First and foremost--thank you all so much for your prayers! They have indeed been felt and have helped so much. However, when Christians start fighting back the devil, he just seems to want to work overtime instead of moving onto something else so please, for now, keep 'em coming!
It has been a VERY difficult month for me. Dylan's truck was stolen, most of you know that. Well, it's been found but lost again. We'd never gotten ownership changed over because we'd only had it for 3 weeks when it was stolen and part of that time it wasn't running and then there was the whole Jefferson County layoff fiasco and neither Jeff nor I had time to stand in line for 4+ hours to get it taken care of. We had the bill of sale so we weren't particularly worried about it. Then it broke down on the side of 459 and within 1 hour (I'm not kidding) it was gone! Finally, last week, the previous owner called us to let us know that Jefferson County had contacted him to let him know that it had been found--not far from where it broke down. But now every time we try to find out where it's being held in impound, we get the run around and no one claims to know anything about it! Ugh! Beauracracy! We don't know anything about the condition of it for certain so we won't know if it's salvageable until we can get someone to tell us where it is and we can go have a look at it.
Things at work have continued to be tense among management and teachers and among and between teachers ourselves with people getting fired, changes being made, etc. and just when I was starting to allow myself to feel a little bit at peace with things--I was accused of spanking a child! Of course I did NOT spank that child but the mother, another teacher, is choosing to believe her three year-old child and when my boss wouldn't fire me on the word of a 3 year-old, she quit. She has not asked me about it or said two words to me and I am very upset about that. For one thing, I am so unbelievably tired of people who claim to be Christians and yet they don't act biblically. The Bible clearly says in Matthew 18--if you have a problem with a brother or sister, go to them FIRST! But then again, that problem seems pretty widespread these days so I'm not really surprised. For another thing, to even be accused of such a thing just tears at my soul. I love all these kids and though she is not even in my class I have loved on her and extended my heart and hands to her as much as any child who is in my class. And finally, if I can survive the summer with Reni (a VERY wild and out-of-control child) and not beat the total CRAP out of that kid, NO ONE has to worry about me hitting their kid. It would not even occur to me to have that as an option. I don't even spank my own kids as much as I probably should!
I am very thankful that administration and everyone else that I've talked to that knows anything about it believes me. But to even have the accusation out there it's like a dark cloud hanging over me that may never go away. I've done the only thing I can do--pray about it and ask God to take care of it.
Though it has been a difficult time, it has not been without it's many blessings amidst the chaos!
1) Jeff is finally back on full-time! So we've started chipping away at this mountain of debt we now have! Please pray for patience from our creditors and for us to be diligent, frugal and good stewards.
2) My sister is having a boy!
Just look at that big grin on my brother-in-law's face. He only THOUGHT he wanted a girl! lol (and just ignore the Auburn attire--he is a poor misguided soul and we are ministering to him as best we can!)
We are beyond excited over here! I cannot wait for another little man!
3) Jeff's grandparents celebrated 70 years of marriage this weekend! We had a huge dinner at their house with all the family and we had a great time. As soon as I recharge my camera batteries and get those photos uploaded, I will share them. Can you believe 70 years? That is AMAZING!! I LOVE his grandparents. You never met two more genuine Christian souls in your life.
4) I finished three amazing books including the latest installment in the Yada Yada House of Hope series. I SO want to start a prayer group of my own! Anyone interested? LOL
5) I continue to be blessed daily as a teacher. I cannot thank God enough for the class He gave me this year. They are the best kids and have the best parents! I love, love, love them!
6) Alabama is undefeated! Yeah, baby!
7) I reestablished contact with one of my siblings via my sperm-donor father--my sister, Misti! I met her for the first time since we were little about 10 years ago and felt an instant bond with her. Sadly, we lost touch again but we found each other again thanks to amazing new thing called Facebook! If you're not on it, you should be. I resisted the temptation for a long time because I had the impression that it was just another Myspace and that experience left such a bad taste in my mouth. But it's not like Myspace at all. I love it, now that I'm used to it! Misti and I have SO much in common. We are both mothers, with three children. We both teach preschool, we are both writers and we are both Christian women struggling with the same issues of faith! We made a promise to pray and ask God for a renewed committment to each other and for Him to make us better in the areas we need to be.
8) Kayti made the A honor roll at CORE and made an A in algebra! She really struggles with Math so this is an amazing accomplishment for her! I'm so proud!
9) I can tell that Brooke is TRYING to improve her attitude/behavior. When it's just me and her, we have a fabulous time. She's a huge help on the days she goes to work with me and I love watching her interact with her friends. She is so happy and outgoing.
10) We are going camping for Halloween weekend! We are not rich people (obviously) and will be doing it primitive style but we love spending time together outdoors. I do pray it warms up just a LITTLE bit, though! LOL
Praise be to God for all things big and small!
I am thrilled to hear your praises, especially Jeff's job! I will be continuing to pray for you and will so be praying for the situation at work! That mess makes my mad and saddens my heart greatly!
ReplyDeleteI continue telling you I miss you, but still never get to talk to you or see you. Are you ever going to walk into the studio and show your cute little face?
Please send me your new cell number again. My phone and battery died so they were unable to retrieve any of my contacts. Never in all my years of having a cell phone has that happened----go figure!
I love that I get to see both your girls again! Now if only I could see their mama I would be happy!
Love you!