All Teacher Moms Be Encouraged!

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Moms can be teachers, Teachers can be moms….

What on earth do I know about it?  Why did I start a blog for teacher moms?

I am one.  I am a teacher and a mom and I was a homeschooling mom.  I was a teacher for 5 years before becoming a mom.  I was a mom who chose to homeschool her sons for 10 years.  After the boys graduated high school, the need for cash became evident.  College was on the horizon, so I went back to teaching.  I was a special education teacher for almost 9 years.

I understand.  I remember those early days of teaching.  I remember those early days of motherhood.  I remember those days of homeschooling.  Of course the most recent memory is that of being an elementary special education teacher.  And I needed encouragement.  I needed someone to tell me that it was okay.  I needed someone to tell me about their experiences.  I needed someone to encourage me when I homeschooled.  I was so afraid I was going to “ruin” my kiddos.  Guess what?  I don’t think I ruined anyone….my kids or my previous students! Of course, I have chosen not to take a poll concerning this issue!

So, may you come here to hear stories and laugh.  May you chuckle as you are encouraged.  Maybe I can even answer some questions. My prayer and desire is to help you on your journey….whatever journey or role you have now.

I do not claim to have all the answers, nor all the experiences…but I can promise you that at 53 years old I have learned from my mistakes and will continue to do so. Maybe you can learn from my mistakes too.

Be blessed dear ones!

Isaiah 55:8-9

EVERYBODY’S Talking about the Weather!!

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Everybody’s talking about the weather, around here at least.  As I look on the weather map, I have a feeling that truly everyone is talking about it.  Snow, freezing rain, ice, wind, traffic issues, schools closed, flights canceled.  

Let me be completely honest.  I am not a winter person.  I do not like cold.  I prefer warm, balmy temperatures. I will say that “when” it is snowing I think it is pretty, but that is as positive as this old woman can get.  And when I say old woman, when it is well below freezing, my lovely arthritis in my hip reminds me that I am a tad bit old. So Yes, I prefer summer and I am not afraid to say so.  I belong in the south, far in the south…but that hasn’t happened yet.  Hoping someday it will, but that is for another day!  Someday my hip will thank me!

So, I looked out the window this afternoon and found myself watching these three little birds.  We have been throwing out bread crumbs of late because we have been out of seed for a while.  These birds, let’s call them Larry, Curly and Moe. (I know it is not original, so just ask someone over 50!!)

At any rate, Larry, Curly and Moe seemed to have it together.  They were flitting in and out of the ivy wall we have in our back yard.  It is very thick and the ivy has taken on a life of its own.  These boys (girls??) were getting deep inside the ivy and I would say were keeping as toasty as possible.  As I watched them the Lord reminded me of a couple of things.  He does that to me a lot.  

First of all,  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the bird of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?” Matthew 6:25-34

Yep, Larry, Curly and Moe were just fine.  I have no need to worry about my tomorrows.  I quit my job in October as I felt the Lord giving me permission to do..and yet sometimes my mind will wander to that missing income…but I am more valuable that the bird of the air.  More important to God than Larry.  More important than Curly, even Moe.

Then the second message hit me again (previously this passage had assailed me while doing a Bible study two days ago)…yep, there was more.  Remember when I said that I do not like cold or snow?  Well, I thought of Paul.  You know when he wrote the church in Philippians from jail!!!!  “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry,whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:11-13  

And I don’t like snow.  Gees.

Can I trust Him?  Can I be content?  Yep on both accounts.  He says I can, I just have to make that choice.

Enjoy your quiet time as the cold shuts down part of your world…and look out the window, not telling what you might see!

And while being content, I might look at some of my Florida pictures!! 🙂

 

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Blessings dear ones~
IN CHRIST ALONE

Isaiah 55:8-9
*personal photograph*

Seasons in Life

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Image Seasons.  Most of us experience a change in seasons about four times a year.  Where I live, it seems like you can experience at least two of them in one week.  Like right now.  We are supposed to have some severe weather; while Monday it was cold and in the 20’s.  Go figure.  Seasons indeed change, just as the seasons in our lives. I have experienced such a change of late.  I am no longer teaching.  I taught in the 80’s for five years, then stayed home to be a mom to the two wonderful sons that God blessed us with.  I also was able to homeschool them, something I would do all over again.  During those years on and off I worked at a Crisis Pregnancy Center, as a radio announcer, Bible study teacher, and many other things.  As with many, life offered its “ups and downs” through deaths, storms, health issues, etc.  But God got us through each and every thing, each and every time. I had been praying that the Father would release me from my teaching job for several years.  I knew He had given it to me (in one day I might add, when I did not know one was available), so I knew that He would release me when it was time.  I knew that the season would be over one day and I would go on to other things He had for me to be involved in.  Unbeknownst to me, I had been released about two years earlier, but I was waiting for a “job” to fall in my lap before I could move on.  I found out if I worked 8 more years, I would pull a small retirement.  I had to hang on!  A dangling carrot of sort. Almost daily I wanted to stop working.  The laws governing special education were tedious and required an incredible amount of paperwork.  My students had more issues than ever before, and I was unable to give them all they needed.  I felt as though I were being wrapped over and over by a strong rope and literally losing myself.  I was getting lost, and I wasn’t hearing the voice of God.  I simply was so drained that I hardly recognized it anymore. So on October 1, after much prayer and confirmation…I resigned my position.  I had been through skin cancer and severe hair loss the past summer. The total body hair loss was most likely stress, as three doctors pointed out.  I am not saying that the skin cancer came from stress, but I know that it was a contributing factor. I took a step out in faith.  I had to believe that God would take care of us.  He always had, and He wouldn’t stop now.  I found some online work and starting selling some wreaths and craft items I so loved to make.  I was overwhelmed with the confirmation He gave me over and over in His word. I am not going to pretend to understand all that is going on.  I just know that He is faithful.  I believe that I am healing.  I did not know how bad I felt until now.  A month has passed and I feel like my old self again.  I can minister and love on people with a full supply.  I am no longer empty, nor drained like I was.  I am sleeping, and I am not losing nearly as much hair!  And it is growing back as well!!  I did master the “comb over” since my hair has always been curly and thick! So my encouragement today is this:  1.) Listen.  Don’t think He is not speaking to you, He is..sometimes the noise of this world drowns Him out.  2.)  Just as the temperatures, our “seasons” in life change.  One day you are with your little boys on the beach, and the next thing you know you are 53 years old and writing about it on a blog.  But enjoy the ride…He is always working and loving us. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts your thoughts”. Isaiah 55:8