Where I should be

"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit,
but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also the interests of others.

Your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus:

Who, being the very nature of God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
And being found in appearance of a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death--
even on a cross."

Philippians 2:3-8


My life object should not be my own comfort and happiness. My life objective needs to be God's objective. His objective is people. Loving them, serving them. He gave up everything--and that's a lot when you're God. My sacrifices come nowhere near His, He gave up everything to serve people, me, you. Why do I often make it my life's goal to be comfortable and happy, when that is not the example that Jesus gives us.

Jesus words are, "come and follow me," not get what you need and like. "Follow me."

Lord, help me to see sacrifice as my goal, and not furthering myself.

"my purpose remains
the art of losing myself
in bringing you praise.
Let justice and praise
become my embrace
consume me from the inside out, Lord"

Missing Lucy: Dedicated to Brieanne

Well, folks, he haven't had any contact from Lucy since the photo she sent. But--I haven't lost all hope as of yet. I just hope that wherever she is, she has access to a computer where she can check the blog and know that we are looking for her.


In the meantime, Andrew and I are keeping very busy! Dancing, laundry, you name it. In fact, we recently received a new washing machine. It's just so fabulous, I thought I just might include a photo of it!



Well, I hope you all had a great St. Patty's, and please keep your eye out for Lucy, would ya?

Garage sale!

Last Saturday we had a garage sale, but it wasn't really the original plan. My friends and I gathered our things in January to have a garage sale to raise money for Los Angelitos Orphanage. We picked a date, but a week before, the forecast spelled out impending rain. BUMMER! Well, we picked a new date in February, and knew we would be just fine because well, San Diego had been so dry, we were almost on water restriction. Well, when we got rained out again--we started to get a little suspicious of someone who didn't want us to have a charity garage sale, as well as feeling powerful that if San Diego ever has a drought, we have the secret to ensure rain--we'd just plan a garage sale.

So we decided on March 7, heck it is almost Spring! We would be safe by FAR! The Sunday before, our pastor was teaching about prayer and how we should pray for what we want--He already knows what we want, we can't have some formula or pattern to butter Him up, but just to approach Him as his child, and, well ask him for what you want--novel, I know, but it really did impact me. Monday,the next day, we decided to check the week's forecast.

Sunny skies all week!!!

That is--until Saturday. Well, there was to be rain just that one day out of the week, well, out of the whole MONTH of March. The day of our garage sale, the 3rd date we picked in 3 months. Oh, and did I mention that the last time we held a garage sale for the orphanage, it rained so hard that we really didn't sell that much stuff?

As Saturday approached, we decided to pray--for what we want, specifically. I am sure you can imagine our prayer, it was really only about three words, each time we prayed it.

Please, no rain.

The Friday before, it was supposed to start raining in the afternoon and continue through Saturday. All us teachers grumbled at the thought of our kids eating lunch inside the classroom--and my friends show astonishment at the thought that we would be rained out again. "How weird!" one commented. Not really, I thought.

But I asked my Father the same three word request, because that's what He said to do. He wants His children to talk to him, and ask Him for what they want, and often.

Strangely--fortunatly, all us teacher's got a little break because our kids got to play outside Friday afternoon because there was no rain. I prayed the prayer again.

That night, we set our alarms for a dark 5am. We lifted boxes and old belongings on dry cement. We drove to Kathleen's house without our windsheild wipers. We set up our sale without the tent, without soaking hair, without having to wait until 8am to make our first sale! My prayer changed to two words.

People came early, and they came in hoards. It was bittersweet. The failing economy brought them, but they were able to buy things they needed. We sold almost every last item. Almost every piece of clothing, median cost being 25 cent each. We rarely sold anything for over a dollar. Parents brought their kids, kids brought their pennies, and slowly, we were raising money for the parentless.

The forecast never changed. It still said it was going to rain, but that day it just didn't, and people's lives were truly impacted. We raised more than $250 and sent it down the following week.








www.losangelitos.org

Psalm 121:2
My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

My worst fears realized...

Its been days or weeks that Andrew and I have been missing our first cat, Lucy, and the hole in our heart is ever widening. While we still hold onto silvers of hope we find each day, today we felt as if all hope was lost. In the mail, we found this photo sent to us, the return address area just had the marking of a single paw print.



Our worst fears are being realized. We have been lead to believe that Lucy is out somewhere with another cat, forced to create their own type of shelter to manage in the cold. From the picture, I can tell that the area looks dangers, and that they are forced to stand watch over each other while the other sleeps. I can't imagine the sleep deprivation Lucy must be experiencing--she needs 20 hours minimum!

I have organized a few peeping tom comitees for the sole purpose of finding our sweet feline. I will make an icon soon that you can put on your blog, with a picture called, "Looking for Lucy" This will help get the word out. Until then, take care!

Dirty Water

So, I used to just rinse my fruits and veggies before I would eat them, then I picked up this little baby, "Biokleen Produce Wash" at some health food store. I decided to start soaking my fruits right when I got home with it in a big bowl--super easy, right? THANK GOODNESS! the stuff that comes off my fruit is disgusting! I feel like if I soaked all my third grades after PE the water wouldn't even be this dirty. Plus all that nasty waxy film comes off the fruit like apples, etc. Ok, so I guess this is a product endorsement, but I really like this stuff and I suppose I would even recommend it. I mean, the picture speaks for itself, right? The nastiest water is after I soak grapes. Plus--it's all natural!

A Celebrity visits Twin Oaks Elementary, and runs reading groups

I just wish I could have been there. I totally missed out on one of the biggest celebrities that I could possibly imagine visiting out very own Twin Oaks, and then proceeding to run reading groups for the lucky students in room 19--I know, right?



Well, she came early, and was able to come to Friday Flag Salutes. Miss Longstocking herself! She signed many autographs, participated in the book character parade, and even participated in the Reader's Theater with the principal, VP and a few others to a raucous round of cheers and applause. Some of my kids said Pippy should have won an Oscar! WOW! If only I could have been there! This is her during one of the most touching scenes from the reader's theatre, grab your kleenex!




Of course, there was also a mini celebrity visiting our school with Pippy. Really, the two are very seldom separate. Mr. Nilson accompanies Pippy the entirety of her visit, calmly perched on her shoulder. Infact, some of my student said they scarcely heard a peep from him all DAY! What a good little monkey!

Well, after the assembably, my students tried to go back to their classroom after one of the most life changing mornings, and to their suprise, Pippy and Mr. Nilson came along. Pippy said that she would be giving the dragons their spelling test, as well as running reading groups! WHAT! ARE YOU SERIOUS? yes. Pippy said she even loves the book their reading, Ramona age 8. Although I have total trust in Miss Longsticking's ability to run the class, I will tell you that I found an incriminating photo of the class maybe having a little too much fun...



Well, until next time, keep reading! And I'll let you know if any more celebrities visit my class.

One year ago this month...

While pretending how to learn how to be a teacher last year in the credential program, my colleges and I would take a once daily trip to the campus Starbucks. During this time, we had many laughs, many awkwards moments, but always a good time. Please enjoy this small time capsule of last March, before any of us embarked into the realm of full time teaching.



Highlights:
How grumpy Brieanne is
When Andrea thinks it's a photo, not a video. Also, when she says vraycation
How Laura never got to talk
Megan's dry humor
Mandy's song? Ok, that's probably not a highlight

ENJOY!