8/14/2012
mileage this week:
4.8 miles (sat) 5 miles(monday), 5.5 miles, (wednesday)
Saturday, May 11, 2013
thankful
4/9/11
For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
In all the earth there was not one that could take my place. No one cared about me, not really. I had done a multitude of wrongs, and my skin was black and peeling. My hair had fallen out in patches, but I was able to cover it up with a wig I found at the dollar store. I may have looked a fright to someone's grandma, but other than potentially scaring children and elderly people, no one looked my way. I sat all day on a bench, until someone else wanted to sit by me. When people looked at me too long, I would get up and move to another bench. My hair may have been dirty and greasy, but no one was able to see it because of the wig.
For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
In all the earth there was not one that could take my place. No one cared about me, not really. I had done a multitude of wrongs, and my skin was black and peeling. My hair had fallen out in patches, but I was able to cover it up with a wig I found at the dollar store. I may have looked a fright to someone's grandma, but other than potentially scaring children and elderly people, no one looked my way. I sat all day on a bench, until someone else wanted to sit by me. When people looked at me too long, I would get up and move to another bench. My hair may have been dirty and greasy, but no one was able to see it because of the wig.
Blessing-gift #1 - wild in the city
I might as well share the little bits of amazingness that God daily touched my inmost me with on a basically daily basis...
because i've been trying to apply thankfulness lately. so yay!
:D
I had two-and-a-half rather rough classes of 7th/8th graders today, but God used those three classes as a backdrop to a wonderful-good blessing to finish out the work day.
While the last class of kids was coming in, I was walking around tidying chairs and papers. The kids started gathering by the window in the corner of the room, and a few of them started yelling, "Bambi!! It's Bambi!!" I looked toward the window, but didnt' see anything. The kids kept shouting, so I put the papers down on the teacher's desk and walked toward the window. There, on the slightly suburban lawn of the slightly suburban school's slightly suburban playground, was a whitetail doe and an incredibly young whitetail fawn, all speckly in the just-washed grass.
because i've been trying to apply thankfulness lately. so yay!
:D
I had two-and-a-half rather rough classes of 7th/8th graders today, but God used those three classes as a backdrop to a wonderful-good blessing to finish out the work day.
While the last class of kids was coming in, I was walking around tidying chairs and papers. The kids started gathering by the window in the corner of the room, and a few of them started yelling, "Bambi!! It's Bambi!!" I looked toward the window, but didnt' see anything. The kids kept shouting, so I put the papers down on the teacher's desk and walked toward the window. There, on the slightly suburban lawn of the slightly suburban school's slightly suburban playground, was a whitetail doe and an incredibly young whitetail fawn, all speckly in the just-washed grass.
Test #1 - interesting things that happened.
"Write a dialogue between two people/animals:"
"Hi my name is Walter and I'm from Teaxs my nationality is white. My birthday is on the 10-18-79 of this month. My favorite animals are horse's, dog's, and cats. My activities are riding horses, working on my dog. My dislikes are not to sit around at home."
What time of day would you say the following? -
"Buenas tardes" _______"late to class"
"Hi my name is Walter and I'm from Teaxs my nationality is white. My birthday is on the 10-18-79 of this month. My favorite animals are horse's, dog's, and cats. My activities are riding horses, working on my dog. My dislikes are not to sit around at home."
What time of day would you say the following? -
"Buenas tardes" _______"late to class"
PLARN-ed!
i saw an advertisement for a craft bazaar and - even though i may be the only blonde - i think i am going to do it. at least, i am going to attempt to make enough plarn purses/bags, etc... :) we shall see. and if my laptop ever works again (:-/) I can post pictures? :) I have a little over a month. unless i do the one in December. :0D yey.
a year's worth...
We've been married almost a year.
My boy and I have gone through so much in such a short time - and have learned how to fight, how to play nicely, and how to get by on zero dollars and gas fumes. God has provided a place to stay, clothes to wear, and friends to talk to on the phone.
It has been the hardest year of my life - knowing that I have to student teach to get my certificate, yet knowing I am getting paid absolutely nothing for all my work with the kids. I have to go to school about 5 days a week, and have nothing to show for it - not even a few dollars to pay for gas. We've had to ask for money for gas from family members, and God has provided money for gas and food at times when we thought there would be nothing.
They flyleaf of my Bible is not as full as it could be of those provisional times (because I like to write down the specific times He's provided for our needs) because my head's been downcast too much lately.
Grocery shopping is not enjoyable when you have to decide between eggs or soy milk (because of your husband's sensitivity to cow-milk), or when you have to choose to forego vegetables because you need to buy flour to make bread (which will last longer than the veggies would have, anyway.) I know what it is like to go without, but it makes things so very much harder when trying to prepare a meal that is healthy and sustaining. My husband does his best not to complain, but I know myself how hard it is to eat the same few meals over and over because we cannot afford variety.
He needs new pants. It is hard to find his size, because he's tall. I wouldn't trade his height for anything, though. He fits me just perfectly. It's also hard to find his size because we can't pay for pants. I can see some threads threatening to loosen on the seams, but I don't really know what we can do.
I need new shoes. I have some shoes that are impractical that I just want to find a new home for, and trade them somehow for some practical-for-flat-feet flats or low-heely dress /teacher shoes. Too bad we still have some bills to pay first, because that's more important to me than new shoes. God provided some cheap insoles for those shoes, so I can stretch them a few weeks more- perhaps until school is over on the 30th...
I wish I could keep the house ( where we are staying ) clean - but we are never there because we don't have internet (for school, etc) and have to be gone most of the day to get our work done. .. and I'm exhausted by the time we finally make it home.
I wish I didn't somehow gain 20 pounds since last fall... At least, I think it was about that much... and I can't make it go away. Stress-related, most likely, along with not being able to eat how I know I need to because we can't afford good food. He's providing in His own way, in His own time, but sometimes I get very sad that I can't feed my husband what he needs to be healthy and alert.
We only really read together in the mornings on the way to school, but at least we're reading together... in Psalms, so we can start out thinking His thoughts ... but I wish it was more.
There are no people around this town that have made much of an effort to get to know us, and it really stinks. Sometimes it gets frustrating, and other times I am bored beyond belief (even though I have classes to work on) as well as I just feel like I don't fit in this town at all. I miss the old us, that was able to at least go visit people; but when the only gas money we have is supposed to be used to get me to and from school, then it's kinda a downer.
And our health is going down the tubes, and we can do nothing about it.
And then there's the day-after-day search for a job, which leaves my sweet husband and I both frustrated and discouraged. We've had a few phone / in-person interviews but then absolutely nothing... over and over and over again.
We've been knocking on doors for almost a year now, since we decided to leave CCS...
and I'm not sure how much more we can take.
End scene.
My boy and I have gone through so much in such a short time - and have learned how to fight, how to play nicely, and how to get by on zero dollars and gas fumes. God has provided a place to stay, clothes to wear, and friends to talk to on the phone.
It has been the hardest year of my life - knowing that I have to student teach to get my certificate, yet knowing I am getting paid absolutely nothing for all my work with the kids. I have to go to school about 5 days a week, and have nothing to show for it - not even a few dollars to pay for gas. We've had to ask for money for gas from family members, and God has provided money for gas and food at times when we thought there would be nothing.
They flyleaf of my Bible is not as full as it could be of those provisional times (because I like to write down the specific times He's provided for our needs) because my head's been downcast too much lately.
Grocery shopping is not enjoyable when you have to decide between eggs or soy milk (because of your husband's sensitivity to cow-milk), or when you have to choose to forego vegetables because you need to buy flour to make bread (which will last longer than the veggies would have, anyway.) I know what it is like to go without, but it makes things so very much harder when trying to prepare a meal that is healthy and sustaining. My husband does his best not to complain, but I know myself how hard it is to eat the same few meals over and over because we cannot afford variety.
He needs new pants. It is hard to find his size, because he's tall. I wouldn't trade his height for anything, though. He fits me just perfectly. It's also hard to find his size because we can't pay for pants. I can see some threads threatening to loosen on the seams, but I don't really know what we can do.
I need new shoes. I have some shoes that are impractical that I just want to find a new home for, and trade them somehow for some practical-for-flat-feet flats or low-heely dress /teacher shoes. Too bad we still have some bills to pay first, because that's more important to me than new shoes. God provided some cheap insoles for those shoes, so I can stretch them a few weeks more- perhaps until school is over on the 30th...
I wish I could keep the house ( where we are staying ) clean - but we are never there because we don't have internet (for school, etc) and have to be gone most of the day to get our work done. .. and I'm exhausted by the time we finally make it home.
I wish I didn't somehow gain 20 pounds since last fall... At least, I think it was about that much... and I can't make it go away. Stress-related, most likely, along with not being able to eat how I know I need to because we can't afford good food. He's providing in His own way, in His own time, but sometimes I get very sad that I can't feed my husband what he needs to be healthy and alert.
We only really read together in the mornings on the way to school, but at least we're reading together... in Psalms, so we can start out thinking His thoughts ... but I wish it was more.
There are no people around this town that have made much of an effort to get to know us, and it really stinks. Sometimes it gets frustrating, and other times I am bored beyond belief (even though I have classes to work on) as well as I just feel like I don't fit in this town at all. I miss the old us, that was able to at least go visit people; but when the only gas money we have is supposed to be used to get me to and from school, then it's kinda a downer.
And our health is going down the tubes, and we can do nothing about it.
And then there's the day-after-day search for a job, which leaves my sweet husband and I both frustrated and discouraged. We've had a few phone / in-person interviews but then absolutely nothing... over and over and over again.
We've been knocking on doors for almost a year now, since we decided to leave CCS...
and I'm not sure how much more we can take.
End scene.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Praying for the Other Side ....
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for our husbands and thank you for our husband’s family! You know each one of our situations, the joy and the trials. We come before you today and lift up our in-laws to you. May your give us an acceptance and a love for our in-laws. May you help us to find new ways of connecting with our in-laws. Please intervene in the relationships where in-laws criticize or undermine marriages. Please help us all to find balance and boundaries with our in-laws. You have placed our in-laws in our life for a reason, may we understand and fulfill your purposes in Jesus Name AMEN!
this was taken from here: - > http://unveiledwife.com/prayer-of-the-day-loving-your-in-laws/
Monday, February 18, 2013
Advice to a teacher considering working on a reservation
Re-posted from a reply on ProTeacher:
I taught in NE Arizona on the Navajo Rez. HS Spanish...
Some of my kids were angels, but those were usually the ones from a 2-parent household that didn't allow drugs/alcohol, etc.
Most of my kids came from broken homes, partied on the weekends/weekdays, and dealt with things most people don't encounter until after graduation. We lost at least 4 students that year to suicide or murder, not counting deaths of family members.
I would compare it to an inner-city, urban school. Your heart will get involved, and you will cry often for these children who have had their innocence stolen. Embrace them, and they will try to please you (by learning, behavior, etc). You will deal with multiple absences for whatever reason, (many of my students had an hour+ bus ride to school one way! Many suspensions, moving to other cities, etc). There were gangs, certain colors of shirts were not allowed at the school (black, blue, etc)... I kept snacks in my room for "sale" for very cheap so my students wouldn't ditch my class to go to the earlier lunch simply to hang out with friends (because they didn't bring lunch)
Don't be afraid to ask cultural questions.:) Some things they might not tell you, but if they invite you to a ceremony or event, go! :)
But if you stick it out, the kids will learn to trust you with their lives. They will try to learn because you are trying to teach them; They will try to behave better because you care about their future. They will make an effort in class- or even to COME to class - because you try to make learning fun.
Be yourself, be real, realize that they are most likely dealing with very hard things at home, and LOVE them.
They will respond if they see you are genuine, and if they know you care about them as an individual and as a culture.
I miss my Rez kids, but I know I'm right where I need to be right now :)
Sunday, February 3, 2013
caos y ruida
there is no quiet here;
it is all noise.
there is no stillness here;
everything moves.
there is no peace here;
chaos rules.
all my soul wants is a tiny speck of quiet,
a place unmoving, thoughts able to focus.
what would happen if i turned it off?
i'm pretty sure chaos would happen; they'd be confused.
then, of course, i'd have my silence. stillness. peace.
it is all noise.
there is no stillness here;everything moves.
there is no peace here;
chaos rules.
all my soul wants is a tiny speck of quiet,
a place unmoving, thoughts able to focus.
what would happen if i turned it off?
i'm pretty sure chaos would happen; they'd be confused.
then, of course, i'd have my silence. stillness. peace.
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