Twice Learned

To teach is to learn twice. ~Joseph Joubert, Pensées, 1842

It has been a solid 17 days since my last post. Did someone hit the fast-forward button while I was sleeping? No, that can't be right... I don't think I have slept much in the last 17 days. None-the-less, there has been surmountable joy in my fast-forward life.

I am teaching full-time at HFUMC Pre-K. I have 10 little blessings in my class and I was told today that 3 more will be starting next week (see I only thought I was catching myself). I have to say that Mr. Joseph knew something about teaching. Over the last 3 weeks I have gotten to relearn how to shake my wiggles out, how to paint with bubbles, and how to make ice cream in a zip-lock bag. I smell like a mix of peanut butter and melting crayola crayons, but I am having a blast.

You all know how I love our military. Well God has blessed me with a little boy in my class who's daddy is a CPT in the ANG whom just deployed to Iraq. I believe that he is in my class for such a time as this. I pray that I can be a daily encouragement to his mother and a joy to him while he waits for daddy to come home.

I am starting college soon to finish my degree in early childhood education by way of an extraordinary blessing. My classes start later this fall and I know that things will become even busier. I am trying to not get overloaded and miss the stillness and quiet that my soul needs.

My own babies and I are rocking right along with this deployment of sorts. I miss my love so much that it literally hurts. I imagine his kisses and his hand holding mine as I pray earnestly for his protection. My son is missing his daddy a lot. I can see it in his eyes when I catch him lost in thought over his father. Everyday, I fight back the words.. JUST COME HOME, MY LOVE.

On the upside, Skype has been life saving. I can't imagine what our life would be like without it. I get to see my love's face and embrace him through my eyes everyday. He gets to kiss our children goodnight and even play games with our son.

I am just walking, well running mostly, the days out until this chapter is over and we can harvest the seeds that are being planted this year. God is good and He is faithful; May I forever be patient and obedient to his clear voice.

Footloose

I am a few hours late for yesterday's post. Since committing to teach pre-k this school year, things have been non-stop. I took a break yesterday from preparing my own classroom to take my babies 'Back to School' shopping. I love our little town, but for great shopping you must drive at least an hour in one direction or the other. We choose to go north and shop in Huntsville.

My new favorite store Crossroads was having a huge shoe sale, so we HAD to go. Crossroads carries a lot of exclusive brands like sanku, TOMS (big smile), and five fingers. My daughter decided she wanted some new TOMS wedges and my little guy wanted a pair of TOMS too. Considering that every time you buy a pair of TOMS a pair is given to a child in need, I do not mind driving an hour or paying the price for them. However when we arrived at Crossroads they did not have the sizes we needed for either child.

Ashlynn quickly found something else (so did mom; that is another story) but Caleb is my picky child. Oh the misery.... I am sure this adds to my gray. Any-who, after an hour of rejecting shoe after shoe, my little guy spotted the five fingers. Now let me just tell you these shoes are UGLY and they start at $80 (no giving to a child in need either). Conversely to that we still had a lot of shopping to do and the little guy had already worn me down. So left Crossroads with 2 pair of TOMS and Five Fingers covering the red head's feet.

As the day progressed and Daddy's bank account go smaller, my little guy seemed jovial. In one random moment the little man shouted from the back seat, "Mom, these shoes just make me want to DANCE." You just had to be there. I laughed till I cried. I am still laughing about it.

Now I told you that story to say this:

Yesterday was one week exactly that my heartbeat and breath boarded a plane and this deployment journey began. Had you told me last Friday that in one week I would be able to carry on and laugh without fear and sadness covering me, I would have thought that you were clueless.

Conversely here we are. I am walking daily in peace because I know Peace by Name. The Word tells us that there is a time and season for everything and in everything we should praise Him.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (New Living Translation)
1 For everything there is a season,
a time for every activity under heaven.
2 A time to be born and a time to die.
A time to plant and a time to harvest.
3 A time to kill and a time to heal.
A time to tear down and a time to build up.
4 A time to cry and a time to laugh.
A time to grieve and a time to dance.
5 A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
6 A time to search and a time to quit searching.
A time to keep and a time to throw away.
7 A time to tear and a time to mend.
A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
8 A time to love and a time to hate.
A time for war and a time for peace.

Every time I read this or hear it spoken, my mind immediately goes back to 1980 something and the movie FOOTLOOSE. I loved that movie. I know I watched it a million times. Thinking about it brings a smile to my face. I am sure I can still sing the songs word for word... footloose kick off your Sunday shoes..

Thank you Father for this time to laugh and this time to dance right in the middle of the hardest time for our family. You are indeed GOOD.

Now if you want to covers your little piggies with Five Fingers feel footloose, here they are:

http://www.vibram-fivefinger.com/search/sprint+yellow

Losing Battle

I once read in a myriad of quotes that southerners just can not resist a losing battle. Maybe there is a little truth to that. I always seem drawn to tackle the impossible. Be-it an overly busy schedule, a mission cause, or gray hair. Yes, gray hair.

Believe it or not, I was a true blonde until I was in about 4th grade. Then my hair started to get quite darker, and bottle after bottle, I have kept it that way. After weeks of being without my beloved Tobis (hair-genius in Germany) I am noticing more and more of those gray little devils (I'm sure it has nothing to do with this deployment; cough, cough). Being back in my sunshine state has kissed my skin and my hair is once again getting lighter, but that darn gray is taking over. So I decided to tackle the lost cause and just go blonde. The rumor on the street is that blondes have more fun. I suppose we will just see about that.

A seasoned army wife once told me that you should never make a radical decision or change in the first 30 days of a deployment. Many women will get tattoos, body piercing, color their hair, etc.. imagine the horror.

Well, it seems that I have broken all the rules.

Here are some photos.. tell me what you think. If I am losing the battle am I at least winning the war?

August Baking

One could quite literally bake in this August Alabama heat. It is scorching. I am not sure when the last time was that we got a soaking rain, but it is DRY! In the words of the hilarious Arron Wilburn, "It is so dry that the Baptist are sprinkling, the Methodist have restored to moist towelettes, and the Catholics are praying that the wine be turned back into water!"

Yesterday temperatures reached the triple digits. So my little man and I decided to do an experiment. We attempted to bake cookies in our truck. That's right, IN OUR TRUCK.

We bought some frozen white chocolate macadamia nut cookie dough. We arranged the cookies on a metal cookie sheet; then placed the cookies on the dashboard of the truck. We positioned the truck facing the sun, and then with the windows up we let them bake for 5 hours.

They were crispy and yummy!

Here are the photos.




Now I wonder what else we could cook inside our truck?? Humm. Oh, the possibilities!

No Words

I woke up this morning at 0333. I knew that I needed to be praying. So I did. Three hours later I got a phone call from my love telling me he was okay. Evidently there was a tragic act of hatred that occurred too close for comfort. (hmm, too close for comfort... there is more to that... that will be another message for another post) Back to my story.. That incident has left me speechless this morning. All I can do it pray. I am thankful to our Father for His mighty hand of protection and I am reminded just how important our words to one another are. We must take every opportunity to lift up and encourage one another, even when we have no words.

I love this song. I hope that you do too. Be encouraged, my fellow travelers.

Save The Soap

It is HOT in Alabama today. So much so that I took three showers. That's right one, two, THREE! One this morning to get ready to drive my brother-in-law to the airport. Once home from the airport I started working in the yard and right in the middle of a good sweat, my lawn equipment broke. After a few nice words and a swift kick to the broken equipment, I needed to go to town thus creating the need for shower number two. When I got back home I proceeded to complete my yard, and being covered in a mix of dry grass, rotten apples, and dead bugs I desperately needed shower number three. Why am I telling you this? Because there is a message; hang with me.

As you know this week has been emotional for me. While in the mist of shower number three, I began to ponder my emotions and the actions of today. As clear as the sound of water on my skin my mind echoed the words, "so that times of refreshing may come". I knew in my heart that is a bible verse. I have heard it before... somewhere. I just did not know the chapter or verse or the context of it.

After my shower I googled those words. This is the verse:

Acts 3:19-20 (New Living Translation)

19 Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. 20 Then times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send you Jesus, your appointed Messiah.

I encourage you to read for yourself the entire chapter so that you will see those words in context.

What it spoke to me is this:

There are many things that I have prayed for. One is this job that has taken my love to a far away land. He was not forced to take this job. It was a decision that we as a family agreed on. We knew the danger, considered the risk, counted the cost and got EXACTLY what we asked for. But as soon as it began to get painful, I started crying and complaining. The point is, I did not recognize the answer to my own prayer. That is exactly what happened in this chapter 3. A miraculous healing has taken place and yet people are looking the wrong way to the wrong person. They did not recognize that this healing has come from Jesus. Peter warns the people that they missed Jesus the first time and he is coming again. How many times do we get exactly what we pray for and then begrudge it when it comes? I dare say that when we do this we miss an opportunity to see Jesus.

Today I needed some serious refreshing; working in this Alabama heat does not create a sweet aroma. Know what I mean? But for the last several days I have been covered in things much worse than dry grass, dead bugs, and rotten apples. I could take a million showers and those things would remain. The only thing that can wash me clean from wrong attitudes, self pity, and greed is some old fashion prayer and repentance. Then you can save your soap because true cleansing and refreshing will come and the presence of Jesus will be with you.

Inside-out

It is amazing what a reassuring message from a friend and a little fresh air will do. After my two day stay indoors with both phones glued to my hands, I mustered the gumption to get out of the house. My mind has been in a fog and I have felt rather frazzled. These initial emotions have hit me like a train. I thought that I was mentally prepared for these days, but I was not.

Since we were "all dressed up" I decided that I would go to church for a bit. I told the children to head for the truck and that I would meet them there. When I got to the truck my lovely daughter gave me that "mom, I can't believe you are wearing that!" look. It is normal. I ignored her. Until she persisted to tell me I had put my clothes on inside out.

I suppose that if you don't have anything to laugh about.. you can always laugh at yourself. If not, your kids certainly will!

All Dressed Up

I felt so rejuvenated this morning after speaking with my love. I slept deep for about 3 hours then I got up and began to prepare a sunday pot-roast to slow cook while my babies and I enjoyed Sunday service in our home church. We got all dressed up and ready to go give thanks for safety and provision. The children are even sporting some of their new 'school-clothes'. But as the hour to leave the house drew closer, I could not leave. What if he called while we were away? What if, What if, What if? I'm am not sure when this emotion will pass. I am doing my best. I will force myself to leave the house at some point today. Maybe... after all we are all dressed up.

Exhale

Yesterday was seriously harder than d1. My love was traveling and anyone on the military side knows how volatile travel days are. I felt as though I was holding my breath all day with only occasional moments of of oxygen inhaled through the flood of tears.

With one beautiful phone call this morning at 0300, a newness has come. I can exhale. My love has landed safely at his pinpoint location. I feel refreshed just knowing that. There is a smile on my face this morning and these tears of joy taste a little sweeter than those of yesterday.