It's Great to Be An Auburn Tiger!!!

I can't tell you how great it felt to watch Auburn beat Florida last night. As Michael said that was the Auburn we were expecting to see at the beginning of the season. But win or lose "It's Great to Be an Auburn Tiger" and for all of you fairweather fans, we don't need you for the rest of the season!!!!

WARRRR EAGLE!!

Home Run!!!!

Zack hit his first home run at baseball practice on Saturday! He didn't even use the tee!! Michael said (I wasn't there) that it was a true hit and went into the outfield.

Zack has been unsure of his feelings towards baseball. It's a game that requires concentration and for a five year old that takes a lot out of them. We see him building sandcastles or spinning in circles in the field. Thankfully, he's not the only one!

Reality

So this morning was a little stressful for me...
Zack has had the sniffles for a few days and this morning when he got up he was coughing and it sounded a little "barky". My gut reaction was to drop everything and take him to the dr. But I had two major projects at school due today and I had to go. I was faced with what women face all the time. Staying home for so long has programmed me to just handle it all and never ask for help. So as I sat in the kitchen looking at my child and crying over my dilemma, my knight in shining armor was checking his schedule. He only had a bazillion conference calls to make and he said he could take Zack to the dr. and stay home if necessary. Phew!!

I thought of Zack all morning and wondered how he was doing. I talked with Michael before lunch and Zack was back at school. Just a cold...no biggie. I wasn't prepared for not being able to be 100% Mommy to my kids. This is a new experience for me and it was hard. I'm sure I have many more times like that ahead of me as I head back to work...

I'm sure like me you have sometimes wondered why bad things happen to good people. Someone you know and love gets terminal cancer, has debilitating pain, loses a loved one, the list goes on and on. I can honestly say that nothing major has ever happened to me personally. But sometimes I feel like I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. Here I am pursuing a career that I am very excited about, have two healthy sweet boys and have a wonderful husband that works hard to provide for our family. In an instant, one bad car accident, one bad medical test result, it could all be taken away. I have to work really hard to keep those thoughts out of my head.

I was talking with my mother-in-law on the phone the other day. She was feeling pretty blue. If you don't know my once very active, very energetic mother-in-law, has been brought down by her bones. They have failed her. She has had 7 vetebrae fused and two knee replacement as well as Crohn's disease. For the most part you will find her in high spirits. She works very hard in her various therapies and takes very seriously the advice given by her doctors. She wants to get better and she wants to get back into life. But sometimes the pain is just too much and it begins to break her spirit. So we talked on the phone for awhile about it yesterday.

I was telling her about some friends that I know where the husband is facing cancer and they are expecting their first child any day now. But what has amazed me is this couple's amazing faith through their ordeal. I'm sure they have had many moments where they are scared and sad about what they are facing. But they remember that their life is there for God's glory and not their own. WOW.

My life is not here for my purpose, but for God's divine plan. Gayle and I reflected together about lives and that if we no longer look at our lives as ours, but God's alone, that sometimes those tough times might become a little easier. I know for a fact that as I hear the updates of our friend with cancer and hear of their faith, my faith becomes a little stronger.

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God - even as I try to please everybody in everyway. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." 1 Corinthians 10:31-33

I don't know if any of this makes sense, but it makes sense in my head. Watching others in their tough times, using their faith to guide them, sends such a message to my heart.

HOMEWORK!!!!

So I thought Zack would be excited about doing homework and getting to act like a "big kid". But the homework we have had is met with tears and whining. Zack says it's just too hard. He was so upset tonight because I was trying to teach him to make his name with a "little a" rather than a "big A". He has been writing his name with all caps.

I talked with Megan, (the 5th grade teacher) tonight and she said some kids are just not ready for homework at this age and if I push it then he will end up hating homework and possibly school. I certainly don't want that to happen. She says to maybe get in the habit of doing homework, but not to make it a big deal for him to do everything perfectly, rather accentuate the positive.

I found myself getting frustrated with myself tonight because I knew whatever approach I was taking was not working. I was sitting there looking at him while he was in tears, wondering if I can't help my own son with homework, how was I ever going to teach a whole classroom of kids.

Thought???? Ideas???? Tips???? Margarita Recipes????

Preschool

This is a little late, but Carter started preschool on Aug. 27th. As most of you know I taught up at the preschool last year and am not there this year because of the courseload I am taking. A friend in the front office said that Carter walks around there like he owns the place. I guess it is good for him to have something that is just his! He really likes his class and he seems to be doing well!

Loose Tooth!!!

Why is having a first loose tooth such a big deal!?! Zack and I discovered that he has his FIRST loose tooth tonight. I thought he was going to cry he was so excited!!! I'm sure we will have more about this soon!!
I will add his first T-ball game pics soon too!!!

Obedience

For some reason I think God keeps trying to teach me the lesson of obedience. Maybe it is because I have a hard head, but maybe it's because He really needs me to get used to paying attention so that when He needs me for something MAJOR I will be there, listening, attentive and ready to obey.

A couple of weeks ago I had to sign up for the elementary school I would be doing 30 hours of observation in. Unfortunately, I did not get the school I wanted and ended up in a school a little further away, but in Cobb County. I was really upset about it so I was ready to call my sister and have her run some interference for me, make some phone calls and get me what I wanted. Because after all, I do know what's best for me, RIGHT??? Well, I had to leave a message for Megan about how awful this school was and she needed to handle it for me. Before she could call me back and rescue me from this terrible school. I heard a whisper. Did I really know what was right? Was I turning away an opportunity where I might learn something or be mentored by someone that could influence my future teaching? I had this wonderful debate with God that logisitically this was a terrible school. Why would God put me here??? I ended up talking to my friend Aileen who's opinion I value and she is a former school teacher. She brought many good points why I should stay at this school and not cause trouble. So I thought if God was trying to tell me to stay put and Aileen was telling me the same thing, maybe I should listen and OBEY. UGH! So today I went to class and my professor told me I had missed my orientation and I needed to go see someone in the Field experience office ASAP. Well, no one was there, of course. Apparently, through a techinical error they had me at another school in PAULDING COUNTY!!! After just a few temper tantrums it got worked out. When I was finally calm another whisper came through. Obey Me first. (This is what I ALWAYS tell my kids) God needs me to obey Him the first time I hear that whisper. Not after I have had time to think about it and poll my friends of their opinions. He is training me to listen so that when HE has that big thing I need to hear, I'm ready, willing and able to obey Him first.

So, I don't know what wonderful things God has planned for me at this school. I did learn that this school has 75% of the kids on free or reduced lunches. I know I not would go into a school like this by my own choosing, so I know this will be a learning experience for me. I will let you know what God is trying to teach me.

Everytime in my life that I "trust and obey", God blesses me ten fold.

"This is love for God: to obey his commands. And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory tha has overcome the world, even our faith. " 1 John 5:3-4

Now, if God would only speak to Maizy about obedience!!!!