Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Spring Cleaning..well maybe not

During the recent spring break I was able to enjoy my dad's spring cleaning endeavors. Although I was originally enlisted to wipe down and clean off the items for sale, it soon became evident to me that my first days of spring break would be better spent reclining in the intended bucket seats for sale. Thankfully I was able to get him to sit with me for a while and quick picture.





As I was reclining I noticed my dad's childhood bunkbed frame leaning against the fence. Remembering a conversation from before about the possibility of selling them, I wanted to claim them before they were sold or given away to someone else. So although I don't have space for them right now and part of the bed is being used at my parent's house, we wanted to be sure I had in writing my prior claim to them before something else happened.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

He loves me, He loves me NOT...He LOVES me!

As a young girl sitting with friends we would pick at the flowers in the grass and sing the famous, "he loves me, he loves me not" song trying to decide if the guy we were in "LOVE" with, loved us back. All girls know that it was a sad moment if the last petal ended on a he loves me not (soon to be followed with the picking of another flower to try again :)



Unlike the silly childhood past, I have seen the recent love from the all mighty God who chooses to love me. In spite of the fact that I continue to be hateful and mean, even rebellious at times, he desired to show and tell me how much I am loved by Him. The process all started a year ago, but I had to laugh this week as he continued to send me flowers. How does a God who is "invisible" send you flowers to show how much He loves you?



The whole thing started with me being able to do what I love, teach! Although I have had struggles this year, and learned many lessons, I do love teaching. So, when caught up in the moment, I enjoy the passion of incorporating new things into a lesson. Last year I began sharing with my students my journey to Kenya. It has carried a little over into conversation with those same students this year. Another fun project has been my discovery of videoconferencing and we were recently able to "travel" to the Grand Canyon while still in the classroom. You may be asking how does this all fit with flowers and love, well.... a few weeks ago I was surprised by the PTA president as she nominated me for the School Bell Award this is awarded in Spring BranchISD. She invited me to the PTA dinner, telling me it was going to be about technology. It really turned out to be an award ceremony. Surprised and honored, this is where I got my first flower "from God", a yellow rose.



Later that week they announced at our school PTA meeting about my nomination and presented me with more flowers-tulips. With my yellow rose greeting me in the morning by my bedside stand and the tulips on my dresser, I could feel my heart swell with love in return for a Lord who would let me struggle and then show me how much He loves me in that way.



The final set of flowers came in the form of beautiful orchids. These flowers came because the other teachers at my campus voted for me to be the teacher of the year at my school. At the time I didn't realize it, but looking back as I watched them bloom from their buds, I was reminded daily of the process the Lord takes with us and how He desires to make us Him own.











Romans 5:6-8 (New International Version)
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.