Destined for Eternity

New Mexico, Day 3

2010-07-25T20:46:00.002-05:00

This morning we breakfasted with a family from Waco who was on the way to Colorado. It's always amusing to me when you run into people from your (general) neck of the woods in a place so far from home. Tasty blueberry pancakes (with a touch of cinnamon, I think) were a wonderful start to the day. Then, while C. checked his email and various other websites, I spent further time digging into Dracula on my nook. I've already read one book this trip - The Colorado Kid by Stephen King, at the impetus of my Stephen King-loving husband - which was quick but enjoyable. I've been trying to finish Dracula for a while, but keep getting sidetracked on other books. However, it's getting pretty exciting as they are preparing to go after the Count himself, so I think I'll finish it soon.

C. and I debated for a while what we should do today. The weather has been even more rainy than expected. But, after considerable discussion, we packed a lunch and drove down the mountain several miles to reach the Pecos National Monument. It was well worth the trip. The Pecos National Monument is a former residence for the Pecos Indians and has the ruins of their pueblo. Later, at the arrival of the Spaniards, a mission was built. It was fascinating to walk the 1.25 mile route that takes you through the old ruins and lands of the Native American people and read the history of that area. We could easily see some of the reasons they had settled there. The Pecos river and another water source are near by. But the views alone would be worth living there; although that was perhaps one of the last things on the people's minds as compared to survival and hunting for food, we appreciated the beauty of the surrounding area and the landscape that encompassed valleys, hills, and mountains. The mountain tops today were covered in fog, and a varying gentle to heavy mist fell for about half of our time on the trail. The wet weather did not dampen our spirit though, and we both found the ruins interesting and the landscape breathtaking.

Tonight we enjoyed a tasty meal of steak and grilled garlic parmesan potatoes (God bless whoever invented foil - so incredibly handy for making delicious tender veggies on the grill!!!), and since the rain had let up, we were able to eat outside in the cool 60 degree weather. We hope that the clouds will go away and perhaps we will be able to view the stars one night, maybe building a fire out in the chimnea on one of the patios.

Tomorrow, we hope to going hiking along the Cave Creek trail near the Panchuela campgrounds. It is an easy, fairly level trail according to our B&B hostess, so it will be a good test for my ankle and knee to see if I might be able to handle a harder trail. Largely, this depends on the weather, though, so we will see what happens.

New Mexico, Days 1 & 2

2010-07-24T21:24:00.005-05:00

C. and I left town bright and early about 7:00 A.M. yesterday. The trip was smooth sailing (or driving, as the case may be), and in ten and a half hours, we found ourselves winding up a mountain around sharp corners, scooting as far to the side as possible to allow other vehicles on the outside of the road to make it past. Finally, we saw the sign for our destination: Wilderness Gateway B&B in Cowles, New Mexico....glorious, middle-of-nowhere New Mexico.

The B&B is nestled in nothing but pine trees as far as one can see. Outside the doors, you can hear the rushing of the Pecos River. After showers and a simple dinner, we spent the evening relaxing indoors; the rain arrived right as we had.

Today, however, we have thoroughly enjoyed being outside in the cool mountain air when the weather allowed. The forecast called for afternoon showers, so being unsure of the weather patterns here, we opted to hold off on hiking for the day. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast, and then spent time today playing games (I am today's reigning champion thus far - 3 games of Battleship, 1 game of tournament golf, and 1 game of dominos - every one I won! I DON'T win games very often....) and planning the rest of our time here. Dinner was tasty. We will be grilling every night here. Tonight's menu: grilled, marinaded apricot mustard chicken, grilled asparagus, and grilled mushrooms. Oh, and Nutty Bars and Oreos for dessert. Don't judge.

The cool air is lovely, and I have never seen so many hummingbirds in one place in all my life! And this evening I was able to finally hear the "hum" of the birds' wings close up.

Overall, the best part about this trip though is being able to spend time with just my husband. It's so rare that we have time completely to ourselves, and especially away from everyone we know (we love you all though, really!), and this is an opportunity I am treasuring.

The landscape and this special time with my husband brings to mind that I should praise God for the beautiful gifts with which He has blessed me. His creation is so utterly amazing. I can't even begin to count the trees that surround this home...and yet He knows every one. The wings of the hummingbird move faster than my eye can see....and He created them with that unique ability. He has blessed us with jobs and money (and a wise husband who manages that money well), and given us this opportunity to get away. For all of that, and so much more, I am truly grateful.

Breaking It Down

2010-03-14T01:24:00.006-06:00

It's late right now, and I should be going to sleep, but I am not. It could be because I have been thinking about blogging for a while now. It could be because I have a lot of time on my hands right now (I'll explain in a moment), and when that happens I inevitably stay up too late. It could be because, quite frankly, I really need to get this laptop out of the bedroom so I'm not tempted to use it so late at night.

I'm laying here, not in my normal bed, with a purple decorated cast on my right ankle. Yes, that's right. I broke my ankle. Not just in one location, mind you. When I do things, I do them right. I managed to break three bones in my ankle. Three. Two of which required surgery to repair. I now am the proud owner of an ankle full of hardware. One long plate, 6 pins, and three screws now internally decorate my right ankle for no one to see. I broke it on Wednesday, Feb. 24th. I had come home from work not feeling well. Then, my toilet overflowed. I had laid down a couple of towels to clean up the water, but the floor was still damp in some areas and wet in others. So, seeing the paper towels in our master closet, and not wanting to have to dirty too many regular towels to soak up the water, I decided, in a flash of brilliance, to jump over the damp area of my floor (who really wants to put their feet on a floor with toilet water on it?), and land amazingly in my master closet, collect the paper towels, and continue my clean-up.

Now, one might think that I slipped in the toilet water itself, and that is how I ended up with the broken ankle. NO. That would be far too logical. Instead, when I made my brilliant leap, my foot (without a sock or anything slick on it), slipped on dry carpet. And turned in the most horrible fashion - I will spare you, my dear reader, from a detailed description. Suffice it to say, the tears flowed, statements of "Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God" and "HELP!" came from my mouth, and I realized very quickly that my foot was broken. It's a strange realization, now that I think on it. I remember lots of thoughts flitting through my mind. "It's not actually broken, it's probably just sprained" was one; I'm not sure about the others. But it did dawn on me that my cries for help would definitely go unheard. I was home alone. I had to get out of there, to my phone, in another room.

Have you figured it out yet? You see, if I leapt over the damp floor to avoid getting my feet wet with toilet water, I was now trapped with a broken ankle in my closet and my phone was far, far away. So, yes, I had to drag myself - picture an awkward army crawl since one leg was useless - to the other room to call for help. Across the damp toilet water floor I had been trying so hard to avoid.

Obviously, I got help, and had surgery on Feb. 2nd. I'm off work and can't drive for the forseeable future (I go back to the doctor on the 25th for another evaluation), so I'm beginning to go slightly stir crazy. There is only so much TV one person can watch. But since the break happened, I have been asking myself why this happened. Obviously, in some sense, it was a random accident, but at the same time, I believe God puts things in our lives for us to learn from them. So, the question is: what is God teaching me through this experience? I have been pondering this question a lot, and thought I might share some of my ideas here and invite the response of anyone who might be reading this.

For my first lesson, I would simply like to state that I completely take my husband for granted a large portion of the time. The poor man right now is having to work all day teaching and then come home and basically wait on me hand and foot. While I am slowly regaining some independence, there are still many things that I simply cannot do - very basic things. I cannot carry large items by myself. I cannot move around quickly. I get tired easily. I cannot cook. I can't, I can't, I can't - the list is extensive. I am zero weight-bearing on my broken ankle. Right now, I am using a walker to get around - which is, by the way, far superior to crutches. Crutches were scary. At least with the walker, there is stability. However, it is slow going. Basically you plant the walker, push up with your hands and hop forward on your good leg. This is simple enough for the first few hops. But try doing that from one end of your house to the other. Lifting your own weight repeatedly is wearing on one physically. My hands hurt, my arms are sore, my foot and my hip on the left side (that are receiving all the impact from hopping) will scream at me sometimes. I am hoping that my arms will be beautifully toned by the end of this, though. :)

Anyway, I am tired and can only do things in spurts. Which is where C. comes in. He takes care of the dog, he makes sure I am comfortable, he refills my water and reminds me to take my pills, he does and does and does for me right now. At the end of the day, the exhaustion on his face is frequently visible. And while he tells me not to worry about it, and I know he genuinely means it, it is hard to see. But it makes me grateful. Grateful that God chose to bless me with a man who is more selfless than I realized. My hope and prayer for this lesson is that God will always recall this time to my mind, when my husband truly loved me as Christ loved the church - but moreso, that God would help me to realize that C. does that all the time. In the way that he provides faithfully for our family, that he takes out the trash, that he does the dishes when I have cooked, that he manages our finances so wisely, that he faithfully reads the Word and prays - in so many ways, C. serves me all the time - and yet, on a regular basis, I find myself focusing on his flaws, and not on his consistent faithfulness to me.

So, Lord, please, when I find myself ready to complain about my husband, to think bitter thoughts about him, to say a harsh word - help me to stop, and truly think about what I am thinking, or about to say, or about to do. Help me to remember that I am as equally flawed as he is, and that before I go about trying to remove any toothpicks from his eye, I might want to take that log out of mine. And please, help me to be grateful for his service to and love for me. And help me to love him more today than I did yesterday.

It's ridiculously late now, and I'm off to sleep. Goodnight, dear friends!

An Exploration of Humility - What is it?

2009-07-23T10:29:00.005-05:00

I have been doing a study lately that addresses humility, a concept I think many people, including myself, would do well to explore. So, before I blog any of my thoughts about humility (is that at all ironic to blog MY thoughts about humility?), I thought I would poll my dear friends out there and ask you all, "What is humility?" You can answer this by providing a definition, an example from your life or someone else's (Scriptural or otherwise), an illustration, or however else you decide to answer it. I would love to hear your thoughts. Please do not worry if your comment does not appear immediately, as I moderate my comments. They should be up by the end of the day.

On another note, C. and I are thoroughly enjoying our trip to Tyler. The hosts of our bed and breakfast are very nice and served us more yummy food for breakfast than I could possibly imagine eating. Now we are off to go site seeing and spend more wonderful time together. I'll post pics soon!

Another Recipe - Grilled Potato Salad

2009-02-17T21:20:00.003-06:00

Hey, all!

Haven't posted in a while, but I made a potato salad tonight and thought I would share the recipe as I thought it was quite tasty. It's a little more labor intensive than most, but the flavors go well together. Plan on making it when you are grilling some kind of meat - we paired it with chipotle marinated grilled chicken topped with bacon and colby jack cheese.

Grilled Potato Salad

Ingredients:

3 lbs baby potatoes (red or yukon gold - I used a mixture)
4 boiled eggs
3 slices cooked bacon
1/2-3/4 cups mayo
1-2 tablespoons dijon mustard
Salt
Pepper
3 tablespoons Homemade Gourmet Garlic Basil seasoning (if you don't have this, use garlic powder, dried basil, salt, and a little pepper - you'll get pretty close; you want to have the sweetness of the basil and the mild kick of the garlic)
Olive oil

Equipment:

A large pot
Colander
A grill basket
Large spoons, measuring spoons, measuring cup

Directions:

1. Boil your eggs and cook the bacon (if you want to cook a few strips extra and munch on them, I won't tell anyone ;) ).
2. Wash the baby potatoes. If they are larger than 1 to 1 1/2 inches long, cut them in half but no smaller. Place them in a pot, cover with water to about an inch above the potatoes, and add salt if desired. Turn the heat on high and bring the potatoes to a boil, then reduce them to a simmer and cook for about 12-15 minutes. You want to cook them until they are fork tender, but so they still have some firmness so they hold up on the grill. Drain potatoes well.
3. Preheat your grill. The fire should be on medium high to high.
4. Drizzle olive oil over the potatoes. Sprinkle on salt and pepper to taste. Toss well to coat. Add the potatoes to your grill basket. Put on grill.
5. Grill potatoes for about 15 minutes or until they get some good color and crisp up on the outside a little bit.
6. Move grilled potatoes to a large bowl.
7. Cool potatoes slightly - this potato salad is good if it is still slightly warm, but if it is too warm it will make the mayo greasy instead of allowing it to simply coat the potatoes nicely.
8. Peel and dice boiled eggs and add to bowl.
9. Crumble bacon and add to the bowl.
10. Add mayo, dijon mustard and Garlic Basil Seasoning (start with the smaller measurements listed and work your way up to perfect to your personal taste and/or health concerns...but if you're making this bacon/egg/mayo laden potato salad, I think you have thrown those health concerns out the window ;) ).
11. Mix everything well. As you mix, smash up some of the potatoes with the flat of your spoon.
12. Enjoy!

Ten Things I Love About Chris

2008-11-28T15:11:00.003-06:00

So, the other day, my friend Leslie tagged me to list ten things Chris loves, which I did. Then I thought about it and decided to switch that around and list ten things I love about Chris. So here it goes (again, in no particular order)!

1) I love his eyes - they are a wonderful hazel color.
2) I love how great he is at managing our family's finances; I never worry about whether or not we have money in the bank.
3) I love how, when I'm sad, he makes me laugh; really, I just love how he makes me laugh all the time.
4) I love watching him watch a funny movie because I love hearing his laugh; he has a great laugh.
5) I love that he reads his Bible and prays nearly every day; he is so faithful in that.
6) I love the way he teaches the youth at our church and comes up with these great nuggets of wisdom to share with them.
7) I love how important family is to him.
8) I love how patient he can be with me, even when I am being a rudeface.
9) I love that he washes dishes after I make dinner.
10) I love that he loves me for who I am. I know that sounds cheesy on the surface, but he accepts and loves me in the way that Christ has loved me - with all my imperfections. See here.

As I was finishing this list, I realized that I could think of several more things to list which is cool because it makes me realize how blessed I am to have a great husband. I love especially how faithful he is to us - I know his commitment to me is unfaltering and that alone is something to be incredibly grateful for, especially with today's divorce rate. I'd like to come back to this post in a year or two and see what new things God has given me to love about Chris.

So, since Leslie tagged me, I'm tagging her back. :)

Ten Things Chris Loves

2008-11-25T20:58:00.002-06:00

So, Leslie tagged me to list ten things Chris loves, so here it goes....besides God, me, and his family, Chris loves (in no particular order):

1) FOOTBALL, above all else, the COWBOYS...yes, I know anyone who knows us knows this.
2) Playing on his X-Box.
3) Reading Stephen King novels.
4) Going hiking in the woods.
5) Star Wars and Star Trek.
6) His mom's mashed potatoes.
7) Red velvet cake on his birthday.
8) The youth at our church.
9) Playing games with friends.
10) the Soup on E.

And now, I tag.....DIANE!!!

Black Bean Dip

2008-08-12T23:17:00.003-05:00

I'm also a fan of anything that involves very simple ingredients, especially those you find in your cabinet all the time (those staple items). My friend, Hope, makes a particularly delicious bean dip. I attempted to make something along the lines of what I remembered. I failed miserably at the making it something close to Hope's recipe part. However, what I did create was surprisingly yummy (and not just according to me!) Here's my Black Bean Dip recipe:

Black Bean Dip
1 small handful of diced onion
A pat of butter (maybe a tablespoon?)
1 can of black beans, drained but not rinsed
1 can Rotel, drained but not rinsed
1 small teaspoon of garlic
A little onion powder
Red chili pepper flakes to taste
About 2 cups (a lot) of cheese (your choice - I have used Cheddar/Jack cheese mixtures for a milder touch, and Pepper Jack if you want something a little spicier)

Put the butter in a pan and melt. Sauté the onions in the butter, until very lightly sautéed (not changing color too much – if you want to cut down on spiciness, sauté them longer; if you like spice, add more onions or don’t sauté them at all). After you drain the beans and Rotel, add them to pan on medium heat. Bring to a light boil (just some bubbles in the liquid). Add the garlic, onion powder, and red chili pepper flakes. Turn down to medium low. At this point you want the mixture hot enough to melt the cheese you are about to add, but not hot enough to be bubbling, otherwise it will be messy.
(I used an immersion blender for this next part - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immersion_blender. However, you could probably puree the mixture in a blender or food processor and then add it back to the pan, bring the heat level back up, and slowly stir in the cheese.)
Using an immersion blender, begin to puree the black bean mixture, while the pot is still on the stove on medium-low. As you puree the mixture, add a shredded cheese of your choice, one handful at a time. I used a Cheddar/Monterrey Jack mixture, but if you want extra kick, try some pepper jack. It is really important to add the cheese in handfuls and completely blend in each handful before adding the next one; if you don’t, or if your heat is too low, you will end up with a black bean mixture that has a cheesy glob in the center. Add cheese until it has reached your personally desired level of cheesiness (I used about 2 cups). Once it is thoroughly blended, transfer to a bowl and serve hot with chips.

Enjoy!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

2008-08-12T23:15:00.001-05:00

So....I've always loved cooking, and love experimenting in the kitchen. There is a compulsive need within me to take a recipe and tweak it - change a seasoning here, sub an ingredient there, simplify a process, etc. So I thought I might share a couple of recipes on here...and I couldn't really think of anything else to write. :)

I got the basic idea for this recipe from a Tyler Florence recipe on foodnetwork.com. However, I changed a few of the ingredients based on our personal preferences and what was available at our stores and in my cabinet. My hubby and I were very pleased with the results. To quote my husband , it’s “pretty dang good.” Hope you enjoy!

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts

8 thin slices of Muenster cheese

4 thin slices honey ham

½ cup flour

2 eggs

Splash of water

1 cup Kikkoman Panko bread crumbs (any panko breadcrumb will do, but I found these at Albertson’s and really enjoyed their light super crispy texture)

Italian Seasoning (that yummy mix of oregano, basil, thyme, sage, marjoram, etc. – all those lovely flavors)

Drizzle of olive oil

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

Tools

Meat mallet (or a rolling pin or other preferred pounding mechanism)

Toothpicks

Jelly roll pan (or any pan with an edge)

3 shallow dishes

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Trim all excess fat from the chicken breast.

3) Pound out chicken breast until about a ¼ inch thickness. Tip: Spritz the counter you are working on with water. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on top on that counter. Spritz that with water and place the chicken breast on the plastic. Spritz a little more water on the chicken and place another piece of plastic on top. Then pound away to your heart’s content. The water helps keep the chicken and your plastic from sliding around (a tip I saw on Good Eats).

4) Once the chicken is pounded out, place two slices of Muenster cheese, then two slices of honey ham, then another two slices of Muenster cheese on each of the breasts.

5) Roll each breast up tightly. Try to tuck the ends in as best as you can. You want the cheese to stay in…well…most of the cheese…if a little runs out into the pan, it makes for a yummy treat for the cook. If your chicken tore, or you’re just not sure how tight the rolls are, you can add toothpicks, but be careful when you go to eat them. Put these rolls in the fridge to firm up a few minutes while you get the next part ready. (You could do steps 2-5 the day before.)

6) Wash your hands!

7) In shallow dish number 1, add the ½ cup flour. Shake a few shakes of Italian Seasoning into the flour and add salt and pepper as well (about ½ teaspoon each).

8) In shallow dish number 2, mix together your two eggs and a splash of water. Add a dash of salt and pepper to the eggs.

9) In shallow dish number 3, add your cup of Panko breadcrumbs. Add some salt and pepper and a good tablespoon of Italian Seasoning.

10) Take your chicken rolls out of the fridge. Dip each one into the flour mixture, egg mixture, and breadcrumb mixture. Try to coat the chicken thoroughly in each mixture.

11) Place in the pan and bake about 35-45 minutes depending on the size of the chicken breasts.

New Flickr Page

2008-07-06T21:25:00.003-05:00

Hey, everyone!

I set up a Flickr account. You can go here to see pics that I take. Enjoy!

Content

2008-06-13T22:12:00.002-05:00

I just finished reading a book. You're probably thinking, "And this is important, why?" This is important because I chose the book. I read it in about a week. And I finished it. For the past three years I have been reading books either for seminary or for work, and I never got to chose them! And if I did chose a book I wanted to read, it laid on my nightstand for a while, gathering dust after I had read a page or two (maybe just the back of the cover) and then eventually migrated to my bookshelves and collected a thicker layer of dust. I have my own little graveyard of "Books I Meant to Read". So, now I am reading them!!!! And I am so happy to be doing so.

Well, I'm off to bed now, content to have finished something. I have to get up early tomorrow. REALLY early. I'm going with my father-in-law to go photograph some big cats. I'll post pics soon. It's going to be awesome.

Last Day Teaching

2008-05-16T21:57:00.009-05:00

Well, today was my last day of actual teaching. Only two days of proctoring finals, one inservice dayday and a bunch of grading and I'm done. Today was fun though. We had a Latin Celebration. The parents brought Roman food made from traditional recipes such as braised cucumbers, pastry rounds, brussels sprouts with walnuts and others. They also brought fruits, veggies, etc. and I brought some chicken, bread, olives, nuts, olive oil. If we were real Romans, we would have been very wealthy based on what was at our feast.

Here are some pics of my kids and me:

Here are my kids enjoying their Latin food. We had a ton!

Here are my awesome 7th graders!

And my incredible 8th graders!

And here's the cool sign they made me. I loved it! :)

Thanks to all my kids and parents for making me feel loved and special! I love you all!

I got a new camera!

2008-05-06T22:55:00.003-05:00

My birthday is next week, and my AMAZING husband bought me a new camera. I got a Nikon D60 with two different lenses, a camera bag, and an 8 gig card. It is awesome! He is so generous to me. :) I get to use it this Saturday at Scarborough when we go back (weather permitting). Here is me trying it out (yes, this is the obligatory "taking my pic in the mirror" shot).

2008-04-22T00:07:00.010-05:00

Here the Scarborough pics I promised.

This is a weapons demonstration before the King and Queen.

They are "Cut, Thrust, and Run." Yes, one of the guys is named "And". There are four of them. They are a comedic sword-fighting group.

Brian decided to battle the knights.

This is the troll king.

This is my favorite act in all of the Faire - Daniel, Duke of Danger. He is an amazing acrobat. No matter how many times I hear his jokes, I laugh every time.

No, I don't know exactly what he is supposed to be, but it was interesting.

This is Dr. Kaboom. He is a new act this year. Usually the Mud Show is there, but they weren't this year. Dr. Kaboom usually is in the Mud Show. Although we missed the Mud Show, Dr. Kaboom was hilarious and we actually learned some science too. All of the acts take up donations/tips whenever they are gone. He jokingly suggested giving him 20's. Barbara took 2 dimes up to him and said, "Here's twenty." As you can see from the picture, he got a big kick out of the joke.

Posing for pictures. Somehow this is the only one of Chris and I that we got that turned out okay.

I like this one that Brian took of Scott and Barbara.

I took this one of Brian surveying the Faire. This was his first year to go.

Scarborough Renaissance Festival

2008-04-05T22:39:00.002-05:00

Well, Chris and I went to Scarborough Faire, and it was so much fun! We got there right at opening time, and it was not nearly as busy as we thought it would be. Chris's parents and brother went with us. We saw multiple shows including my absolute favorite, "Daniel Duke of Danger". He is a hilarious and amazingly skilled acrobat. We watch him every year without fail. We watched a cool weapons demonstration where I learned why not to wake a Scotsman up in the morning...it involves a very large pointed sword. We were sad that the Mudd Show wasn't there this year; however, one of the actors from the Mudd Show is now "Doctor Kaboom", and his show was great! He combines science and humor to do some really cool tricks. He also explains how guys back in the Renaissance were able to perform "magic" tricks like creating smoke out of genie's bottles. They had some new acts this year in addition to Doctor Kaboom. We saw The German Twins who rap. They were funny. Evidently all Germans are balding (according to them - don't be offended if you are German), so they adopted the men in Chris's family as Germans. The crafts are really neat, and, if you go for nothing else, go for the food! :) Delicious as always. I'll try to post some pictures very soon.

Entering the Blog World

2008-03-13T15:01:00.000-05:00

Well, I have decided to launch into this world of blogging. Whether or not this experiment is successful, I shall see. Until the end of the school year, I'm not sure how much I will be able to post, but I shall do my best.

Right now is a time of change in my life. I have been teaching for the past three years, but after much prayer and thought, my husband and I have come to the conclusion that a different job is a better option. I love to teach, but the outside work is demanding enough that it leaves me little time for my husband, my friends, and other ministry that I would like to do. More than anything else, I will miss my kids and co-workers, but the awesome thing is that I am still very happy with this decision. For most of my life, I feared and dreaded change. Over the past few years, I think God has been working on my heart in this area.

Three years ago, I was working for my church and attending Dallas Theological Seminary. Eventually, the church did not have the funds to continue my position, and for the first time in my life I didn't know where I was headed. After many applications, the only job I was offered was in Dallas, part-time, teaching Latin of all things. My degree is in English, but I had taken two years of Latin in college. It was nothing I would have ever expected to do, believe me. I was working on a media ministry degree at DTS and thought I would be working for a church doing something with writing or visual media. However, we needed me to have a job and this would work in the meantime. So, I was commuting to Dallas every day, going to classes and teaching 5th-7th graders about Latin. Those students were a challenge. I loved them, but there were days when I went home in tears because of their behavior. Some of those students were so angry at the world and/or hurt by it. I learned a lot about how parents affect their children, both in positive and negative ways. Although that time was trying, I value it more than many of my other teaching experiences.

Through a series of "coincidences" that I can only recognize as God working, I also got a job at a school here in Denton. So I was teaching at two schools part-time and going to school part-time. Had I lost my mind you may ask? Yes, I think so. After much prayer, I decided to withdraw from DTS. While I learned a great deal there, I don't think it was the right fit for me. I might talk more about that some other time. At the end of the school year, I also left the school in Dallas at which I was teaching.

For the past two years, I have been working at the school here in Denton. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with a community of fellow believers. I love working with kids as they explore their faith in the Lord and, I hope, grow closer to Him in the process. But lack of time, lack of sleep, illness, and other things have shown me that this is not something that I need to continue doing. So, after May ends, I will begin the process of searching for a job. As I said before, in the past I feared change. Moreso than any of the other changes I have been through these past three years or so, I feel very happy with this decision. People keep asking me, "what are you going to do?" The reality is, I have no idea. Truly, no idea at all. All I know is that I am seeking an 8-5 job with decent salary and benefits. Then I have time to spend with my husband, time to minister to those in my neighborhood, time to work with the youth at our church, and time to serve the Lord in whatever he puts in my life.

I have learned over the past three years the dangerous effects of taking on too much. You cannot live your life slanted so far in one direction without sacrificing in other areas. That has been my life for so long. Now I have finally hit a point where I don't have any idea what God is going to put in my path. I know it has to be different than the way things are now, but I don't know what will happen. The great thing is that I am happy about that. I feel happy because I know change is coming, and I know that God will guide me through that change. I know that He has a plan for me and I know that plan is good, even though I don't know what that plan is. It's a strange sensation to be overjoyed about change, but I am. I think that's a good thing. I hope it is. Please pray for me if you think about it. Pray that I will be content with with whatever God puts in my path and keep the joy that I have now.

On a different note, the title of my blog comes from a quote from C.S. Lewis's book The Screwtape Letters. If you have never read it, please take some time to do so. We were studying that book in the senior English class that I teach. The context is that a senior demon is writing a series of letters to a junior demon instructing him in the art of temptation of humans. The letters, while meant to instruct a demon in how to tempt us, offer some good insight into how we fall into sin. In one of the letters, Screwtape talks about time. One of the things he says is "The humans live in time, but our Enemy destines them for eternity." The "Enemy" in this context is God (remember, it is written from the voice of a demon). God has crafted us to live in a temporal world in this lifetime. However, he desires that we live with him for all eternity. The right perspective on time and the things that happen to us is not one that dwells constantly in the past or one that worries about the future. Rather it is one lives in the moment, but with a great awareness of eternity. Lewis expresses this idea far better than I could: "He [God] would therefore have them continually concerned either with eternity (which means being concerned with Him) or with the Present -- either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself, or else obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure." This is a hard thing to do, but I appreciated the reminder of the perspective we should have.

Well, that was a much longer blog than I intended it to be. These next few months will be interesting; that is certain.