God in a box..

I will first admit that I believe in the power of prayer.  I have seen answers to prayers, I have prayed prayers that have had answers,  I have seen miracles in people's lives because of prayer. And I know scripture tells us in Mark 11:24 "therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.", and in Psalm 37:4 "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."

I say all of that to say, I have a great desire but I am lacking in the faith to believe that God will do what He says in His word and in the desires of my heart.  Why can we as Christians pray for others believing that God will and can answer but can't believe He will do the same for us?

Why I do what I do.....

I remember several years ago sitting at a church service and being asked to share goals we had for the next year.  (I'm assuming it was a New Year's Eve or New Year's service.)  Someone had told me once that they thought I lived what I believed and because I know my heart I remember saying "I hope I can become the Christian people think I am."

While I still have a long long way to go I need to continue to work toward that goal.  I was talking to one of my student's parents last night.  We were discussing her child and I said what a joy she was to have in class.  She told how they were trying to raise her with good moral values and to be a good person and that "women of God second grade teachers helped with that".  Then she said the words that made me cry but showed me I have to continue to grow...

She just finished nursing school and said she and her husband started praying 2 years ago that when her daughter was in second grade she would have someone to nurture and love her because they knew there would be lots of changes going on with mom going to work, etc.  Then she said  God answered her prayer with me.

This is the Debbie paraphrase of her words so if she reads this I apologize for not quoting her exactly and I also thank her for helping me reinforce the decision I made to go back to teaching and most of all for helping remind me that I need to continually be working to be a great woman of God.

Debbie's Bucket List

Here is my bucket list - in no particular order.  There will edits and updates to this I'm sure :)

1.  Attend the Rose Parade
2.  Attend a football game at Neyland Stadium.  Not because I am necessarily a Vols fan but because I've heard its great fun there
3. Visit the Grand Canyon
4.  Return to Niagara Falls
5.  Visit Hawaii
6.  Attend the Kentucky Derby
7.  Visit Africa
8.  Visit Chicago
7.  I would love to live in different places for a few months at a time.  Go to places we have enjoyed visiting and live there for 6 months or so just to see what its like.  #1 the beach, #2 Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area, #3 someplace tropical (Honduras, Grand Cayman, etc)
8. Have grandchildren

Look for updates as I think of them :)

In Retrospect - 2011

It's been an interesting year.  Where to even start with all that happened?  Here are few highlights.

Regrets and Losses:
Dave and I made a covenant to pray together every night and although we did better we weren't very consistent.
 I also made a promise to myself that I would reacquaint and keep in better touch with old friends.  I am still lacking here also.
 One of my camp counselors for many years lost her earthly battle to cancer, and while we miss her here she is healthy and happy in heaven.
We sold our house and had to move quickly.
Sarah moved out and went to live with her mother 3000 miles away.  I miss her.

Blessings:
When we had to move quickly we thought we had a place to go but that fell through and we had no place to go. Thanks to a friend we found a place and we like where we are.  It's safe, warm, dry, inexpensive and quiet. In the process of this move I made a better friend who listened, prayed and cried with me.
 I changed jobs - back to the classroom from the counseling job - and though it was a difficult decision it was the right one for me.
I not only got to see my favorite Christian singer - Chris Tomlin - I got to see him on the front row.
I did reaquaint myself with one old friend and we are beginning to rebuild our friendship.
Once again I had the privilege of directing a camp at Cowen.
I got to participate with the youth on their mission trip to Brother's Keeper.
A much younger friend became a closer friend and accountability partner. I'm not sure she intended it be that way but I'm glad it worked out that way.

Accomplishments:
In a few months Dave and I will be debt-free.
I started a prayer ministry for Jr. Camp and it was very successful. It will happen again.
I met some very on-fire for Jesus young people and that makes my heart happy.
I quit my second job to free up more time to be with my husband, family and friends.

Goals for 2012:
To honor God in all I do.
Be the best teacher I can be for my students.
Be a better wife and mother.
Work on my friendships.

Here is one of my ramblings.  Probably not the most interesting post but thoughts I wanted to get off my mind as a new year begins.  Hopefully we can have some funny second grade stories in the future.

Enjoy reading.