The Lord of the ReadINGS

I am a teacher. I get paid to do this job! During the summer I spend a majority of my time thinking....am I doing what God wants me to do. If not, then I need to figure out what it is I'm meant to do and start working toward doing that.

The first week back for me has been challenging. This is a serious understatement! Wow, they sure do give alot of stuff for us to process.......

Last Friday when I started this blog, my mind was very overwhelmed to say the least! I ended up cleaning my house top to bottom because I knew that was something I could get done and not have to think about.

But...the story wasn't complete yet......I have a story to tell...

I am a reading teacher. I really wanted to have a theme for my room this year. Well, Friday evening some how or another the idea of the Lord of the ReadINGS came to mind. Of course, doubt crept in and I was seriously NOT going to do this theme when I went to bed Friday night.

Saturday morning I woke up and prayed, "God, I feel overwhelmed with everything. If you want me to do a theme in my room you'll just make it happen. Give me the mind to organize my thoughts and get things together for this school year."

God most gloriously came threw for me yet again! What an awesome God! I love God.

My small group area is called, "The Fellowship", My whole group area is called, "The Shire" because that is where the hobbits started out on their journey. I have a "Two Towers Word Study" area for vocabulary. A "Rivendell Reader" area for independent reading.

AND THE BEST PART.......

I read a book called Waking the Dead by John Elderedge a couple of weeks ago. He talked about mythic characters and how the movies we love have a deep rooting "wanting" within us to be one of the characters. I had a character in mind of who I WANT to be but didn't share it with anyone.

Daniel and myself were traveling to Marianna a week ago and I asked him, "If I was a character out of one of the movies that I love who do you see me as?" He said, Galadriel from Lord of the Rings. I started to cry.....why?......because that is who I want to be and that is the character that I had in my mind a couple of days ago as I was drifting off to sleep and talking to God. So it was so cool to know that God had a hand in my desire to be her. Daniel already sees me as her but, of course, I doubt my ability to be her.

Now you ask, what is so special about her and why would I want to be her. Those of you that know me know that I like to fix things and/or people. I'm an analyzer. Well, Galadriel to me is a woman that has discernment, she sees what people need and she gives them the tools to get through the hard times of their journey. She was also a strong woman that was able to overcome the temptation presented to her to hold Godly power.

At the beginning of the summer I decided that this next school year prayer would be (based on Solomon's prayer) Dear God, please give me the wisdom, knowledge and understanding to love and teach your children, my students.

I believe that as Galadriel in the themed classroom titled" The Lord of the ReadINGS that God will give me the discernment (what the students need) and the resources (the tools they need) to grow as individuals and as readers this year. I know that I can't go with my students when they take state mandated tests but just like Galadriel in The Lord of the Rings I can give them the tools they need to get there with God's direction.

Reading is a critical area at the High School, as always, but the pressure is on because we didn't test as well. It can get very overwhelming thinking about the responsibility placed on me this year.

I really want God to carry me through this school year. I want to give him the glory. I pray that God will use me to teach his children and show me how I can love them the way He loves me.

Living Loved,

Elizabeth

Return to Innocence

I've recently read a book called "Waking the Dead" by John Eldredge

Not to give you all the book but just a tid bit....

He basically says that our hearts are good. God created us to be good. Adam and Eve, of course, sinned and that is what made our hearts bad. We are the children of our parents.....Adam and Eve that is.

He says that the lie the devil has told us all these years is that our hearts are bad. He says that God wants to restore our hearts to the good that He made when he created us.

We are attacked at the heart level. How many people can say they put their heart out there just so it could be broken into a thousand pieces. I know I've been there, done that! How many times have you put yourself out there just to get burnt in the long run. I don't blame anybody but the devil for all this heart breaking stuff. He is and has been trying to steal your heart, break it, whatever he can do to keep more lies going in and less truth going in.

God, Jesus, Holy Spirit--we all have heard that they are mending our broken hearts, come to set the captives free, died for us. Return us to a time when we were "okay" with who we were, we weren't ashamed of our bodies, we weren't ashamed of our sense of humor, we weren't ashamed to say, "hey, Mom and Dad watch this."

I don't know about you but nowadays I'm looking in the mirror saying...."that's not how the magazines say I'm supposed to look", or I'm saying something after a meeting, "see there, you didn't have anything of value to offer", or I'm saying, "You just can't get it right so why bother?"

God wants to bring me back. God wants to mend my broken heart. God wants to restore what was lost somewhere between age 12 and 30. He wants me to know I'm loved just the way that I was born. He wants me to know I'm loved just the way I am. I was fearfully and wonderfully made. He wants me to know I do have something of value to offer. He wants to speak Truth to my heart so I can replace those lies.

He wants me to Return to Innocence......

What's neat is that when I married Daniel I walked down the aisle (golf course) to the song called Return to Innocence by Enigma. I listened to that song yesterday and was amazed (tearfully so) that this song is so true to my walk with God and what he is wanting to do in my life. He's wanting to Wake the Dead (Me and You) and he wants to return us to Innocence!

Innocence for you may look different that mine. I see Innocence as a time when I wasn't ashamed of any part of me. I didn't care what other peoples views of me were, I was just me! My heart fully, wonderfully alive, not broken. I found the video to the song and thought it was really cool especially if you think about God taking you back to your true innocence. You know, your child like faith, the things you did when you were little and knew that was what you were going to do when you got older, the things that the devil has been trying to take from you! (I must say I'm not too sure about one part of it, but overall I liked the video enough to post it)

Oh, one more thing. I was totally pregnant with Bree when I married Daniel so... return to innocence?.... not so much at the time....I do believe that God is returning me to the heart he gave me when he formed me in my mothers womb! I'm a challenge for me....but not for God!

Living Loved,

Elizabeth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk_sAHh9s08

Happy Birthday Billy

Happy Birthday Billy!

So glad that you're my brother.

You've been a very entertaining guy all these years.

You've made me laugh a bunch.

I'm thankful for your sense of humor.

I know you care for your family deeply. I see how hard you work and how you provide for your family and that's awesome!

I'm thankful that I've been your sister and even though we fought when we were little I'm glad you've always been there for me when I needed a hug in adulthood!

Hope you have a great Birthday.

Love,

Your SEESTER!

Elizabeth