Being Unapologetic

We all do it.  We apologize.  No matter what, we are apologizing for lots of things.  For stepping over someone's foot.  For spilling a drink on someone.  There are times we should apologize.  There are times we should not.

Growing up in the South, we are often taught to apologize for everything.  For the clouds in the sky.  For the lack of rain.  For something someone else has done.  I've been known to apologize for something a stranger has done.

I've realized something recently. 

There's a time to apologize.

And there's a time to be unapologetic.

There's a time to keep quiet.

And there's a time to let everyone know.

And when God is involved, it is not time to apologize for what I believe.

For that, I feel so much better.

Singing to the Top of My Voice

We've all heard the song,

"You've gotta sing like nobody's listening. . ."

Sometimes that's not so easy.  Singing like there is no one there, even when someone is there.  It all boils down to living life to the fullest, regardless of what others think or feel or say.  Knowing what's really important and living what is really important.

And you know what?  It might seem like at times my priorities are not straight.  I spend a whole lot of time planning Disney trips and dreaming about Disney trips.  It all boils down to this:  I'm not thinking of the location.  I'm thinking of the memories.  Who really cares what others think of my vacation destination?  Truthfully, my vacation destination is not as important to me as the four people within 1500 square feet of me right now.  Asleep.

I'm blessed.  And I'm happy about it.

And I've learned some simple rules to life:

1.  There truly is a God-shaped hole in our hearts we are all trying to fill. 

2.  Knowing that, God gives us family so we can have some iota about how He feels about us.

3.  It's our job to love these people completely, flaws and all, because we are loved flaws and all.

4.  It's also our job to live life to its fullest, because we are only given one life here to do it.

5.  Everyone needs positive in their lives.

And knowing number 5 to be true, I have a new resolve.  To be as positive as I can.  No complaining about this pain or that heartache, or this aggravation.

Because you know what?  In the grand scheme of things, when I'm complaining, I'm not singing.


December 2009--Me spending time being a big kid at Disney World, while reveling in a beautiful creation:  Cinderella's Castle from the Polynesian Resort.

Nothing interesting

I get up.  Get ready for work.  Go to work.  Work.  Come home.  Go to bed.

Repeat.

39 work days in a row.

Honestly, I can't remember the last time that I've done that.  But done it I have this year.

Monday is the 40th day of school.

I have a doctor's appointment.

You know, I don't believe I've ever really looked forward to a doctor's appointment until now.  I'm worn out.  My capacity for patience with the students is fine, but my patience with the adults I work with?

Nonexistent.

Picture today?  One that I took from the top of Expedition Everest.  Dan almost died when I took the picture for fear of losing our camera.

The First Day of School

As a child it was my favorite day of the whole school year.  Everything was new.  You saw friend you haven't seen in a long while.  Football games, pep rallies, and bonfires were the norm.  Somewhere along the way, some teachers have lost that pure joy that should be associated with the first day of school.  How beautiful is the diversity that we witness on that blessed day?  Children with wide eyes, excited about learning!  The world at their fingertips!  What are our plans for them?

Years ago, the principal at Lake View Elementary School said something that struck a chord with me.  Friday, my current principal at Mullins High School repeated the same phrase.  "Treat every child as you would want your own child to be treated."  What a profound statement!  When the principal at Lake View Elementary spoke those words 10 years ago, I was a new mother, whose eyes were just opening to the love I felt for my daughter.  How does this play out, though?  How do I as a parent want my children's teachers to treat them?

• I want the teachers to want my children to be in class.  I want them to be happy when they walk through the door, not frustrated that the "bad ones" always have perfect attendance. 
• I want my children's teachers to be prepared every day as if that day will make the difference.
• I want my children's teachers to lovingly correct my children.  I am under no assumption that my child will never misbehave, so rather, I would like for the teacher to calmly address the problem and then engage in the business of learning.
• I want my children's teachers to call me or write me when my children are doing something right.
• I want my children's teachers to prepare my child for the harsh realities of the world.
• Even if my children's teachers do not believe in God, I want them to lift up religious beliefs.
• Finally, I want my children's teachers to have time for themselves outside of the school building, because I know that they will truly be better educators if they do so.

I hope for the 2010-2011 school year, we are all able to celebrate the differences in children and make every child feel someone out their cares about them.

What does this have to do with Disney?  Well, of course I can link anything.  If you have the time and have never seen the production, look up the fireworks show, Illuminations:  Reflections of Earth.  The lyrics of the song, "We Go On" are perfect for the school year coming. 

Pretty picture this week?  A snippet from Illuminations:



"We Go On" : Music by Gavin Greenaway, Lyrics by Don Dorsey (c)1999 by Walt Disney Music Co. (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved.  Song performed by Kellie Coffey

With the stillness of the night
there comes a time to understand
to reach out and touch tomorrow
take the future in our hand
We can see a new horizon
built on all that we have done
and our dreams begin another
thousand circles 'round the sun
We go on
to the joy and through the tears
We go on
to discover new frontiers
Moving on
with the current of the years
We go on
moving forward, now as one
Moving on
with a spirit born to run
Ever on
with each rising sun


To a new day
We go on
We go on

Crazy Dog. . .

To say our dog is crazy is an understatement. . .to repeat something my husband said recently:

When he was a puppy, he fancied himself a fish.  He swallowed a spinner bait late one night, making it necessary to call the local Humane Society representative to come and help us remove the bait from his mouth.

When he was a year old, he fancied himself a deer.  He was shot by a hunter with a small caliber deer rifle.

Last week, he fancied himself a possum.  Our chickens had been being terrorized by possums, some even killed.  We laid a live trap for the possums so we could catch them and release them into the swamps nearby.  Our first capture was not a possum, but a Cocker Spaniel.

Today, apparently, he's a stunt double.  And he did a poor job at that.  He's put a huge gash in his back.

Right now, he's laying down on a blanket beside me.  If he planned to never be let off of a leash again, his plan worked.  (I hope he doesn't miss all of that farmland he was once able to run on)

The Sunset Says it all Today

Often when sunset comes, we know the darkness is falling.  And it does fall, as assuredly as anything else.  In those long winter months, it sometimes seems as if the sun will never rise again.  But rise it will.  Prayers today go out to a friend who has reached sunset and will move to the long night ahead.  Joy will come in the morning, but for now, I pray for the peace that passes all understanding, and the knowledge that where ever she is in the night, a good friend is a phone call away.

And, too, it's okay to cry.  After all, even Jesus wept at the loss of a dear friend.

This picture is of a late summer day over the salt marshes of South Carolina.  Edisto Island, SC.


"Jesus wept."~~John 11:35

The End of Denial

No denying it anymore.  School starts soon.  As I read my letter from our new school superintendent, I'm hit with a sobering reality:  it's been a long year since my last letter.  And although I know people would just love for me to digress and list all the ways things went wrong last year, I won't do that.

It's a gift to put your past behind you, or in the case of what Pumba says in the Lion King:

"You've got to put your behind in your past."

Yes, although Timon corrects Pumba, there's a lot of truth in that line. 

No one wants to focus on their butts.  They're hard to look at, sometimes smelly, and rarely is anyone happy with how they look.  Isn't our past often that way? 

Being a child who grew up going to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings with my parents, the most familiar prayer I know now is the Serenity Prayer.  I can recite this quicker than the Lord's Prayer.  Probably because when you go from a Methodist to a Mormon to a Presbyterian, there are so many different versions (and in the case of Mormonism, not even paid attention to), it's not the same as a prayer that never changed.  After "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep," I think the Serenity Prayer is the first prayer I did learn:

God, grant me the Serenity

To accept the things I cannot change

The courage to change the things I can

And the wisdom to know the difference.

What a simple prayer!  The first prayer is for peace!  Do you know how often in prayer I ask for peace now?  It's always what I ask for when I don't know what to pray for! 

The second prayer is for acceptance that I have no control.  I have no control over what God wants for me--I am on His path.  I do, however, have control over my reactions to His plan.  And if nothing else takes courage, that does.

Finally, it asks for wisdom to know.  For me, wisdom includes laying my burdens at Jesus' feet and leaving it there.  I think it's a prayer of many for that wisdom.

In the coming school year, I pray for peace, acceptance, courage, and wisdom. I pray that the Lord lead me how He wants in educating children. And I pray that I keep the courage and wisdom to lay problems at His feet.

This Photograph was taken on December 24, 2009, just after sunrise at Port Orleans Resort-French Quarter.  This was the view near my room and it reminds me that every moment is a moment for a sunrise or a new beginning.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."  ~~Philippians 1:6-7

All things equal. . .Disney is Still my Favorite

I hear it all the time:  You're going again?  Don't you ever get enough of that place?  My all-time recent favorite is:  If I didn't know any better, I'd say you and Mickey Mouse were having an affair. 

Ahhh.  The haters. 

The thing is, I really am not concerned with the haters, but answering the questions gets a little tiring.  Going to Disney every year or twice a year is no different than people who go to the beach every year or twice a year.  The only real difference is perhaps I'm on my feet more at Disney than people are at the beach.  So what that my vacation destination involves a talking mouse, castle, big golfball in the sky, and various and sundry princesses?  It makes me happy.

A happy teacher=happy students.
A happy mom=well cared for kids

And in the words of Forrest Gump:  "That's all I have to say about that."

Glenn Beck - Current Events & Politics - Make the Pledge - 40 Days and 40 Nights

Glenn Beck - Current Events & Politics - Make the Pledge - 40 Days and 40 Nights

Ugh, Kool-aid. . .

I hate it. I dislike kool-aid with a passion, but can't find many people who share my displeasure of the putrid drink. I have to say, though, I have found one kool-aid flavor that is liking to my taste.

It's the Disney kool-aid.

I think Walt planned years ago to get us all hooked.

Years ago, I tell you.

And I, a person who loathes Kool-aid more than anything in the world, drank it.

I drank it, I tell you, and I LOVE IT! My family has been several times now and we try to return as a whole every year and a half. Me, on the other hand, will squeeze in a trip whenever I can, taking all different denominations of kids from all three of them to none.

And this leads me to my--

Pretty Picture of the week:

A trip to the place where Kool-Aid is served in the water. . .Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida. This giraffe wandered in front of the Kilimanjaro Safari ride, stopping us for a good 15-20 minutes. A ride that should last 15 minutes, lasted 45.


"Excuse me, but do you know the directions to the Florida Turnpike? I seem to have lost my way."