Day 1 = Conquered!

So today was my first day teaching. I'm a teacher... When did that happen?! It went pretty well! I forgot a few things, but doesn't everyone? I think I had fun. Now that my "first day stress" has passed, I can say that! Here are few highlights from my day:

--- I'm not used to talking that much during the day... I was hoarse by 9 a.m., no joke!

--- I have a large tumbler that I took today with water in it. Well holding the tumbler and talking with my hands is not a good combination! Haha. Definitely forgot to close the lid and spilled water all over the floor. We just laughed it off in that class and then I used it as a "hey, want to know something embarrassing that happened?" story later.

--- Part of what my students had to do today was to come up with three words that described their personality. One student decided his best word was "attractive." I corrected him to "confident" :) Junior high boys... What can you say?

--- I was asked if I had kids. I guess that's a compliment?

--- I learned that 30 minute lunches FLY by. I felt like I blinked and it was over!

I know some of these are not the most exciting stories to hear about my first day, but that's all I've got. Everything was pretty standard, which is a good thing! So thankful for this opportunity and the grace/strength that God has provided every step of the way. All glory is His!

Dear OBU Class of 2016,

Today may be a hard day for many of you. There are often many tears shed at the end of one journey and the beginning of a new one. Let them be happy tears though! Have no doubt that God has prepared you for this moment. He will walk you through every step of the way. So cry your tears (Mom needs to know you'll miss her), but dry them afterwards and get ready for an amazing journey.

As a 2012 graduate, I have to admit that I'm a little jealous of you today! God gave me so much at Ouachita - including true friends, mentors for a lifetime, an education that prepared me to enter the career of my dreams, and a wonderful husband to top it all off :) Don't get me wrong, it wasn't all easy. I spent the first semester of my Mathematics degree crying in my professor's office. One of the blessings of Ouachita is that it was that same professor who encouraged me to remain in the Mathematics department and that same professor who took a picture with me on graduation day after I completed that Mathematics degree. I also experienced some very difficult spiritual and emotional growth during my time at Ouachita. God will use this time to grow you to be more like Christ. He will challenge you and He will encourage you.

Many of you may meet your future spouse at Ouachita. Many of you will not. God has it all planned out for you! Some of you may get saved during these next four years. Hopefully all of you will grow spiritually more than you ever have. Many of you will change your career goal. Professors and friends may bring out the best and the worst in you. You will learn about yourself and you will learn about your God.

I am praying for you as you begin this incredible journey. It's going to be a good ride!

PD, In-service, and Little Children

Professional Development (PD) and in-service come with the territory of being a teacher. Professional Development consists mainly of conferences and workshops designed to help us be better teachers through learning different strategies, new research, etc. In-service happens within a teacher's school and communicates state guidelines/requirements as well as information that is relevant for that district and specific school.

These meetings and workshops can be very boring and sometimes repetitive. I imagine the repetitiveness will be particularly frustrating after one has been teaching for several years. However, as a first year teacher, I have the advantage of feeling "fresh" and "curious" and "excited" about everything! I take notes, I try to be attentive, and (dare I say it?) I enjoy learning these things! I'm very open to suggestions and advice from others. (Granted, I don't always follow them, but I'll gladly listen :)) Wouldn't it be awesome if I were always like this? Certainly I don't want to always be a first-year... I'll be very thankful when my big "firsts" of teaching are over for a little while! But I want to keep this freshness and curiosity. I want to listen well and to be open to new ideas.

As I was thinking about this post, God reminded me of the verse in Matthew 18:3 that reads "And he said: I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven." Jesus loves little children! He encouraged them to come near to him and to spend time with them. One characteristic of little children is that they are always curious, always asking questions, always AMAZED by something... even the simplest things. Perhaps this is one of the characteristics He was thinking of when He said we all need to become like them. What if we were always curious about Jesus? Always asking questions to learn more? Always AMAZED by His greatness?!

Oh Father, teach me to be continually amazed... Help me to become like a little child.

Recently.

Apparently I've been away from my blog for almost 2 weeks... When did those 2 weeks happen?! No seriously. I've debated for a couple of days now about what to blog about. I felt like I should have something wonderful and witty, but alas. It's just me :)

We're pretty settled into our apartment now. There are still a couple of "Where do I put this?!" stacks, but other than that it looks good! It definitely feels like home and that is what's most important! My favorite things are probably our new couch (Thank you, Wright grandparents!), our Mona Lisa puzzle (glued together and framed), and beautiful sconces that we hung today (Thank you, Nikolaishens!).

As Adam gets ready for apartment residents to move in (he's the apartment manager here) and for his classes to begin, I am getting ready to teach! This past week I was at a workshop for a couple of days as well as in my classroom. It's recently painted and it's slowly beginning to feel like my classroom. My list of questions for my principal that I started yesterday has grown longer and longer! I feel like all of a sudden there were a million things that just hit me. Shouldn't I know this already?! Oh well. I'm sure there will be a million more questions by the time school starts! I also had my first phone call from a parent/guardian. Let me just say, they left out the part about "This is what to say/how to respond to parents/guardians" during my time in college.

In other news, Adam has volunteered to make dinner tonight! He makes a pretty mean spaghetti, so I'm looking forward to it :) So blessed to be married to this sweet man!

God and Horton

Adam and I LOVE "Horton Hears a Who"... Well... maybe I LOVE "Horton Hears a Who." Adam graciously puts up with my obsession :) My nickname for him became "Horton" after we saw "Seussical the Musical" at OBU pretty early in our relationship and it's stuck. I even received a stuffed elephant for Valentines that hangs out on our bed even now!

Anyways, back to my point. The Mayor of Whoville and Horton "get in touch" pretty early in the movie. The Mayor quickly believes that Horton exists and that he is doing everything he can to protect the people of Whoville. But the hard part is convincing the rest of the people... Some people don't believe it until they hear Horton's voice! Bear with me. In our case, God is more similar to Horton and I think we are very similar to the people of Whoville. We are floating around on a speck of dust with no regard for the one sustaining our every breath. Something to think about...

Do you remember the part where the "Who's" have to yell so that Horton's friends will believe him? As loud as they can, the whole city of Whoville yells "We are here, we are here, we are here." I enjoy this part because I think the people of Whoville are just so cute and I love the sweet moment with the Mayor and his son. But it's also been stuck in my head lately because I think we should be listening to God saying the same thing to us! He is here, He is here, He is here... I've tried to make a habit of choosing to acknowledge His presence more intentionally each day.

Abba, I acknowledge you today. Thank you for sustaining my every breath. Help me to be more like Christ of Your presence in my life.

My Chains are Gone

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind, but now I see
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed

My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace

The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures

My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy rains
Unending love, Amazing grace

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, Who called me here below
Will be forever mine
Will be forever mine
You are forever mine

So We Got Married!

"Our wedding will not be perfect. Ppl may not be impressed. But if God is glorified, it will be enough. #hardlessons"

I tweeted this on June 28, 16 days before our wedding. And I think we pulled it off. ;) My Dad said it perfectly when he said "God showed up and showed out." Needless to say, we LOVED our wedding day!!! Everything about it... from the surprisingly relaxing morning to sweet phone calls from dear friends who were away to saying "I do." I wouldn't have changed a thing! (Okay, fine. There were a couple of things I would have changed, but nothing major ;))

The day went by SO quickly. I found myself (especially during the ceremony) trying to slow my brain down and just take it all in. After the reception, Adam and I drove to Little Rock to our hotel. The drive was about an hour and we spent this time reveling in the fact we were married, sharing stories from the part of the day we spent apart, and making a list of things we wanted to specifically remember about the wedding! Adam also prayed over us and our marriage. It was a very sweet time and I wish I had a "videographic" memory to replay it over and over!

There are so many things that I wish I could share or express... Time is just too short and my vocabulary fails me! I'll close with this. The blessings, service, and encouragements poured out on us from sweet family and friends was nothing short of incredible. Few times have I felt and seen such love. Both sets of parents stayed up late finishing the reception decor on Friday night (while Adam and I "partied" at the Bachelor and Bachelorette parties no less). Grandparents traveled 5-13 hours to be with us. And we had the most amazing wedding party! They were awesome. The Groomsmen named themselves "the posse" and told Adam they'd do everything he needed. My bridesmaids picked things up for me, transported luggage, corseted my dress (unplanned), etc, etc. They were incredible. They are extremely special to me and I miss them dearly!

I'll try to post pictures when I have them. And there will be a Honeymoon post coming soon!