On to Round 2

I'm still trying to decide what to rename my blog. I like the couple of suggestions I was given and hopefully, I will decide something soon. If you have an idea and haven't told me yet, please send it my way!

Today was such an incredibly tiring day! Why is it that some days are like that where other days you just seem to have a ton of energy? The first graders totally zapped my energy today and sometimes I wonder how I am ever going to do this every day. Teachers have physically (and emotionally) stressful jobs!! Only 17 more days of school left!

I just applied today to a Christian school in the area called Plano Christian Academy. Their website looks great and I was very impressed with their staff. They are looking for a second grade teacher, so I hope that I hear back from them. I got an email last week asking me to interview with a principal and her administrative team tomorrow afternoon. I already interviewed with her kindergarten and first grade teams, so I've passed round one and hope to pass round two tomorrow! Say a prayer for me! I will keep you posted...

Velvet Elvis

I just finished reading Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell this week. I highly recommend it to everyone!! I got so much out of this book that I know it will be one that I will continue to reread from time to time. Below are several of my favorite quotes from the book. Obviously, they are taken out of the book, so they make much more sense when read in context. Just another reason you need to go out and buy it :)! I have highlighted the ones that really speak to my life in so many ways.

"Doctrine is a wonderful servant and a horrible master."

"A question by its very nature acknowledges that the person asking the question does not have all of the answers. And because the person does not have all of the answers, they are looking outside of themselves for guidance. Questions bring freedom. Freedom that I don't have to be God and I don't have to pretend that I have it all figured out. I can let God be God."

"The idea that everybody else approaches the Bible with baggage and agendas and lenses and I don't is the ultimate of arrogance."

"The goal is not to be a 'New Testament church.' That makes the New Testament church the authority. The authority is God who is acting in and through those people at that time and now these people at this time."

"If you come across truth in any form, it isn't outside your faith as a Christian. Your faith just got bigger. To be a Christian is to claim truth wherever you find it."

"The point of the cross isn't forgiveness. Forgiveness leads to something much bigger: restoration. God isn't just interested in the covering over of our sins; God wants to make us into the people we were originally created to be. It is not just the removal of what's being held against us; it is God pulling us into the people he originally had in mind when he made us."

"'Your job is the relentless pursuit of who God has made you to be. And anything else you do is sin and you need to repent of it.'"

"What happens in our lives becomes so heavily oriented around the expectations of others that we become more and more like them and less and less like ourselves. We become split."

"I have been told that I need to believe in Jesus. Which is a good thing. But what I am learning is that Jesus believes in me. I have been told that I need to have faith in God. Which is a good thing. But what I am learning is that God has faith in me."

"It is trusting that I am loved. That I always have been. That I always will be. I don't have to do anything. I don't have to prove anything or achieve anything or accomplish one more thing. That exactly as I am, I am totally accepted, forgiven, and there is nothing I could ever do to lose this acceptance."

"God has no boundaries. God blesses everybody. People who don't believe in God. People who are opposed to God. People who do violent, evil things. God's intentions are to bless everybody."

"Most of the messages we receive are about how to make life easier. The call of Jesus goes the other direction. It's about making our lives more difficult. It is going out of our way to be more generous and disciplined and loving and free. It is refusing to escape and become numb to and check out of this broken, fractured world."

Just as an FYI...I was accepted into the alternative certification program and I started my classes yesterday. I will be in class until mid-July, but should take my state test and get my probationary certification in June. Please keep me in your prayers as I continue to fight the battle with my anxiety and am scared to make this transition into a new career.

Also, I was thinking that I need to change the name of my blog since I'm technically not a newlywed anymore. Any ideas for names? I have limited creativity :)!

Love is in the Air

Joy and Todd

Joy's Engaged!!

That's right! My little sister just called us to let us know that she has a ring and is officially engaged :). That is about all I know because she was busy celebrating and told us that she would give us the details later. She and her fiance, Todd, have already been planning the wedding and we think they will probably be getting married in August. More to come...

Friday the 13th

While this day may be creepy to some superstitious people, I for one always look forward to having the 13th fall on a Friday. Maybe it is because 13 is my favorite number and I always thought it was cool to have my birthday fall on Friday the 13th. The next time will be on my 30th! Anyway, I wanted to let you all know that I had my first official teaching interview this afternoon with a group of Kindergarten and First Grade teachers. I was nervous, but the group of women quickly made me feel at home. I subbed with some of them one day back in February, so they remembered me. I feel like it went really well and I just pray that I get a job for next fall!! I'm not sure when I'll hear back from them, but I will keep you posted. Hope you all have a fabulouso weekend (this is how we say it in my fam)!!

For the Book Lovers Out There...

This one's from Jacque only I decided to organize it differently so it made sense to me :). You can click on her blog if you'd like to do it the original way!

Books I've Read (I promise I've read a lot more than what's on this list!)
I can't say enough about these!!

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown) - Couldn't put it down.
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)- Excellent!!
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery) - A classic!! I grew up on the miniseries!
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald) - Perhaps my all-time favorite book that I read in school...also love the movie!
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough) - SO GOOD!
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck) - Another incredible book
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd) - Very good

Books I Want to Read
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger) - I wrote a paper on this once, but somehow never actually read the book :). I think I own it, though!
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) - I own this.
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis) - I own this one too.
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
45. Bible - Although I've read a lot of the Bible, I've never been able to sit down and read it cover to cover...a goal of mine that I'm working on.
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez) - For the same reason as Jacque!
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)


Books I Probably Won't Read
Let me preface this by saying that I love the Lord of the Rings movies and Harry Potter, but I've never joined the craze in reading the books. I'd be much more inclined to read Harry Potter than LOTR, though.

5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
18. The Stand (Stephen King) - I love Stephen King movies, but not sure about reading his books.
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky) - Seems too intimidating!
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy) - Too intimidating!
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares) - Loved the movie, but doubt I will read this.
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo) - Again, LOVE the broadway production, but not sure I want to read the book.
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding) - Have seen the movie numerous times, so probably won't read it.
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje) - Hated this movie!
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White) - I probably have read this, but can't remember. Don't really want to read it now.
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding) - Has never interested me.
93. The Good Earth(Pearl S. Buck)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

Books I've Never Heard Of
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
17. Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True(Wally Lamb)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving)
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)

A Must Read!

On Monday I wasn't feeling well, so I stayed in and read a book that my brother encouraged me to read. It is called Sex God by Rob Bell. I know you are probably thinking, "What? What kind of book would be called that?" At least that's what I thought when I first saw the book. Well, it is an amazing book about the connections between sexuality and spirituality. Rob Bell is a superb writer and he forces you to think of sexuality from a much broader point of view. A lot of it is about how we relate to other people...truly fascinating (and a quick read)! I've already ordered his first book, Velvet Elvis, which you may have heard of before and I just started reading Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller. I'll let you know if they are as good. Happy reading!

Easter Weekend

Hope you all had a nice Easter weekend! Ours was a bit crazy. It was freezing cold all weekend and we actually got some snow flurries...brrrr! My "little" brother turned 24 on Saturday and it was the first time for him to have it snow on his birthday. I still can't believe that the "baby" of our family is 24!

Our church decided to have a solo (with praise team back-up) and Tim was selected to sing. I had never actually seen him sing something like that in front of a large group of people before and I was blown away by the talent God has given him to reach people through his voice!! My mom and others were moved to tears by his voice and the words of the song. He sang "Arise, My Love." The words are listed below...very moving.

Arise, My Love

Not a word was heard at the tomb that day,
Just shuffling soldier's feet as they guarded the grave.
One day, two days, three days had passed,
Could it be that Jesus had breathed His last?

Could it be that His Father had forsaken Him,
Turned His back on His Son, despising our sin.
All hell seemed to whisper, "Just forget him, he's dead."
Then the Father looked down on His son and said,

Arise, my love! Arise, my love!
The grave no longer has a hold on you.
No more death's sting, no more suffering.
Arise, arise, my love.

The earth trembled and the tomb began to shake,
And like lightening from heaven the stone rolled away;
And as dead men, the guards stood there in fright,
As the power of love displayed its might.

Then suddenly a melody filled the air,
Riding wings of wind, it was everywhere;
The words all creation had been longing to hear,
The sweet sound of vict'ry, so loud and clear.

Arise, my love! Arise, my love!
The grave no longer has a hold on you.
No more death's sting, no more suffering.
Arise, arise, my love.

Our God is an Awesome God!!

Two things I love are photography and weather! If only I had the professional camera and photography talent of my friend Theresa. I can dream, can't I? Well, I did my best to capture the beautiful display in the sky this evening. Isn't our Creator the most amazing artist?! Enjoy the pics of springtime in Texas.