The Power of Words

Words.  I was reminded today just how powerful they can be.   Something was said about me today that really hurt my feelings.  Said ABOUT me.  The person couldn't even say it to my face. And yet I let it get me down.

The person was talking without knowing all the facts.  But that doesn't even matter.

The person probably has no idea that I even know something was said.  The person has no idea how these words hurt me.

Words are such a powerful thing.  They can tear us down or build us up.  Once words leave the mouth, they can't be taken back.  They have been said.

Today as I was allowing Satan to use the words that were said about me to bring me down, I kept playing the words over and over in my head.  No matter what I did I couldn't seem to think about anything else.

Words were consuming me.  

I did a little venting on facebook.  I was really wishing I was the kind of person who didn't let words hurt me so much.  I guess by posting on facebook I was hoping to hear that I wasn't alone with this struggle.

I wasn't expecting the huge outpouring of love and wisdom that came from my FB friends.  My friends not only reminded me of my worth and Who my worth comes from, but they made me laugh and forget about the very words that had been eating at me.

New words.  Encouraging words.  Words that built me up.  

The Bible says in Matthew that the words that flow out of our mouth are a direct reflection of what is in our heart.  

I want to surround myself with people who are encouraging and build me up as a person.  I want to be the kind of person who can return that kindness and love to my friends with the words that flow from my mouth.

Thoughts From A Weekend

Another weekend as come and gone.

Another weekend closer to living with my husband again.

Another weekend closer to saying goodbye to HG.

I had the luxury of a four day weekend thanks to parent-teacher conferences & President's Day.

Unfortunately I spent the better part of the weekend sick in bed. 

Fortunately my husband makes a pretty good nurse.  He took good care of me.

I missed my first Thirty-One meeting this weekend while I laid in bed suffering.

Yes, I'm being dramatic.

I took a turn for the better Sunday afternoon and the husband and I spent some time working on the boat.

I am so ready for warm weather.

I still hadn't created anything from Pinterest so I got to work last night.

My first attempt was a complete fail.  I tried making lemon cookies but as soon as I cracked the eggs and added them to the mix I realized they were expired.  Two Weeks Ago!  Oops.

Moving on to Project #2.  A cute girly t-shirt made from a men's shirt.

Here is a link to the instructions.

I started with a plain men's Hanes shirt from Wal-Mart.

Now I have a top that will be perfect for the boat this summer.

In the Details

Toward the end of last year the husband started talking about looking for a new job.  I won't go into the details but it was clear to both of us that it was time for him to move on.  

He began looking for job openings that he felt he was qualified to do.  Not much time went by at all before he came across an opening at a company called St. Jeans.

Knowing this position would require us to move I told him to go for it anyway.  Andrew is one of those crazy people who actually enjoys interviewing.  Weird, I know. 

 I felt like going on the interview would be good for his morale.  And I guess I believed nothing would come of it so it didn't really matter.

One interview led to another and to another.  Before I knew it I had to make a decision.  I had two choices.  I could throw a fit and tell my husband he needed to wait until something else came up that didn't require me to leave a job and people that I absolutely LOVE!  

There's not a doubt in my mind that he would have done that for me.  

Or I could put on my big panties and make this sacrifice for my husband.  Besides the good far outweighed the bad.

Don't get me wrong.  Tears were shed.  I'm not a fan of change.  But somewhere amidst the tears I began to feel a peace about the situation that could only come from believing we were doing exactly what we were supposed to be doing.

Since the decision was made for Andrew to accept the job and for us to move I've seen God work out the smallest of details in ways I never would have imagined.

I can't help but smile and praise Him when I think about it.

We thought we had found a rent house for Andrew in our new home town.  The weekend we drove up to look at it, we learned that it wasn't going to be available.  We asked our contact if he knew anyone else who might have a house for rent.  He gave us a name and number of a guy who had three for rent.

We made plans to meet up the next day with this guy but decided to go ahead and drive by the house that seemed the most appealing to us.  Just as we were driving by the home owner pulled into the driveway.  He was there to do some work.  He had put in brand new floors and completely repainted the walls.  The owner was happy to let us come in and look around.  The second Andrew and I walked in we knew it was perfect.  It was exactly what we were looking for including a fenced in back yard for Lib & Lincoln.  The price was an unbelievably good deal.  Andrew moved in a few weeks later and we now affectionately call the house House B.

God was in the details.

A few weekends ago we decided to go walk the docks to see if there were any boats for sale.  We knew exactly what we wanted.  Andrew had done all his research.  If you know my husband that doesn't surprise you. :)  As we were walking the docks we stumbled upon a boat for sale.  It was the exact boat we had said we wanted.  The price?  Another great deal!  It was practically new.  It only has about 30 hours of use on it.  Things fell into place and before we knew we were boat owners.

God was in the details.

January came and went before we ever cleaned House A (where I live) and got it listed.  We needed to get it sold to free up some finances.  Living in two houses can be expensive.  

Monday Andrew called me at work.  The lady who works in the cubicle next to him heard conversations about how we live in two separate places.  They got to talking and she told Andrew both her children live in the town House A is located in and were looking for homes.  We cleaned up the house and her son came by Sunday night to check it out.  He fell in love with the house and is buying it!!!  

We are so thankful that selling our home was this simple.  

God was in the details.

When I started teaching at HG six years ago I inherited A LOT of stuff from the teacher before me.  I have used about 1/4 of the stuff and the rest as traveled with me from classroom to classroom over the years.  It was good stuff that I couldn't bring myself to throw away, but I wasn't using it.  This last summer I decided my goal was to declutter my classroom.  I was going to get rid of all that stuff I wasn't using.  And that is exactly what I did.  I now believe God was preparing me even then for this move.  It is a stress I won't have to deal with when it comes time to pack up my classroom.  I won't feel guilty for leaving a ton of stuff for a new teacher to sort through.

God was in the details.

There are countless other ways that God has shown himself through this moving process.  It reaffirms for me that we are doing what He has called us to do.  That makes saying goodbye and moving a little easier.

I know that He is already working out the plans of where, what, and who I will be teaching next year.  I can't wait to watch and He continues to be in the details.

Wardrobe, Cleaning, Boats, & Crafts

The other day Miranda and I were talking about our wardrobe.  For most of my life I have been a t-shirt & jeans kind of girl.  But a couple of years ago I started trying to dress up a little more.  Pinterest has helped with that A LOT.  I'm learning to "play" with items in my closet. 

Thursday I decided to put together some pieces that I've never worn together before.  By the time I was ready for work I was feeling very nerdy chic.  I played up my nerdy while waiting on a train.  Sometimes a girl gets bored and has to take pictures of herself making silly faces.  Surely I'm not the only one.  I really hope I'm not the only one. 

Andrew and I have been cleaning all weekend.  Literally!  We have a guy coming to look at our house tonight.  We are praying he decides he likes it and wants to buy it.

Our house hasn't looked this good in a long time.

When you spend your entire weekend scrubbing baseboards, toilets, and floors you have to stop for a moment for crazy photos.  I told him to make a silly face...

We stopped long enough today to run to Lowe's for supplies and to grab lunch.  I went out looking like a complete bum in my sweats tucked into my rain boots.  I had to take a picture.  This outfit was too cool not to share.

I received my first free product from Thirty-One this week.  I earned this awesome inside out bag just for booking some parties.  I LOVE it!

We also became boat owners this week.  We are super excited about this.  The husband and I along with a few family members & friends are counting down the days until it is warm enough to use it.  We are dreaming about summer nights on the lake eating dinner on the boat.

We are pretty sure we've settle on a name for the boat, but I'm not sharing until it is final.

It's going to be a busy week this week.  I have skate night and parent teacher conferences, but it's also a four day week.  I'm looking forward to a long weekend with the husband and my first Thirty-One Conference.

I also plan to be crafty this week.  Miranda and I have challenged each other to make at least one thing we have pinned.  I'm actually planning on being the overachiever and making two.  I'm going to bake some lemon cookies and make a t-shirt.  That's the goal anyways.

You should join us.  What have you pinned that you can make this week?

Weekends

It's Sunday afternoon.  The husband has gone back to House B.  The dogs are outside sunning and I'm sitting in bed thinking about all the things that I need to be doing.

I don't want to be the wife or person who constantly complains, but ya'll living in two separate houses is not easy.  I try to stay positive about it.  Some days that is easier said than done.  

Thankfully the time is passing fairly quickly.  Unfortunately that is also true of our weekends.  It seems like as soon as Friday finally gets here and we are together it is already Sunday. 

It definitely makes time together all that much sweeter.  

The time passing quickly has its downside.  We still haven't gotten House A ready to sell.  That needs to be done quickly.  Our agenda this week is to get some major work done so that we can list the house.

Andrew plans to come here every weekend until the house is on the market.  It is just so hard to work on the weekends.  We are both tired from a week of working.  We both just want to spend time with one another talking and catching up.  

Scrubbing baseboards and painting are not at the top of the list of ways we want to spend our weekend together.

On a different note - I mailed one of my applications Friday.  I plan to mail all the others tomorrow.  Then it will just be waiting and praying.  I'm not really that worried about it which is unusual for me.  I just know that God already has the perfect job for me.  Sometimes I still can't believe He has called me to leave my current school.  It has been such a blessing to work there and I honestly thought I would retire from there some day.  But He has other things in store for me.  Other students whom I need in my life.  Other coworkers.  

I do not look forward to saying goodbye in May.  Tears will be shed.  But I'm also very excited about this new adventure.  

Where will I teach?  What will I teach?  Who will I teach?

No matter what the answers may be I already feel my heart moving towards that new place.  

How can I already love a school when I don't even know which school it is?  How can I already love students that I haven't met?

Easy.  I have the blessing of doing what I was called to do. Teaching.

For that I am thankful.