New Beginnings - Again!

Today is the day where teachers all over my parish gather for two days of inservice before our eager minds show up on Wednesday!!!! Where did the summer go? We ask that every year and they just go by faster and faster. This is an interesting time for me - I hate it. I love it. I hate that I won't be working side by side with my sweet man during the day anymore. I miss him when I go back to school. And the best part is- he misses me too. I love it because everything is new all over again when you are a teacher. New faces, new minds to mold (hopefully) and new opportunities.
I am crazy about being a teacher (remind me when I am posting that I am sick of them next week :) ). It is by far the most rewarding job I can imagine having and as I get older I have no doubt it is my calling. I don't know how long of a season it will be and I hope even after retiring I will teach in some capacity. I look forward to new relationships and bonds formed with students. So many have touched and changed my life in remarkable ways. They teach me as much as I teach them.
I also miss my teacher friends. We may go all summer without seeing each other but will slip right back into the comfortableness of our friendships as soon as we see each other today. I am looking forward to catching up.
So thankful this morning as I sat and had my quiet time that the Lord allows me to do something I love so very much. I don't take one second for granted.
Have a blessed Monday!
Michelle

A Great Read

It is sooooooooooooooooo hot!!! What a newsflash right? We start back to school on Monday and I can't even fathom how hot it is going to be. I usually want to hang on to summer a little longer, however I will be glad to say good-bye to this one.

Wanted to recommend a great read. Louie Giglio wrote a book titled i am not but I know I AM. Welcome to the story of God.   He addresses a problem that is so prevalent in our society today - the obsession with self. Who we are, why are we here, what are we to do. And he reminds us that we are all here to glorify and share in the story of the One who gives us breath every day to do what we do. It is a short book but filled with scriptural wisdom and much needed reminders about our purpose in life. I finished this morning and wanted to share a bit of it:

"The cross of Christ is the place where trust in God is born. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is an act of kindness from a loving and trustworthy God, an undeniable demonstration of His goodness that we can cling to when our sight and understanding fail to make sense of the circumstances that surround us."

Life is full of things that don't make sense and questions of "Why" that just don't have answers that our finite fleshly minds can understand. His ways are not our ways. Thank goodness. BUT....... no matter what, it is imperative to remember it begins and ends with the Cross of Christ and trusting that we are not but He is the Great I AM.
A great read. Hope you check it out.
Blessings,
Michelle

SSMT #15

1 Chronicles 16:11 (NIV)

"Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always."

May we all understand when we are weak He is strong. He is faithful, He is loving and He is good ALL the time. Even when we don't understand.
Blessings from sweltering Louisiana!
Michelle

Please respond

In a big hurry this morning but want to share something quickly. Go over and read Randy Alcorn's blog post today on living a life that preempts regret. He states: "You and I have but one life on earth to invest in Heaven." Shook me to my core this morning. How am I spending my time and will I have regrets? My daughter's cross country coach tells them all the time that regret lasts longer than anything.
Check out Randy's post at http://www.epm.org/ and let me know what you think.
All I can think is Christ gave his precious life for us, what  will I do with mine?
Love,
Michelle

Girly Days

I love being a girl!!!! And I am so glad that I am part of a family of girly girls!!!! Anytime our out of town family is in we always make time to have a girl day. We have a new addition to our family - Miss Paisley Noel and we could not wait to have a reason for Paisley to have her first girls day with her Mama, Zsa Zsa, MawMaw, aunties and cousins. So... my girls and I hosted a Sip and See at daughter-in-love's house- who is the ultimate hostess.

We also love any reason to dress cute and eat yummy food! Christine made her special sugar cookies. Baby bottles and mary jane shoes - how adorable and tasty. I ate them for breakfast for the next four days. Love you Christine!

These Petit Fours were incredible. So moist and just the perfect size. I think that is why they are called

 petit fours - well that is why I ate four and didn't feel one ounce of guilt!

The Belle of the Ball! Paisley is the sweetest baby and was so good to just let all of us hold and poke and stare at her.

Paisley and her sweet Mama - my niece Mandy. What a beautiful mother she is. So precious to watch her mothering her first born. What a gift to be a mother. Paisley has been born into a family of wonderful, God-loving mothers.She is a blessed little girl and we look forward to so many more fun times with her.

My beautiful girls (minus Christine. She had to be somewhere else for a bit) and me. I pray they will treasure family as I do.

Jodi and Aunt Debsi. The Aunt Debsi who hogged the baby all day! Lucky she is such a good cook and we let her do whatever she wants for fear we won't reap the benefits of her culinary talents. :) 

Auntie Di was giddy over the baby. Maybe she wants another one. HA! She will kill me for that. 

Jodi, Andria, and Savannah. Beautiful girls. On the inside and out.

Lauren and Aunt Shelley. One of the things I enjoy about my in-love family is that no matter how much time passes without seeing each other, when we do get together it is like we see each other every day.

Seems like yesterday when my baby girl was Paisley's size. And here she is all grown-up looking. I miss her big hair bows. :(

Our other Belle of the Ball - MawMaw. She is our ultimate girly girl and we adore her. She loves all of us so much and is so fun and sweet. She is a wonderful mother, mother in love, grandmother and great grandmother.

My sisters-in-law are a total blast. I love them like crazy. You girls ROCK!!!!

Think these two resemble?

We spent much of our time laughing about how you spend half your life trying to be the opposite of your mother yet end up just like them. Of course by the time you realize you are like your mama you don't mind because you understand she is much wiser than you ever gave her credit for.

We had a lovely day with our newest "girl" Paisley and we look forward to many many more.

SSMT #14 and Some Catch-up

I cannot believe how long it has been since I posted. I am sure everyone is about to keel over with anticipation! :) We have had a wonderful week with our out of town family being at our house. We did so many fun things and I have tons of pictures and will post throughout the week for all of them to see. But first, I just have to update on my sweet grandpeeps! Indulge me if you will. They are growing up so fast and are more fun than we can stand around here. An absolute blast these two are. A couple of weekends ago my sweet man whisked me away for a few days and we had a wonderful time. He spotted these shirts and said,"We gotta get those!"



In case you cannot  see them very well, they read.."I didn't do it. Nobody saw me do it. I need to speak to my GiGi." How fun is that?!

Graham is such a pretty boy. But he is ALL boy and wild as he can be. I mean that in a good way. He makes the funniest faces and is so loving right now. He just runs up and throws his arms around your legs and I eat up every minute of it.

Connor is a ham. He can wink out of both eyes and does that boy ever have jokes! A slew of knock knock jokes to keep us all in stitches. His delivery is perfect. He will be a great story teller.

Sometimes I can get these two handsome boys to slow down and cheese real pretty for GiGi.

Most of the time though this is what I get.

They love GiGi's pool and keep us entertained for hours. Connor is such a good swimmer.

  

Graham thinks he can do anything "Nonnor" can do and is right behind him. Precious.

There are always treats of the sugary kind at GiGi's!!!!

I love my boys. They fill our days with so much laughter and joy. What sweet times these are right now with them. They are growing too fast. I hope they understand early on the blessing of family bonds. I have much to say on that later in the week.

On another note..... it is Scripture memory verse time!!!!

Psalm 25:5

"Guide me in Your truth and teach me,

For you are God my Savior and my hope is in You

all day long."

Blessings on this Lord's day. More pics to come!

Michelle

Little Blessings

No time to blog much - just sitting in the office working late and so thankful as I sit here watching and listening to my baby girl and her sweet daddy sitting side by side at her keyboard singing duets of praises to the King. Such a sweet gift to me right at this moment. Can't even be jealous of the amount of talent the Lord gifted each of them with. My prayer is that one day Baby girl can truly grasp the depth of love both her earthly Father and Heavenly Father have for her.
Have a great week and count your blessings - especially the ones that seem to escape us in the busyness of our lives - Funny, as I typed that last sentence I accidentally typed "busymess" - How true that is. Our lives can get to be a busy mess if we aren't careful.
Thankful and Blessed,
Michelle