Bullet Journal-Prayer Page

I found the idea for a prayer page on Pinterest.  I thought this was a fabulous idea!

In our Ladies' Bible Class at church we've been studying different prayers in the Bible once a month on Mondays the last year and half.  One of the things I've noticed is that all the prayers are very specific.  And each one is different.

This got me to thinking about my prayers.  They had become repetitive.  I was praying about the same things over and over.  Sometimes the people I prayed for changed... if I could remember who was sick and who needed prayers but it was still the same basic prayer.  

So when I started my bullet journal and started searching Pinterest for page ideas and found Prayer Prompts I was super excited!  I don't use it daily but I do use it often. I've prayed about things I hadn't thought about praying for like "Prayer for a person you have a hard time loving."  Let that sink in a minute.  It's powerful.  To pray for someone you have a hard time loving is not easy.

This page has really changed my prayer life.  I'll definitely be including it in future journals!

(Nearly) Wordless Wednesday

This pictured popped up on my Facebook feed yesterday morning.
Oh the sweetness!  My heart almost couldn't take it.
It was 8 years ago.  Reagan was 5 years old and Maggie was 3 years old.
Oh how times have changed!
Reagan is now a teenager and Maggie is 11 years old (old for a large breed dog).

Distinguished

Do you ever just need to hear that you're doing a good job?

I'm a pretty confident person.  I know my strengths and weaknesses.  I know what I like and don't like.  And I don't mind tell you.  I know what I need to work on and what I do well.

But sometimes it's nice to hear someone "higher" up than yourself say that you're doing a good job.

I had a principal a few years back who excelled at complementing teachers and paraprofessionals. Not just generic "You're doing a great job!", but complements that were specific to the work you'd done.  This same principal was also quick to point out things you needed to improve on.  Most, if not all the time, I knew what I needed to work on but it never bothered me when I was told to improve some thing because my bucket had been filled with some many "attagirls!"

I have a great principal now but his philosophy is more of the "If I'm not saying anything to you... that's a good thing.  You'll know if I'm not happy."  Which is good except during all the silence you kind of worry that maybe he's building up to telling you something you need to work on/fix.  Ha!

So when during a meeting with our interim superintendent and some other higher ups my principal said I was a distinguished teacher I about fell over with happiness.  And seriously y'all, as soon as the meeting was over I ran to my office and texted my Houston Girls, my Nac Girls, my mom, my husband and my lead librarian.

So maybe all the texts were overkill but I was excited y'all.  Ha!

Gospel Meetings

Reagan and I don't normally get to go with Jay when he preaches in Gospel Meetings.  Normally their during the week during the school year.  With me working full time and Reagan in 8th grade it makes impossible for us to go with him.

But this year most of his meetings have been in the area or on the weekend close by so we've been able to go.

1.  I like going because I know Jay likes having us there.

2.  It's nice to meet Christians in other areas.

3.  It's helpful to see what happens during a gospel meeting.  Jay of course tells me about them but it's different to experience it.

4.  It can be hard to "be on" for a whole week or a weekend.

5.  I'm just glad I get to support my hubby and his efforts to preach God's word.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

For Pleasure

I finished I Almost Forgot About You by Terry McMillian.  I've read 2 other books by McMillian, How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Waiting to Exhale and loved them both.  I did not love I Almost Forgot About You.  The dialog didn't flow.  It felt forced.  In beginning of the book Georgia is seeking out past loves to tell them what they meant to her.  In the end she only meets with 4 of the men.  I was a bit disappointed to not meet more of them.  She also makes big plans to go on a train trip.  She only makes it 2ish days on the train before she decides she doesn't want to do the train ride anymore.  She ends up falling in love with one of the men from the past.  I don't know.  It was all kind of built up, meeting her past loves, going on this train ride to then just, kind of nothing.

I started The Clockwork Scarab (Stoker and Holmes #1) by Colleen Gleason.  I'm not far enough into the book to say if I like it or not.  I'm doing a Reading Challenge this year and this fits the steampunk requirement.  I had to look up the meaning of steampunk.  In case you need the definition too it's "a genre of science fiction that has a historical setting and typically features steam-powered machinery rather than advanced technology"  The sentence to help you understand is "If you like steampunk, this is a great book for you."  I'm not sure that sentence is really helpful in understanding the definition.  Ha!

For School:

I was still getting the students ready last week for author visit with Michael Anthony Steele (this week).  So we did not read a book.  I showed them the trailer for "Night at the Museum" then read them the preface of Night at the Museum: Nick's Tale.  The trailer gave them a visual and a kick to their background knowledge (if they'd seen the movie before).  So when I read the preface, which is pretty attention getting, they were very excited!  So far I've sold more of his books than any other author we've had visit.  I think part of that is the price of the book and part is the excitement of the movie-book connections.

Uh-Oh

Me:  You still have one book out.  It's called Uh-Oh.

Student: What's the book called?

Me:  Uh-Oh.

Student: What's the name of the book?

Me: Uh-Oh.

Student:  What's wrong?  Are you ok?  Why do you keep saying uh-oh?

Me:  (laughing... which turns into a coughing fit) The name of the book IS Uh-Oh.  And please don't make me laugh.  It makes me cough.

Student: (laughing) Oh!  I thought there was something wrong with you!

It's these little moments that get me though the day when I'm still not feeling 100%.

Wordless Wednesday-Geography Bee

Reagan made it to the school round of the Geography Bee.  

She tied for 5th place.