How Do You Write...........

How do you write of the pain and weeping and horror and terror and sacrifice of one day? The grieving and sadness and loss of the next? Followed by the perplexity and wonder of the third? The Rock rolled away; the yawning emptiness of the Tomb finishes the walk and existence of something and Someone so intense it can not be understood by the human mind. But Faith steps in and fills us with that wonder, that awe, that peace of spirit that is known only to Believers. We hold the receipt of those days in our hearts. We are owners of Love so incomprehensible that to even contemplate it in its majesty and wholeness brings us to our knees in humility. Our duty is to remember and think and to know EVERY DAY. We are to live under the sacrificial umbrella of His love and to reflect that love in our daily walk. And in our daily travels we are to share, to spread and to bring in those who doubt, or deny or turn away. The Great Commission tells us that our Gift must be presented to others through our words and actions and deeds. But today, just today, let us relax in the arms of the One who knows no boundaries to His love. He is Risen!

The Sound of Silence.....

I've always loved that phrase.....I think we can credit it to Simon and Garfunkel. Dates me, but o well. Silence does have its own particular sound and sadly one that we don't get to enjoy very often. We live in a cacophony of sounds. Some are by choice, some by circumstance. But the true sound of silence, the soothing joy of nothingness settles the soul. This weekend is a time of Rejoicing and most probably you'll have little chance to hear the silence. You probably have family coming in, or your going somewhere to see close friends or parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. But today if you can, even for 2 minutes, seek silence. Expand your body and mind to just being the wonder that you are. Okay fine, I'm not some guru sitting wrapped in a sheet on the top of a mountain. I'm just a woman who knows the power of even the tiniest bit of self. I call it a mind cleanse. It is a letting go. Quit fighting those mental fires. Stop and breath just for yourself. Admittedly I'm at a place in life, where this is easier for me. No small children at home, no teens involved in 3,268 things a day. But I know for certain that you can spare a minute or two a day, to linger in the sound of silence. Early morning silence is the best for me. Hot cup of fresh coffee and the low light of dawn begins the day and so this is when I make my choice to be quiet. No television, no radio, just me. And I find in these early morning spaces of time, that the more I do this, the more I get to know me. I'll go ahead and admit that some of the things I'm meeting in myself I don't like, but I'm glad to the acknowledgement of them. For how can I or you or anybody else work on being better if we don't realize where we're lacking? Geez, this may be another blog topic entirely so back to Silence. Take it. Enjoy it. Learn from it. Rest in it. Just be you. I hope you'll see that Quietness has a quality of healing. Enjoy your weekend.

Insecurity....

We all at one time or another have felt insecure. You know that deep down feeling you get when you are pretty sure you're not good enough, tall enough, thin enough, rich enough, smart enough, blah, blah, blah. And possibly those insecurities are justified. You may NOT be smart enough to invent the next Bill Gates technology, or you may NOT be pretty enough to win Miss America, Universe or Queen of the World. You may NOT be rich enough to buy Manhattan, or Texas or Europe. But guess what.....you ARE good enough to do, be, and succeed. Insecurities are little seeds of doubt that are planted in us by whatever enemy is snarling at you. They are planted and fertilized and watched and meant to grow and in their growth make you miserable. So here is your choice. Give in or Fight. Wave a White Flag or keep putting one foot in front of the other and stomp those doubts as you do. I think you can fight. I think you can dye that White Flag a triumphant Red or Purple or Green. I think you can be exactly who you are meant to be. And I think that life is what you make it. We all have people around us who cheer us on or would like to see us fail. We all have circumstances that pop in and out of our lives that grind us down or make us stronger. We are all human. And in our humanity, we share common bonds and one is Insecurity. Those who don't acknowledge that they are EVER insecure are too arrogant to see past their very pointed noses. So take your doubts out and hold them in your hand and study them, then figure out how to overcome them. You can do it! And when you get past whatever is your Road Block of the Day......give yourself a big dose of pride, and strength. Realize that you have just made yourself a warrior. May your day be blessed and full of love.

Captain.............

YOU are the captain of your ship. You have decisions to make every day that determine your route and your destination. Sometimes the ocean is tranquil and the sailing is carefree. Sometimes the waves are immense and the danger is everywhere. And ALL of the time you determine your reaction to your situation. Do you enjoy the calm and fear the danger? Do you take the peace for granted and panic in the midst of a storm? Do you take charge and make decisions for your ship and crew with honesty and integrity or do you hide in the bilge and shiver with trepidation? How do your reactions to life's seas affect the people around you? Remember that every moment of every day someone you love is living under the sails of your ship and you, as that captain, are making lasting impressions. You can't control the seas but you CAN control your reaction to them. So, today, no matter the condition of your ocean, I hope you handle it with grace and honesty and courage. I hope that you enjoy the calm and face the storms with courage. Clear sailing my friends.

I am a TEACHER....

I am a teacher, a lover of teens, a social worker, a mentor and a disciplinarian. I am a teacher. I am CEO of 135 employees a day who are TEENAGERS. But unlike other CEO's I only see my employees for 45 minutes a day and in that time, my job must be done. I INSTRUCT subject matter, but I TEACH so much more. I teach your child not only to respect me, but to respect others and most importantly to respect themselves. I teach that life is NOT a level playing field. We all are not blessed with talent, high IQ's nor perfect families. But we all are blessed with the opportunity to be educated. I teach rules. Follow my rules and life is good, break my rules and there are consequences; this my friends is merely a consequence of life, not only in MY classroom but in society. You may not like my classroom rules, but the lesson of following is important. I teach acknowledgement of others. We recognize that each and every one of us in the classroom has our own history and those histories are as varied as we are. And those histories are ingrained in us and become us and are to be acknowledged. Different cultures and customs and backgrounds are to be honored, not made fun of and laughed at. We raise our hands, we don't talk over others, we say yes ma'am and no ma'am, because I am a person of authority in their lives, but this favor is returned to them. I also say yes ma'am and no ma'am and yes sir and no sir in return. They are due my respect as well. Am I a perfect teacher, no. Do I make mistakes, yes. But in my heart I do what I think is best for your child. I am honored to have them in my life and I will do my very best ( and have for 28) years to see that they grow under my tutelage. At times there are 26 different personalities in my room at one time. Each with their own needs, problems, visions and expectations. A good teacher does NOT treat every child the same because they are NOT the same. They are not carbon copies of each other. A good teacher recognizes that individual needs must be met and sometimes it seems that favoritism is played, but in truth, when a child deals with more at 16 than many parents have dealt with at 40, then a good teacher gives what is needed to be given to help that child in any and all ways. Do I lower my expectations for that child? NO! But do I sometimes cut corners, and give a little leeway when I know a child has no place to live, no food to eat or has worked until 2 a.m. every night for a week? You bet I do. IF that seems unfair to others, then I'm sorry. A hand up is never a bad thing. I do this under the eye of a critical society. Why don't you do this? We did it back in my day. Well, let me tell you, these kids have new skills sets to learn that you probably had not even heard of when you were in school. The world is changing every millisecond so we have to teach what will lead your child to success. I do this with the state telling me what to teach because at the end of the year, our students are tested on what the state deems important. So can we cover all the bases we want to? NO. Because our schools are judged on state mandated performance. I am fortunate enough to teach a subject that is not tested at the end of the year, but I see other teachers struggle every day to run the race of Standardized Testing. I do this making less money this year than last year, and less last year than the year before and the year before that. When we reach a certain level our salaries are frozen but insurance and taxes continue to rise, so seasoned teachers are putting less in their pockets each year. O, but you say, you get paid in the summer and you're not working. NOT true. We are paid for 187 days of work a year, this money is spread out over 12 months. We are NOT paid for NOT working in the summer. I do this because I love your child and I love teaching. I do this because it is a calling not just a job. I do this to make a difference.

Had You Rather Be....................

When Dr Phil first appeared on the Oprah show, I watched him a lot. Haven't seen him in years, but I imagine he's still asking this question. 'Had you rather be right or be happy?' He would always pose this question to people who were having difficulties getting along.....whether it be married couples, friends, or just people. Well, Dr. Phil....sometimes I'd dang sure rather be RIGHT. There are just those times, when I don't give a flip about being happy, sad, mad or whatever. I wanna be RIGHT!!! I'll dig in like a tick on a dog. I'll not budge. I'll stand straight in my argument. I'll be the Mighty Oak rather than the swaying Willow. I will BE RIGHT. I will remain RIGHT. But at the end of the day.....was I really right? Did I win or lose? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I'm going to ponder being right. Let me know if you think I'm right!! :)))

Combinations...

I put a new profile pic up on FB and my long time friends began to comment on whether I looked like my mom or my dad. In reality, I'm sure I'm a combination of both. So this begins my thought process this morning on combinations. We have so many in this life. We combine ingredients to make food, colors to make outfits, furniture to make a room look exactly right. In reality, I think the biggest Combinations we should focus on are attitudes, and outlooks and formulas for not only making our lives better, but also those lives around us. We are all surrounded by combinations of personalities of our co-workers, our bosses, our friends, family and children. These are all just thrown into the skillet of our days and left to simmer.....or boil over. Some days we stir the pot and some days we just let it happily bubble on the stove. But the bottom line is that all of life is a combination,a putting together and then a result. And it is in our power to throw in an ingredient and possibly take one out. Pull the anger, increase the understanding, lift the hope, lose the criticism, throw in an extra dash of encouragement. Please be aware there are many parts of your day you can't control, but you CAN control the combination of reaction. Don't throw out handfuls of hurt just to watch it boil, or extra cups of judgement to make yourself feel better. Instead measure out helping hands, gentle words and belly laughs. These are the combinations of a really great person, someone who lights a room, heals a hurt, helps their world. I hope today your Combination of Life is great.....after all, you are the chef.