It's been a long, long, long, long week! After going home every night feeling like it was Thursday, it's FINALLY Friday. This next week will be used to do some work (sadly), but I'll settle for the fact that I get to sleep a little more than usual, and there will be some peace and quiet.
SPRING BREAK!!!! WOOHOO!!!
I came across the following quote by C.S. Lewis. These are truths for which I am very grateful, and since C.S. Lewis put it into words so beautifully, I'll leave it as it is.
No amount of falls will really undo us if we keep on picking ourselves up each time. We shall of course be very muddy and tattered children by the time we reach home. But the bathrooms are all ready, the towels put out, and the clean clothes in the airing cupboard. The only fatal thing is to lose one's temper and give it up. It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present in us: it is the very sign of his presence.
Aren't you thankful for that presence? I sure am! I'm also thankful that, even as the very dirty child I am, that beautiful home is waiting for me.
I'm very excited to be able to show off my new website! I recently joined The Body Shop at Home as an independent consultant. I get to enjoy some great products at a good discount, and I get to help ladies enjoy a little relaxation time in their homes with Girls' Nights Out. I'm having fun with this new venture, and I'm enjoying some extra income and free products while doing this.
Click below to check out The Body Shop at Home's great products and core values:
www.thebodyshopathome.com/web/mshaffer
Then, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments.
He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He
increases power. Isaiah 40:29 (NASB)
It's been a rough week. First, there was school stuff--grades due, children antsy for spring break, and the start of the marathon that is the last few months of the school year. Then, it's been a week of wierd things, too. The skin around my right eye is red and swollen for some unknown reason. I drove to work this morning in a black-skied, strong-winded, angry thunderstorm (after fighting with my hair, of course.) The list could go on....
Then, just a few minutes ago, it hit me that today is Thankful Thursday. Today, I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and start counting my blessings. So, here I go, in my attempt to adjust my attitude. I am thankful for.....
1. Makeup to cover up the horrid redness around me eye
2. Safety on the way to school
3. Being able to get my grades in on time
4. Lots of new and excited students for the beginning band (over half the class, actually)
5. A good response from the sixth grade students when the musical parts were announced
6. A pretty good start to my new business
7. Warmer weather
8. Spring break being only a little over a week away
Spring is here, and I am very glad! Here are a few things I'm looking forward to doing in warmer weather:
1. Opening windows and doors in the house to breathe fresh air
2. Riding in my car with the windows and moonroof open (except when driving past the foundry--choak, gag, cough)
3. Eating food that has been cooked on a grill (I'll have to get a grill or find someone willing to share their's first, but I'm OK with that)
4. Going for long walks--This will be very nice now that I live in a neighborhood where I'm safe to do this.
5. Not having to let my car warm up for half an hour before driving it to school
6. Lower gas bills for the house
7. Rain--especially those calm rainfalls
8. Spring break
9. Sunshine!!!
Over the past couple of weeks, I've gotten into a bit of a spiritual funk. It's one of those situations where I have no reasonable explanation for feeling down, I just do. Things are going well, and I really am thankful for what God is doing in my life and in the lives of the friends I have been lifting up in prayer. Oh, Great God, be small enough to hear me now.
Then, I was listening to some of my old CDs and I came across a Nicole Nordeman song, Small Enough, that put the real issue into words.
There were times when I was crying from the dark of
Daniel's den;
And I have asked you once or twice if You would part
the sea again.
But tonight I do not need a fiery pillar in the sky.
Just want to know you're gonna hold me if I start to
cry.
Oh great God, be small enough to hear me now.
Oh great God, be close enough to feel You now.
There have been moments when I could not face Goliath
on my own.
And how could I forget we've march around our share of
Jerichos.
But I will not be setting out a fleece for You tonight.
Just want to know that everything will be alright.
Oh, great God, be close enough to feel You now.
All praise and all the honor be;
To the God of ancient mysteries.
Whose every sign and wonder turn the pages of our
history.
But tonight my heart is heavy, And I cannot keep from
whispering this prayer.
Are You there?
And I know You could leave writing on the wall that's
just for me.
Or send wisdom while I'm sleeping, like in Solomon's
sweet dreams.
But I don't need the strength of Samson or a chariot in
the end...
Just Want to know that You still know how many hairs
are on my head.
Oh, great God, be small enough to hear me now.
I love her way with lyrics. I can relate to them, and I think she nailed my problem on the head. I'm afraid I may be becoming a bit of a "drama queen Christian." I do pretty well when things are rough. Over the past few years, through the death of my close friend, job changes, and big financial struggles, I managed to stay on course. (Some times better than others.) Now, though, things are going well. I like my job and my situation in life. God wants me to be just as dependent on Him now as I ever was in those hard times. I'm praying for the faith to trust God and know His strength in the everyday.
He is your praise; he is your God, who performed for you those great and awesome wonders you saw with your own eyes. Deuteronomy 10:21 (NIV)
Many of my thankful thoughts today will focus on my whirlwind trip last weekend. Last weekend, I left Indiana on Thursday afternoon for Cincinnati. I met a good friend and former roommate there. We piled in the car with her husband, her 3-month-old son, and another close friend to head to Knoxville for the night. Then, on Friday, we three girls and the baby headed to Georgia for a wedding. Jen (the bride), Kari (my former roommate with whom I carpooled), and I all worked together at a school in New Jersey. The three of us and two of our other fellow teachers went through some very difficult situations at that school. The resulting friendship has stayed very strong even though we have all gone our separate ways and are now living in four different states. We call ourselves "the Jersey girls" even though none of us lives in New Jersey any more. That very difficult situation was a defining part of who we are today.
That brings me to my thankful list:
1. I am thankful for the Jersey girls' friendships that helped carry me through that difficult time. I can also always count on them to be my prayer warriors from their various places around the country and to listen and offer good counsel or a good laugh when I need it.
2. I am thankful for those trials. I could not have honestly said that while I was there, but through hindsight, I can see how it made me grow closer and more dependent in my relationship with God. I can also see how He used it to teach me more about life and to draw me into good and lasting friendships.
3. I am thankful that I was able to go to Jen's wedding. It was such a blessing to meet her new husband and to sense her joy. He seems wonderful and godly, and her joy was contagious and encouraging.
4. I am thankful that all of the Jersey girls have wonderful things going on in their lives right now. Jen is newly married to a great guy. Kari has a beautiful 3-month-old little boy. Grace has a beautiful 1-week-old little girl (which is why she couldn't be at the wedding.) Erin is engaged to a great guy with a wedding scheduled for August. I am living close to family again and enjoying a wonderful job.
5. I am thankful for the beautiful home where we stayed on our trip. Kari's in-laws live in Knoxville, so we stayed with them. Their home is huge and beautiful, and they are incredibly hospitable. Also, Kari's mother-in-law puts Martha Stewart to shame. She had printouts in
each room to let us know where we could find anything we might need--extra towels, soap, snacks, toothbrushes, etc. She had put chocolates on the beds, and as if that wasn't impressive enough, the breakfast was amazing. She made a huge and delicious breakfast of pancakes and eggs. She kept the plates in the oven to warm them for us. She also offered me a glass of milk, which I very thankfully accepted. She served it to me in a chilled glass! I'm very thankful for the mini-vacation time at their home--I felt so pampered.
6. I am thankful for the carpool to Georgia. It saved us all on travel expenses.
7. I am thankful for the travel time. I'm not normally a big fan of lots of time in the car, but it was nice to have time to catch up with Kari. We also had time to call Erin and catch up with her. She couldn't make it to the wedding because she coaches basketball and it's tournament season. It was very nice to spend some time catching up with her on the phone, though. We tried to do the same with Grace, but she's very busy with her newborn.
8. I am thankful that Grace is a mom now. We always knew she'd be wonderful mom, and she has wanted that so badly for so long that it's wonderful to see it becoming real for her.
9. I am thankful that the wedding went well. It was a beautiful and simple ceremony. I even enjoyed the bagpipes playing for the processional and recessional.
10. I am thankful that I got to spend the weekend in beautiful, warm weather. It is still very "wintery" in Indiana, but the preview of spring was a good encouragement for me to keep pressing on through these winter doldrums.
11. I am thankful that I didn't need to overspend my personal days to go away for the weekend. My school allows 2 personal days per school year. (I had taken one in the fall to visit my grandfather who is unsaved and whose health is failing. ) The weekend trip would have put me one half-day over my allotted, but since school was cancelled early last Friday due to a sudden storm, I didn't need to use the extra half-day.
12. I am thankful for the time alone in the car from Cincinnati back to my home. I was able to spend lots of time on the phone with my sister who lives in Tucson. Her husband is stationed there for the Air Force, and the transition to being so far from family was a tough one. It has been a big encouragement over the past few weeks to hear how much she is enjoying her life there now. She and her husband are expecting their first child (a girl) in early July. Her husband is scheduled to deploy for six months beginning in mid-July. I am thankful that he should be around for the birth of his daughter. I am thankful that she has responded to the news of his deployment with such peace.
13. Finally, I am thankful that I can pray. It is always a comfort to be able to talk to God, but I especially enjoy it when I see His answers to prayer so clearly. It is really wonderful to be able to thank Him for His rich blessings on me and my family and friends. It gives me the motivation to keep persistently praying for the answers I have not yet seen.
I stole this meme from a friend's blog. OK, so now it's time to let the world know how much of a literary geek I am.
Instructions: Underline or put an asterisk next to all those books whose movies you have seen. Bold or highlight the ones you've read in a different color.
1. Heidi (Johanna Spyri)*(I've seen at least 3 different versions of this one)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)*
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)*
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)*
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)*
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)*
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)*(more accurately, I completely wore out
my VHS copy)
9. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)*
10. Anne of Avonlea (L.M. Montgomery)*(I've seen this almost as many times as Anne of Green Gables. I feel like I should also add that I read the whole series, but I was extremely disappointed with the third movie.)
11.The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
12. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)*
13 Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)*
14. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)*(and loved it, I might add)
15. Chariots of Fire (Clarence E. MacArtney)* (also, played the theme song in several orchestra and band concerts--starting to wonder why I never read the book)
16. 1984 (Orwell)
17. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)*
18. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)*
19. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
20. War and Peace (Tolsoy)
21. Quo Vadis (Sienkiewicz)
22. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Victor Hugo)*
23. The Robe (Douglas)
24. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
25. The Story of A Soul (St. Therese)
Well, if nothing else, doing that did make me feel pretty well-read.
