days like today...

This morning during my planning time my heart was flooding with emotions.  It was only 9:50 am and already I was longing for a break.  For those of you who are teachers, you understand exactly what I mean when I talk about the roller coaster of emotions you can go through just in one day in the classroom.  Today was one of those days.  I sat down during planning and had to get my thoughts out.  To me, writing is a peaceful and calming thing...so I did what I do best when I'm upset...I wrote.

Let me share...

On days like today I have to remind myself of the reason I teach.

I feel God called me into this path for right now, so why do I feel so astray sometimes?

On days like today I have to remind myself that each of my students is in my class for a purpose beyond my complete understanding.

Lord, please help me to understand those purposes and fulfill those individual needs.

On days like today I beat myself up and I battle with myself in my mind.

What else can I do? How can I teach this in a different way? What interventions and strategies are the key to reaching those specific kiddos?

On days like today I just want to be at home and curl up on the couch with a blanket. I am exhausted and frustrated.

Where is a snow day when you need it?

On days like today I wonder just what is going on in those little minds.

Where have the hard-working students I have worked so hard with to get to this point gone? Have they traveled to space? Did aliens abduct them? Did some magical fairy bop them on the head and cause all the hard work to leave?

On days like today I pray.

I pray for peace of mind and heart. I pray for strength. I pray God will guide me and direct me. I pray that God would remind me once again that it’s not all up to me. I pray for parents to have patience. I pray that tomorrow, I will do one more thing better than I did today. I pray for grace.

Fast forward about an hour. 

Here we go back up the next hill on this ride. My kiddos came back to me from art..with what seemed to be refreshed minds.  (Art does that for me too.)  Oh, I was jumping for joy in my mind.  Just the thought that I may have a few good hours left in the day with these sweeties.  Amidst seeing a couple reluctant writers show me the best reading responses they had all year and students getting focused to try their hardest once I had given them a model of my expecations, I found the hope I was looking for.  I was reminded once again by my wonderful Maker of just why I do what I do.  Not only did I get those precious reminders...but I also got a funny moment and a near-tears-for-joy moment.

The near-tears-for-joy moment came from the exact little body that was one of the main reasons I was so upset earlier in the day.  We were among day two of what seemed to be a student/teacher mind battle.  He didn't want to listen, he was giving up, and he was shutting me out.  However, I took just a few moments with him to get past my pride and ask him whole-heartedly just what it was that he was upset about.  What was going on in his heart that was causing him to have bad day #2.  I took time.  Time out from the hectic day to notice he needed something  more than an explanation to a math problem.  The result from my gift of caring and time was sitting on my desk later in the day on the back of something he drew for me.

and I quote.....ps. thak you for makeing my day better!

(Maybe I get to his heart because I'm a hardcore UK fan too...I'll take what I can get!)

Uh huh...that was obviously the near tears moment. 

The funny moment (*names are obviously changed):

Scene--During a mini-lesson filling out a KWL (know, want to know, learned) chart on light.  We started filling out the W section of the chart with our questions we had about light.

Inquisitive Izzy:  "How did light first form?"

Before I had time to finish writing it on the chart paper, Biblical Billy chimed in.

Biblical Billy:  "And God said, let there be light!"

(this is where the Christian teacher in the public school classroom quietly applauds in her head)

Sensitive Suzy (really getting into this conversation):  "Not everyone believes in God, Biblical Billy!"

Spiritual Sally (quietly with head tilted and sighing):  "Unfortunately."

Haha! I love those kids.  Thanks for cheering me up and making those dips on the roller coaster so worth every minute! On days like today, you melt my heart.

“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

 Matthew 11:28-30

Crafty Tuesday

A couple weekends ago I ventured into a little craft project that I saw in a crafting magazine.  Maybe it was my attempt to satisfy my first inkling of cravings for spring.  Whatever it was...it turned out pretty cute.

You need:  Fake moss grass, a sheet of scrapbooking paper, one foam cube, one fake flower of your choice, and a glue gun.  (Ignore the glue stick....didn't cut it.  Stick with the glue gun--no pun intended.)

Trace the largest part of your cube on the backside of your paper to get four squares.  (These will be larger then the four sides you cover.  That was an oops on my part...but you'll see how I made it work.)

Place some glue on the side and quickly apply a square of your paper.  Hot glue dries fast.

I kept one side of the paper flush with what will be the top of my flower cube.  I folded the other side under so that you can't see the foam at all when this is sitting on a surface.

The bottom should look similar to this once you have applied all sides of the paper.

Turn your cube back over to the side with the exposed foam.  Pull off a small amount of the fake grass.  Apply some hot glue in small sections and press the grass firmly to the surface.  (Don't worry about straggles of grass...we'll take care of this in a minute!)

Once you have covered the foam surface it should look similar to this.  (Can we say "bad hair day"?)

No worries! Give your cute little cube a "grass"cut.  I just snipped the excess off with scissors and it looked much better!

Next, take your flower and cut it to have about six inches of stem left.  For those of you that don't have wire cutters...like me....you can score it with regular scissors and then bend it back and forth to cut it apart. 

Stick the pretty little flower down through the grass on the cutesy little cube...and there you have it.  Your very own flower cube for your spring tastebuds!

Here it is adding a little spring to our nightstand in our guest bedroom. 

So there you have it! A very simple craft to satisfy those spring cravings.  The fun party of this is you can change the flower and/or paper type when you create these to fit any occassion....Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter...Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc.  (I think these would look adorable in a cluster of three cubes to decorate a little girls room and I'm already pondering how I can use fake poinsettias with Christmas paper to create cute Christmas decorations next year.)  Do share and let me know if you try this out! I would love to see your creations! Happy crafting!

I'm linking up....

blessings, Cait

featured?!

Oh I'm so excited...can you tell by the post title? (And for those of you that don't know me outside of the blogging world, I don't hide my excitement at all.) My blog was FEATURED on Blissfully Domestic's Relationship section.  Thanks so much to Malia at Blissfuly Domestic! I was featured in the "Brag on Him Friday" section of their website.  Check it out here!

I feel so blessed as this really is the first time I have sorta been "published".  How neat! I've been passionate about writing since my lovely 4th grade teacher found that passion within me and helped me to blossom within that gift.  (Whoa...wake-up call to me.  I can actually ignite a passion for a life-long calling within my students each day. I know this...but do I rememember this thought each day?)

Thanks for everyone's support...whether you stop by every once in a while, follow daily or am my mom (or any other friend/family member) that reads for joy even though you could just read out of feelings of obligation.  :) I hope that my words reach your heart and you are blessed by them each time you visit.  I so appreciate you!

is it holy?

Justin and I spent this weekend at a United Methodist Youth Conference called WinterBlitz with the youth group from our church.  What an amazing time of spiritual renewal! Our speaker was Justin Lookadoo and Addison Road led us in worship.  What a moving experience! What a blessing it has been to move from going to WinterBlitz as a youth to now being a leader and working with such special kids that have a heart for their Savior.  Our speaker focused on the story in Hebrews 5:11-14 about spiritual feeding and challenged us so deeply....kids and leaders alike.

"We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

-Hebrews 5:11-14

This scripture pierced my soul.  I was convicted this weekend.  I was convicted of doing exactly what God's word warns us about.  I have been "slow to learn" relying on others to teach me all the time.  Yes, I give of my time to reach out to others.  Yes, I read my bible.  But I can't say that I have been feeding on solid food as a Christian.  I haven't been reading scripture as a book completely diving into the teachings before me.  I haven't been reading my bible as God's love story to me and treating it as relevant as I know it is.  I have been lazy.  There, I said it.  Lazy in my faith.  I don't want to be there anymore.  I want to be mature in my faith, training myself through God's help and wholeheartedly learning what exactly holy is. 

Which leads me to the next thing....

A question Justin Lookadoo challenged us with is "Is it holy?"  Three simple words that have changed my life as a Christian.  These three words challenge us to move completely away from the thought of what is right and wrong in God's mind.  God calls us to be Holy....set apart from the world.  Battling with what is right and wrong is an endless battle.  There are so many gray areas and places where the world strays us from the truth.  Yet, if we seek out what is holy....we are seeking out exactly what God wants us to.  He defines everything that is holy right in his Word.  His word is relevant.  It is true.  It is life-changing.

So your life...your actions...your thoughts....your decisions...are they Holy? Do you truly desire to be set apart and mature in your faith? No matter what your answer to those questions are....God loves you so incredibly much.  He is waiting for you....waiting for you to come into His arms so he can embrace you and move you to the next level in your faith whether it be the first step or the one-hundredth step.  Allow Him to move in your life.

Sand art image from this weekend 

decluttering bug

I have the decluttering and organizing bug. 

When I get in this mood....I better utilize it! I love to organize and declutter, but the truth is...I'm not always in the mood.  (Especially in this cold weather when I just want to be a couch potato.) Well the bug hit....one, because the winter weather pretty much traps you in your home with a deathgrip and two, I get inspired by lovely bloggers that I find in this world of blogging.  (Bless you, ladies!) So I did the big project a few weeks ago....the hubby's closet.  (Boo me for not taking a before picture.)  The "after" is still evident.  You'll just have to take my word on this one.  I am thinking positive on this one but my unorganized free-organizational-spirit husband doesn't always keep a space decluttered.  So get excited...you may just get a glimpse into that closet before and after...um...let's say this spring or summer.  (I think he can keep it clean...I think he can keep it clean...)

Now onto the little projects that may seem so silly and trivial to you....but they were driving me crazy! These little projects are three cabinet spaces in our kitchen.  Blah.  You know how you sometimes have to "learn to love" something....well that's me with our kitchen cabinets.  I am grateful for what we have...but it takes creativity to make it work! :)

This is our lovely top cabinet over our awkwardly tall cabinet space that we use as our "pantry".  This houses our lunchboxes, bulk bags of chips (Side note...I'm not a "bulk" shopper, but they were cheaper unit-price wise this week at the grocery store...hint, hint), our George Foreman, tea maker, grill tools, etc.  I look at this and cringe.

Before

After

(Not perfect to you organizing queens...but this works great for us.  Accessible and simple.)

Tupperware......

Really?! I let it get to this?!

(please don't tell Martha Stewart)

Before

After

I matched lids to bottoms, recycled the oddballs, and as you can tell, moved the contents to one of our big drawers.  Ahhh.  I can breath easier...this makes so much more sense in our kitchen.

Where the tupperware was now holds oven mits, new sponges and napkin rings (in the white basket), and my aprons.  (Again, it makes sense.  Oven mits directly next to the oven.  Duh, Cait.)

So no longer can my hubby sit in the living room and crack up as he hears me saying some unpleasant words to the tupperware as they topple out of the cabinet and I shove them back in with one hand while closing the door with the other.  Oh darn.

So there you go....hopefully I'm spreading the decluttering bug to you.  Start little....it'll make your progress so much more rewarding as the projects snowball....(like that Dave Ramsey talk?) 

....Now what else can I declutter and organize?

____________________________________________

p.s.  I moved my 2010 coupon savings running total to my sidebar.  Follow me through the year as I pinch pennies with coupons.  Call me a nerd if you want to...but it's so much fun.  Hope it will inpsire you!

the exact moment

"All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." 

-2 Timothy 3:16

Oh how I wish I could type this blog all about how I have read my bible daily since the beginning of the new year.  However, I'm not perfect.  Period.  I set a goal at the end of last year to spend more time with God. Being that Christmas is a time where we think so much about giving because God gave His son completely for us, I started to think about what it was I could give to God.  For some reason...this was the first Christmas that I truly thought about this. I pondered this so much during the Christmas season, finally deciding it was time. I am the queen of multi-tasking. So I decided that with the new year beginning, my gift to God was my time. Completely focused non-interrupted time with God.  One-on-one time.  Time to just focus and center my heart solely on my Creator.  Although it hasn't happened every day...it has happened a lot more than I was diving into scripture last year.  I let the stress of the first year of teaching completely drain me.  Although the bible was exactly what I needed on those evenings where I just came home and melted in frustration, tears, whining and complaining....it was what I pushed further from me.  I have learned through so much trial and error that if you put God first in your day...everything else will completely fall into place.  God knows exactly what you need in the exact moment you need it.

Flipping through my bible recently (oh the precious joy in flipping through the pages of your familiar bible), I noticed pages highlighted, underlined, and even notes jotted down here and there.

I am such a reflector.  So I mark the pages of my bible like crazy.  I have found it so neat lately to flip to a certain passage and find some verses on the page highlighted or marked somehow.  Immediately my mind starts to ponder what was going on in my life on that specific day in that exact moment that I was moved by that specific scripture.  Sometimes I am able to think back and remember exactly what was going on or what bible study I was in when I was moved by that scripture.  Yet, it doesn't stop there.  Not only can God touch your heart with a specific scripture in the exact moment you need it, but he can use it in a completely different way to pursue your heart at a different time and in a different way.  Amazing.  And some people wonder if He really loves them.  The proof is right on those pages.

So I challenge you.  Pick up your bible.  Dust it off if you have had it sitting on a shelf.  Center your heart on your Maker and He will lead your heart exactly where He wants it.  He loves you and longs for you to learn more about Him and the relationship He longs to have with you.  Go out on a limb.  He'll be there...exactly where you need Him.

free tissues and a thrifty discovery

So this post is random.

I have a couple things I have done recently that I wanted to share, so I'm combining them into this one quick post.

Use or lose.

Lets start with the tissue box. For some reason I have had in my mind since moving into our little bungalow that our tissue box has to match the hopefully soon-to-be remodeled decor in our master bath. (Yes, I am that person sometimes...please don't judge.) I always worked hard to find a cutesy floral earthy-tone patterned box of tissues. Well, this time around I ripped the top of the tissue box as I was removing the little flappy thing. I looked at that torn part of the box for a couple days.....and it drove me nuts. Not only did the box not match, but the the ripped part was sticking out like a sore thumb. Like the hole in the wall from where my hubby started our tile removal doesn't... Anywho...this led to a wonderful discovery! Tissues free from the confinement of a box.

Check it out...

This is kind of embarassing...but I will share anyway. I yelled for my hubby to come into the bathroom just to see this. He acted very amused......whether he was acting or not, I don't care...he provided the response I hoped to receive! :) This may make you cringe...but it works for us and we heart the idea. (If this suits your fancy....I just used a long skinny basket that I have had in our house.)

Next random idea....

This idea came from the fact that I am a tad bit tight with money. There are few things I splurge on and one of those is my Neutrogena Healthy Defense Daily Moisturizer. I usually tend to go for the off-brands or whatever I have a coupon for...but this stuff is great and one of my must-haves. This makes me look like I'm actually awake to teach those little kiddos at 7:30 in the morning. Well....this stuff isn't cheap. At least not on my terms. And I was at the point where I could not possibly squeeze another drop outta the bottle. So I decided to do something I used to laugh at one of my college roomies for doing.......I cut the tube in half. Yep, that's right. I took scissors and cut it in half like this.....

And look what I found...

Turns out my roomie wasn't as crazy as I thought! That's right! Enough daily moisturizer to last me over an entire extra week...I'm still digging some out! (I'm easily amused as you can see.) I just threw both parts into a snacksize baggie.

Pinching pennies? I highly recommend this! Shampoo and conditioner bottles, body wash bottles, concealer, etc.

So what thrifty ideas steal your heart? Do share!

blessings, Cait