A Season of Thanksgiving

Sitting here tonight contemplating all the things that I am thankful for is overwhelming. I live such a richly blessed life. Often times I forget about all the great things I have to be thankful for when circumstances get me down. So as an effort not to boast, but simply to praise God for His goodness, I am going to list all the things I am thankful for. Maybe reading my list will create a spark in your heart and remind you to thank God for his GRACE--giving to us even though we are undeserving.

I am thankful for...

1. Jesus dying on the cross for my sins as well as yours.

2. Forgiveness of my sins as well as God's help in helping me to forgive others

3. Love-especially the overwhelming kind that is felt between husband and wife and that of a mother and child.

4. Relationships because in the end, that is what will matter the most.

5. my job because I get the pleasure of preparing our future generation and hopefully shine my light for Jesus every day.

6. my husband Brent-He is the greatest flawed male ever:) He inspires me to be GREAT, and, not to mention, he is an incredible Daddy!

7. Camryn-She makes me smile with a simple hug. It's amazing how she learns and grows each day.

8. My family-I love knowing that whenever I need something, my family is just a phone call away ready to help in any way.

9. Friends-I have some of the most kind and compassionate friends who are behind me no matter the cirucumstance. I love you guys, and I appreciate you!

10. my home-a home is more than a building structure...a home is filled with love and memories.

11. my church-OPC is the most perfect church for me. I love the people, kindness, love for God, music, and the mission. I love standing on stage and leading my "family" in prasing God each Sunday through song. Thank you God for this opportunity!

12. hope-no matter how bad the day, I know that nothing really matters because "Jesus loves me." Thanks Tommy for the words!

13. so much more, but I would be here all night, and It's bathtime for now so I hope that you take a minute to pause and be thankful. Don't forget to praise God because He is the one who is responsible for your many blessings.

Halloween Festivities Come to an End:(

We had quite a busy Halloween. It really lasted like an entire week. Camryn had her first field trip to the pumpkin patch on Monday. Then, she had a Halloween party at school on Friday. After I came home we had to get dressed yet again for another Halloween party at a friend's house. Then, of course, Saturday was trick-or-treating. Cam may not understand next year that Halloween is really only one day:)

She honestly had a blast. She loves to dress up anyways, and by Saturday she was trying to paint her own nose and wiskers on her face (really!). Last night she ate more candy than I think I have ever seen anyone eat at one sitting. She even got a belly ache, but that didn't stop her. Holidays are so much fun once your kids start to understand the traditions and really get excited about things. Now that Halloween is over, it's time to get geared up and excited about Christmas. She already noticed Santa's picture at Walmart. I cannot wait for Christmas this year!

The Power of Kind Words

All too many time throughout the day we hear negative comments, think negative thoughts, or someone is particularly rude to us. Many times among the negativity people throw in some type of kind words, prayers, and/or random acts of kindness. So why are the negative words and comments so much louder than the encouraging words? Is it because we have come so accustomed to hearing them or constantly telling ourselves that we are not good enough?



I don't have the answer to either question for anyone other than for myself. The reason I hear negatively more loudly than encouraging words is because I am not good at taking compliments. This is something that drives Brent crazy. When he offers a compliment like, " You look very nice today," I usually pick out something that is wrong with me and dwell on it. His response is usually, "Can you ever just say thank you?" My honest answer is that I have always been taught to be modest and humble. I've always felt funny to commend myself or "brag." However, that's not the whole reason for accepting negativity. My biggest problem is that I am my own worst critict. I expect near perfection out of myself in every aspect of my life. Well, I'm not perfect, and I'm not great at everything I do. So as you can guess, I get disappointed quite a bit! From this day forward, I'm going to be cognizant of simply accepting compliments, and I am going to work on accepting my best, even if I fail. I know that I have friends, family, and most of all a God who loves me unconditionally to help me along the way.



However, we will all still have days when we are "down in the dumps". On those days isn't it great how someone meets us on our path and offers a kind word or gesture? I think it's amazing how God always has perfect timing for encountering those people. Kind words go a long way, and we all need them now and again. Everyone likes a pat on the back right? It's nice to know when you are doing things right. People need to feel loved, appreciated, and valued, and it's important that we share openly how much we appreciate and love one another. The metaphore in Proverbs 16: 24 says it perfectly, "Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."



My husband is reading The Love Dare in an effort to strengthen and improve our marriage. He has been helping out more around the house, with Camryn, and spending more "quality time" with me. I woke up this morning, and went into the bathroom to shower only to find a sweet note written on the mirror. The note read...



Morning Love,

Just wanted to give you a little something that reminds you of how much I love you. Thank you for being such a beautiful person inside and out. I hope you have a great day.

Love,

Mr. Brent Johnson





It was short and sweet, but it made my day. It made me feel appreciated, loved, and beautiful. It gave me strength and confidence, which ultimately set the tone for my entire day. Thank you Brent for being such a thoughtful, loving, and determined husband and father. I love you to the moon and back twice!



So ask yourself this question...Do you want the power to improve someone's day, give him/her confidence, make him/her feel loved and appreciated? You have it, and it's right on the tip of your tongue. How about you take this challenge....instead of using your tongue to relay the negative, why don't you use the powerof your tongue to make someone's day as opposed to breaking it? Offer a kind word whenever you see the opportunity, especially when you see that someone is hearing and feeling the negativity that world so readily offers! Will you take my dare?

What's Your Dream?

I went to church this morning early for praise team practice. We practiced, and we were ahead of schedule so it left a little more time for praise and devotional time. Deanna brought an amazing devotion this morning. She passed around index cards and asked us to write down our biggest dream. I sat, and sat for a long while and tried to think of something I longed for that I did not have. That's when it hit me. I am so very blessed, and God has given me so much to be thankful for! The dream I wrote on that card was what I thought my biggest dream that right now seemed pretty impossible. My dream is to have a house full of children who know and love Jesus.
However through the course of Mike's message and some things that happend after church really showed me a bigger dream that has to become a reality before the dream I wrote is going to happen. I'm praying that God will move mountains, and that both of my dreams will become reality. I know that God wants the best for his children, and He wants to give them the desires of their hearts. Because I am His, I have the right to dream big and believe that NOTHING is too big for God. All things are possible through Christ!
The intention of this post was to say that I am extremely blessed to be able to serve such an amazing God who has blessed my life so abundantly. I have the best job in the world, and I love what I do. He took an insecurity (moving to kindergarten from first grade), which I was pretty confident I could not do, and He showed me that this is my calling. I love going to work each day, and giving five year olds their first impression of school. I pray each day that I will give them exactly what they need...whether it be knowledge, love, a kind word, affirmation, nourishment, etc. I consider it a priviledge to be a teacher. I also got the opportunity to join the praise band at our church last Easter. I love to sing, and I know that I am not the most talented. I felt compelled to use my talent to further God's kingdom. Deanna invited me to join last Easter, and standing up there singing with these amazing people gives me an unexplainable joy. I'm living my dream and purpose in life, but God is using "storms" to teach me and ultimately mold me into who He desires for me to be.
Thank you Jesus for paying the price for my sins so that I may spend an enternity in heaven! I pray that I am good steward with the blessings you have given me and use them to your glory.

It Feels so Good to Feel Good Again!

Well, as many of you know, the H1N1 has infested our home. I started feeling bad last Saturday. I managed to hold my head up long enough to fix Danielle and Amber's hair for a wedding, but after that I was done! I did not get out of the bed until Monday, and that was only long enough to go to the Dr. I have never felt so miserable in my whole life. My body ached all over and no matter how I positioned myself it hurt. Yuck! Camryn began to run a fever on Tuesday, but she never really showed any other signs besides coughing. I waited until Friday to take her to the Dr. b/c she didn't act sick. I was shocked to see that she was positive for the flu. Oh my, I felt like a horrible mother!
All the time I spent quarantined in my own room didn't keep her from contracting the flu. I'm just thankful that it did not effect her the same way as me. My time being quarantined and away from the rest of the world really made me appreciate my life. It made me thankful to have a job to wake up to each morning. It mostly made me thankful for relationships. The most interaction I got with anyone was via facebook, email, or texts. No personal contact is for the birds! I'm a touchy feely kind of gal, and I need my physical contact whether it be a pat on the back, huh, or sweet kiss. I often take these things for granted, but no more! I know what life is like wihtout them, and I don't want to go there again!
Finally, the flu is gone, and Cam is even feeling better and without a fever. I can actually say that I am so excited to be able to hug and kiss Cam and Brent once again. I even quite excited to go back to work on Monday even though I'm going to feel lost and overwhelmed. I know that I'll have the BEST assistant and friend there to help me. I love you Sandy! Thank you everyone for the cards, emails, calls, texts, and sweet gifts. I have the most kind and thoughtful friends in the world!

Short funny story

So today I took my first grade class to the Peace Center to see "The Stinky Cheese Man." It was GREAT. A very funny experience as an adult. However, the most commical part came from my trip to the restroom with my girls. It was my turn to use the potty, and I was listening to my girls talk amongst one another and make sure no one left the restroom. As one girl came out to wash her hands she red on the Sanitary Napkins thingy to insert 25 cent. One girl said, "look you have to pay a quarter to get a "napkin!" Another girls said, but there's ones over here for free you can get. Too funny! At least I know that my girls can read the word Napkin...Mission complete.

The SCE VIP

Despite all the drama that went down, the SCE VIP made their debut at the 2009 talent show. A few of my really good friends and myself decided that we wanted to do something fun for the kids in the talent show this year so we got together and came up with the idea to do "ICE ICE BABY". I knew all the words so I volunteered to be the "white girl rapper." My posse Melissa, Casey, Sandy, and Christy were the beautifully thugged out back up dancers. Melissa and I coriographed the dance. We ended up having to rewrite some of the lyrics 2 days before the talent show so it wasn't so contraversail, and we wouldn't lose our jobs. I was pretty nervous that I might slip up and sing the original lyrics, but things worked themselves out, and the kids and parents loved it! We said that we had to go through way too much to do something cool for the kids and to show them that teachers have a fun side too. We decided that we wouldn't ever do it again b/c of the drama, but after seeing the kids and parents rolling over our performance, I think will have to be back bigger and better next year! As my VIP would say, "We're just 2 legit..2legit to quit...hey!hey!" Check it out for yourself!
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