Lately I've realized I sure do have a lot of opinions on things. It might be because I'm not around enough people to "choose" my opinions for me or that I just don't have anyone around when I come up with my opinions. Might be both. But I thought I'd let everyone in on a few of my opinions that I believe people might actually want to read about...nothing to do with politics...but these are important opinions to me.
Opinion #1:
It's now Christmas time. Don't get me wrong....I love Christmas!...but I HATE all the commercializing of it! Christmas decorations were put up around town before Thanksgiving. I wanted to shout "woah! slow down! Don't forget about Thanksgiving!" With all the commercializing and present-giving people seem to forget about the REASON for Christmas: Jesus!...
which leads me to...
Opinion #2:
Christmas is spelled/said/wrote CHRISTMAS!! NOT X-mas. (it hurts to even type it) I don't exactly know why/how people got started with this abreviation, but I don't like it! It might be shorter to write, but it's taking Christ out of Christmas!! Without Christ there wouldn't be a Christmas! It's not a gift giving holiday (though it's turned in to being one)...it's a time of year when we're suppose to reflect on the fact that Christ came to Earth to suffer, take on our sins, and die so that we can live forever with Him in Heaven.
I recently saw a sign for Sonshine Academy's Christmas recital. The title was "There is no X in Christmas." I couldn't help but smile! I want the whole world to know that there is no X in Christmas! There isn't! The X is just taking Christ out and putting in something more "politically correct." Well, Christmas wasn't founded on "politically correctness." It was founded on God's love for us...on Him sending Christ to die for us! That's why it's called CHRISTmas!!
Opinion #3:
Back in middle school shirts came out that were very popular that said "Jesus is my homeboy!" I never liked these shirts. I remember thinking..."Jesus isn't my homeboy! He's my Lord and Savior!" A few weeks ago, Bro. Bobby mentioned this in church. I was like "wow! I'm not the only one who thought that! Then I saw a sign on a car that said something to the extent of "my best friend is a carpenter." (I don't remember exactly what it said) When I saw this I thought about how this person is thinking he's popularizing Jesus and making people think of Him. But I just thought that he was lowering Jesus. He wasn't just a carpenter. He is my God! My King! My Lord! My Savior!! Why not exclaim that! He is not my "homeboy" he is the Almighty! The King of Kings! How could someone think they could sum up Jesus as a "homeboy?"
Opinion #4:
Whenever I drive into downtown Little Rock I drive by this huge church on the left. If you've driven by it you will know what I'm talking about. It's fancy. Not at all plain. You think "they must have spent a fortune building that thing!" Whenever I drive by I think "I wonder what the inside looks like." Not the inside of the building, but the people that make up the church. The building itself is not the church. I don't believe God cares if we have a "fancy," expensive building. I believe He cares about the people that make up the church! The ones leading others to Him. The ones learning more and more about Him so they can have closer relationships with Him. Why spend so much time and money on the outside? Why not work from the inside out? Start with yourselves and show others how great Christ is. People shouldn't want to come to church just to be in a nice "building."
These are just opinions that have been building up inside of me needing to be released.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The Reason I Know I was Called to be a Teacher
There are times when I wonder why I’m going to school to be a teacher. It’s a job where I won’t ever get paid much. I’ll be working with kids who are only at school because they are forced to go. Their parents don’t care if they do good in school or if they flunk out. They might be rude, talk back, sarcastic, and snotty nosed. I’ll have to follow the curriculum with very little deviation. I’ll be forced to “teach the test.” I’ll be grading papers and making lesson plans till wee hours of the night. The list goes on and on…
This all seems like teaching is just so horrible…but there are so many benefits that out weight any negatives.
A couple of weeks ago, when I was in NLR doing my field, I went with my mentor teacher to give a student some work to do. He was in “detention” which meant he had to sit in a desk right outside of the principal’s office. To me this was not a good idea because everyone coming or going through the office knew he was in trouble. He was humiliated to be sitting there. My mentor teacher tried to explain to him the assignments but he refused to pay attention. She looked up at me and motioned that “its like pulling teeth” to get him to respond. I thought I might give it a try. When my mentor teacher went about doing other stuff in the office, I stayed behind with the boy and talked to him about the book he was reading. I asked him what it was about and if he liked it. He told me all about it and that he did like it. He seemed to be responding a little more. We had to go back to the classroom with the other students…
Fast forward 2 weeks. I came in this morning to the school and received a hug first thing from him. Now receiving hugs from the students isn’t a new thing…but hugs from him have never happened yet. So, first thing in the morning I was taken by surprise. While I was observing my mentor teacher and helping students, he kept coming to me for help. He seemed to be very motivated to do the assignments….then it was my turn to teach. It was my last time to teach this semester. I was extremely nervous. Not getting up to teach…I’m not public speaking/stage shy at all…but my mentor teacher had to grade me and I had to record myself for an assignment to be graded. This was a big deal for me. My other lessons had super fun activities including molding play dough. The kids LOVED it!!! But this lesson just didn’t seem very fun for me so I wasn’t super excited. I was afraid my students would react badly when they realized I wasn’t going to have a fun activity for them. I did have a file folder game to sort problems and solutions, but to me that just didn’t seem very fun. Boy was I WRONG!! They went crazy over wanting to play the file folder game. I had to leave it there because everyone wanted to continue playing the game.
…but back to the boy. After my lesson, before he switched class back to his homeroom classroom, he came up and gave me a big, huge again. Then he told me “thank you so much for this fun lesson!” My heart just melted. After all my worrying and trying to keep the class in order I felt totally blessed by this one little boy. He wasn’t the only one to come up and thank me for the lesson and give me hugs but he defiantly had the biggest impact on me today!
I know being a teacher will be difficult. There will be days that I want to give up and be a stay at home mom for Brooklyn and any other kids Luke and I have. But I will never forget the impact a little lesson with a simple activity..a little attention…a BIG hug can make in a child’s life. No matter what those kids have to deal with at home, they can always come to school knowing I LOVE them! I love those kids already and I only see them once a week. I can’t wait to love the kids I get to see everyday.
This all seems like teaching is just so horrible…but there are so many benefits that out weight any negatives.
A couple of weeks ago, when I was in NLR doing my field, I went with my mentor teacher to give a student some work to do. He was in “detention” which meant he had to sit in a desk right outside of the principal’s office. To me this was not a good idea because everyone coming or going through the office knew he was in trouble. He was humiliated to be sitting there. My mentor teacher tried to explain to him the assignments but he refused to pay attention. She looked up at me and motioned that “its like pulling teeth” to get him to respond. I thought I might give it a try. When my mentor teacher went about doing other stuff in the office, I stayed behind with the boy and talked to him about the book he was reading. I asked him what it was about and if he liked it. He told me all about it and that he did like it. He seemed to be responding a little more. We had to go back to the classroom with the other students…
Fast forward 2 weeks. I came in this morning to the school and received a hug first thing from him. Now receiving hugs from the students isn’t a new thing…but hugs from him have never happened yet. So, first thing in the morning I was taken by surprise. While I was observing my mentor teacher and helping students, he kept coming to me for help. He seemed to be very motivated to do the assignments….then it was my turn to teach. It was my last time to teach this semester. I was extremely nervous. Not getting up to teach…I’m not public speaking/stage shy at all…but my mentor teacher had to grade me and I had to record myself for an assignment to be graded. This was a big deal for me. My other lessons had super fun activities including molding play dough. The kids LOVED it!!! But this lesson just didn’t seem very fun for me so I wasn’t super excited. I was afraid my students would react badly when they realized I wasn’t going to have a fun activity for them. I did have a file folder game to sort problems and solutions, but to me that just didn’t seem very fun. Boy was I WRONG!! They went crazy over wanting to play the file folder game. I had to leave it there because everyone wanted to continue playing the game.
…but back to the boy. After my lesson, before he switched class back to his homeroom classroom, he came up and gave me a big, huge again. Then he told me “thank you so much for this fun lesson!” My heart just melted. After all my worrying and trying to keep the class in order I felt totally blessed by this one little boy. He wasn’t the only one to come up and thank me for the lesson and give me hugs but he defiantly had the biggest impact on me today!
I know being a teacher will be difficult. There will be days that I want to give up and be a stay at home mom for Brooklyn and any other kids Luke and I have. But I will never forget the impact a little lesson with a simple activity..a little attention…a BIG hug can make in a child’s life. No matter what those kids have to deal with at home, they can always come to school knowing I LOVE them! I love those kids already and I only see them once a week. I can’t wait to love the kids I get to see everyday.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Toy Story
Yesterday I took Brooklyn to Wal-Mart to get a few things we needed. Well, I can't help but to go down the toy isles to see what all I want to get for her (which I usually never do because she already has everything she needs). While walking down one of the toy isles I saw some Buzz Lightyear and Woody toys. Its crazy how they are still popular now when they were also so popular when I was a child. But they got me thinking of a memory that's been on my heart constantly since then.
When I was in 3rd grade, my mom bought a buzz lightyear toy for a little boy in my class. He was very poor, had several learning problems, and lived with his grandmother who didn't allow him to have any toys. So my mom wrapped buzz and made me give it to the boy for Christmas. I was so embarrassed... (I'm embarrassed now just thinking about being embarrassed) I was afraid that people would see the toy and think that I liked him. It wasn't like I was "cool" or anything...I spent most of my recess walking around the playground talking to myself...but I didn't want anyone associating me with him. He kept Buzz in his desk all the time because his grandmother would take it away if he took it home. Somehow he was able to keep it over the summer and in 4th grade (we had class again together) he still had the same Buzz kept in his desk.
I moved shortly after the beginning of the year so I don't know what happened after that, but I look back on this memory and I'm ashamed of myself. I didn't know til a couple years ago that he was so poor and had to go through all the stuff that he had to go through, but that still shouldn't excuse my behavior. No, I was never mean to him, but I sure could have tried to be his friend. He probably could have used one. I was too caught up in myself to worry about him though. I was afraid of what others would think of me when I should have been worried about what God wanted me to do.
Looking back has got me thinking about the kind of person I am now... Have I really changed? Am I too embarrassed to befriend those who are less fortunate than me? There are times I have to admit I am. Jesus befriended the lepers and prostitutes and those less fortunate. He led them to believe in Him and trust Him and now they are in Heaven with Him. Why can I not do the same? I want to be a witness to everyone. Not just those who I deem worthy. I'm not the most outgoing person ever...I would rather be by myself most of the time...but God has called all of us to be missionaries. I need to start doing what I was called to do. I need to start right here in my very neighborhood. God has been burdening me to do something and though I can't put my finger on what He is wanting me to do, I can start trying to reach out to others. I want to do God's work, whatever it is He has planned for me.
When I was in 3rd grade, my mom bought a buzz lightyear toy for a little boy in my class. He was very poor, had several learning problems, and lived with his grandmother who didn't allow him to have any toys. So my mom wrapped buzz and made me give it to the boy for Christmas. I was so embarrassed... (I'm embarrassed now just thinking about being embarrassed) I was afraid that people would see the toy and think that I liked him. It wasn't like I was "cool" or anything...I spent most of my recess walking around the playground talking to myself...but I didn't want anyone associating me with him. He kept Buzz in his desk all the time because his grandmother would take it away if he took it home. Somehow he was able to keep it over the summer and in 4th grade (we had class again together) he still had the same Buzz kept in his desk.
I moved shortly after the beginning of the year so I don't know what happened after that, but I look back on this memory and I'm ashamed of myself. I didn't know til a couple years ago that he was so poor and had to go through all the stuff that he had to go through, but that still shouldn't excuse my behavior. No, I was never mean to him, but I sure could have tried to be his friend. He probably could have used one. I was too caught up in myself to worry about him though. I was afraid of what others would think of me when I should have been worried about what God wanted me to do.
Looking back has got me thinking about the kind of person I am now... Have I really changed? Am I too embarrassed to befriend those who are less fortunate than me? There are times I have to admit I am. Jesus befriended the lepers and prostitutes and those less fortunate. He led them to believe in Him and trust Him and now they are in Heaven with Him. Why can I not do the same? I want to be a witness to everyone. Not just those who I deem worthy. I'm not the most outgoing person ever...I would rather be by myself most of the time...but God has called all of us to be missionaries. I need to start doing what I was called to do. I need to start right here in my very neighborhood. God has been burdening me to do something and though I can't put my finger on what He is wanting me to do, I can start trying to reach out to others. I want to do God's work, whatever it is He has planned for me.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Random
Two days from now Brooklyn will be 11 months old!! I can't believe it! She is fixing to be 1 year old!!! Holy cow! Time has flown by waaayy too fast! Here are a few things that Brooke is doing now:
*She absolutly loves taking a bath. Really being in water in general. She will play in the bathtub for at least 30 minutes most nights. Some days its the only time I get a break from her wanting me to hold her. I can sit by the tub and read for a little while.
*She has a mouthful of teeth...really only 7 (just about to be 8). It just adds to her beautiful smile!
*She talks all the time! She loves saying "scat cat," "granddad," "thank you," "hot dog," "eat," and "da da." She only says Mama when she's really tired or upset.
*She loves to play and read. And especially play chase.
*She loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny, and Phinaes and Ferb.
*She still only crawls but she is getting closer and closer to walking everyday.
Luke and I are so blessed to have our sweet angel! Thank you God for giving her to us!!
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Letter to Brooke
Dear Brooklyn,
I just wanted to let you know that pooping in the bathtub is so not cool! I know you think it's funny but its not when you're the one cleaning it out. You're SO grounded. haha Enough of the negative... You are so lucky to have your daddy's skin tone. You went to the beach for one week where I smothered you in 100 spf and you still got a tan. Not fair stinker!! ;)
You are the most precious little girl I have ever seen. God sure did bless us when He gave us you. You have brought so much joy to my life! I love watching you grow and change everyday. Its so funny to think of how you were so dark headed when you were born and now you're totally blonde. But you still have those beautiful big blue eyes and the greatest smile in the world! And now you have 7 teeth to add to that smile!
I love you darling!!
~Mommy
I just wanted to let you know that pooping in the bathtub is so not cool! I know you think it's funny but its not when you're the one cleaning it out. You're SO grounded. haha Enough of the negative... You are so lucky to have your daddy's skin tone. You went to the beach for one week where I smothered you in 100 spf and you still got a tan. Not fair stinker!! ;)
You are the most precious little girl I have ever seen. God sure did bless us when He gave us you. You have brought so much joy to my life! I love watching you grow and change everyday. Its so funny to think of how you were so dark headed when you were born and now you're totally blonde. But you still have those beautiful big blue eyes and the greatest smile in the world! And now you have 7 teeth to add to that smile!
I love you darling!!
~Mommy
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
P90X: Day 1
Luke and I decided a while back to try P90X. We wanted to get into shape and start eating healthier. So...after a while of just saying we were going to do it...tonight we actually started P90X. I did a full hour of plyometrix! I have to say I am very proud of myself! lol I did pretty good for not having worked out in a very long time. I set a goal though to be able to do all the workouts on that video. I did as much as I could tonight but I had to modify quite a bit. I'm going to work at it so that I can do it all without modifing at all. I'm looking forward to seeing what's on the other videos in the days to come!!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Hello Out There!
Hey all! I'm new to this whole blogging thing but I thought I'd give it a shot so everyone can keep up with what Brooklyn and the rest of us are doing. It's amazing watching her grow!
This past week we've been in Florida at Navarre Beach. We love it there! It was Brooke's first time to get out of Arkansas and her first time at the beach! I can already tell she is going to be a beach babe because she loved it!! She absolutly loved playing in the sand!! She wasn't too thrilled with the ocean but it sure put her to sleep real well. She did like to play in the water in the pool. Especially to walk along the side where there was a ledge where she could stand.
She isn't walking by herself yet. She would much rather be held. She does like for me to hold her hand and let her walk everywhere. And she is talking ALL the time! She just babbles away night and day. And she can sing! haha Her Aunt Mush taught her to sing to the tune of Twinkle Twinkle Little Stars. She actually carries a tune!! It's just crazy! I hope she can sing better than I can. But her daddy sings good so there is hope.
Well..There will be many more posts to come. Most will be about Brooklyn but some will just be random thoughts I have that need to be aired. Have fun reading!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)