Monday, June 30, 2008

still no word

I waited until today to hear about the BMS job. I knew he probably wouldn't call me on Friday (he said so) and I pretty much figured no call on the weekend. So here came Monday. And there went Monday. It's 3:30 pm. I've called the school a few times today just to thank them for the interview...no answer. I hope I hear something soon, otherwise the hubby will be on my case. Not that I have ANY control over this situation beyond the interview.

Friday, June 27, 2008

June 28, 2003

I still remember most of that day. Of course your wedding day is usually a blur by the time you wake up the next morning anyway. My performer mind remembers the things that went wrong. I won't go there.
I remember my matron of honor making me cry right before she went down the aisle. I remember crying the ugly cry the second my feet hit the carpet in the worship center. I'm sure dad was trying his hardest to not cry too bad. I remember the candle dripping wax all over the carpet on stage (is Rachel peeing??). I regret not taking the time to stop and look at my husband standing at the front in his tuxedo. He was so incredibly handsome. We were so naive. Aren't most newlyweds? We were so young. We didn't think so. We had no idea that in 17 short months our whole world would change with the birth of our first child.
I remember people being scared that I would spill the red punch all over my dress b/c I kept walking around with it. I remember thinking that maybe we shouldn't dance after all. It is the fellowship hall and there is no DJ, just our CD a friend compiled for us. I remember my dad coming up to me and asking me to dance (I guess he knew I was too scared to ask him). I don't know if he knew I wanted to. Neither one of us looked at each other the whole song. We would have cried so bad. It could have been ugly. :)
One of my best memories of that day is stopping at Kroger before heading to Atlanta for the night. I still had on my tiara and jewelry with my shorts and sleeveless shirt (so like me). A lady in the doorway told us we looked so happy. I told her we had only been married about 2 hours. She told us congratulations. I don't know who she was, but that memory will be with us everytime we celebrate our anniversary.
We had big plans for this one. Five years. A good chunk of people don't make it here. We wanted a vacation. Alone. Oh, well. Amazing how God laughs at even the simplest of plans.
The last year has been rough, but when is marriage easy? I can definitely say that we have grown closer this year. We have learned a lot about each other. When we were dating we had a little thing we said to each other and I'll apply it here...Five years down, eternity to go.
Ray, I love you. You were an amazing answer to prayer in God's perfect timing. You are a great father to our children and my rock as a husband. Happy Anniversary.

This morning

I had an interview this morning at BMS for the music job. I know the principal. I knew one of the band directors there to sit in. I knew the former music teacher fairly well. I have 3 1/2 years experience in middle school. Why am I so nervous? I keep running the interview through my head and thinking of better ways I could have answered the questions. He asked me if I had any questions. You're always supposed to have one question to ask. I couldn't think of anything. He asked why I wanted to come back to teaching. I said that I miss it. I do. Should I have said because I need the job? Will he think that I just want to come back and I don't actually need it? He asked why this school. I rambled something about liking the community and this area. Should I have said because I love middle school? I do. Does he know that? They had 10 other interviews today for the same position. Who are they? How did their interviews go? Are there really that many potential music teachers in this area? Do they have experience? tenure? Do they love middle school as much as I do or are they just looking for something, anything? The waiting is killing me.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

I know, I know

It's been way too long since I posted anything at all. Let's just say that the last couple of weeks have been a time of craziness. I can't and won't go into any detail at all except to say that we are completely out of our box and our routine.

Last week I taught VBS at our church and it was awsome (as always)! We had over 40 kids make some sort of decision about Christ by the end of the week!!! I say "some sort of decision" because not all are professions of faith, nor should they be. Our ministry staff is great at making sure the children know exactly what becoming a Christ follower means. We take it seriously and I'm proud of that. That means that when my children are ready, it won't be because we pushed them or someone told them that they HAD to. It will be there decision and they will understand that decision. The other awsome thing about VBS was that Kyler's classes were doing the same thing as the older kids (just simplified) so we were able to talk about it every day! That was totally awsome for me. It gets emotional sometimes, but it is such a fuzzy feeling inside when you know that your child understands what he learns at church and is so excited about it that he can't wait to tell you. I love that!

The job hunt has been going okay. I sent my resume to 4 schools that had positions open and three of them emailed me back and said that the positions had already been filled. :( HOWEVER...I got a call from BMS yesterday and set up an interview for Friday. If you are not too busy at about 8:30 Friday morning, prayers would be appreciated. I haven't done a teacher interview before where I didn't already have the job (I was basically hired b/f the interview at Smyrna). It is a good schoool and I know the principal from SMS so I'm hoping that this pans out. If not, then God has another job out there for me and I just have to be open to it. :)

The kids are doing well. Kyler is learning more letters and their sounds. Our next step is going to be putting those sounds together and to start reading. Maybe we can make some good progress by his 4th birthday in Nov. He is also getting better at writing a few letters. We've only done the simple capital letters, but he's picking those up fast! Aaliyah is a little stinker. I think she's teething again (no, we still don't have all her teeth) and this time it's bad. She's finally walking and really wants to run. The great thing is that she's picking up more sign language faster so there are fewer fits when she can't tell us what she wants. She still throws a fit when she doesn't get her way or when Kyler's in my lap, or in her way, or playing with something she wants, or when someone's eating around her, or...well, you get the idea. She doesn't like sharing one bit, but she doesn't have a choice!

Okay, this is longer than I intended, so I'll go for now. I'll try and do better about keeping everyone updated. Have a great week!

Sunday, June 1, 2008

I'm claiming this song

This is a song we sang last week in the Modern Worship service and then sang it again this week. All I could think of while singing was how many different situations this song applies to. Not only our city, but all places and families all over the world. I thought of Cazale, Haiti and all I've been reading this week about Real Hope for Haiti from Aaron and Jamie...I thought of the city of Smyrna and all God is doing through our church...I thought of Sao Paulo, Brazil and Pete and Jodi...I thought of wherever God will be sending our family for missions...and I thought of all the people who have lost children so tragically in the last few months like this family and her sister-in-law and this family. We never fully understand God's plan (and it's okay to tell Him you don't get it) and why he allows such tragic things to happen to His children, but we take refuge in knowing that He does have a plan and it's okay. He will bring glory to His name despite the circumstances.

God of this City (Chris Tomlin)

You're the God of this city.
You're the King of these people.
You're the Lord of this nation.
You are.
You're the light in this darkness.
You're the hope to the hopeless.
You're the peace to the restless.
You are.

There is no one like our God.
There is no one like our God.

For greater things have yet to come
and greater things are still to be done in this city.
For greater things have yet to come
and greater things are to be done here.