Smile and Be Joyful

August 29, 2020 When I think back on all the advice my mother gave me growing up, one of the things I remember ignoring the most was, “Always eat breakfast.  It is the most important meal of the day.”  I was in my 50’s before I began to heed that advice regularly.  I wish I would have listened sooner.  I really do feel more energized and focused when I eat a good breakfast.  This has also been very important in my weight loss journey.  I always had some excuse why I could not or did not need to eat breakfast.  (No time…nothing I like…makes me more hungry later…)  I let myself make those excuses because breakfast was not a priority for me.  I had not experienced its benefits.  Unfortunately, I can also say the same is true for beginning my day with quiet, alone time with God.  My time spent talking (and listening) to God was something that happened “on the fly” for many years.  Just like the breakfast thing, I finally realized t...

August 26, 2020 I wish I had started a journal at the beginning of 2020.  The plot twists and turns to this year have been unforeseeable and memorable.  It has been the kind of year that makes one long for “the good old days”.  Gatherings with extended family, teaching Algebra face to face, sports, wandering aimlessly through Target and going to the movies are all things that I used to take for “granted”.  I could not have even dreamed up a scenario that would have made them all impossible or unsafe.  Even now there is a massive hurricane churning in the Gulf that will cause life altering devastation wherever it makes landfall.  When God allows these kinds of strange and challenging times, He is trying to draw us nearer to Him.  It would be easy to give in to the urge to “run around like a chicken with my head cut off”.  Yesterday, I cried twice before 9 a.m. out of frustration with our new “learning management system” at school.  Apparently ...

August 20, 2020 My husband threw out grass seed all around our yard yesterday.  Then he watered it because it says to on the package.  It actually says water it every day for 2-3 weeks.  As hot as it is outside right now and as brick-like as the dirt is in our yard, if he doesn’t, it will probably never grow, and our money and his efforts will be wasted.  If we do our part, then we trust that God (nature) will do His part and we should have some pretty green grass where there is currently only dirt in a few weeks.  This reminds me of part of a Lauren Daigle interview that I heard on the radio yesterday.  She said something like, “Negativity is everywhere but it doesn’t have to grow and take over our lives or our attitudes.  Just don’t water it.”  We can’t control that negative things will happen in our day but, with God’s help we can control our reaction to it.  I have been struggling with a negative attitude a lot this week.  Everything...

August 13, 2020 If you’re not a teacher, I hope you can read this and apply it to your own daily life in some way.  Here is something that I believe about teaching:  A teacher who is in control of herself and her emotional responses to children, is in control of her classroom.  This results in a positive environment for the students and the teacher and every type of learning (academic, social and emotional) takes place.    As teachers, it is vital to remember that we set the tone in our classroom.  We all have bad days, but it is our responsibility, to ourselves, our colleagues and our students to persevere in our quest for joy.  Flexibility is key.  (Picture Disney’s Mrs. Incredible)  If we stand flat footed and immoveable as we face each day’s challenges, those “flying objects” will knock us down.  But if we can stretch and bend as we attempt to juggle the inevitable “joy stealing” events that roll through our day, their impact on us i...

August 10, 2020 I have a very hard time riding in the car with other people driving.  I feel out of control.  I don't know if the person driving is as aware of possible hazards as I am.  I feel scared, anxious and cannot stop myself from warning my driver about everything I see.  I  am unable to relax and "enjoy the ride".  I guess it is a phobia of mine.  I would rather just drive myself.  Today I am trying very hard to let God drive.  I completely trust Him.  He is certainly capable and knows everything that could happen.  So, why am I not just sitting back and relaxing?  There are many things I must do today but worrying should not be one of them.  I am going to picture this day like a car ride with God at the wheel.  I am going to pray and read His word (put on my seat belt) and then resist the urge to tell God how to drive.  I will not push Him out and grab the wheel.  I will try to enjoy the scenery al...

August 8, 2020 I am coming to the end of “the longest Spring Break ever”.  When I go back to work next week (in the middle of a still raging pandemic) it will have been over five months since I’ve been in my classroom (except for running in for an hour to close it all down in May).  That does not mean I haven’t worked in five months.  When school was forced to be “at home”, the only thing that got easier for teachers was that we didn’t have to dress professionally every day.  Everything else got more complicated and murkier.  We, along with our students, endured weeks of unanticipated stress, complicated by the ever-changing decisions as to how everything should be done.  The administration was doing their best, but these were uncharted choppy waters in a too small boat.  Then, thankfully, summer came, as it does every year, a deserved physical, mental and emotional break.  I love my job teaching Algebra to half grown people who think they know ev...

August 5, 2020 I am not a fan of waiting.  Waiting for something, in my mind, means a lack of progress and that time is “being wasted”.  Sometimes this is true and sometimes not.  When I must wait in a doctor’s waiting room (what a horrible name for a room) for 45 minutes for an appointment that I rushed to arrive at on time, I feel aggravated.  Traffic is a fact of life where I live and I have grown accustomed to it, but I still feel anxious when I am running late and there are twenty cars ahead of me at a stop light.  Also, there is a difference between waiting for good things and waiting for bad things.  Anticipating a batch of cookies coming out of the oven is “good waiting”.  Sitting in your car in line for a Covid-19 test is “bad waiting”.  But not all waiting is a lack of progress, even though my frustration may say otherwise.  When we are waiting on answers from God about our life, we may feel like we do in the doctor’s office after t...

August 2, 2020 My sister recently told me a story about a family she saw at a restaurant.   Both parents and the two children were sitting at the table together after ordering their food and all four were completely engrossed in their phone screens.   There was no conversation, no looking at each other, no interaction of any kind.   In fact, they were so oblivious to their surroundings that they barely noticed when their food came.   The mom had gone to the restroom, leaving the other three at their outdoor table.   As the dad and the kids began to eat, they never interacted or looked up from their phones.   A crow landed on their table and began to eat food off the mom’s plate.   No one noticed.   Soon the mom returned and began to eat her (germy bird) food while she stared some more at her phone.   How gross and how sad!   Perhaps the family had been on a long journey and had been talking in the car.   Maybe they were all Googling...

August 2, 2020 In yesterday’s blog I wrote about Jesus wanting to be our best friend.   He is always there for us and with us, even when we forget about Him.   Because our God is so accessible, sometimes it may slip our minds that He is also all powerful and without limits.   In his book “Before Amen”, Max Lucado says this: “Most people suffer from small thoughts about God.   In an effort to see him as our friend, we have lost his immensity….The God of the Bible cannot be contained.”   When we have problems, we must remember to look up to God for help instead of focusing on the problem.   He is bigger than any situation.   He made everything that exists, from nothing.   His power and wisdom are infinite and there is not anything that He does not understand.   We should not set limits on what we believe God can do because He can do anything.   Isaiah 66:1-2 (NCV) says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool . . . My hand made...

August 1, 2020 I’ve just returned from spending three days at the beach in Galveston with my 2 sisters. I feel very blessed to have had this time to relax, unwind and laugh. The three of us lead fairly different lives but share such a strong common bond. We love all the same people. We share the same history. We have the same corny sense of humor.  It is a bond to be treasured. The conversation is easy and continuous. The laughter is loud and abundant. As August begins, I can truly say I’ve never anticipated a month sure to be filled with so much stress and uncertainty. I know that I will look back on these last three carefree days and long for them. But more importantly I will draw inner strength and joy from them. I am sorry if this blog makes anyone sad because they don’t have a sister or have lost their sister (or brother).  That would never be my intention.  I pray that if either of these is the case that you will cast your net around and find someone to spend time w...