Making Your Ministry CREDIBLE

This past weekend, I had the wonderful blessing of being able to attend a Beth Moore conference/bible study.  If you've ever done a Beth Moore study, or if you've ever heard her speak, then you know how much she loves the Lord and how full of wisdom she is about God's Word!  Truth be told.... until this past weekend, I had never heard her speak, nor had I ever completed one of her studies.  **GASP**  Well, let me just say that it was an honor to be able to go and hear God speak through her.  Please understand, ladies, that Beth Moore is not Jesus.  (Whaaaa???, you ask)  Nope, she's not.  I say this not to SHOCK you, but to encourage you not to rely solely on her speaking and her studies.  Yes, she is a strong woman of God, but you are challenged to acquire your own personal relationship with the Father, and that requires independent study of God's Word.  So... use her lessons as a guide, but then go study the scriptures yourself and see what the Holy Spirit reveals to YOU! 

Anyway, I wanted to share the message from this weekend to those of you who were unable to attend.  Beth shared through the scripture 2 Corinthians 6:1-7:4.  She began by showing us in v. 1-2 that our time of favor is NOW.  Christ has come!  He is risen!  We are living in the time that was prophesied for ages!  IT'S HERE!!!  So relish in God's grace and be bold!

BUT, Beth spent the rest of her study based on v. 3 which commands us to have a ministry that cannot be discredited.  Here's the thing... how many times do you say that something is INCREDIBLE?  Well, guess what, do you realize that the prefix "in" really means "not"?  Do we want our ministry to be "not believable"???  Of course not!  So, let us begin speaking of how CREDIBLE things can be!!!  She shared the rest of the message by using an acrostic of the word credible.  Here is the summary:

C- Credibility is believability that can only be earned.  (v.3-10)
             -"The gospel can't be spread if you ain't got no cred!!!!"
             -"No one's cred can be yours instead"
      What does your ministry look like?  When people interact with you, do they believe they can trust you?  Can they trust you as a witness to Christ?  What do you need to do to be able to do what you're called to do in such a way that you're seen as credible??
             -In order to gain credibility, you will have to greatly endure through many things throughout your life.  Consider it a blessing to be able to claim that you have greatly endured for His namesake!

R- Reconciling adversity and divine favor is true mystery disclosed.  (v.8-10)
             -We will encounter dire circumstances, but we STILL have His favor.  That is true revelation.

E- Every single antithetical inch is spaced by grace.  (v.8-10)
             -Okay, big word.  Basically, Beth is saying that our state of mind in Christ is separated from our circumstances.  We have the ability to understand true joy because in all of the crud that we encounter, we have EVERYTHING in Christ Jesus.  Grace covers the distance from our worldly junk to the blessed arms of our Father.

D- Dying to self feels most like a killing when the unloved love.  (v.11-13)
              -Sometimes it's hard to love when the love is not returned.  Beth referred us to Psalm 119:32 to remind us to enlarge our hearts so that we may be able to love more fully.

I- Interlocking lives is double strength or double trouble.  (v.14-18)
              -Paul talks of not being yoked to nonbelievers.  Hear me in this, he is NOT saying to stay away from them or to not interact with them.  He is telling believers not to bind themselves to nonbelievers.  We must be careful in our relationships.  Two people who love the Lord can grow strong together.  Two people who disagree in their faith will struggle.  As far as love relationships go, specifically, remember that love and obsession are NOT the same thing!  Love is not based on emotion or physical desires.

B- Bondage at its deadly best is trading repentance for regret.  (7:1-4)
               -Regret causes us to relive the foolishness over and over again.
               -Repentance allows you to own up to your sin and then WALK AWAY FROM IT.  It's done.  It's forgiven.  Move forward.

L- Living and dying together (in reverse order) in heart, is fellowship at its finest.  (7:2-4)
               -We laughed for a long time as Beth realized in front of 13,000+ women that she had made a mistake.  In her study of this passage, she came to learn that the original Greek phrases this verse "to together die and to together live".  We switch them in the NIV to make it easier to understand for ourselves, but in this case, it's not the true intention here.
               -The death is in reference to our sharing in Christ's death.  Death to our sin and former self.
               -The life is in reference to our sharing in Christ's resurrection.  Life eternal.
               -Die and live together.  That is true fellowship.

E- Everything is nothing without Jesus.  (6:10b)
               -In this world, we may have nothing, but because of Christ Jesus, we possess EVERYTHING!!!


Welp, that's a little summary of our weekend.  If you hung with me through it all, give a big "HOLLA".  And if you did read through it all, I hope that God spoke to you in some way.  It was an encouraging message, but a challenging one as well.  I sincerely pray that when people look at me, they see a credible witness.  Am I perfect?  Ha... absolutely not.  Do I make mistakes?  Ha... absolutely yes.  However, in those mistakes, in those trying circumstances, I pray that God would shine through me so that people see Him, and not my sorry self.

These are the ladies that were in my vehicle on the way to and from the Conference.  That's my mother-in-law up front.  As I was taking this picture, she said "Oh!  Do you smell the skunk?!"  Please note her expression.  She loves the smell of fresh  skunk, and let me just say that this one was fresh.

Here are all the ladies who went this past weekend!  It was a blessing to fellowship with them!!!

Is your ministry credible? 

Pray for our Schools!

This is the sign that stands out in front of the schools across our county.  It's very unfortunate that no one within the county has any idea when schools will begin for the 2012-2013 year.  For those of you who don't know our present situation, the school board has proposed a budget to the county commissioners, but it is consistently being rejected.  We are at a standstill with both sides planting their feet firm in the ground.  I'm not going to put all of my personal thoughts and feelings on here expressing my position in it all.  This is not the place.  What is important is our students.  We want them to go to school, but we also want our schools to be a safe, welcoming, loving environment that provides every possible opportunity for success.  Education is the foundation for all future endeavors.  School is not where learning begins, nor where it ends, but it is where learning is nurtured and where it flourishes.  We don't want to stifle that movement.  Right now, we need to pray for God to move in the hearts of those who need to see the bigger picture.  Pray that our children would be put first.  They are worth it and worth the money.  

The Countdown is on...

Summertime is coming to an end, and that brings up a huge mess of emotions.  I'm so excited to meet the new 1st graders and to begin implementing all of the wonderful new things I have learned over the summer.  At the same time, I am going to seriously miss waking up whenever the heck I feel like it and doing whatever the heck I feel like doing each day!  (Which was typically sleeping in, watching tons of Lifetime and TLC, becoming addicted to Pinterest and blogs reading educational books and seeking professional development for the school year!)  This summer has been SO different from a year ago.  Last year at this time I was moving to a new home, in a new city, at a new school, in a new grade, and oh yeah... planning a wedding!!!  Needless to say, I am in a much better place (mentally, physically, emotionally) than I was last year.  But that also doesn't mean that I am ready-to-go. 

As I mentioned before in this post, this blogging business is a constant reminder of how much growing and learning I have to go to be a GREAT teacher, but also that I will never be satisfied in my teaching.  Sounds depressing, right?  But this is generally the mindset of a teacher.  The culture changes, so we change.  Whether it's a change in methodology (worksheets to hands-on) or content (state standards to Common Core) or curriculum (new reading series... new math series...), I will never be at a place where I've learned it all.... and that is so overwhelming.  So, while I've been preparing for the little monsters precious ones who will soon enter my classroom, I've had to seriously check myself on multiple occasions in order to keep from going into a stress meltdown.  This year is going to be FANTASTIC!  I am finally able to teach the same grade for two consecutive years, so I actually have a clue about what I'm getting myself into!  That being said, I am becoming that teacher that I look up to... Slowly but surely, I am adding little tools to my belt.  I'm taking advice from experienced educators.  I'm researching and creating, and that says something, doesn't it?  I care enough to grow.  I just hope my kiddos can see how much I love them and how truly I believe in them.  (Especially considering the time I spend making it all come together!!!!!!!!!!!  Can I get an AMEN?!?)

Here are some more tidbits of preparation....

First of all, for two years I have been growing my hair out.  My hair in college was usually pretty short.  Two years ago, I had just gotten that cut when I went on this blind date with a very handsome man.  Turns out I kinda fell in love with the guy, and knowing that I wanted to have long hair when I got married, I started right then letting it grow.  It's been some time since my hair has fallen so far down my back, and it's been fun!  However.... it's time.  So, I chopped it!  Goooooooodbye 10 inches!

Before...

After...

I think I look teacher ready.... What do you think??

Secondly... I was at Target looking at all their super exciting school supplies on sale, and I came across the most wonderful thing I've seen in a long time.  Remember when you were a kid, and you were getting ready with your "Back to School" gear?  You had to get all the good stuff.... Not just the basic supplies, but I mean the special things... decorative folders, backpacks with the most popular characters plastered all over, and......  A LUNCH BOX!  Meet mine:

You love it, I know.  I'm not usually one for lunchboxes... I just throw my stuff in a Kroger bag... but COME ON!  You know those Pier 1 commercials where the objects talk to the customers.  Well this little love was talking to me.  I promptly texted (apparently texted is not an acceptable word in my spell check, but I don't know how to make it past tense any other way, so I'm leavin' it!) my man to make sure the buy was acceptable, and wonderful hubbs that he is, he said yes.  WIN.  My lunch is cuter than yours.

Lastly, I am trying to take my classroom theme into overdrive this year.  I really want everything to pull together.  So, I've been spending time creating things that will do just that.  (Classroom tour to come later when it's all complete... for the time being.) Thanks to a friend of the family who was ready to change her classroom theme, I inherited a TON of freeeeeee movie themed classroom materials.  Last year I used them minimally... simply because I didn't really know how everything was going to work.  This year, I'm stepping it up!  For today, I will show you my new behavior chart.  Last year, all my kids had clips that started on the "red carpet", but poor choices caused them to move to a 1, 2, or 3.  I have seen several people who make charts where the kiddos can also go UP for outstanding behavior!  Love that.  So, here is what I came up with... Keep in mind, it isn't laminated yet, so I don't have the clothespins on it yet.  But they will start every day on the Red Carpet....

Red Carpet Ready!  Moving down on the chart is not ideal.  I sure hope I don't have to "CUT!!!" many students this year!  (I mean, is that even okay to say?? It totally sounds like Bon Qui Qui...)  But I sure hope to see some of my kiddos become "Part of the Cast" and even have an "Award Winning Performance!!!"

Yay!!!  Well, tomorrow my other life begins.  Students come on Monday, but teachers are in starting in the mo'nin.  Booooo...... Hooray!!!!!!

I promise I'll have other posts not related to school sometimes.... but it pretty much does consume my life, so I can't help it if this is all I have to talk about!!!

Lights, Camera, Action!

Facelift!

I have decided to come out from under the books and boxes and spiders and mess that is my classroom to do something for myself for a moment.  Did you see that I said spiders?  Yes, I have killed at least 40-50 spiders since returning to my classroom.  Does that not make you cringe?!  Welcome to my world.

Well, as I have been scouring the Internet to see how to best update my classroom so that I am the most effective teacher I can be... I have come to a couple of moments in which I realize that I am far from the teacher I wish I could be.  I know this is only my third year, but I always desire to be and do my best.  When I see these amazing teachers posting on their blogs and showing all of the products they are creating... from classroom design to center organization to reading notebooks to upcoming lessons... I think to myself...

DO YOU HAVE A LIFE?!?!?


The answer, I think, is no.  There is absolutely no way that any human being has the time to do all of this and also enjoy the wonderful blessings of life in the outside world.  I mean, at least not that I have come across.  SO, while I have beaten myself up numerous times trying to figure out how to do all of this at once, I have also had to remind myself that these people have been teaching for YEARS, and they didn't just magically wake up one day and be awesome... they have developed into that person over time.  I just have to be okay with taking on small pieces one at a time. 

For instance, my classroom has a Hollywood/Movie theme.  I saw on an old blog from The First Grade Parade, who also had this theme, a cute behavior management system that I was already planning on making, but it had CUTE clip art and fonts, etc.  I have come across this problem many times this summer.  And I have had to ask, where in the world are these people getting such cute stuff?  All these products they are making... are these teachers so incredible that they also can design clip art and fonts??!?!  The answer for the most part is no.  I've been asking people and scouring the Internet to find these gems.  In case you have been wondering where to go... here are some of the places I've found...

FONTS:
Kevin and Amanda
These are FREE and they have a variety of finds on there.  You can even submit your own writing sample and they will create it as a font for you!  NUTS.
Dafont.com
They have TONS of fonts.  Like... everything you can think of, basically... and most are free.

CLIP ART:
DJ Inkers
Their stuff is SO CUTE, but it comes on CD's that they have to send you.  Each CD comes with a bazillion items, but it also comes at a steep price.... Maybe if I was rich...
Scrappin' Doodles
Absolutely precious, teacher-friendly clip art.  They come in different size packages, reasonable pricing, and when you buy it, all you have to do is click a link to download.  SIMPLE!
Etsy!
Who knew?  I though Etsy was just for craftiness.  (Is that a word?)  But they also sell digital clip art that you can download.  Also reasonable pricing.  I ordered a package from JCSweetpea Designs.  They look like scrap booking material!  It's AWESOME!

Do you know of any other places to find cute fonts or clip art??  Let me know!

Also, as you can see, I have updated my blog with a scrappier design.  I have sat googly-eyed staring at some of my favorite blogs' headers and wondered how they created such beauty.  Welp, I have also decided to share with you my findings so you can make yours pretty, too!

Custom Blog Designs
One word... EXPENSIVE... They are BEAUTIFUL, but it costs to be beautiful, right??  Well, they have pre-made blog designs, but they are "CUSTOM" which means no design can have two owners.  You are limited to choices that no one else has already claimed.  These, though, are like $20-$30.  No, thank you.  But you can also make your own design by starting with one of their packages...  The least expensive is like $65... yiiiiiikes!  My thoughts are... unless you are starting a business blog or something... not worth it.
Shabby Blogs
YES.  This site is incredible.  They have designs that look like scrapbooks, and they are... get this... FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!  Also, they have tutorials that tell you how to use their stuff.  Wow.

So, the only problem I encountered was with blogger.com.  I got the beautifulness on here, but I'm having some trouble designing just the basic stuff on my blog.  I can't get my post background to be anything but grey.  And it took me a couple of attempts before the background worked right.  Also, I don't know how to center my header, so I just made the width of the blog smaller.....

Welll... that's what I've got.  Any thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Helpful hints? Sanity-to-go??

Design on!

Project Success!

Married friends- Do you and your husband wake up at the same time in the mornings?  During the school year, D and I are definitely on different schedules.  Every morning I will get up and get completely ready and walk into the bedroom to give him a kiss before I head for work.  He looks so cozy all sleepy-faced, smushed between the covers.  I hate love it!  I will already have been teaching for an hour before my husband even gets out of bed.  How unfair neat is that?? 

So, you'd think I would love to have the tables turned during the summertime since I am the one without anywhere in particular to be.  Notsomuch.  Dwayne has the luxury of showing up to work somewhere between 8:30 and 9:30... ish.  Yesterday he did not get out of bed until 9:07.  9:07?!?  Yes, that's what I said.  Because I am bitter and feel the need to take advantage of my summer sleepability, I choose to stay in bed even though I've already been awake for an hour.  This morning, however, it got to be 9:30, and I just had to get up and going while he slept for another hour and 15 minutes.  The sad thing is that my body has adjusted to being able to sleep late.  During the school year, I will be awake at 7:45 on a Saturday morning, and D will STILL sleep until 10:30 or later!!! 

This also causes problems at night because I have been up for 7985734958 hours, so come 9:30, I am OUT.  Whereas, he could stay up until midnight or later.  Am I the only person who experiences this dilemma?  Do you have a solution?  Kids I hear you say???  Give me time for that...


WELL, that was a long rant that had nothing to do with my main purpose for this post.  What I really wanted to share was my excitement in some DIY Pinterest projects that were a SUCCESS!!!  This week, I took three main projects on that would improve my classroom, and let me just go ahead and say that I am STOKED!  Yes, I said stoked.  Here is why:

Project #1:  Turn a place mat into ten frames for Math Stations
I got this idea from a blog I follow.  She mentioned some place mats she found at Walmart.  I actually did not go get them right away.  I just so happened to be walking down the Clearance aisle and saw one by itself.  It had no price on it, and there were no other ones like it, so the cashier gave it to me for $.25!!!  SCORE!!!  Here's the end product:

Original idea here.

I got 5 ten frames 4 five frames!

Project #2: Turn paint chips into word work!
Saw this on Pinterest, but also saw something earlier in the year that made me want to get out and do this, and I finally did!

So the students can use the long strips as the beginning sounds of a word, and slide the word ending chunks along the strips to see what words they can make!  Yay!  Next step is to make some into contraction flippables (not a word, I know) and some math strips.  I'll update you when I get there.

Project #3: Get a drawer organizer from Lowe's and turn it into a labeled desk organizer!
Another Pinterest idea, there is a blogger who totally set every teacher up for a good deal by showing this idea and also providing the document for the labels that are ALREADY sized appropriately for the drawers!  THANK YOU FOR THAT!  I have left a few drawers blank to decide what I will need to put there the most!


Original idea here.

Finished product!

So there you have it!  I have already taken it to school and filled it up with all kinds of goodies.

Speaking of goodies, has anyone been down the school supplies aisles of stores lately?? EXCITING!  I feel like a kid on sugar!  Give me school supplies any day!

Crafted out.

The Pursuit

Well!  It's been a little while.  Plenty has happened, but I shall contain my need to spew forth every detail of my life because what is exciting to me is not always as exciting to the rest of the world.  Crazy, I know.

However, I do want to share about our wonderful week at Centrifuge last week with our youth group.  Hang in there with me because there is a lot to share!

First: Gary Morgan, Pastor of Mosaic Church in Nashville, was our camp pastor for the week, and he TOTALLY brought God's word to the 1,100 youth at this camp.  (Only 20 of which came from WHFBC)

Night 1: "Pursue"
God longs for us to see the depths of His love for us.  In Romans 5:5-11, God wants us to clearly see how he proves*shows*demonstrates this love.  In Ephesians 2:1, we realize that we are spiritually dead without God, so HE engages in pursuit after us.

Night 2: "Proclaim"
Acts 8:1-8... After the stoning of Stephen, believers were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria, but suffering strengthens us to become who God desires for us to be.  Gary challenged us to "sneeze" the gospel! 

• God never calls us into a relationship with Him without radically sending us out.
• Our greatest fear in life shouldn't be failure, but in succeeding in something that doesn't matter!

Night 3: "Stand"
Romans 12:1-16 Gary challenged us to realize that we need a correct estimation of ourselves.  No one is superior to anyone else.  In that, we called in a relationship with Christ that is personal, but not individual.  Are we involved in the lives of those around us?  Are we those around us to be involved in our lives?

Night 4: "Walk"
What's next?  Where do we go from here?  Is this it?  No!  We need to seek to know scripture and live life that way.  The world's system shouldn't be what dictates the way we live.  Take a stand, get uncomfortable, get IN the world, and exude Christ!!!



Next: I was so proud of our youth this week.  We had a combination of middle school and high school students.  Sometimes this age difference can cause separation.  However, I was blessed to watch them come together.  These girls (I talk about them the most because they're the ones I spent the most time with) were so great to each other.  They also expressed their compassion by celebrating one of the girls on her birthday and secretly covering her door with signs and writing encouraging notes.

We also had an emotional couple of nights in Church Group Devotions where each person shared their biggest struggles and the rest would provide encouragement and love in response.  I will say that there wasn't a single person sharing that didn't at least get choked up.  Some of us were all out bawling, but it was such a beautiful thing to be real with one another!  So many times we are afraid to open up because we don't want anyone to know that we don't really have it all together.  But when we are able to share our hurts, that allows for our brothers and sisters in Christ to come alongside and share in the burden.  We don't have to do it alone!!!


Then: I got to help a friend surprise the girls.  Tiffany Thompson was on her way back home from her training for the Army National Guard.  She and I had planned this for awhile, but I had to keep it a secret.  Let me just say that I should win an award for that because it was HARD!  But I did, and it was a perfect reunion!

On our way to surprise the girls!



The happy girls!!!





Jordan nearly pummeled Tiff to the wall

Oh yeah : I could not finish this post without showing off some of the talents from our track times.  Students could go to different tracks each day that were interest based.  Since I am not outdoorsy, and I do not take an interest in sports, the tracks I attended were more artistic in nature.  Here are some of the moments I captured...


Crafts Track- pillowcases



My final result!






Duct Tape Art... Niki struggled....





Duct tape roses!... kinda...

 

Creative Writing



Poem by me





Another poem by me

And that was Centrifuge!  I know this is a long one... but so worth sharing!

Now, get uncomfortable.



Bringing Revival to White House

Hello, friends!  I wanted to take this post to share a little about what God is doing here in White House, Tennessee.  I have absolutely loved becoming a part of this church family here, and God is doing such great things in the people of our community.  Lately, though, we have been going through a little bit of a tough time financially, and with that, there has been some kind of looming sense of worry and concern throughout some of our congregation.  Often times, we can get in a lull in our walk with Christ.  We become complacent and content in where we are, and we are afraid to get uncomfortable in our faith.  Let God's glory be known that just because we are struggling that does NOT mean He isn't moving!!!  Recently, there has been an abundance of prayer toward the direction of our church, and let me just tell you.... GOD IS ANSWERING! 

I have been blessed to be able to sing in a rotation on our church's Praise Team.  Looking out at the congregation this morning, I was truly humbled at seeing our church rise up in uninhibited worship.  Tears filled my eyes to see such zeal and passion. 

In our Pastor's sermon, we were encouraged to recognize that a "revival" is not a movement in which we look for something new and sparkly to ignite an emotional response that will fade at the first obstacle in our path.  Instead, a revival begins in the heart.  It's about each of us getting ourselves right with Christ and pouring out ourselves that HE might take our place and intercede for us. 

"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

- Galatians 2:20

We must die to ourselves daily and offer ourselves up to Him who is so much greater than our tiny brains can comprehend.  Christ longs to fill us and bring us everlasting joy.  He desires to uphold his glory, and it is our blessing that He might use us to do so. 

God is doing something here in White House, and I am excited to see what that looks like.  I pray that we all strive for a revival in our hearts.  Let it not be out of an emotional response but of the outpouring of our faith in God, our Father! 

PS... I'm out for a week as I taking a trip with our youth.  Please be in prayer over these kiddos that God will be real, relevant, and PRAISED!