School!

Depending on who you are, I have some good news and bad news: School starts in two days! As a new teacher, this is both exciting and nerve-wracking. I have been spending the last two weeks preparing the room and my lessons for the students in my classroom. I got to meet about half of my class yesterday, and let me tell you, they have me excited! What an honor to influence and shape the life of a child!

Anyway, here are some pictures of my classroom. Enjoy!

Back to School Pool Party

Well, it's official. Summer, as we know it, can end. Tonight our church had the back to school pool party. It was so much fun! We ate pizza and hung out with friends at UA's outdoor pool. Patrick played water basketball with the guys, and I stayed with the ladies--watching kiddos and going around the lazy river.

It is such a blessing to have Christian friends to hang out with! Our brothers and sisters in Christ are so much fun to talk to, and so encouraging! God has blessed us, indeed with a wonderful faith family! We love y'all!

Juicing

Ok, so the other day, Patrick and I watched this great documentary. It's called, "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead." It followed a man who was about fifty pounds overwieght and struggling from a disease that causes his skin to break out in rashes. He was on lots of medication, but he wanted to try something different. So he went on a 60 day juice fast. The results were staggering!

Needless to say, Patrick and I decided that we had to see what this would be like. We borrowed a juicer and tried our first vegetable juice. Ingredients: celery, kale, spinach, green apples, cucumber, and ginger root. Results: YUCK!

Patrick liked it, but it tastes to me like liquified grass. Then I burped celery the rest of the night.

Moral of the story? Juicing is great, but not for the faint of heart! :)

Three Years and Counting

On Tuesday, Patrick and I had our third wedding anniversary. We looked through wedding pictures and reminisced about our life so far. The small apartments, the minority of being married college students, and the great amount of time we've had to spend together so far.

In many respects, I believe the Lord was preparing us for the Army separation, but I think especially in regards to time. Because of college and job situations, Patrick and I have been able to spend so much time together--more time than I think is typical in a young new marriage. It has allowed us to learn about each other and be more connected than we would have been if we had started our marriage with two full time jobs.

Please understand, I don't mean full time jobs are a hazard to married life. :) However, I know that when Patrick leaves, I'll know what he'll want to read in his letters, the kind of encouragement that will lift him up; and he knows the same about me. Our relationship will continue to grow stronger in this separation because of the great foundation that has been laid in the past three years.

So what will the next three years of our marriage hold? Moving, separation, new experiences, reunions, and whatever else God gives us. Knowing that God has built this marriage and continues to strengthen it gives us great confidence to look at the future and say that whatever comes in the next three years, we'll be there facing it together.

We're in the Army Now!

For any of you who read the blog from the beginning, I realize it's been about a year (or two) since my last post. Quite a bit has happened. Patrick and I both graduated from the University of Alabama, I am teaching second grade at Taylorville Primary School, and Patrick has joined the Army.

He was accepted as an officer candidate, so he will be starting his work at a much better place than had he enlisted. Patrick ships out on August 30, so he'll actually leave Tuscaloosa on the 29. It's exciting to think about a new life with the Army, but it's also very overwhelming.

I've been doing a bible study called "Godstrong," and today's reading had an excellent message about relying on the Lord. Here is an excerpt from the book that I found very challenging:

"I was sitting there in the car line [at school] this particular afternoon and a kindergarten class was outside flying kites, enjoying the beautiful weather. The sun was out, warming the air just right, and the skies were blue with just a few puffy white clouds floating around. The kids were taking turns flying the kites. I noticed one little boy who had bright yellow curls and one very red face. Each time it was his turn to fly the kite, he would grab the end of the string, get the kite up in the air, and run as fast as his little legs could take him. Around the yard he went, the kite flying blissfully up in the air behind him.

But I noticed something unusual. Not once did the little boy ever look back at the kite. Not once did he ever stop to let the wind take off with it and just watch it go. So intent was he on doing all the work to keep that kit up that he was missing the joy of seeing it in the air at all.

Just as that little boy will one day learn to trust the wind to keep his kite up in the air, we too must learn to trust in God's strength in all of our circumstances."

Spiritual Languages

Patrick and I are currently in a marriage class at our church. We are going through a book entitled I Love You More, and each chapter discusses different ways to improve our marriage. This past week we talked about our time spent as a couple with the Lord. Most Christian couples recognize this time with the Lord as one of the most important aspects of a healthy marriage, but they find themselves most dissatisfied with their progress. One of the reasons for this is that we as people have different spiritual languages.

Many people are familiar with the five love languages, or the five ways that we show love to one another and recieve love from them. According to Gary Thomas, the author of Spiritual Pathways, we also have spiritual languages, or ways that we relate and feel most energized toward God. Listed below are the different languages and a very brief description.

Tradition: loving God through rituals, sacraments, and symbols
Vision: loving God by dreaming a great dream
Relationships: loving God by being around other people
Intellectual Thought: seeking God with the mind
Service: loving God by loving others
Contemplations: loving God in a quiet pursuit
Activism: loving God by warring against injustice
Worship: loving God through joyful celebration

Each person will find that he or she feels most energized spiritually when loving God through one or a few of these avenues. Recognizing that you and your spouse have unique spiritual languages is essential in spending quality time together with the Lord. For example, Patrick and I had really been struggling at feeling spiritually unified as we studied the Bible. He had been intellectually spending time with the Lord by reading theology books along with his Bible. He was feeling so spiritually energized through them that he wanted me to read the theology books with him. It did almost nothing for me in terms of closeness to the Lord because I feel closest to God in contemplation.

We were clashing in our spiritual paths--both wanting the other to conform to our way of meeting with God. After we assessed our spiritual pathways, we discovered that we both feel close to the Lord when in nature and through musical worship. With this knowledge, we are now able to spend quality time together with the Lord in unity.

The Lord is Good!

Well, it's been quite a while since I wrote last, but I have to say that the Lord has done quite a bit in the meantime. Patrick and I have met our 303 neighbors, and we LOVE them! They are strong Christians, have been married for about a year, and they are still in their undergraduate work like we are! We have had a blast getting to know them. And what is more, Stephanie and Trevvor have been a spiritual refreshment to us. Their desire to please the Lord results in our lifestyles being very much the same. So, in all reality, they have ministered to us more than we have ministered to them. How good the Lord is to give us friends who are so close in vicinity who are also close in spirit!