Moved

I have moved from Xanga, my new address is: 

http://acontemplativelife101.blogspot.com/

Well, I'm a little under the weather... a nasty cold and all, but I'm going to attempt to write something of small worth here, recapping on all that has happened over the past several weeks. 

Thanksgiving came and went.  I will say I was expecting more out of my last post.  I don't feel that I did it justice, and I wished that I could have more clearly conveyed my enthusiasm for the season of giving thanks. 

My class really likes me, at least that's the impression I'm getting.  They crowned me 2 Fridays ago and gave me a sash to match.  I think they're trying to save up for a microwave for me.  It's really amazing of them, if you knew the story behind our class and the microwave issues we've had this year.  And I like the kids apparently.  I played a game of basketball against them with the PE teacher.  I told the kids later on that that was the first game of basketball I've played since I was in 6th grade, and yes, I was scared to death to play them.  The kids amaze me overall.  All of my kids passed math on ISTEP, and I even had one kid score a perfect on the writing prompt.  I only had one not pass reading.  Wow.  I am so lucky to have such great students.  I love them all so much, even though I could kill some of them sometimes.  =) 

I'm helping out more at church, or at least I will be come January.  I'm excited about it, and hope that I will find some new friends.  I just have to remind myself that it takes time, and I have to put forth the effort to meet new people.  Not as much fun as already having the relationships established... but it is nice to meet new people.  Even if they're... interesting. 

We met one of our neighbors today!  She lives behind us, and brought us a plate of cookies.  It was so nice of her, we were very thankful that she came over and said hello!  They don't hate us afterall!!! 

My roommate is amazing as well.  She is so patient, and puts up with so much from me.  =)  The loud, giggling fool that I can sometimes be, she accepts and allows me to be me.  And only teases me a little about it all. 

And this is life.  This is where I live, and this is what I do.  I do feel that there will need to be a few more signifcant things to happen in my life before I feel truly settled in one place.  But for right now, this year and the next,  this is where I'm going to be.  I know I keep writing that, but I think it's to remind me that this is all really happening. 

Christmas is around the corner, and I will be half way done with my first year of teaching!  It is astounding to me how fast this year has gone by!  I keep thinking that it's only September, and that the school year has only just begun.  But no, this life of mine is flying by.  Though I hopefully am still able to stop, and notice the important small things.  Like snowflakes, kids laughing, and swinging on swings.  That's what writing is all about.  That's what life is all about.  Living, and making mental notes of the small important things that keep us going. 

That's how I want the rest of my life to go. 

Happy Thanksgiving!!! 

Even though the holliday is technically not until this upcoming Thursday... Lauren and I are celebrating it with our friends from Grace College.  A small collection of friends from around the area are coming in to our place to eat a turkey (soon to be stuffed!), mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie!  It's a pre-thanksgiving tune-up.  The tune-up is a little tradition that my parents started among their own college friends and have continued celebrating it for the past 25 years.  Amazing. 

Now, I don't know if mine will have such longevity... but with a few friends I'm sure it will become a time honored tradition.  I love this time of the year.  I really do, the excitment and buzz the kids get (even when they're twelve), the first snow, the music, the colors!  I love it!  The traditions that have been carried down from year to year, the rituals and right of passages.  It makes my heart happy as I am away from my family for the majority of the year.  So it makes these times all the more special to me!  I know that the times will change as we all grow up, but I'm glad that I get to go home and pretend for a few short days that I never did.  =)

Happy Thanksgiving, and a Merry Christmas!

My goodness.  Yesterday I traveled back to Warsaw, the little land where I grew up and realized my passion and true dreams, and I saw many of the people who encouraged me along that path.  There were kids from student teaching, principals who encouraged me in my abilities, friends who memories were made, and mentors whose words spoke deep into my soul.  Strangely enough, it didn't feel weird, but it was definitely different.  The place and the people there have not changed, at least not a change significant enough to notice, but rather I am the one who has changed.  I've grown up, become even more independent than before, and realized so much more about myself than I had while still in college. 

I feel old actually.  More than independent, more than self sufficient, I feel old.  As I was roaming the stands in the new OCC, running into person after person, I found myself wishing that many of them would not pretend to be my friend carrying out the charade we have both been acting in for so many years.  My time was precious to me, precious to spend with friends I truly care about, who truly care about me, and the random interruptions during my conversations with these friends, were more of an annoyance than anything else.  This feeling of annoyance... told me that I am old.  No longer do I love the bopping around from friend to friend, person to person, but rather I want to spend quality time with those I love.  At least on this day, that's how I felt. 

And so the busy little otter has slown down a bit from her younger years.  She realizes that those relationships were fun for while they were there and part of her life, but now... all she really wants is to settle in next to the few who share joys and trials equally, to those who are committed to continually bettering themselves and encouraging each other to do the same.  Sigh, my fullness in life came in a different way for me yesterday, and yet it was the same that it has always been. 

Coming soon...
Why pursuit is so important, and what's a girl to do when there is none. 

There's an 80's song that keeps playing over and over again in my head.  The main chorus of this song goes something along the lines of... "take my breath away."  Now that you know exactly what song I'm thinking of, you're probably reminicing the last time you watched Top Gun and Tom Cruise did just that.  As much as I hate to break up a tender thinking-of-Tom moment, my point here is not how great a job Tom does at taking our breath away, instead it's how life has a funny way of doing that to us when we least expect it. 

God is amazing.  There's a song about that statement too, but I felt the need to say it here one more time.  God is amazing and so is his creation. His plans for my life, your life, are amazing.  And let's be honest with ourselves, if we let Him, He'll take our breath away. 

I was thinking about all of this, how amazing God is (even when I'm not so amazing), how life and plans, how they take my breath away, and I realized this as I was out looking at crafty nic-nacks with a dear friend from Warsaw was up to visit.  I was explaining to her how much I love my job, how I love teaching, the kids, the school, and how my dreams of everything that I thought I always wanted, are starting to drift away.  They're changing, and I am honestly grasping the concept that God's dreams for me are so much greater than my own, and I'm finding that they were my dreams all along.  As soon as I stated these words to her, I caught my breath, for it had been taken away from me for a brief moment. 

Teaching is my love, and serving God through my passion and talents is something that I've dreamed of doing since I was a child.  However, when I was a child, I thought that my love would be mothering, not teaching.  But God is showing me that there is so much more than my dreams of becoming a housewife.  He doesn't want me to miss the incredible business of living life to the fullest.  And damn it, I am!  No longer do I feel the pressures that I have before of having to find a mate in four years or less.  No longer do I wonder if a conversation with a male means that we will be dating by weeks end.  No, instead I know that in time God will meet all my needs, all my longings, and I simply need to be patient living out His dream for me until it changes into something greater, including another to help me achieve God's goals for our lives.  God, is amazing, and He continues to take my breath away.