Less than 10 Days till School Starts

Life, I've determined, is a bumpy, bumpy road full of ups and downs. How chaotic it would be without the consistency of Christ! It may only be August here in NH, but I've been experiencing my share of potholes and frost heaves this month.

My planning time has gone well and I feel about as prepared as possible for the coming school year. School starts in 9 days and I'm both excited and nervous! I know this is going to be a challenging but awesome year for me.

Jay and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary at the beginning of the month. It's amazing how quickly time passes. I'm so thankful to have him in my life. As he puts it, we're such a good balance of shared interests and complimentary personalities.

Unfortunately, the month hasn't all been great. I've finally gotten confirmation on that strange pain I've been getting randomly for the past three years. Apparently I have kidney stones. It feels good to know for sure what I have, but it's really painful and it's taking a while for the doctors to figure out what kinds of stones I have (to know how to prevent more from forming) and where they are now (to know how to get rid of the ones I already have). Needless to say, it's been a frustrating and painful experience. I did get to experience the joys of vicodin though, so I guess even pain has its perks. Now I'm trying my best to drink a gallon of water a day, which leaves me feeling sympathic toward how water balloons must feel.

In any case, I am constantly holding onto God's promise that He has my life in control and that even when things don't look so good, there is a bigger picture I can't see. Over and over I've been reminded of the words to one of my favorite Matt Redman songs:

"Blessed Be Your Name"
Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name
And blessed be your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name

Chorus:
Every blessing you pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in
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
And blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be your name

Chorus

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

Chorus

Transitions, Man, Transitions

Sadly, only a few of my friends who have had the pleasure of taking Lit Writ with Mrs. VanTil would understand the humor (or horror) of that title. And I don't think any of them read my blog.

Well, another month has passed and I find myself in transition yet again. Lately life for me seems to be simply moving from one transition to the next. Friday was my last day working at the daycare. I really love spending my summers there. I've fallen in love with being three. The kids there are really great. Of course there are challenging ones and days I want to pull my hair out, but all-in-all it's really a rewarding experience. It's amazing to see how much they grow even in a few weeks. They are so honest and lighthearted. I learn a lot about the true priorities of life from them. (And let me tell you folks, life doesn't get better than getting a gold star sticker for sharing with a friend)! I've also learned a lot about being flexible and I've really had a chance to observe and tweak my classroom management style. It was a great way to spend my summer.

Speaking of summer, has anyone seen it? I feel like the whole thing ran right past me! Between working full time at the daycare, working on curriculum for the school year, planning a Bible study, and completing another one, I've been swamped! And yet somewhere in there I managed to have a decently good social life (thankfully)!

This weekend I went down to Rhode Island with Jay and some of his FSC friends. We had a blast camping near the beach! We spent most of Saturday on a beach at Block Island (a small island that is an hour ferry ride away from the mainland). There were campfire stories, s'mores, and very few bugs (although we did have a deer visit our camp site Saturday night). Aside from some noisy neighbors it was an awesome weekend of relaxing. It was also my first time in RI, which means I have now been to every state on the East coast except for South Carolina (and unless someone can give me a good reason to visit, I highly doubt I'll be visiting it anytime soon).

Today was my first day at CCS. Wow, was it weird! It was just Mom and I there today (since the other teachers don't come back until next week and our boss was in CO). I'm feeling very excited and somewhat overwhelmed. It's still weird to be in a classroom that has so many high school memories for me and to know that I'll be starting a new set of memories now. There's a ton of math stuff taking up all my storage space, so that's going to be a big task shifting things around. I spent some time setting up my desk, cleaning off furniture, and working on curriculum. I'm SO ready to start teaching!