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."