Buckeye Magic

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to be on the field with my school's Varsity Football team Friday night. Preparations started Thursday evening with the baking of 10 dozen cookies for the boys almost all of them arrived at their destination. :) All day Friday was filled with nervous excitement as we tried to get through the day and be productive. I found myself slightly nauseous all day thinking about the evening to come. Finally, the last bell rang and it was time to take the cookies to the field house and rush home to get the children situated and get back for the pre-game activities. As I entered the field house for the second time to watch the highlight reel from prior games and hang out until game time, I could feel the electricity in the air. The Pastor lead the team in a devotional that would inspire anyone to walk on water.

Prior to this game the team had lost two games on our home field, so there was also an air of apprehension as everyone prepared for the game. I milled about and visited with Miss Amy our Athletic secretary as the guys suited up and got taped. Next the boys took the field to warm up and get loose. They looked like a well oiled machine going through their warm up exercises.

I was impressed as the boys grouped up for a pep talk from our Head Coach. The mood was growing increasingly frenzied as we listened to the coaches words. Then a short meeting with the Defensive boys and a prayer. By this time I was so proud of those boys that it didn't matter whether they won or lost the game. I had seen them help each other and be responsible in a way that I had never seen them before. I was inspired and felt honored to teach at Gilmer High School.

Finally with Game Faces on, we took the field. Running out onto the field amid screaming fans heightened the excitement, and it only gets more intense from there. I was trying to soak in everything, but I really only remember bits and pieces, as the next hours flew by in the frenzy that was a battle of Epic proportions, but they rose to the challenge and won the game, and as I deposited my jersey back in the field house and slipped off to my own children and husband, I knew that I had experienced something amazing and magical and that I would never be the same.

Blessed be the name

Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, blessed be Your name

~ Matt Redman

Today is my 37th birthday. I was sad leading up to this day. I am still a little disappointed that things are not exactly what I had planned. I have faced many things in those years, blessings and curses, but today as I read Job, I realized that in the good and the bad, God is good, all the time.

For everything there is a season...

"There is a time for everything and a Season for every activity under heaven. " Ecclesiastes 3:1

This scripture is a hard one to swallow. When you read the entire passage is goes on to list activities including death and life, war and peace, and tearing and mending. It also says that for all of our striving, we as humans can do nothing to change this pattern. I am struggling with the words right now to describe my week and explain why this scripture has impacted me. It began with an email from a co worker that a friend had lost her 5 month old to a heart condition. That started me to thinking about the frailty of life and how blessed I am to have healthy children. The week rocked on and culminated in yet another reminder that life is frail and that bad things happen to good people. I won't detail that matter to protect the privacy of a close friend and family member. Needless to say, this week has been daunting. I have found myslef searching for some comfort in God's word. Hoping to have the right words to say at the right time.

Thankfully the passage continues and gives hope and a sense of purpose to the daily grinding a tearing down that the world offers us. My saving grace is verse 11: "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of Men." I take great comfort in knowing that what ever comes my way God is using it to make his plan beautiful and that I can count on eternity with Him.

A Snowy Day

It is snowing in Texas which is not normal. I keep gazing wistfully out the window and thinking about how fun it would be to play in it with the kids. :(

It has literally snowed all day. What a blessing!

Salt of the Earth

"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt loses it's saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything..." Matthew 5:13

When I began toying with the idea of a blog, I knew it would have to be a reflection of me, so I started with some soul searching. What did I want others to see? What do I really have to say that is of consequence? It finally occurred to me that what ever I said I would want people to take with a grain of salt in all senses of the phrase. Let my words be a flavor. Take whatever is good and wise and use it, but if it is not then throw it out. :)

I intend to post my musings good or bad on Parenting, Faith, Teaching, Marriage, and Life in general. Enjoy and don't hesitate to let me know what you think because I will take it with a grain of salt... :)