Don't worry, the cable is still on!

Student teaching . . . is eating up my life! I drove home from school yesterday and this thought passed through my head, "What kind of world do I live in?" I mean, really, what kind of world do we live in? That was not the first time I have had this same question, but I had never yet encountered the blatant lack of motivation that seems to be inherent in our students. Parents don't teach their children to value an education. The cable and cell phone bills are of higher priority over the water bill. The ability to empathize has been forgotten. Instead, everyone is entitled. Entitled to a sleek car, unlimited credit cards and as much fast food as they can eat. I feel like I have become my Dad who is known to walk around shaking his head while muttering about common sense.
What makes everything worse is that we (Americans) don't even have it bad AT ALL! Read this blog, www.baghdadburning.blogspot.com
It will make you so proud to be an American!

thoughts from the backyard

My favorite time of day is when the sun makes the leaves look iridescent. If I were to create my own story about how the world began, I would say that this light possesses magical powers. That this light can touch a face, erase age, strike worry, and remind the mind of things not yet seen. Every kind of writer has been inspired by this light. I just want to sit in it- feel warm in it. Maybe in this story I would tell, the light would be the source of all beauty. . . creativity. . . happiness. Music could be heard in it; your favorite kind, of course. My sunset light doesn’t make the world ugly. Everything it touches is washed beautiful.
Yeah, that’s my sunset.

A new semester

Hello again!



Summer did NOT last long enough, but I am glad to be back in school because I GRADUATE this December! I am student teaching right now at Joplin High School which is a lot of fun. I love my students! I have to say that I was not shocked at the students behaviors, I was more shocked at the low expectations that teachers bring into their classrooms. I have about 170 students . . . I am making every effort I can to get to know each one of them, but sometimes their faces become a blur to me, especially at the end of the day.



God is just so crazy sometimes. . . five years ago, while I was in Bible school, I would have never dreamed that I would be a teacher! I did not believe that I was smart enough to go to school. I am going to graduate with a 3.8 GPA! Not that grades are everything, but God is just the master at bringing the best out of people. :)



This blog is the perfect record of the fact that my life has been a series of ups and downs. I have no wish to explain everything and lay lay out every emotional hurtle I have gone over, but I will say that allowing God to be a part of my life if the best choice that I ever made. He has constantly helped me to see beyond my own insecurities. He has given me confidence to face hard-headed people. He has helped me to recognize what my husbands needs from me. Really, He is the reason that I am happy.



It's going to be a great semester, I just hope I get a little sleep!

Early Spring was beautuful, Summer is now here, and I am just now sitting down again to write a bit. Just caught up with Resa and Krister's blog. I always love reading about other people's lives. It just helps me stay motivated and understand that I am not alone in this big world. Actually, I have been in freak out mode lately. I graduate this December with a teaching degree. Yah! or maybe not. As great as it will be to be finished with school for a bit, I have to wonder what is next. I guess that the next obvious step would be to get a teaching job, but . . . I am not sure about that quite yet.
Anyway, the Summer sun is shinning and I have many more adventures ahead of me before the hard work of student teaching begins.
Peace.

I mould my world with the shape of these words.
They are sticky and sweet, a lump of clay
held in a child's hand.
I pull them apart,
watch them grow to fit the space.
Do I have enough room for them all?
Do I have enough room for every word in every language?
If I try to cram them all in will I explode?
Maybe the fitting of each word in it's right place
is the job of the poets.
Maybe we all need to be poets.

The Grass is Greener

The rain has been coming down hard today. It has reminded me, once again, that I am human. The clouds above me are just the beginning of a realm that is completely beyond my control. That kingdom has been marching across the sky of my world striking fear and awe into the inhabitants of the land below. At times today, chunks of ice have hurtled down to earth and the wind has followed with a punishing vengeance. Arrows of lightning have vaulted from the earth and back to the sky leaving the air charged with fire. The invading army took captive my land for a short while, and then as quickly as they had swept in, they stormed out, leaving green grass and swollen creeks in their wake.
Someone said, “Is this God’s punishment?” Maybe yes, but, probably not. It is just the natural cycle. The storm comes; wakes the landscape from its winter-time slumber and strips bare the overgrown places. The storm ploughs through the barren fields, making way for fresh growth. The storm leaves. It goes on to trouble other places. Yes, in some places it caused devastation. But, in my backyard, the sun is shinning, the grass is greener and the birds are once again chirping spring’s song.

My Week

Unconnected, momentous words that seem to stifle or
make alive the moment I am living in.

Creative, bouncing words shaped into neat boxes
that take flight into the blue thunderous sky of my soul.

It has been a good week.