Whew. I've been complaining for a couple of weeks that I was ready for the rain to stop and ready for the warmer spring weather to begin. I guess we fastforwarded straight to August, complete with heat and humidity. As humans, we're always quick to judge. Quick to complain. Quick to blame God. But is an attitude of gratitude really that hard? I guess it's like anything else...with practice, it becomes part of us. Want to shoot a better game of golf? Go practice. Want to have a better race time? Go practice. Want to learn more about God? We've got to practice (by going to church, attending small groups, etc.) If we want an attitude of gratitude, we have to find the positive in every day and let God know we appreciate ALL He does for us!

Ryan lost his other front tooth tonight; he's officially "Toothless Joe." I don't know where we got that term, but we grew up hearing my dad use it and we just started using it, too. In the midst of losing two teeth in the past week and struggling with a stomach virus of some sort, Ryan was MORE focused on joining Tiger Scouts and going to his first pack meeting. Tonight, he happily donned the regalia of scouting. He was ecstatic to be going to the meeting with his dad, and Wayne said Ryan did great. Smiles for everyone tonight! Wayne had to run another errand, so Ryan "had" to stay with me. He said, "What? I have to stay with MOM?" He surely does love his daddy!

Am I always that happy to be with my heavenly Father? To just smile to be in His presence? To forget all of the other crud of the week and just focus on abiding in Him?

Our family is following "The Plan." Three of the five of us need to lose weight and get healthy, and with the help of some great friends, we're going forward to do the best we can. We cleaned out the junk food and took a couple of grocery trips for fresh fruits and veggies and no processed items. Our goal is to avoid pop and fast food this week, take our lunches to work/school, exercise 4-5 nights this week for at least 20 minutes, and make the healthiest food choices we can. There was no reason to start counting calories, points, or fat grams. We just need to turn our ship around and change our mindset. Today was Day #2...and the first day with taking lunches and dealing with work/school. Everyone reported that the day went well! I made a healthy dinner and hopefully made enough to warm up for lunch tomorrow.

It's no big secret that music very much ministers to my soul. We joke at Worship Team that we have a Top 10 list (but we probably have 50 songs on that list!)... but the #1 song rotates depending on what is ministering to me on a given day or at a given time in my life.

A couple of weeks ago, Melody gave us the music for "Hail to the King," which is not one I had heard before. It's by Don Moen, so I knew it would be great--love all his music. However, this one has spoken deeply to my soul in the past two weeks. I can't even really tell you why; it just has.

I walked into Wednesday's WT practice in a bit of a sour mood--that's May for teachers--but when we hit that song, my mood changed. I thanked Melody for picking it and I have found myself humming or singing it ALL THE TIME.

Last night, I could tell my blood pressure was high. I almost felt that I was going to be sick to my stomach, I got light-headed, and I developed a bad headache. I took my meds and pulled up "Hail to the King" on You Tube and watched/listened three times in a row and was able to relax and fall asleep. Thanks, Lord.

IT'S OFFICIAL!!!! I'm finally of an age--or should I say MY KIDS ARE OF THE AGE--that I can more easily meet with friends for dinner or a movie or a chat and I can leave the kids at home and not feel guilty. I've waited sooooo long, and it's finally here. Tonight I enjoyed dinner with friends, and it was the boost I needed after a busy and somewhat stressful week!

A friend of ours gave Ryan a Namco Pac-Man controller that plugs into the tv, and viola...Pac-Man games appear! What a hoot! It reminded me of the days of going to Pizza Hut on a weekend and playing a game or two of Pac-Man on a big console they had. Each game was a mere quarter.

The most interesting is Super Pac-Man, which I don't remember from my youth. What seems to make it different is that if Pac-Man eats a green icon (fruit, Ryan tells me), he triples in size and can gobble up more of what's in his path.

Wouldn't we all be super if we gobbled up God's word a little more, or a little more regularly?

I saw LETTERS TO GOD tonight. I knew I'd cry (heck, I cried during the trailer shown at church last week!), but I had no idea that kleenex would be useless...so I just let the tears stream down my face, neck, and onto my hoodie. Thankfully, Chris K. brought me a travel pack of tissue so that I could at least blow my nose a few times. I'm grateful that Chris and Jodi were able to bring that movie to town--I know they've had good attendance. The message is so clear, so poignant, that it should--MUST--be shared with everyone!

A million things are racing through my brain, but all I reallllly want to do is sleep. May is one of the busiest months for our family and for my job, so I'm just praying that June gets here as quickly and as painlessly as possible! When a million things are buzzing around in my brain, I just have to take a deep breath and focus on God for strength, direction, and clarity. I have several big issues that need to be resolved in the next week or two, and I can't put them off. I recently told a friend to meet her issues head on...sometimes we give advice that we ourselves need to heed!

TBALL STARTS TONIGHT. Oh my. We're praying that it's not the "torture ball" of the past. More than that, we just enjoy sitting as a family, watching the kids run the bases and gobble up snacks at the end. Nick is going to be an ump this season, so that's special (We call him "Blue" since his ASA umpire shirt is blue).

"Everybody falls sometimes"...that was the beginning phrase of a song we practiced at worship team tonight. As much as we KNOW what we should do, as much as we WANT to do...we DON'T do. Most of the time, anyway. Paul struggled with what he did vs. what he wanted to be. We all do because we're OH SO HUMAN.

I find it ironic that the more that we become connected to our electronic devices, the more isolated we become.

Sure, I get and return more messages, check the weather, check on the kids, spend time on Facebook "keeping up" with people and communicating information to relatives, friends, students, and church members. But where's the love? :) I mean, I learn more from a tone of voice, a subtle gesture, or even the flash or sparkle in someone's eyes. That's where the relationship -- the friendship -- is built. Although I can use all of these methods to communicate faster and more often, I'm not sure if these methods are actually better. A phone call might be a little better than the computer or texting, but I think that my husband said it best: "There's nothing like front porch sittin'." Let's grab some iced tea this spring/summer and encourage friendship and communication by sitting on our front porches!

So much for finishing the mowing jobs tonight after school. It rained enough to prevent the mowing, but it has also cooled off. I became a bit irritated because, darn it, it's May and should be the perfect temperature and humidity, right? However, I thought about the summer weather that'll be upon us quickly...then I'll wish I had these sub-60 degree temps. As humans, we're never satisfied, are we? And we always think we have the best plan and know just how things should be. Lord, help me focus on You today and rely on You to lead me down the path You've chosen.

I've heard that movie theater-goers, especially kids, tend to text during movies, causing a bright glare that distracts other attendees. I have to admit; I've texted during a movie before. Ryan was watching a kid's movie, and I was "multi-tasking." I never thought about the glare or possible distraction. I guess I was lucky that night because the theater workers didn't see me or say anything about it!

What if we treated God the way we treated our cell phones? We check for messages numerous times a day, we send back just as many messages, we make sure we have the phone in our pockets wherever we go. How awesome would our relationship with God be if we gave Him that much time and that much honor?

I am very tired this morning, but it's a "good" tired. As I worked yesterday afternoon on lesson plans for the rest of the year, I realized there's not much time left but yet so much I want to do. It's like that in my Christian walk. There's not much time left! Even if I live another 40-50 years (which doesn't sound like much now that I'm 43), there's so much that God wants me to do. The question is...what? I do wish that sometimes He'd just use a humongous billboard to indicate what we should be doing at any given time. BUT, I'll have to rely on listening, praying, and discerning! :) Some of those answers have been made clearer to me recently, and that direction encourages me greatly.

The maze I call my mind...that's so true. The original title of this blog was "rants and raves of and English teacher," but I think I did more ranting than anything. I was so negative when I started this blog. I have felt so much healing in the past year and am thankful that I have come to a point in my Christian walk to share more effectively with others. Mostly, I feel God using me to mend situations, whether created by me or just situations that I'm aware of that others have shared. I pray that I say and do what it is God wants of me! Better is one day in His courts than thousands elsewhere...