"Calm My Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow

One of my lovely coworkers loaned me this book when I was going through some struggles this year. The table of contents caught my eye right off the bat. Chapter 10: Trusting God with the What Ifs. Chapter 11: Trusting God with the If Onlys. Chapter 12: Trusting God with the Whys. I struggle with those things all the time.
Unfortunately I didn't get to read the book and I need to return it to her soon. But I was able to catch some of the things she highlighted when she read the book. I now have this book on my amazon wish list. It is one I will probably get sometime soon.

Here are some of the highlighted statements that caught my eye.

"We can only trust God when our focus is on Him and not on our circumstances." 

"If we are to find contentment in the midst of trial and uncertainty, we must accept our situation as being purposely allowed into our lives by a personal and loving God."

Psalm 92.1

Are you giving thanks to the Lord on a regular basis? Lately I feel like I've been grumbling more than thanking the Lord. Since I've noticed that I'm trying to be more purposeful in how much I thank the Lord for all He has done for me. And let me tell you, He has done a lot for me. 

I really should take pictures with my better camera. Oh well next time. 

Oh Wow!

I wish I could have kept it this clean while I was teaching in there! 

It was a very strange feeling to look at my cleaned out classroom as I left to turn in my keys. I've been teaching in this classroom for the past 4 years. There have been some fantastic memories in this classroom. I'm so thankful for the time God gave me to teach at RVC. I always knew I wanted to teach there. In my senior yearbook (from RVC) I had to tell where I'd be in the next 10 years and I said, "go to a Christian college, get married, and teach at RVC." Two out of three! :) RVC is like home to me. The teachers, especially the elementary teachers, are like family. Over the last 6 years I knew that I could go to any one of them and talk about anything. We shared a lot of laughter and tears over the last few years. I know that God put each of them in my life for a reason. Not only were they look friends and peers, but they were all amazing godly examples. Whenever I came to them with a struggle they pointed me right to Christ. God is so good! 

It is hard to say goodbye, but at the same time I'm excited to see what God has in store for me down the road. 

Who can be against us?

Such a great reminder. 

No matter what is going on in our lives, God is still for us. Nothing can hurt us. That's not to say things won't be hard. We still need to lean on Him. Safe in His arms. 

Micah 6.8

The markers didn't turn out the way I was hoping. I think I'll use watercolors next time. Hopefully that will make it less streaky. 

Trust

Lots of changes going on right now. I need this reminder to trust God. He has everything in His hands and I know that He won't let me fall. 

The packing has begun

Well, school is out. My grades and end of the year paperwork is all turned in. Now for the huge job of packing. Starting with my classroom and then will start on my house next week after a quick trip to Seattle to visit Lindsay and her family.
I didn't realize I had SO much stuff in my classroom! Obviously there are a lot of things that aren't mine in my classroom, but I bought a lot out of my own pocket. Books, books, books. I have at least 5 boxes of books that are mine. Not huge boxes, but still it is a lot of books. And I totally have more books at home. What can I say, I love books! There are a lot of things I'm not shipping to Wisconsin right now since I know I won't need them for teaching 1st and 2nd grade. I figure I can keep them in storage for a while. I'm honestly not sure how long I'll be in Wisconsin. A year for sure, but beyond that I have no idea. Just want to follow what God has planned.

I was able to get in contact with one of my new coworkers and she sent me a few pictures of the classroom I'm going to be using. I needed a little idea of how much space I have. It turns out that I have two rooms. Both are on the small size, but I'll take what I can get! It is fun to start thinking about how I'm going to set it up. The bright green walls in the extra room are a little shocking. I'll have to figure out how to tone that down a little. :)
If you think of me, please pray. Pray that I'll be able to get everything done that I need to do and that I won't get overwhelmed by all of it. I'm excited for this new adventure. (just trying not to think about the sad part of leaving yet)

Movies

I have a movie fetish. I love buying movies. I buy them long after they come out on DVD so they are usually under $10. I love going to Walmart to look for cheap movies! Since my collection has grown I'm able to watch movies in a thread. By thread I mean I see how I can connect movies by actors/actresses. I'm trying to see how long of a thread I can come up with.

Here is my current thread:

1. Sherlock Holmes
2. Miss Pedigrew Lives for a Day
3. The Wedding Date
4. Pirates of the Caribbean
5. The Tourist
6. The Holiday
7. Sense and Sensibility
8. Two Weeks Notice
9. The Lake House
10. Must Love Dogs
11. Serenity (had a little help from IMDB to figure this one out) 

Each movies connects to the one before by one actor or actress. And I try not to use the same actor or actress twice in a row. I know I'm a little weird. But I think it is a fun way to figure out what movie to watch.

Romans 12:12

I LOVE THIS ONE! 

I've been having so much fun trying out different writing styles. 

Be Still

Its a little wild, but I like it. 

I might add a little more color to it. 

Faith Hope and Love

Just doodling

Colossians 3:17

Having fun in my sketchbook. Trying to keep my eyes on Jesus. 

(oops, its a little fuzzy)

Label: Encouraging

As I've posted before, the last month or so has been full of some discouragement at work. I've had times when I've felt trampled over on a number of occasions. But in the last few weeks God has brought a lot of encouragement into my life. I'm so thankful that He hears our prayers and comes to our rescue. As a result of this hard time I've started a new label in my email account. (I'm kinda a crazy email labeler. If I save it it gets a label and leaves my inbox) My new label is "encouraging." For those times when I need to read something encouraging I can just pop into that file and remember the people God has put into my life and see how they have pointed me to Christ. God has truly blessed me with the people He has put in my life. So many godly people who point me to Christ.

Feeling Blessed

I had such a wonderful birthday yesterday. God is so good. He knew that I needed a day full of blessings. I've been so focused on the negative lately that I'd lost sight of how much God is blessing me on a daily basis. During my quiet time yesterday morning I prayed that I would be able to see God's many blessings and He did just that. I was blessed by texts, calls, facebook notes, a coffee delivery, hugs, and former students singing. I'm so thankful that God gave me that day of reminders of how much He loves me and all of the people in my life who love me too. Now instead of focusing on the negative around me...or the possibility of negative things happening (because that is what I was starting to do a lot)... I'm looking for the many blessings from above.

Take refuge in Him!

It is hard to not let people steal your joy! 

Only hours after deciding to not let my joy be stolen I heard from that same mom again at school. I was completely deflated. I'm so thankful for those who are praying for me and encouraging me through this. I need to leave it in God's hands. It is so easy to try to take care of it on my own, but that has obviously failed so now I need to give it to the Lord. 

Psalm 5:11-12But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;    let them ever sing for joy,and spread your protection over them,    that those who love your name may exult in you. For you bless the righteous, O Lord;    you cover him with favor as with a shield.

Keeping scripture close at hand today!  

Don't steal my joy!

Was struggling this morning with a parent of one of my students. It seems like I get an upset email from her at least once a week, and lately more than once a week. There doesn't seem to be a way to please her when it comes to her child. The sad thing is that this situation is causing me to want school to finish sooner. I don't want my last few weeks at RVC to be like that! I want to enjoy my students and coworkers while I can! So my prayer right now is that I won't lose site of the joy I have in being here at RVC.

Lord,
     Protect my heart. Satan is trying to bring me down. Help me to focus on the truth and your love. I pray that I will be able to stay focused on finishing well at RVC and that you will be glorified. Please soften the heart of this mom and give me and the school's administrators wisdom as we work with her. I pray that I will find joy in everything I do here at school for the next few weeks. Thank you for the blessing of teaching here and the wonderful students you have given to me.
                       In Jesus Name, Amen.

Evening at home

Was a little anti-social this weekend.

Some of my favorite times at home involve these things! 

A Big Change

My grandma and I making pie last summer. 

       It is hard to believe that there are only 2 full weeks left of school! (I'm totally not counting the last week of school -- it consists of a big party on one day and a half day) Usually at this time I'm super excited about summer coming. This year I am excited about summer, but at the same time I'm feeling sad. This last day of school this year will be my last day teaching at RVCS. I've been teaching at RVCS for 6 years and it has been so much fun! Leaving is hard for me to do, but at the same time I'm excited about what the future holds.
       Where am I going? Wisconsin! I've accepted a job at a small Christian school around the corner from my grandparent's house. For the last few years I've thought about moving there to help them out. They are in their early 90s and probably shouldn't be living on their own anymore. I thought about going out there last year, but a teaching job wasn't open anywhere around and I need to work. I prayed about it and the door just seemed to be closed.
       Apparently that closed door was only temporary. This January the door flew open. I wasn't expecting it. It is neat when you can look back and see how God is working in your life. His plan is so much better than mine. I was asked by my grandparent's pastor to consider the 1st/2nd grade teaching position at their school. I prayed a lot about it and applied. I figured I'd apply and see what would happen. I continued to pray for the Lord's leading and peace. In February, or March...can't remember which month it was, I heard from the school about a phone interview. After the phone interview I flew out there during my spring break, touring the school, and had another interview. 2 days later they offered me the teaching position. Whoa!! More praying!
       So many thoughts were going through my head. As I went into that tour and interview I prayed for lightning from the Lord. Lightning didn't come though. There was no absolute clear sign of what I should do. My friends and family asked me how it went and what I was thinking about doing. I didn't know how to respond. So I kept praying. About a week after my trip to Wi I felt an incredible peace about teaching in Wi. It was such an amazing feeling.
       Needless to say, my grandparents are thrilled. I told them I'd be moving out there in July and they wondered why I was waiting so long! Ha! I'm so excited to be able to spend time with them and hopefully be a blessing to them. But at the same time I'm sad to leave my parents, sister, Danika, friends, and school.
       Ca is definitely home for me. This move to Wisconsin is going to be shocking I'm sure. I wonder how this California girl is going to do at shoveling snow for several months out of the year?!

Sad

It's sad when you hold your breath every time you check your school email because there might be an email from the parent you can't seem to please. 

But praise the Lord, God is in control. I know I can rely on Him! 

Oh my...

To the good looking guys riding bikes through the park today.
No I do not usually push a stroller with an American Girl doll in it and only an American Girl doll in it. I hope you had a good laugh over how ridiculous I looked! It is a shame that the owner of the doll was nowhere in site so I looked like a wanna-be mom walking next to my friend with a real baby in a stroller. No wonder I'm single! Lol!

That was followed by an older couple looking at my strangely, laughing with me, and then asking if I was practicing being a mommy. Lol! What an interesting walk it was! Good times!