Valentine's Day

I had such a wonderful Valentine's Day! I haven't felt that loved in a long time! I woke up feeling in a festive mood so I decided to wear a pink suit.

I had a great day at work. The secretary brought these beautiful flowers to my classroom in the afternoon. What a fun surprise!

Guess who they were from...JOEY! What a thoughtful brother! When I read the card and saw they were from Joey I then told all the boys in my class that they should be as good of a brother to their sisters as Joey. That afternoon I came home to mail from my dad and the cutest card I have ever seen. That night I got to go to my new favorite restaurant in ttown called Carmelos. Everything there is delicious! I had shrimp and grits. Pic below is of me and my two valentines, Courtney and Elizabeth (both teachers at TMS).

Lastly, to end the wonderful day UPS delivered a package to my door around 8. It was a package from my mom with two of my favorite things inside...SOURPATCH KIDS and a STARBUCKS giftcard! I am so blessed! Thank you Jesus for wonderful friends here in Tuscaloosa and for a mom, dad, and brother that love me without measure! And thank you that you, Father God, love me with an unconditionally love that enables me to love them back!

"I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." Psalm 27:13

Popcorn!

Thoughts for this week…I’ve been thinking a lot this week about how God woos us. I love that God doesn’t speak to us through shame, guilt, or fear, but through love and wooing. I was reminded of this when I was driving back to Tuscaloosa from Fairhope this Sunday. I needed to stop for gas and was planning on stopping at my usual stop in Grove Hill. I stop there every time I go home and know exactly where it is but for some reason I passed it without noticing. So I then saw a place in Thomasville but passed it on accident too…now I’m thinking what’s going on. Why can’t I just pull into a gas station…I’m usually not this flighty. Well I see another one shortly after and pull in. As I’m pumping my gas I notice a little sign on the pump that says “Free popcorn with gas purchase.” I got so excited!!! Popcorn is my favorite snack (besides cookies). After I went in and got my popcorn I walked back to my car laughing and saying, “Lord, you are so sweet and so fun.” God is so in control that he brought me right to this gas station just for fun and to bless me. Before I pulled in the gas station I thought, “I really want a snack but I shouldn’t spend any money.” And I didn’t have to! Another cool part…I was fasting one day last week and it happened to be popcorn day (the PTA sells popcorn as a fundraiser once a month). I was so sad I didn’t get to enjoy the popcorn (I really like popcorn!) I think it’s cool that God is in control of every minute of our day and he knows the things that we love, that make us happy. He delights in us and loves to pour out his love on us in big and little ways. I wonder how often things like this happen and I miss them, not realizing they are from the Lord. This event may seem small but it meant a lot to me! And the Lord knew that it would. Call me crazy but I am confident that the God of the universe is crazy about me (and you too)!

Oh 7th grade boys...

This is my wonderful classroom! I love walking into this room everyday. It's so bright and happy. During the week I see about 500 different students. It's hard to get to know all of them so I just try to make connections with them and love on them one at a time. This week in my small group we talked about how we respond to people who insult us or speak harshly to us. I immediately thought about my students. I do not always respond with love when my students roll their eyes and smack their lips at me. Often I respond with sarcasm (which they don't understand) so I'm trying this week to not respond out of my offended emotions...yes kids can offend you...but instead out of humility and love.

Funny story for the week...I have this particularly hard to deal with 7th grade boy. He was pretty quiet for the beginning of class today so I thought I might get away without a scene from him. Oh no. I don't know what brought this on, but at a moment when everyone was silent he blurted out very loudly for the 29 other immature 7th graders to hear, "You have deformed boobies!" I don't know who he was talking to or what he was talking about so I just pointed to the door and gave him the look. He spend the rest of class outside in the hall. I couldn't stay mad. That's just too funny!

Here we go...

Let me start by explaining the name of my blog. Isaiah 62:4 says,

"It will no longer be said to you, 'Forsaken,' Nor to your land will it any longer be said, 'Desolate' But you will be called, 'My delight is in her,' And your land, 'Married', For the LORD delights in you, And to Him your land will be married." (NASB)

Over the past year I have been on an incredible journey discovering what this verse means. It has changed my life really. I have discovered that God and living a Christian life is much better than I had ever thought it could possibly be. Although I've known for most of my life that God loves me, I did not understand that He delights in me. I didn’t get that He actually likes me, that He literally rejoices over me with singing (Zephaniah 3:17), or that He doesn’t love me any more when I do good things for Him. When I started discovering and believing these truths, that His love isn’t dependant on my behavior or character, that He’s not disappointed in me, my heart started to come alive and I started to walk in freedom and fullness of joy that I didn’t know was possible for someone who had always lived with hurt and insecurity. I’ve learned more in the past year (about who God is and therefore who I am) than in the past 15 years of my Christian walk. These revelations are so good I just can’t keep them to myself any longer. And so I’ve started a blog. My hope is that this blog will be a place for me to process and share what I’m learning and what I’m doing. I pray that as I document my mostly boring yet quite enjoyable everyday life that you will encounter with me the love of God in a tangible way and discover that He delights in you too.

Disclaimer: I did not start a blog because I like to write. The use of words is most definitely not one of my strengths. Hopefully you’ll find what I write to be more important than how I write.

If you haven’t read Isaiah 62 you totally should. Hope to write again soon.

Katie