immorality that just lust, not the least of which being our human selfishness!
• Thomas' final words in this chapter deal with not expecting too much from a marriage. Marriage will never completely satisfy or fulfill someone - it was never intended to do so. Marriage will not remove my insecurity issues or magically make me a perfect wife - it was never intended to do so. My husband can't be God to me and I can't be God to him.

Mrs. Gosnell, Are You Pregnant?

First of all, N.O. I am NOT pregnant. It seems like that's everyone's first question. Or maybe just my family's and my students'.

A couple of weeks ago, I missed 2 days of work. I left for a family emergency and so most people weren't sure where I was or even how long I would be gone. When I returned, a sweet 7th grade boy approached me looking a little anxious. We'll call him MJ...

Me: What's up, MJ?
MJ: Mrs. Gosnell... I... I'm sorry. I just have to ask you a question.
Me: Ok?
MJ: Mrs. Gosnell, everyone's saying that you're pregnant. Is that true? Are you pregnant?
Me: No, MJ. No, I'm not. Thanks though??

Poor kid. Apparently while I was away, one of my students decided that the only plausible explanation was that I was pregnant. The rumor spread like wildfire from there. My substitute said she heard students talking about it in every class period. Haha.

Even when I first started teaching in August, my students were asking when I was going to have a baby. They think that I'm SUPPOSED to be pregnant just because I'm married. Adam suggested that the reason is that they are not often around married couples who don't have kids. Whatever the reason, I guess it keeps me humble! :)

That Cheesy Post

That Cheesy Post That People Say They Don't Want to Read

You know the ones... I tell you all about how wonderful my husband is, how blessed I am to have him, how God knew exactly what I needed/wanted in a man, etc, etc. You say "Ugh, mushy, no one wants to hear that!" But you read it anyways. I know... Because I do it too. So here we go.

I came home yesterday to a teddy bear sitting on our table with roses in its lap. Adam met me at the door and told me that he also bought the oreos (I requested these instead of chocolates). We then walked into the kitchen together. I think he was hugging me when I looked up and saw a new spice rack sitting on the counter (with our spices already set up perfectly). I literally started jumping up and down! Our spices have been in a large bowl on our counter since we got married and it drove me crazy. It took forever to find anything and I always made a huge mess! Now I have a beautiful spice rack that spins around so that I can find things easily! Great job, husband!!! Adam later told me that he was pretty sure he'd nailed it because he had appealed to my cute side (the teddy bear), the romantic side (roses), the thoughtful side (my oreos), and the functional side (the spice rack). He was pretty proud of himself, haha. And he should have been! I was a very happy Valentine!!! And then we were able to spend the whole evening together at home, which we love!

So there it is... my cheesy post. :P

Ten Things Tuesday: All about Water

1. I must first explain that the reason for this craziness is a "water challenge" at work. I thought I already drank a lot of water... I also thought that I already went to the bathroom a lot. I was wrong.

2. The goal is to drink the half of your weight in ounces of water each day. For example, if you weigh 200 pounds, you should drink 100 oz of water each day.

3. I'm supposed to drink 67.5 oz each day... I weighed 138 at the doctor yesterday, but don't tell anyone, okay? Thanks :)

4. Drinking water is supposed to improve your weight, overall health, etc.

5. I haven't noticed any differences so far... Granted, I've been fighting a headache problem for the past week so I haven't felt well anyways. A new medication seemed to do the trick today, so maybe I'll be able to get a better idea this week.

6. I go to the bathroom ALL the time.

7. The most annoying time for a bathroom break is either A) while teaching a class <awkward> or B) within an hour of the time that I need to get up.

8. Don't use the water fountain by the office. Gray water is NOT okay.

9. I found an app called "Water Lite" where I record how much I drink each day. My current overall grade is 87.3%. I also received an achievement after using the app for 7 days - special, I know.

10. I only drank flavored water (if any at all) until 3 or 4 years ago. I always claimed "I don't like water."

Being a Grownup Stinks Sometimes

This past week has been emotionally draining... My heart is full. I want to pour it out and explain, but I can't. There has been hurt and heartache, but there is healing and hope on the way. God has been faithful. He is always faithful... God has used these words to comfort me this week, so I wanted to share them.

Psalm 147:3-5 (ESV) ... emphasis is mine

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure."

Worn, by Tenth Avenue North ... emphasis is mine

"I'm tired, I'm worn... My heart is heavy... From the work it takes to keep on breathing. I've made mistakes... I've let my hope fail. My soul feels crushed by the weight of this world. And I know that You can give me rest... So I cry out with all that I have left. ... Let me see redemption win. Let me know the struggle ends... That You can mend a heart that's frail and torn. I wanna know a song can rise from the ashes of a broken life. And all that's dead inside can be reborn... Cause I'm worn."