SWITCHING GEARS

Friday was a big day for me. I officially resigned my from my teaching position on Friday. Of course it does not take effect until June, but the paperwork is in. I have spent the past decade of my life in the same room with no windows, teaching the same basic class, going to the same pep rallies, using the same teacher's restroom, and so on. Now I shift to being a stay at home mom. Been a long time coming, but came in God's time. I have made some wonderful friends, lifelong - go to anytime friends. I have had some doozy of kiddos and fought some battles with the higher ups (okay quite a few battles - that first year was tough). I am sure my emotions will go all over the place as the day approaches, but right now I am relieved that it is done. I prayed for release for a good while, threatened to quit a time or two, but waited on the Lord. I wish I could say I patiently waited but that would be a lie. I am so excited about being a stay at home mom. Yes I am sure people will make plans for me since "all I do is stay at home". Heck my own father already has me in a tractor in the hayfield (hello - I don't live with you anymore:))But I am good at saying no, ask my students. I can now focus on my kids. There are those moms who work & raise their kids & they do an awesome job. I don't think I was one of them. I survived and they survived. I know there will be challenges at home as well & I am sure my parenting skills are not going to improve overnight (or over a year). But at least I won't be worn out from parenting other people's kids.
okay enough of that.
Bottom line - I quit my JOB!! Woo Hoo!!!!!!!! Oh happy day! Happy day!

SILENT TREATMENT

I chose to teach high school kids for a couple of reasons. One of them was they are supposed to be old enough to know how to act & not be as "needy" as the smaller ones. I was wrong. This is a conversation I had yesterday. Some names have been changed to protect - well- me.

Joe to Jack - soft whisperings
Jack to me - Joe would like me to tell you he is not speaking to you today.
me - Oh,okay (on with the lesson). minute pause
Joe to Jack - more soft whisperings
Jack to me - Would you like to know why?
me - Uhm okay - sure (why is some 17 year old boy REFUSING to talk to me today? Please I am dying to know)
Joe to Jack - again - soft whispers
Jack - He is not speaking to you because he will be serving a two hour detention today for something that happened last week in your room.
me - Oh - okay. Does he think this will continue on tomorrow?
whispering
Jack - He doesn't know yet
me - Okay then.

Within 10 minutes kid was talking to me again. Gotta love high school. Apparently kids are needy at every age. We will see if I get the silent treatment again today:)

UFC

If you know what those initials stand for, welcome to my world. Next to watching hunting shows from every crook & cranny of the globe, HH loves him some Ultimate Fighting Championship. If you recognize the names Rampage Jackson, Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, BJ Penn, & George Rush St. Pierre, you know what I am talking about. If you have seen Ultimate Fighter season whatever or Inside the MMA, you get the picture. The UFC has come along way. It is no longer the "bar room brawl-last man standing" blood bath is used to be. There are rules & points & strategies & rounds. Heck they even have judges. Even wholesome act Mandy Moore shows up at these things. Don't get me wrong - there is still blood, and at times lots of it. Broken bones & knockouts, submissions & tap outs. And potty mouths- at times lots of potty mouths. If nothing else, UFC has provided voice over work for Mike Rowe from "Dirty Jobs" and has given Joe Rogan a gig after "Fear Factor".
Yesterday as I was helping MC 1 gear up to ride his bike, he starts throwing punches like Joe Frazier. Some of which came dangerously close to my face. I don't think his skills are up to par where he could pull a punch fast enough not to hit me so I was bobbing & weaving as well.
The reason behind this massive cardio workout-
"I am working on my punches in case I decide to go into the UFC."
Great. Every mom's dream. He is not even in double digits for his age & already has plans for this? Super!
He does have a good stand up game though, and that is important (I think).

EARLY TO RISE

Its 3:30 in the morning. Yes - read it again -3:30 in the morning and the Lord has seen fit to wake me up, AGAIN. This has been going on for about a week now. A friend of mine prayed last week that God would awaken me in the middle of the night and He has honored her request, at least the first part, several times this past week. Which makes going to work a bit of a struggle.
So off I am to spend some quality time with my Jesus.
Probably should have prayed that I would stay awake.
Wonder if I could get her to pray for me to have a super fit body and no more PMS?
Seriously, thank the Lord for friends who pray for me & a God who honors their requests. So thank you Judy. I am excited to see what the Lord has for me.
Ya'll have a great day.

PROOF

THIS IS WHY HE IS CALLED HUNTER HUBS. AND THIS IS ONLY HALF OF MY LIVING ROOM!
Ya'll have a great weekend!
You get me now don't you. You understand. Men children.

Just remembered - in previously mentioned house fire- after the fire men arrived & where able to get in the house, the lone deer mount we had at the time was the FIRST thing out of the house.

SAYING GOOD-BYE

Today was a tough day for me. A tough choice had to be made. I had to end a relationship that I have had for many years. It was not going well. She was the kind of person who always told me what I wanted to hear. She would come over whenever I asked. Unfortunately in our relationship, my problems kept growing & hers (well I don't even know what hers were). It was time.


Today I switched from Denise Austin to The Biggest Loser Workout videos.


I know- shocking.
Especially since I commented how good she made me feel. Unfortunately that was counter productive. It was doing me no good. No challenge - no motivation to grow. So now I have Bob & Jillian & some blonde girl (can't think of her name right now- sorry blonde girl). I feel they will be a better fit for me. From what I can tell - Bob is encouraging - Jillian will be a backside kicker, and I don't know about the blonde. I could be wrong but it looks good so far.

Got me to thinking about my other relationships, especially at church. How many of us want those friends that tell us how great we are all the time? Yes, we need to hear it, but we also need to be challenged in our walk with the Lord - both from the pulpit & from the pew. How sad would my walk be if I never was challenged in what I believed, in how I lived. I don't mean confronting everyone & being as the kids say "messy" ( nosey & in everyone's business). But I need those men & women who will gently challenge me, pose questions to me, and I need to be that for them. One it makes me dig deep into the Word to find the answers, a spiritual workout of sorts. A little cardio for my heart. Second, it makes me stronger in the Lord. My spiritual muscles aren't going to get any stronger if I don't put some weight on them. Left up to me, I would use the lightest weights I could. My friends are the ones who pack on the heavier weights. So I thank God for the men & women in my life that push me to be more than I am. That make me dig deep into my relationship with the Lord. They are my personal trainers of sorts.

And in the end, the enemy will be the Biggest Loser!

PLENTY

If you get the chance to jump on the Siesta Fiesta blog, please do so & read Holly's post from yesterday. There you will find a moving story of the hands & feet of Jesus at work. She refers to what they have been going through as a desert of plenty. It brought to mind my own desert of plenty story to share.
A few years ago we had a house fire. It is strictly by the grace of God any of us survived. It was in the middle of the night, we only had 1 smoke alarm in the house, and the door to HH & my bedroom was closed. The men children's room was right next to the room with the fire. We could actually here the fire rolling in the ceiling above their room. Chills even now. I was awakened in the wee hours of the morning by a nagging beeping sound that I actually IGNORED the first couple of times I heard it. When I did finally get up to see what it was, I opened the door to a house filling up with smoke. I can not be any clearer - Jesus Christ SAVED our lives - all of us! No doubt - no arguments- end of story.
After we were all out safely & had called 911, we began to make the calls - to family & friends requesting prayer, letting them know what was going on. (Remind me someday to tell you what happened to make HH really upset with me that morning- funny funny). Anyway, some friends of ours from church (a former student of mine to be exact) had just bought a new house (they had only been it like 3 weeks) that had an extra bedroom. They offered it to us starting that night. We lived with them for 4 months and I can honestly say it was a blast. Now remember, we moved in a family of 4 into one bedroom-everything in ONE bedroom. One bathroom for our family - one bathroom for the two of them. 4 MONTHS! I don't recall a crossword, a fight, a "man they are getting on my nerves, etc". Honestly we were all sad when our house was fixed and ready for us to move back.
We drove by our friends house yesterday just killing time and man child one says
MC 1 - " I wish we could have another fire"
me - "why"
MC 1 - " so we could live with ___________& ________ again. Do you think during the summer we could come sleep over?"

Now my friends, that was living in the desert of plenty. That was only one of many ways the Lord blessed us during that time. Here's the point- He used people to do it. Our friends were the hands & feet of Christ to us. And we in turn get to be His hands & feet to someone else.
So today if you get the opportunity to be that for someone else - do it. You may well become a watering hole for them in their desert of plenty.