Thanksgiving Challenge:

I am thankful for the pile of laundry and ironing, because it means we have clothes to wear.

Thankgiving Challenge: Day Two

I am thankful for a job that I love.

Thankgiving Challenge: Day One

I am thankful for the beautiful sunshine.

Prayers

Every morning, I receive an email containing a devotion. So last week as I was home recuperating from surgery, this is the devotion I received. (At the end, I will tell you why this touched me.)



Jesus assures us that our prayers will be answered: “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you” (Matt. 7:7, NRSV). Yet sometimes we wonder. We may pray that a broken relationship be healed, that a loved one recover from serious illness, that a friend succeed in some new venture—but then things don’t turn out as we had hoped. We wonder if our prayers were answered. Or even heard. Can we believe Jesus’ promise, “For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matt. 7:8, NRSV)? “Everyone”? Every time?


How Our Prayers Are Answered


God’s response to prayer is not always what we expect. Sometimes the answer is hard to discover. Sometimes it is hard to accept. But if we listen with care, we will discern the answer. It may take any of these forms:


1. God may say yes.
When our prayer for others or for ourselves coincides with the good that God wills for our lives, we may find that what we sought actually comes to pass. We rejoice in God’s goodness and give thanks for gifts received.


2. But God may answer our prayer with no.
What we request may run at cross purposes to the divine will for human life. Or, even though good in itself, there may be a still greater good that God is preparing for our lives. God’s no is hard to accept. We may be confused, even angry. Our trust in God may waver. Yet, if we continue to listen, we will surely find the meaning in God’s denial and find the yes beyond the no.


3. Or God may say wait.
God is not in as big hurry as we are. We may not yet be ready for what we think we need.
We may need to do some more growing first, to prepare the way for God’s gift. We may need to change some circumstance in our lives before we could even begin to use what God has to offer. And in waiting, we may learn to pray a different prayer, to seek and find what is more in keeping with God’s will for our lives.


4. Or God may respond, not with what we sought, but with something better.
It may be something we might never have thought of on our own. This is often the case. With our limited view of human needs, we pray for one thing, only to discover the “answer” is quite another. We may not even see this answer at first, or if we see it, we may be disappointed. But as we live into this new answer, we often find it is far richer, deeper, more lasting than anything we had in mind.




Now, my part…


Last April, I was praying for a teaching job for the 2011-2012 school year. I started planning my summer and was thinking about a part-time job through the summer. I know a lady who is a store manager at a local grocery store so I emailed this lady and she told me that if she had an opening, she would call me.
Middle of May
She emails me and tells me she has a part-time position if I was interested. So, I went in and filled out the application and interviewed all in one day. They called and offered me the job and I started two weeks later. I never dreamed I would work at a grocery store but Jamie told me just do it for the summer.
Ok, First day arrives and I go in to do so training. When I come out of the training room, this man introduces himself to be as the District Manager. He proceeds to ask me if I know how to use different computer programs. I told him that I had an education degree and I used a lot of them programs going through college. He said, “I may have a job for you.” Fast forward two weeks, it was near the end of the time to turn in application for teaching positions so I said something to my friend. She told me to come and talk to him that next Monday. Never talking or have seen this man since my first day, I was extremely nervous.
I go and talk to him. He explains the job (which sounds wonderful), the hours (WONDERFUL!), and the pay. Ok, Jamie and I had discussed pay because I did not want to make a wrong decision by taking this job and not applying for a teaching job. He offered me the amount we had discussed (WONDERFUL).I agreed not to put in for any teaching jobs this school year. He asked me to start the next Monday.
I started that next week and I loved my new job. But, I started questioning whether I had made the right decision.


Here are three reasons I KNOW I made the right decision:


1. All teaching position, this year, are one year contracts so next May I would be looking for a job again.


2. I work 7:30-1:30 Monday through Friday, so I still have a family life.


3. Two weeks before school started, I found out that I would need surgery (a later post).


So, Did God answer my prayers? Yes, but not the way I asked but something so much better.

Sixth Grade Graduation at Tanner High School

I completed a maternity leave at Tanner High School this spring. It was for a sixth grade teacher. I really got attached to all of the students. On May 26, I went to watch them "graduate". Here are a few pictures of the day.

Mrs. Poole and Mr. Owens, two great people.

One of my favorite students!

Getting their awards!

One of the best!

One of the best!

One of the best!

A sweetheart!

Mr. Tucker calling out the names of the "graduates".

I enjoyed seeing all of the students dressed up. I told them I would come back in SIX years and watch them received their "REAL" diplomas.

This was an awesome group of students and I enjoyed every minute I spend with them.



What Is A Grandmother

Author: Unknown

A grandmother is a remarkable woman.

She's a wonderful combination of warmth and kindness, laughter and love.

She overlooks our faults, encourages our dreams, and praises our every success.

A grandmother has the wisdom of a teacher, the sincerity of a true friend, and the tenderness of a mother.

She's someone we admire, respect and love very much.

A grandmother will always have a cherished place in our memories and in our hearts.

She's someone for whom we want every happiness in return for the joy she always brings.

A grandmother is all the dear and precious things in life...

When she's a grandmother like you.

Mrs. Joyce Whitt

This post is very special to me.

Let me begin 30 years ago. When I came to live with my grandparents at the age of 5, there was a very special lady at church that began loving me like I was her granddaughter. (She and my grandmother were great friends.) She would bring me “special” things to church. She always had a big smile on her face and she made you feel like you were the only person in the world. To tell you how special she was-- her and her husband sit where my grandparents would have sit at my wedding. She has been sick along time. Last summer, she was in rehab and I took my boys to see her. She was tickled to death to see them. On April 22, 2011 on my way home from school, I called my grandmother to check in and she told me that Mrs. Joyce Whitt had died. I was in total shock. That whole weekend was an emotional roller coaster. On Easter Sunday, I went to her funeral. What a sad day!


I will miss her so much.