Tuesdays

This semester, I look forward to Tuesdays simply because of good, quality time with my dear friend Megan.

For this friend I am grateful. She's beautiful. She's real. She's a great encouragement to me.

After my work at school is complete, I head over to join the Myers family for the evening. It's a privilege to jump into their lives - which on this particular Tuesday involved me making acorn-shaped biscuits. Obviously. When there is no biscuit cutter around, always, always go for the cookie cutters. The acorn shape was a nice touch for the fall.

After dinner and fellowship, Kc leaves for the remainder of the evening, and Bennett and the girls are left to hold down the fort...

"What is this large, black object with flashing lights she holds?"

"I do not know about this whole situation.

Mother, what should I do?"

There's that smile! Isn't he precious?

After a bath, it's bonding time with Mama! I loved hearing "Caps for Sale", a favorite of Bennett's. Megan's not really mad, it was just a very dramatic reading. :)

And after the little one is fast asleep, Megan and I have our own bonding time! Post-catching-up-on-each-others-lives, we pull out "Anne of Green Gables", which Megan recently found out I had never seen.

Unacceptable.

We are taking care of that, one Tuesday at a time.

Cooking with Fungus

Tonight I made stir-fry with shiitake mushrooms. This might not seem like a big deal, but for one who is typically grossed out by mushrooms, it was a huge step!

If you've never seen one, a shiitake mushroom looks like this:

It's weird. It's fuzzy. It's ginormous. And it's fungus.

It's hard to get past the fact that it's fungus. It grows on TREES. And as my roommate so thoughtfully and tactfully stated tonight, "You wouldn't want to eat fungus off of someone's foot. It IS weird."

But...thrown in with some soy sauce, rice vinegar, ginger, garlic, red pepper, shrimp, and snow peas? Delicious! I'd cook with fungus again in a heartbeat.

Ridiculous

The motto of the Boy Scouts is "Be prepared". I know this because I was one. A Boy Scout, I mean. We can have that conversation later.

So, I'm not sure if this falls under the motto, or if I just have a problem.

This week I have realized I have 4 bags of almonds in the pantry:

A multitude of chaptick:

And a plethora of hand products, most of which I pulled out of my purse the other day. Do you even know what a plethora is? (Name that movie!)

All this to say...these things will be used and will not go to waste, but I'm not sure it's necessary to...you know...have all of the above.

Just trying to do my duty as a Boy Scout, I guess.

Seriously.

A new favorite. Seriously, so good.

All natural with only five ingredients - milk, cream, sugar, eggs, and [insert flavor here]. Still crazy high in fat, but hey...sometimes it's just an ice cream kind of day!

A Bouquet of Freshly Sharpened Pencils

Freshly sharpened pencils. Brand new books. Notebook paper straight out of the package. There’s something about the smell of the start of school that just makes me happy.

Tomorrow I meet my 8^th group of kiddos that I get to spend the next 10 months with. We’ll spend the day getting to know each other, discussing procedures, and learning a bit about what life in 3^rd grade will look like...

I can’t wait.

Tomorrow I’ll greet students that might be feeling anxious, shy, ecstatic, energized, apprehensive, terrified, or giddy. All will be on their best behavior for the first day…maybe for the first three. They’ll sit up straight, raise their hands, and follow directions perfectly. But by next week true colors will begin to shine as they become more comfortable...

I can’t wait.

Tomorrow the tone of the year will be set as the students get a glimpse into the heart of their teacher. Who is this lady that will teach me? Will she be strict? Will she like me? Will she make learning fun?...

I can’t wait.

Tomorrow I’d love your prayers. See, God has given me 23 students this year on purpose. He’s given me a job to do, and I don't take that lightly. And it's only by His grace that I can do it. So please pray.

• Pray that I’ll depend on the Lord for strength, patience, and joy.
• Pray that I’ll love my students well, because God first loved me.
• Pray that I’ll extend grace to these children, since God has shown me amazing grace in His Son.
• Pray that I’ll affirm them in their strengths, help them in their weaknesses, and point them to their Creator who made them uniquely who they are.
• Pray that I won’t fall into complacency or mundane routine, but that each day would be seen as an opportunity to minister to 23 children made in the image of God.
• Pray that even in the times when I’m most exhausted, I'll remember His grace is sufficient for me.
• Pray that my students will see that I don’t have it all together.
• Pray that I’ll point them to Jesus every chance I get.
• Pray that the Lord will work in their hearts, even now softening them toward the truth of the gospel.

Tomorrow is my 8^th first day of school.

I can’t wait to see what God will do. Lord, be glorified in me.

Smile

Mourning Christian, why are you weeping?

Are you mourning over your own sins and failings?

Look to your perfect Lord,

and remember, you are complete in Him. You are in God's sight as perfect as if you had never sinned...you have the righteousness of God...remember, none of your sins can condemn you. Your standing is not in yourself, but in your Lord. So I urge you, take hold of this precious thought - perfection in Christ! Christian, let your heart rejoice, for you are "accepted in the beloved" (Ephesians 1:6) - what do you have to fear?

Keep a smile on your face!

~C. Spurgeon~

So Excited!

A preview of their new album, coming out October 4th (not that I'm a fan or anything...).

....Or, you can get it early here....which is what I did.

Not that I'm a fan or anything. :)

I couldn't figure out how to get the full picture on here - sorry it's cut off! Enjoy!