Inside the Mind of a Jesus Follower

Dear Educators, The end of summer break is in sight As classrooms are lovingly decorated Bulletin boards colorful and bright Desks are assigned and lessons created The halls are waxed in anticipation Supplies stocked and sorted with care Most purchased by the teacher w/o reservation While smells of pencils and glue fill the air Teachers, staff, and administration Everything is ready to go it would appear You just have to answer one question As you prepare for the the upcoming year Is your  HEART READY with love ?  H ear their voices not just their words  with love E mbrace families as part of your team  with love A ccept every student for who they are and where they are   with love R ecognize the unique genius in all   with love T each what you expect and expect what you teach   with love R esist the urge to give up when facing challenges   with love E ntertain new ideas and perspectives   with love A sk ...

Today is Day 11 of our Get Clean with SOAP & WATER journey. (If you missed the start you may read about it here)  Gavin and I get up in the morning and over our first cup of coffee we read the scripture we were assigned for the day, and discuss. Then throughout the day we pay attention to how the verse applies to our day. In the evenings or afternoons we reflect in our journal and this has proven helpful to process our daily struggles and joys. We have been moved in so many ways by the relationship we are building with God as we focus on being intentional with our walk.  Some highlights from scripture, thankfulness, and physical health over the last 11 days: Day 1:  No matter what God loves us and we will never be separated from Him Thankful for starting the mornings out with God and discussing His wonderful works Waking up hungry and with joint pain Day 2 I had three affirmations of God’s light shining today at work. Thankful for our three k ids who...

Gavin and I have begun formalized training to serve in ministry. We feel called to pursue this route in even though we do not know where God is leading.  Jesus said   " Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"  (Luke 10:27) Therefore to  better prepare and strengthen our hearts, souls, bodies, and minds,  we are embarking on a 21-day quest to get clean.  Although we know there is no empirical evidence supporting the 2 1-day habit theory , we understand creating time-bound goals are more achievable. Thus,  we will be focusing on getting clean with a little SOAP & WATER over the next 21-days.  So what do we mean by getting  clean with SOAP & WATER ? SOAP  is a method of studying the Bible in which daily you study the Word of God and connect to your Savior. This is not a new acronym and has been around in the c...

My grandma once told me that sometimes in life happiness or joy will be a choice, not a feeling. There are days I understand that wise saying more than others.  Sometimes I focus on all the things I cannot control and choose to see all the chaos and obstacles in my path instead of the joy at the moment.  I imagine you have had those days too when nothing seems to go right, and you just cannot catch a break. You are tired and frustrated and snap at your kids, your spouse, and your dog, and you just want to crawl back into bed and wake up in a new day. Well, the book of James 1:2-3 says, " Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance."  This verse tells me God recognizes we will struggle and have days which test our faith. However, these trials are not meant to drive us away from a relationship with him or with others. Instead, God wants us to find pur...

Community is connecting. As a military family, we have moved around a lot. However, we have been blessed to be planted in Norwalk for the past three years and have loved this connected, welcoming, and spirited community. This is the longest we have been in one place, and have enjoyed the city wide events, May Day Baskets that show up on the doorstep, Fourth of July parade, goofy jokes on Halloween, and Santa coming around on the fire engine. Community is supporting. I am an educational and leadership consultant for schools, churches, military and businesses, and have taught all around the country. I have thoroughly enjoyed the school system here, and believe this district truly values and supports students and teachers. As a mom of three, this is especially important to our family as well. The community supports the schools with new teacher luncheons, events for games, tailgates , and police men and women showing up to high five kids on the first day of school or pass out candy ...