GOOD NEWS

Good News!!! Great News!!! WONDERFUL NEWS!!! Lori found out that her "nodes" were clear! Yay!!!! How exciting!!! Thank you for praying for her and her family. But don't stop! She still has a journey ahead of her, but we are so thankful for her AWESOME news.

Just thinking about this fantastic news makes me want to do a flip, a herkie, a cheer, a chest bump- (I live with boys) something~ so everyone will know this GOOD NEWS. (I better just high-five someone, or I may hurt myself!) My precious friend was sick, but she's getting well~! And I AM THRILLED!!!

And even during this part of her(our) journey, God is speaking to me. This is what he is saying:

God: "Princess, I love you so. I am so thrilled that your friend & my princess, Lori, is on the road to recovery! You know, she's my daughter, too!! I love her even more than you do. I know what's best for her, like I know what's best for you. Remember, I see the BIG Picture.

But, there is one thing I must know. You have spread the good news concerning Lori and her health in her temporary body. But how many people have you told about me today?"

Me: "YIKES!" or as Tony said yesterday~ "GASP!"

It's so easy for us to talk about the weather, or work, our kids, our plans, and schedules. It was very easy for me to tell others about Lori's wonderful news! But it's still hard for me to talk to people about what matters the most, their relationship with God.

Why is this so difficult? Why do I still have trouble proclaiming the Good News of Jesus to my peers and loved ones? It's not easy for me to reveal that my heart looked like our teenages did after a night of mud football (at the Back 2 School Bash- pics at the bottom)! Filthy! Dirty! Yucky! But, that is exactly what I looked like to God. I can never be good enough to earn my way to heaven. My only hope is Jesus. He was the sinless sacrifice for me so that I can have a relationship with God. And when I repented and asked him to forgive me, he did. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." YIPEE!!! He washes our sins away, and we are white as snow! Now, that is something to cheer about!!! Good News!!! Great News!!! WONDERFUL NEWS!!! Something the whole world should know! Who are you gonna tell?

My kid is the dirtiest!!! He still had mud in his ear on the way to church Sunday Morning, but he didn't care! Oh my.....

Prayer Request

Friends and Prayer Warriors,

I am asking you to pray for my special friend, Lori. She will have surgery tomorrow and selfishly I want her well NOW! I’ve been “discussing” this with my Heavenly Father alot lately. I know that He knows all of my request before I ask, but I keep reminding him.

In my Journey this morning, I read how we are to “Pray constantly.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) I’ve been doing that alot lately. But it goes on to say that while we think it’s rude to ask someone the same thing over and over, God wants us to come to him with our requests as often as we need and not to be embarrassed about it. Then we are reminded how he “delights in our requests”, and we know He will answer them in His perfect timing. How do we know this? It goes back to what we learned as a child- “I can trust God no matter what!”

As we talk to him and share our requests, (sometimes over and over again) we get to know him just a little more. And isn’t that what he really wants from us? A personal relationship with him. And as that relationship grows, he is changing us from the inside out.

I like what Paul said in Ephesians 2:16-19, “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know that this love surpasses knowledge- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”

Please remember Lori and her family in your prayers. Pray constantly and remember how much God loves us! (John 3:16)
Thanks!

Rigor, Relevance, & Relationships

Yesterday, the first day for teachers, we attended a half day in-service on Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships. While our speaker spoke about rigor and relevance in the classroom, he always went back to relationships. He told us of his own personal experience as a student. Had it not been for a special choir teacher, he would never be where he is today. He explained to us that he came to school because of the relationship he had with a special teacher. He came to school because he knew someone loved and cared about him and was holding him accountable. All of us need those kinds of people in our lives.

Tony Nolan, who will be speaking at our church this weekend, has a testimony much like our speaker. Because someone (I think it was a teacher) took a special interest in him, a foster child, he eventually came to the Lord. Now he serves the Lord as he shares his story around the country.

So there must be something to that “relationship” part of the 3 Rs. We know it’s true. At my sweet school, we are truly like family. Just this morning Mrs. Rene, our custodian, was praying for me! She told me first thing this morning! What a blessing to know that someone is praying for you! Yep, there is something special about the “relationship” part of the 3 Rs.

With a new school year ahead of me, it’s time for me to incorporate the 3 Rs into my classroom. Rigor, Relevance, and Relationships. Humm…. I think if I can develop the “relationships” with my students, then the other two will be much easier.

Maybe tomorrow will go something like this-
1. Treat others as you want to be treated.
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12 (New International Version)

2. I will make the WISE choice.
“ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” James 1:5-6

And I’m not quite sure how I’ll get the last one across in the public school, but I’ve got some WISE kiddos in my classroom. I bet they’ll point the way to the others.

3. I can trust God no matter what!
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths.”Proverbs 3:5-6

Perhaps my first week’s lessons should be entitled, “Everything I Know I Learned in KID ZONE”!

Maybe we should change the “Rigor, Relevance, & Relationships” seminar to what my pastor always says, “Faith, Family, & Friends”. I think that about sums it up!

Have a great first day of school!

The Final Countdown...

One day! One day left of Summer Vacation! Where did the Summer go?

My quiet time this morning began like this, "Sit quietly in my presence while I bless you." (from book, Jesus Calling by Sarah Young~given to me by a dear friend) The end of the devotional says, "Take time to rest by the wayside, for I am not in a hurry. A leisurely pace accomplishes more than hurried striving. When you rush, you forget who you are and whose you are. Remember that you are royalty in My Kingdom." Yep! That's what it said for August 5th!

Then it was followed by the verses Psalm 37:7, Romans 8:16-17, and 1 Peter 2:9.

Psalm 37:7 says, "Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him...".

Oh, that sounds great, but can I really make that work? Doesn't God know that school starts next week! (and my nickname is Last Minute Lucy with the motto, "I work best under pressure"!)

Don't get me wrong, I love my job! I am very blessed to teach at a wonderful school with an excellent staff that I love dearly!

But, this time of year is CRAZY!!!! I have to get my room ready, make lesson plans, pack welcome folders, iron my children's uniforms, gather their school supplies- the list continues to grow! Then there's meeting upon meeting only to rush back to the school campus to "Meet Your Teacher" where I am supposed to present a calm, controlled appearance. Just thinking about it gives me additional fever blisters, tummy aches, head aches, and other "issues" that sometimes occur during stressful times.

Well, after I've had some time today to really think about this, I've come to the conclusion "Being Still" is exactly what God wanted me read this morning. He wants me to "Be still and Know " who he is even during the busiest times in my life.

So how am I going to accomplish this "being still"? I have a plan: (which is a huge start for me)

1. Begin each day with my Quiet Time by reading my bible, devotion, and prayer.

2. Listen to praise and worship music. (This always has a way of "re-focusing" my daily tasks.)

3. Pray more often.

4. Ask myself, "Will this make a difference in eternity?" If not, it should not bother me too much!

So that's my plan to "Be Still and know that I am God" on the busiest week of the year! Please hold me accountable!!! Help me "refocus" when I get off-task and remind me who He is and whose I am!

It's All about Love

I just can't get this song out of my head today~ I love it! It says everything! See the lyrics below and check out Jason Gray's website http://www.jasongraymusic.com/#/home .


More Like Falling in Love

Give me rules
I will break them
Give me lines
I will cross them
I need more than a truth to believe
I need a truth that lives, moves, and breathes
To sweep me off my feet
It ought to be
More like falling in love
Than something to believe in
More like losing my heart
Than giving my allegiance

Caught up, called out
Come take a look at me now
It's like I'm falling, oh
It's like I'm falling in love

Give me words
I'll misuse them
Obligations
I'll misplace them
'Cause all religion ever made of me
Was just a sinner with a stone tied to my feet
It never set me free
It's gotta be
CHORUS...
It's like I'm falling in love, love, love
Deeper and deeper
It was love that made
Me a believer
In more than a name, a faith, a creed
Falling in love with Jesus brought the change in me

CHORUS

By: Jason Gray and Jason Ingram