a day in the life.

Being a 5th grade teacher has taken over my life. I have little time for anything else. I usually spend weekends at home with the cat and a page-long "to-do-before-Monday" list. Which is fine. Anyone that knows me knows how much I enjoy a good check list.

I regret the fact that my blog has become obsolete. Life is an adventure, and it is a story worth writing, even when the story isn't exactly what I thought it would be. For my sanity and the entertainment of my future children who may one day read my writings, I'm going to try to do better.

Here is a collection of notes from my day today:

1. I was showing one of my social studies classes a clip of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. He talks about the idea and the hope that people would one day judge a man "not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character." I love the way that is said. Watching this with my students this morning, I remember thinking that it is something we, as a nation, still need to work on. As a teacher, I need to instill this idea in my students as well. Things are infinitely better than they were, but there is still progress to be had.

2. Sometimes I feel like other staff treat me like a student because I am young. I believe I'm the youngest teacher on campus, and most of the students older than twelve are taller than me. Sometimes other staff members speak to me like I'm a student and have no idea what I'm doing. It's frustrating.

3. Today I had a class of students who would not get their behavior under control. The entire class period was a battle of me trying to get their behavior in check and get them focused on their work. At one point,  I looked over to the right side of the room and said, "Who's mom do I need to call right now?" A student immediately responded matter-of-factly, "My mom's dead." WHAT DO I SAY TO THAT?!

4. The one thought I have constantly as I try to navigate this new phase of life called "being a grown up," is simply, "people need Jesus."

It's all proclaiming who You are.

When we arrive at eternity's shore,
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more,
We'll enter in as the wedding bells ring.
Your bride will come together and we'll sing --
You're beautiful.

"something nice."

...LET'S DANCE.

the moon and the stars declare who You are.

I know who goes before me,
I know who stands behind.
The God of angel armies
Is always by my side.

The one who reigns forever,
He is a friend of mine.
The God of angel armies
Is always by my side.

Nothing formed against me shall stand.
You hold the whole world in Your hands.
I'm holding on to Your promises --
You are faithful, You are faithful.

Singing, You are holy, great and mighty.
The moon and the stars declare who You are.
I'm so unworthy, but still You love me,
Forever my heart will sing of how great You are.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Last August, I started an adventure known as the Legacy Fellowship. I also started a blog to chronicle that adventure, but as most of you know, life got the best of me and I didn't do a great job of keeping up. I have so many stories to tell, and I regret that I didn't find time throughout the Fellowship to do so. I'm sure that many of those stories will end up here as I find time to write and think through them over the next however-long, and I look forward to sharing them with you! I am excited to move forward and begin to learn how the Lord is going to use all of those stories and experiences to continue to teach and grow me into a woman that looks more like Him.

For now, I figured the best way to end my year-long absence on this blog was to share some of the moments that make up the stories. If a picture is worth a thousand words, here are a few thousand words about the last year of my life. I hope you enjoy them as much as I have!

11 Fellows, our 2 leaders, and our CEO, Linda Paulk.

Back Row, starting from the left: Phil, Adam, Kyle, Andrew, Aaron, Jake.

Front: Christian, Kelly, Whitney, Ashley, Emily, Anissa, Yours Truly, and Linda.

This is Kelly.  She's from Washington, and she was my roommate this year.

We've had some pretty cool adventures, including...

 

...getting a truck stuck in the mud...

...teaching classes as Native Americans....

 

...and laser tag, just to name a few. 

We lived in a house on camp with the other Fellows girls.

These girls have been my community, my sisters, and my best friends.

I am so thankful for who they are and who they are in my life!

We had the privilege of sharing life this year with 5 (/6) stellar "men of the Lord," 

as Jacob would say. Look at them, they're such studs!

 

I know I keep saying this, but I am truly thankful for them 

and the fact that the Lord brought me to this place. 

God is so good, and the last year of my life has been filled with such treasures.

Here are some of my favorite stories:

 One of our first weekends working as Fellows...

 Going dancing on Saturday nights...

 ...cooking out down by the lake...

 The 2013 Launch Camp team...

 Funny faces...

 

 My first campfire with Jake...

  

Ice skating at the Galleria...

 Spending time at our camp in Colorado...

 

Constant rivalry with these two...

And of course, our Fellows Trip.

Here are some snapshots of our road trip across the Southwest:

 

Ft. Stockton, TX

 

Phoenix, AZ

 

Visiting a mine in Bisbee, AZ

 

Hanging out in New Mexico.

 

Santa Monica, CA

 

 

And of course, Hollywood!

 

 

Visiting old Cliff Dwellings.

 And, can you believe it, Vegas!

...where I got defeated by an all-you-can-eat buffet.

One of the coolest stories of my life in Winslow, AZ.

Hoover Dam.

And, for the first time in my life, the Grand Canyon!

Here is a video of Jake experiencing this:

Jake is Amazed from Legacy Fellowship on Vimeo.

 

We made a music video from our trip, check it out!

Fellows' Trip 2013 - Takin it easy from Legacy Fellowship on Vimeo.

Here are some more pictures of us dressed up as Natives...

Here are some pictures from Launch Camp this summer:

I got to spend all summer leading a site with Jake.

A true example of "iron sharpens iron" --

I loved the fact that he constantly turned everything back to Christ and His perspective, 

and that he made me laugh so hard I cried, DAILY.

 

Jake and I got to work with some AWESOME staff.

 

...and we celebrated the weekly tradition of "Funky Fresh Friday,"

which involved Chick-Fil-A and the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. 

Can't go wrong with that, right?! 

 

I had the privileged of leading and getting to know these lovely ladies. 

Lucky me!

And, in case you haven't seen enough already, here are a FEW more of my favorites from the year...

 

 

 

What a long, hard, laughter-filled, challenging, wonderful year it has been. 

A thousand words would not even be near enough to cover it!