A child of God educating other children.

I just switched over my blog with a lot of Tim's help. I am now going to be blogging at www.danaschmoyer.com I figured if I will be blogging for a while I want a better domain to give to people. We have spent most of the day working on the template with Tim changing the pictures to my photography and pics of us. If yo refresh the page it'll change the picture of Tim and I. How cool! If you are signed up to get updates by email you should be fine, and switched over with it.

I also put my newest post on www.danaschmoyer.com, so enjoy the new sight! Some things will probably be added and changed in the next month, so stick around!

Posted in: on Friday, October 17, 2008 at at 8:29 PM 0 comments    

I went to the Christian bookstore in town to check the price and look at an idea for a Christmas present for someone. I checked, then got totally side tracked in the book section of the store.

I really have a desire to teach girls and help them make godly decisions in their life as they struggle with surviving jr. high and high school. And to help them make godly decisions when it comes to boys. In highschool someone gave me the book Lady in Waiting by Jackie Kendall. I didn't read it until college. Through BSM (Baptist Student Ministry) I joined a small group of girls that did weekly Bible studies. At one point we read through Lady in Waiting together and discussed our thoughts of it. I gave my book to a friend after the study for her to read on her own, and am now wanting a copy of my own again.

At the bookstore I didn't find it, but I found "The Young Lady in Waiting," by the same author. As far as I can tell it looks pretty much like the same book, just a cuter cover to attract the teens. I have been thinking about putting together an all girl small group during the week and studying this or something like it. I was thinking the copy I read might be a little old for them, but I am so excited to find a teen version! I almost bought it today, but would like to find a copy to borrow and read to see if I should follow through.

I have been thinking about waiting until my small group is done with confirmation to do this in depth girl study, meaning starting next Fall we could do it, but I think some of the older girls in the youth group could benefit from it. A girl at school that I work with has really got me thinking today and yesterday on this, really wanting to reach these girls before they graduate and are on their own.

I also found some books that look like they'd be great for me to read when I am finished with, "A Woman's Walk with God" by Elizabeth George. (Which I highly recommend you read if you have not..and you're a woman.) They are, "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World," and "Having a Mary Spirit" by Joanna Weaver. I read the back of them, and the 2nd one sounds really good! Every Tuesday evening for over a month now we have had a small group of adults in our house to study the 40 days of Purpose. Every evening when I am still trying to get things in order before people come and they show up while I try to finish something, I always think of the story in Luke 10 about Jesus going into Mary and Martha's home, reminding me to stop working and build a relationship with the people in my home.

Back on the topic of teens, there was a book that caught my eye first today and that is, "Secret Keeper: The Delicate Power of Modesty" by Dannah Gresh. This is another huge passion I have with girls. As a teen I didn't understand how much power there is with dressing modest. I remember being so mad that my dad made me change into longer shorts before youth group one night trying to explain why I shouldn't wear short shorts, but I wasn't willing to listen and learn. Now that I am married, Tim has really opened my eyes to the world of boys, and I would like to pass some of this wisdom to the girls in our church. If you have girls of your own or work with them, this website looks like a good resource, I haven't looked at it deeply, but it looks like it'd be good.

Posted in: books, faith, girls, ministry, teens on Thursday, October 16, 2008 at at 7:40 PM 2 comments    

God has totally surrounded me by the love of kids lately. Probably my favorite part of work right now is bus duty, 'cause at the end of each day I get to see pre-school and elementary kids. Last week one pre-school girl decided to sit next to me, lay her head in my lap, and wrap my arm around her holding it tight. It was such a simple thing, but I loved it. Kids just amaze me and the love they can give is beautiful.

This same girl has a brother in 1st grade that about once a week decides to sit by me. I find it kind of funny when the kids choose to sit by me, because that spot is usually where kids sit if they aren't choosing to sit correctly on the bus on their own. Anyways, so this boy didn't ride at all last week, and got on today and I said, "Hey! I haven't seen you in a while, how was your week!?" Without saying anything he just threw himself at me and gave me such a big hug! And a little funny note ... when I was talking with another student I over heard this boy talk to another who was asking him why he was sitting by me, and he said, "I am going to marry her." Oh the sweet innocent days of being a child.

This past weekend I really enjoyed getting to see my niece and nephews too. They are growing up so fast and are just tons of fun to be with. Noah and I had a great time sitting in the back of the car on our rides to Sonic, and Ruby and Ti were just so cuddly Saturday night at their house.

I have taken a little break from the Fruit of the Spirit. Don't worry, I will get back into it, it is just taking me a little time to get through joy. I will though, and soon I will be writing more about the Fruit of the Spirit.

Posted in: kids, love on Monday, October 13, 2008 at at 6:22 PM 3 comments    

I just got home from staying with David, Adrienne, and Noah this weekend. Tim left Thursday evening at 7pm for his weekend in California and wont get back 'til early Tuesday morning, so I went down to visit family. I am very glad I did because not only did I have fun hanging out with everyone, but it helped me not to mope around our house all weekend missing Tim. I still miss Tim like crazy and had a really hard night last night, but I think it could've been worst. I got to talk to him for almost 30 minutes this morning which really helped. I think I wouldn't be doing so bad if he had more breaks and time to call me to talk. If we could connect more while he is gone that would help a ton.

Friday I drove down to Dan and Maggie's where I got to see Ti, Ruby and Noah and hang out with Dan, David and Adrienne for the evening while Maggie worked. Then Saturday we went to Cabela's with the kids and got Sonic. That evening Adrienne Maggie and I watched the kids while the guys went to a volleyball game. And today was a great day to visit their church. Dan and David both did the music, playing piano, guitar and singing. And David and Adrienne both told their testimony as part of becoming a member of their church. I am grateful I got to be there for such a fun part of belonging to a church.

Before Tim left for California he asked me if I would like to be a guest blogger for him writing tips and advice for youth pastor's wives. I thought that would be a great idea and really exciting until he left for the weekend and I have no clue how to handle a husband being gone. This is the first time Tim has gone on a trip and I stayed behind. I feel like I need to be reading someone else's advice on how to be a good wife and not be so homesick for my husband. Maybe after Tim comes back home I'll see about writing it, but right now I am in no shape to give another wife advice.

Posted in: family, marriage on Sunday, October 12, 2008 at at 4:32 PM 2 comments    

Tim just left to start his way to Sacramento, California for NYWC. This is the first time that I have stayed home from it, and the first time Tim has left for something more than a day. I wont see him again until Tuesday when I wake up, unless I wake up at like 3am when he gets home Tuesday morning.

I'm excited for Tim to get to go as an official blogger for the convention. I'm pretty bummed that I'm not getting to experience this with him, but we sent a male youth worker from our church that I think will benefit more from the training than I would. This will be his first time, and it would've been my 4th.

I also volunteered not to go so I can go to the National Youth Ministry Conference for the first time put on by Simply Youth Ministry. I absolutely loved going to NYWC, but I'd like to try NYMC and see which is better for me to attend in the future.

Also, I found out after the church had already bought Tim's and the youth worker's ticket that I was asked if I would come and be an official blogger. Man! If I had known that ahead of time, or in enough time, I would've been right on that! But again, this will be more beneficial for the youth worker joining him. I just need to stop being selfish.

Although I'll be missing Tim a ton, I am excited to go down and hang out with Tim's sister-in-law and brother and nephews and niece. I'm excited to spend more time getting to know each other, and keeping busy not thinking about Tim the whole time he is gone. I'll go down tomorrow after work and stay through Sunday afternoon. I wouldn't have been able to stay home that whole time, so I am very thankful to have family close by to help me out!

Posted in: family, marriage, ministry on Thursday, October 09, 2008 at at 6:15 PM 1 comments    

The summer of 2005 Tim and I were not dating, we were in the midst of an 8 month break in our relationship. And that same summer one of my closest friends I ever had died in a car accident. This has been the hardest time in my life to date. Tim was the one I wanted to go to and try to to grieve the loss of my friend, but couldn't. God did amazing things with me that summer though. Kim Mister, a friend of mine through Tim gave me the devotional "A Woman's Walk with God: Growing in the Fruit of the Spirit" by Elizabeth George (the one I've mentioned in previous posts). The day I found out about my friend Aaron's death was in the middle of God teaching me real joy. I learned it! In the midst of so much pain and sadness I had a tremendous amount of joy. God continued to teach me about all his wonderful fruit and I was happy with how I was growing in God.

I feel like since then I have taken God for granted. Tim and I got back together, I could see God's hand in that. Tim and I got married in 3 months. God's hand was all over that! We searched for 7 months with God wrestling with where God wanted to take us next (to Minnesota) and that was an awesome experience too. I have seen God’s work in our lives many times with bringing us to the North, through people and events that have happened here. Everything has been wonderful and I feel really blessed, but I still feel like Christ should be more apparent in me and the Fruit of the Spirit hanging all over me.

I tried to start reading the chapter on joy last night. All of a sudden I got overwhelmed thinking about Aaron and what a hard lesson it was to learn joy the first time. I just started begging God to not have such a hard lesson to learn this time through, with learning about joy at this moment in my life. I don't think I could handle a loss right now. Just thinking about that chapter and moment in my life chokes me up. I will wait another night before I try to read this chapter. Please shower me in prayers as I come before God and refresh myself on his true joy for my life.

Posted in: on Tuesday, October 07, 2008 at at 7:45 PM 1 comments    

I just finished reading the chapter on Love. Elizabeth George spoke about constantly going to God to be filled with his love. Some days it is easy to go all day loving everyone you come in contact with. Some days it's hard, and we need to remember to constantly keep on going back to God for love, even if it means every minute of the day. The only way I can show Christ's love to others is if I am full of Christ's love to give.

Luke 6:32 "If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them!"
Luke 6:35-36 "Love your enemies! Do good to them. Lend to them without expecting to be repaid. Then your reward from heaven will be very great, and you will truly be acting as children of the Most High, for he is kind to those who are unthankful and wicked. You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate."

I have found in the last month or so I have even failed to love those who show love to me. I had to go to Tim the other day and apologize to him for not giving him the love I should from Christ. I have been self-centered and wanting my own way, and have been lazy! I have felt the Holy Spirit tugging at my heart letting me know that I should treat Tim better. I apologized for not being the wife he needs. And Tim, bless his heart encouraged me telling me that I am doing a wonderful job at being his wife and that it didn't cross his mind that I wasn't. But in my heart I knew that I should be doing more.

Am I the only one, or do others find it easier to show love to those you come in contact throughout the day than it is to show love to those you live with? Why is that? Is it because I know those who love me know the real me and I am comfortable to let my true feelings and emotions show? And I want others to think highly of me, so I put on a facade?

I know it wont be easy, but I am praying like crazy for God to teach me the love he wants me to give others, especially Tim. And I know that once I am able to give Tim the love that Christ will give me, then it will show on the outside to the people I come in contact outside of my house. Most of all I really want to be a great wife for Tim, coming along side him supporting him in ministry.

In order to do this I will have to constantly go back to God and get refilled with his love. John 15:5 says, "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." And 15:9 & 10 say, "I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father's commandments and remain in his love."

There is no doubt that I can't do this on my own. I must constantly seek after God and to ask for his love and help to show his love. Wow this makes me excited! God loves me so much that he wants me to remain in him, and by doing that he will shower me with the Fruit of the Spirit.

Posted in: Fruit of the Spirit, love on Monday, October 06, 2008 at at 8:42 AM 1 comments    

For the longest time now my heart has been longing to grow the Fruit of the Spirit. I remember walking around our yard in the spring to the 5 apple trees on our property and pruning the branches that were dead, and again this fall taking off an apple if two were growing on the same bunch. I had John 15:4-5 (or of what I could remember of it) playing in my head over and over picturing God walking around me and pruning off the things in my life that are dead and not letting me thrive, and making room for the fruit he wants me to have in my life.

Now I started thinking about this in the spring, and am sad to say I really haven't dedicated time to really devote myself to letting God develop fruit in my life. I feel like I have been in a stalemate and not really meaning to, but I know that if I really really wanted it, I'd be able to tell. Right?

I got out my devotional about the Fruit of the Spirit and have started reading it. Already I have felt a sense of peace that God is happy with me noticing a dryness and now being thirsty to go all out wanting to get deep with him. I am really excited to see what God has in plan for me, and watch him prune me like I did with the apple trees in mine and Tim's yard.

Posted in: Fruit of the Spirit on Sunday, October 05, 2008 at at 8:44 PM 1 comments    

Galatians 5:22-23
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

John 15:4-5
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is served from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

James 1:2-4
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

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I want to thank everyone for commenting back and emailing me about the last post I did. This afternoon on the bus was rough, and it was nice to come home to encouragement.

I have quite a bit to say about the Fruit of the Spirit and my thoughts on my spiritual life right now, but on Word it's about 2 pages long, so I figured I'd break it up. Today you get the verses.

I absolutely love Galatians 5:22-23. I did a study on these and am constantly wondering if people can see them in my life. It is late though and I have an early morning. I'll post more another day.

Posted in: on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at at 7:37 PM 2 comments    

Where have they gone?

I am constantly surprised by the lack of morals I see around me, especially working in the public school system. We're supposed to correct student's language if we hear something not appropriate. But then when I go into the staff lounge I hear bad language in there! How does someone teach another morals if they do not follow it for themself? What is even more frustrating is that I am slowly learning of the people who go to our church and they are the ones with the foul language. I would love to hear more pastors stand up and be convicting of the ways we live our lives. I know I'm not perfect and there are things I need to work on, so bring it on. Sometimes we need a wake up call and someone to point things out before we realize that we have been in a rut and need to get out.

My biggest shock was last week with the pre-schoolers on the bus. There are 3 brothers whose dad lets them watch the Chucky movie. I've never seen it, I believe it came out when I was in elementary school, and there was no way I was allowed to watch it. The boys are constantly talking about that movie and told me that they learned how to flip someone off because of that movie. So we talked about how that is not good to do, and at least they understood that.

Why does it seem that morals have really declined? More and more things are becomming acceptable and it makes me scared and sick. Is it just not important anymore or is less and less getting passed down in families from generation to generation. I think my family has done a good job at passing down good morals and I am proud of that. Tim and I have struggled with teaching morals in our own church with people I guess not even thinking about things. I don't know if it's 'cause I grew up in the South and we both grew up in conservative homes or what.

Tim and I have talked about this a few times since school started up this Fall. Do we not have kids for fear that they will be influenced by the lack of morals around us? Or do we have kids and raise them up as followers of Christ and pray that God will use them to influence those around them?

Posted in: morals on Monday, September 29, 2008 at at 10:21 AM 3 comments    

This week is Spirit Week at the high school. Today was jersey/hat day. I was nervous walking in wearing my Schmoyer jersey wondering if I got the right day. I was glad to see people wearing jerseys, but the first few people I saw were dressed in jerseys that went along with the school colors. When I got to the classroom I help in the other teachers in there were in jerseys that didn't go along with the school, so that made me feel better.

Tomorrow is camo day. I have some actual camo pants that my Mom got me in high school for my drama class when we were doing lip syncing. The group I was in did a song by the Spice Girls and I was Scary Spice. That's a whole other story, but I had a lot of fun with it! Anyways, before I left the school today I made sure I took a good look at the poster on the wall to make sure that I'll be wearing camo on the correct day 'cause that would totally embarass me if I wore it on the wrong day.

Update on my calorie counting. Tomorrow is my one week personal weigh in. When I started...okay I'm not gonna share my actual weight...sorry (I almost did!). But I weighed myself this morning and right now I'm 6lbs lighter than I was Tuesday evening last week. That's a lot of pounds to loose in one week, so I think this is just a huge kickstart with my body trying to get use to less food and more activity. I feel a whole lot better. Now I just need to get more sleep. I've been hooked on Free Cell and Solitaire lately.

Self control has been huge for me this week. We have brownies sitting on our counter right now from Tim going to small group tonight. They look great, but I haven't touched it, just admired. I've worked out my calories to have one tomorrow, if I don't want popcorn or icecream instead. One stinkin' 2x2 brownie piece is over 200 calories! I could actually have popcorn and icecream instead of one brownie. Hmmm. Depends on how much I want chocolate. I found my self control bracelet. I have a couple Fruits of the Spirit bracelets, and I think it's time to wear my self control. I almost ate a bite of cake in the teacher's lounge today after school with it sitting for whoever to take and no one in the room. Luckily I didn't have time before getting on the bus to leave.

Posted in: school, self control on Monday, September 22, 2008 at at 8:29 PM 1 comments    

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is day 3 of counting calories. Today was my splurge day. I actually ate 1600 calories, and burned 600 exercising. The worst of these 3 days, but it was the one time for Tim and I to go out to eat. Who knew nachos were so bad for you! :) We ate at Bennigans and split a 12oz steak and the Southwestern Sampler. It actually kinda made me sick after watching very carefully what I've been eating for just a couple days. I'm glad we ate then went exercising 'cause I feel a lot better now. Tim was a good sport to do the cardio of my workout with me. Okay, he actually fussed a LOT! But, he still did it with me.

I've completed 3 weeks working at the high school. It's still going well. Some days are better than others and it all depends on the student's moods. We have to feel out how they're doing each day and some each hour to know how to deal with some of them. Please keep these kids in your prayers. I pray for them every day. I didn't exactly enjoy high school, and to be on this side watching kids go through it is interesting, especially the ones that don't know Christ.

Pray for me. My biggest thing for the year is to stay committed and on track with teaching 2nd grade Sunday school, 9th grade confirmation, and doing the 40 Days of Purpose small group. Also pray that this weekend wont be tempting being home and around food all day. It's been easy at school 'cause I just don't take much food, and I'm forced to follow my meal plan that way.

Posted in: exercise, prayer, work on Friday, September 19, 2008 at at 7:56 PM 0 comments    

Today was my first attempt ever to count calories. I'm using www.healthylivingonline.com. It has most foods in it's system so you choose what you ate or what you will eat and it'll calculate pretty much everything for you. Today I entered things as I ate to see how many calories I had left. While at school I was estimating what I thought I ate and ended up eating my alotted 1200 calories of the day in only breakfast and lunch. Then when I got home I noticed I messed up on my cereal this morning, and ended up being 500 calories off, giving me calories to use for dinner and a snack of popcorn after small group!

I already went through and entered in what I'll eat tomorrow, and I have it worked out to eat a snack after each meal, so I'll get to eat 6 times a day, which is ideal. I'm kinda excited to see how I follow this, and really not looking forward to it at the same time. I'm wanting to quickly finish this so I can go to sleep and put off eating for the night 'cause I'm still hungry.

My Dad has been a huge encouragement with me wanting to be healthy. He is able to limit himself and have amazing self control. Right now, I am really struggling with that. Tim can tell you, I was so whiny about being hungry! :)

This website also sets up a workout schedule for you of what different activities and days you choose. That looks like it should work really well. I'm mainly just nervous about the food part because I really like to eat!

Posted in: health on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at at 8:47 PM 2 comments    

I am so glad that the hurricane is over and to know that Jon is okay, and so is my friend Brianne. Brianne stuck around because her dad needed to help out with things, so she took cover with her family, not wanting to evacuate without her dad.

And last night Jon had up his live video stream online. There wasn't a whole lot to see, so Jon made it entertaining with using a chatroom and sound. Tim and I went to the high school football game yesterday, well at least the first half, then came home 'cause I was cold, and we're not too wild about football. So right when we got home we got online with Jon and stayed on until 12:30pm when his electricity went out.

Dad has been keeping me updated today by email on Jon, which is really nice. Jon should be getting to my parents before midnight tonight. That is comforting to know, and surprising he found a way out. Last I heard from Brianne was at 7am this morning letting me know they were still getting bad weather. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day for her.

I didn't get to sleep until about 1am this morning and still couldn't get my mind off of the storm. I had to wake up early to make it to my massage appointment I set. (That was such a nice time!) I'm glad I had it this morning to get me off of the computer to stop watching all the disaster photage. Then from 3pm-9pm I hung out with 2 of my small group girls going to the annual Grape Stomp festival. And when I got home, I was back online watching disaster photage.

I am exhausted and heading off to bed. We're going to the 8:30 service tomorrow, then I'm teaching one of the four 2nd grade Sunday school classes.

Posted in: family, friends, Hurricane Ike, ministry on Saturday, September 13, 2008 at at 7:51 PM 0 comments    

Sunday was the kick-off for our church's 40 Days of Purpose revisited. This will be my first time to go through 40 days of purpose. The sermon Sunday really got me excited about this. On Tuesdays Tim and I will be leading a small group at our house to do an in depth study of 40 days of purpose. There are lots of small groups in our church going on probably every night of the week all over town for everyone to get plugged in.

Pastor John's sermon Sunday really touched on something I was talking to God about a few weeks ago. When Tim and I signed up to lead a small group for 40 days of purpose I was willing, but kind of frustrated because this means another Bible study that I am suppose to lead/help lead. Kind of a funny thing to get frustrated with right? Here's my schedule starting full blown next week: Sunday morning - teach 2nd grade Sunday School. Sunday evening - help out with Senior high youth group, Tuesday evening - co-teach 40 days of Purpose adult small group, Wednesday evening - co-teach The Journey (Confirmation with my awesome 9th grade girls).

Looking at and thinking about that schedule kind of overwhelms me, and a few weeks ago when I was starting to get stressed over that schedule God kind of knocked me in the head and straightened me out. I was thinking that I was taking on way too much and I wouldn't have time for other things that I want to do, giving time to myself. Then all of a sudden God told me, "What are you doing? You are not here for yourself, I put you here, and you are here for me. To serve and to teach others about me." What a wake up call!

I was really wanting to go to an adult Sunday School class to get fed, but when I asked Tim if I could bow out of helping with the junior high I really felt a passion to help teach a children's class. And on Sunday during service John spoke a little on Hebrews 5:12, "You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food." I know that now in my walk with Christ that I learn so much more when I spend the time with God preparing to teach others what He teaches me. I was just wanting to be lazy.

And then I started to stress about finding a job the closer we got to going to Virginia for Glory's wedding because I wanted something to start right when I got back. And God delivered! I started at the high school the day we got back. I was kind of bummed that I'm only working 30 hours, not 40 a week, but again...this is not my life, it's God's. Working 30 versus 40 is great for my ministry schedule. This leaves me not only with energy when I get home to still take care of the house, but it is a great schedule for youth group, and giving me energy to spend preparing Bible study lessons.

Posted in: ministry on Monday, September 08, 2008 at at 6:56 PM 1 comments    

I am really enjoying my work schedule. I go in at 10am and am done at 4:30pm. It's not many hours, but it will be good for me not to work a full time job. For instance...Friday I was tired during the day, but when I got home I was in the mood to clean. That is amazing all in it's self. So this weekend I spent quite a few hours cleaning the house. I got all 3 of our bathrooms clean and disinfected. And I got a new shower curtain and window curtain for our basement bathroom. That bathroom kind of becomes neglected because it is used the least amount of time, and seen the least by company. But, when we have company spend the night that is the main bathroom they use. After spending the week in Virginia with Tim's family I got motivated to get in the basement bathroom and make it nicer. I want to apologize to everyone who has had to use that bathroom while here and us not taking more pride in it. Come again and it'll be much better!

I also vacuumed and dusted the whole basement, dusted and vacuumed the main floor and cleaned the kitchen really nice! Now tomorrow hopefully I'll still have this cleaning energy and tackle our bedroom. We've been good at keeping our kitchen clean a couple weeks in a row now which has been so nice! Now we need to learn how to do that with our bedroom.

Posted in: marriage on Sunday, September 07, 2008 at at 9:12 PM 0 comments    

My schedule is really different now for school, but I still like it. Now all day I am in one classroom, which means no aquaculture class, and I have one student I give most of my attention to in the last 2 classes of the day.

I went in to the district office this morning and also got my lunch break figured out for the day. I will start at 10am each day and be done at 4:30. I am at the high school from 10-2:30 with an unpaid half hour lunch, which apparently is common? And then from 2:30-4:30 is my bus route.

I'm kinda bummed that I'm not in aqua culture 'cause I don't get a class with 2 really neat kids, but I do get to ride the bus with them which is nice. I was also kinda worried about the kid who was the attention of the punks the day before in class. I hope things went well and there wont be anymore problems. When I showed up this morning and was told about my new schedule it's because the other para that is in the class is working specifically with some of the students in there, so I was moved to a class without a para. They also told me that the teacher was impressed with me handling the boys yesterday and that he wanted me to stay instead, but that couldn't happen. I'll be praying for that class.

Posted in: work on Thursday, September 04, 2008 at at 4:46 PM 0 comments    

I started my first day of school today. I think this is the first time I've actually started at the beginning of the school year. Granted, today was actually the 2nd day of school, but that's close enough.

The Wedding was beautiful. Glory was gorgeous. And we had a wonderful time with Tim's side of the family. It was so much fun to get to play with Ruby, Noah and Ti. We had such a busy summer we didn't see our niece and nephews much. Hopefully within the next week I'll have the wedding pictures on my computer to post a few.

I was so incredibly nervous to start work today. The week after Tim and I moved to Minnesota I got a call from the high school principal about a para position they had open, so I went and tried it for 2 days, and it was a total wrong fit for me. After that I didn't even choose to sub at the high school. I prayed and prayed and prayed about today. I really didn't want to try something out again that wouldn't work and be on the look for another job. And to my surprise I had a great day today!

I got to the school an hour early since I missed all the meetings before school since we were in Virginia. I had some paper work to fill out then needed to get my schedule and find out what I'd be doing. The principal briefly spoke to me, just long enough to bring me down to my special ed supervisor, who surprisingly is the special ed teacher that I loved working with when I subbed at one of the elementary schools last year. That completely started my day of on the right foot being so excited that I get to work with Paula! And...I am helping out in the ed support classes, which was my preference. I didn't want to go class to class following students around. The last class of the day I am in an elective class to help out students though. That was kind of interesting. I had to get on to some guys in the class that were teasing another student, which I do not tolerate at all. So in the middle of the class watching a video I called the guys out and fixed the problem. Come to find out, it's some of the guys on the wrestling team. I'll have to ask Tim if I can borrow his wrestling shirt to wear on Friday so we can hopefully get to know each other and they'll know I'm watching them and have an in with the coaches. :)

To end my days every day I have a 2 hour bus route, which is only 1 hour this week until the preschool starts up. I was nervous about that too 'cause I was thinking I'd be on a regular bus helping students out, but luckily, it's only for students with special needs, and they are so sweet! I am very glad I don't have any punks to deal with.

I am very pleased with the position I have. Tomorrow I go in for more paper work, and hopefully try to convince them that I need a lunch break in my 6 hour day. (Remind me, and I'll explain that later.) I completely failed at trusting God to put me in a good position that He knows I will be good at. But I am very thankful that He was faithful and did.

I would love to hear how God is working in y'alls lives right now!

Posted in: family, wedding, work on Wednesday, September 03, 2008 at at 3:14 PM 0 comments    

Yesterday Tim and I came out to meet up with the rest of the family. We had a birthday party for our sister Grace and niece Ruby out at a state park. We had presents, cake and fun on the sand. Tim's grandparents were checking into the hotel a little after coming back from the park. Then everyone went out for dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. After dinner Tim and I got to go to Glory and soon the be Michael's home. They have such a cute house, and it's amazing to see the before pictures. They totally remodeled the house! We had a great time hanging out over there for a while sharing stories and talking about Dave Ramsey. Then we ended the night playing Apples to Apples with the rest of Tim's siblings.

Today was pretty nice and relaxing. The morning was slow, then Tim and I went to Lynchburg for lunch to eat at Chick-fil-a and to go to Lifeway Christian bookstore. After lunch we went to the YMCA with Dan, Maggie, Ruby and Titus to go swimming, and got back in time to shower and change for the groom's dinner we had up on a mountain tonight! We had a wonderful time meeting Michael's side of the family and taking lots of pictures!

Posted in: family on Saturday, August 30, 2008 at at 6:58 PM 0 comments    

Tim and I got to Virginia beach last night in time for dinner. We're having a great time hanging out with Kym and Jason and their two kids. Today for lunch they took us out to a Japanese restaurant where they cook right in front of you at the table. That's always fun, and it was Tim's first experience of that. Then we went to their store, Mister Jewelry and Jason cleaned my wedding band and engagement ring. I didn't realize how much it needed it until I saw it finished. Wow it looks great! We have a little more time here before we leave in the morning to meet up with Tim's side of the family and start all the wedding festivities. It's fun to hear all kinds of stories of Tim's family while he was growing up.

Posted in: family, friends, vacation on Thursday, August 28, 2008 at at 3:06 PM 0 comments    

I just accepted a job today that starts the morning we get back from Virginia. Actually, if we weren't going out of town I would have a couple meetings to go to and start a day early. I am nervous about this, so it doesn't help to know that I am missing out of some information that would help me with my position, so I would really appreciate a lot of prayers!

I will be working at the high school as a special ed paraprofessional. This was actually my last choice of what I wanted to do in the school district, but I can already hear God telling me He can teach me many things (probably including patience) and that I will be a good fit for this as long as I let God do all the work through me. I will be working about 6 1/2 hours a day. My day will start at 10am on a regular morning and end around 4:30 after I help on the bus route.

Tim and I are fixin' to get on the road to go to David and Adrienne's. Then in the morning we fly out to VA with the other Schmoyers in MN, then Tim and I are driving to Virginia Beach, then Friday we'll meet back up with Tim's side of the family for all the wedding festivities. Then Tuesday we'll fly home and I'll start work Wednesday morning.

Along with praying for my willingness to listen and be stretched with this job and the ability to do what is needed, also pray that I wont let it stress me out during vacation so I can relax and enjoy everything.

I'm not sure how much I'll be blogging if any while we're gone. I'm sure I'll have plenty to blog about when we get back though! You can follow me on Twitter while we're gone though and see what we're doing throughout each day.

Posted in: family, wedding, work on Tuesday, August 26, 2008 at at 4:29 PM 2 comments    

I have a way distant cousin who is competing in the Olympics for Women's Mountain Bike Cross Country. The race was postponed due to rain, so she should be racing Saturday 23rd at 10am. Which Central time is at 9pm Friday 22nd. Gould will be in the 1st line up. Don't miss it!

When I say way distant I mean it. We're related through my great great great great great grandparents. If you're in the More clan you have a number that we all can keep in touch with and know how we're related. Georgia's number is 32611341 and mine is 8572742.

Tim has been recording every single Olympic event, and I'm really looking forward to watching a cousin compete.

Georgia has also been blogging while she's over in Beijing. It's pretty fun to read what all she is doing each day. Check out her blog.

Posted in: Georgia Gould, Olympics on Friday, August 22, 2008 at at 2:58 PM 0 comments    

If I haven't jogged or biked in a day I feel so lazy! I'm not sure if it's possible, or if it's even happened, but I think I might be addicted to working out, or maybe just the feeling of being healthy. I highly doubt that I'm addicted to working out because it feels like such a chore to do, but then I love how I feel afterwards. Kinda weird. I worked out Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I skipped it Monday because I cleaned the house all day long and still felt like I got a work out. And today I haven't worked out because it's been super windy outside all day and now it's dark. My knees don't enjoy jogging anymore, so I'd rather bike, but it's killer to bike when it's windy. If it's still windy in the morning I'll have to jog instead 'cause we have company coming to stay that will be here a little after lunch. Then hopefully I'll get myself up early Saturday before our training too.

Here's a few tools I use for working out:

www.mapmyrun.com David, my brother-in-law showed me this, which I really like to use. Mainly just to keep track of what days I work out. But it'll calculate your calories if you put in your miles and time when you work out.

The Biggest Loser Fitness Plan - this link and exercises are different than the ones in the book I'm using, but I'm sure you could put all these together into a good circuit.

Crunch Fat Burning Pilates, Crunch Burn and Firm Pilates and Crunch Pick Your Spot Pilates:
These three videos I really enjoy. They give you a challenge, but not one of those where you quit half way through. My favorite is the Fat Burning Pilates. Right after doing the 45 minute workout I feel great. When you do it for the very first time be ready to feel a bit of soreness 'cause it gives you a great workout! What sold me on all three of these videos is the trainer, Ellen Barrett. She is a nice calm trainer who isn't one of the bubbly annoying ones I'm use to seeing that you get frustrated with how much fun and excitement their having when you feel like you're dying doing the same thing.

Posted in: Ellen Barrett, exercise, mapmyrun, The Biggest Loser on Thursday, August 21, 2008 at at 7:15 PM 2 comments    

Yesterday our neighborhood through a cook-out/kid's bike parade thing for all of us neighbors to meet each other. I am so glad they did this because ever since we moved here I've thought it'd be fun to do something like that, and I didn't have to plan it! :)

Tim and I didn't know until about an hour before it started that we'd be able to, so we ate dinner before heading over, and just spent our time meeting everyone we live around.

We already know 4 families in our church that are right in our neighborhood, but this was a great opportunity to see everyone we constantly pass by when we're out for a walk or a jog. Most of the families are pretty young too. There were probably 4 that are older. Tim and I are probably the youngest in our neighborhood, but a lot of these people are still having babies, so they're close enough to our age.

I love meeting new people, but I was actually really nervous to go to the get-together. Tim actually did most of the talking and I just tagged along behind him. We had a great time, hopefully this will open the door of a lot more get-togethers. I haven't talked to Tim, but I'd love to do a sledding day at our house and invite the neighbors over this winter.

Posted in: marriage, neighborhood on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 at at 2:50 PM 1 comments    

Tonight during Soul Fuel for our high school students my attention was brought to a small quirk/plus with Tim being a youth pastor. I bought an exercise ball a while ago and it has always stayed in our living room. Tonight I was wondering if we had a nice house like my parents, or most people their age, their living room would be too nice to always keep the exercise ball in there. But at our house it serves as a favorite chair to the youth when they're at our house! I just thought that was funny and had to share. Plus I think if I had to move it out of the room when I wasn't using it, I probably wouldn't use it. Just yesterday while doing a puzzle I used the ball to roll around to whatever side of the table I was at. It's pretty much more of a chair or toy than anything else, but at least when using it for that I get better exercise than just plopping down on the couch (which I like to do too!)

Posted in: exercise, ministry on Monday, August 18, 2008 at at 8:47 PM 0 comments    

Most, Unbelievable, Ultimate, Urban, Camping, Experience.

The name of MUUUCE really lived up to it's name this year for me. Last year was great being our first time to do a weekend trip with the jr. high at our church, but this year was so much more amazing. God really used the weekend for me to get to know students better, and I am so thankful that God made opportunities for that.

It all started on the bus ride down to the cities less than 5 minutes on the road. I noticed one girl on the trip who I saw every Wednesday night at The Journey but never talked to because of the girls she hangs around, and I just don't know how to relate to them. My mistake, I assumed she was just like them. I am glad to say that I am wrong. She was sitting on the bus alone not talking to anyone, so I asked if I could sit with her, and we started talking about all sorts of things! I was blown away! She didn't really know anyone on the trip, knew who a couple of the other students were, but didn't know them more than a familiar face.

When we got to Faith Covenant and were hanging out at the inflatables I made sure this girl was hanging out with people. I am very impressed with the girls in my small group that went for including someone new into their circle of friends and making her feel welcome.

That evening at Waterpark of America I got to know another girl in our church better, and her friend. I guess I took a while changing into my swimsuit because I couldn't find anyone afterwards. I walked around the waterpark for a little bit looking for anyone, and finally found 2 of our youth girls. I spent the whole evening hanging out with them doing all the slides they wanted to do. Such fun girls!

On Friday we went to Valley Fair. Tim and I pulled together 2 groups of friends to walk around with. We had the biggest combined group from our church walking around. I was thrilled to see the two different friendship circles mesh really well together. It took about one ride until everyone started talking and intermingling. Praise Jesus! Then at lunch we had 3 boys who are brand new coming into the youth group hang out with us. One of them loved all the rides, and the other two wouldn't go on any. Once again the girls totally amazed me and were willing to do a repeat ride that we were able to talk to boys into going on, and then did another easy ride for them.

I am go thankful that God had me go on the weekend trip with the junior highers. I forget how much I love that age and how fun and goofy they are. They're really gullible too! Okay, one more story...

Friday night at the Twins game (Twins won!) we just got in the doors and were waiting for everyone else to gather up so we could find seats together, there was a guy from the host church with us that told some of the boys they had to read all the fine print on the back of their ticket before going in. They weren't really believing that, but wondering if it was true, until I added that they would have to sign something when they sit down saying that they read all of it. Immediately the boys bow their head and start reading the fine print! I watched for a couple seconds then stopped them laughing hysterically letting them know we were joking. They were good for many laughs throughout the weekend and so much fun to hang out with and get to know!

Posted in: junior high, ministry, muuuce, twins, valley fair on Sunday, August 17, 2008 at at 10:04 PM 1 comments    

Tim and I had a short time in the afternoon to go down to Saint Cloud and do a little bit of shopping between his conference call at noon and church meeting at 5:30. We needed a nice outfit for him for Glory's wedding, and I needed to buy Glory a fun gift! :) We had a little bit of time before we needed to be back in time for Tim's meeting so we stopped by Verizon and checked out their phones. The battery life on my old phone has been poor for a while, in fact in May we stopped in and they gave us a brand new battery for it, which the last few days has been only lasting me about 5 hours before giving the high pitch beep that it's dying.

We didn't have a lot of time in Verizon to decide what we wanted to do, and there were a lot of people shopping around. So we went ahead and decided which phone I wanted depending on price. We were up for our new every 2 which gave us $50 off of the phone, and this phone also had a $50 mail-in-rebate, so when I get reimbursed it'll cost me a total of $3 for the tax. Pretty nice! Pray that it wont get lost in the mail, 'cause it'll come out of my blow money.

I think we were pretty easy customers for the lady that worked with us since we already knew what we wanted. But we were also not budging when she tried to sell us all the different packages for the phone. It was simple, we don't have the money.

Tim and I have been playing around with it. I can take video which is a first for me, and the camera on it is nicer. Tomorrow we leave for a weekend with our jr. highers for lots of fun down in the cities. I'll probably be taking lots of pictures and video just for fun! :)

Posted in: saint cloud, shopping, verizon on Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at at 7:22 PM 1 comments    

Posted in: on Monday, August 11, 2008 at at 8:57 PM 0 comments    

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Posted in: family, oklahoma, roman nose, vacation on Thursday, August 07, 2008 at at 2:55 PM 0 comments    

We had the senior high students over last night for Bible study. Had 6 come to hang out, a good number for random summer events. I really enjoyed seeing the youth again, it feels like it's been a while. After Bible Study we had one girl (in my small group!) stay a little later with her Mom to visit since we haven't seen each other in a while. Then my friend Amanda came over to return our bike rack and to visit for a little bit. Everyone was out of the house pretty late, and then I got online to check email and stuff.

When I was about to go to sleep Tim asked if I wanted to help him make the video of a free give-away drawing he was doing for his blog. I was tired, but excited to be a part of his online ministry...here's the video:
http://www.vimeo.com/1469494

We slept in this morning, but I still forced myself to get up and do my Biggest Loser circuit training then my 3 mile jog. Then I finally had my first meal of the day at 11:30. I made a real tasty omelette with egg whites, tomatoes, orange pepper, white and purple onions and cheese. Yumm!

My body has gone through a lot in the last week since I started doing the circuit training. And on Sunday we had wake 'n ski which my back and shoulders are completely sore from. Tim and I both tried wake boarding and wake surfing for the first time and got up! I didn't last too long, but I was impressed that I learned how to get up and stay up for a little bit. That's a big accomplishment in itself!

Posted in: exercise, ministry, water sports on Tuesday, August 05, 2008 at at 11:13 AM 0 comments    

I've used the excuse of living in Minnesota and having to be cooped up inside for long enough. I was so excited when the snow melted the first time here and went for a jog. The snow came back and I had to take a break and wait for it to melt again, and then again. I have really enjoyed jogging, but I noticed I hit a plateau. I bought The Biggest Loser book from Target and figured if I learned something about fitness and nutrition that should help. It helped Tim and I financially when we read a book about that.

I was excited and proud of myself while reading The Biggest Loser, and kept up my jogging. While on vacation I finished the book with the last chapter on the success stories of those who were on the show. I was shocked to read about the girls who weigh more than me but are fitting into smaller clothes. Come to find out I can't just do cardio, I have to do a total body work out and work on my muscle which will then help burn more calories when I do cardio.

Their total body workout only takes about 20 minutes, but it is killer! I did it 3 days in a row hating to have to walk up and down our stairs when I needed, and I didn't sleep well 'cause every time I moved I was in pain! Today was actually the first day since I started, that I walked down the stairs without hurting. What a nice feeling! After doing the routine for 2 days I told myself I'd give my muscles a break, but I could actually see a change physically and decided to do the routine again right before jogging. Wow that was a good work-out!

So that's been going good, and I've been able to ride my bike twice this last week, once with Amanda, and then yesterday with Tim and Amanda and her family. I even pulled Amanda's 2 kids in their trailer behind me.

I'm really enjoying being active. I am nervous about when the snow comes again this year. But I hope I have a long time until then. Our high today is 79, which is a great temperature to get out and do stuff. If the rain will hold out Tim and I are going skiing with the youth group on our lake. Should be fun!

Posted in: exercise, The Biggest Loser on Sunday, August 03, 2008 at at 11:37 AM 0 comments    

We are home! Actually, we've been home for a couple days. I've actually kept myself kind of busy already being home. This time leaving my family was harder than I expected. I really miss them, but am grateful for the time we had with them. To finish up our vacation...

Sunday, 27th
Woke up to go to Sunday School with the youth ages. Tim told the youth pastor we'd go in. Tim likes to see how others do ministry. It was really good, I enjoyed getting to see students who I hadn't seen in 2 years, and split up in groups to work. Then we had service which was way different than what they usually do because it was VBS kickoff Sunday. We even had a picnic outside after service for it. Texas heat outside was actually pretty nice in the shade. After about 10 minutes it feels good. I was really looking forward to getting some heat, our house has actually been a little cool the last 2 days with the breeze coming through the windows. Anyways...Sunday afternoon I took a nap and went shopping in Katelin's closet. I got some old stuff back and some really nice new stuff for me! That was fun! And a memory I'll have every time I wear her stuff. Then in the evening we went to youth group with Katelin, and came home to a fresh shrimp snack. Yummm!

Monday, 28th
Woke up semi-early, said bye to Mom and Katelin at the church while helping out with VBS. Then Dad drove Tim and I to Carrollton to Sarah's house for a short visit. We said bye there, again making me homesick for my family already. It was so nice to visit with Sarah. I really appreciate her friendship and love hanging out with her and her husband. After about 30 minutes Sarah and Joe drove us to Redeemer (our old church) to hang out with the youth kids there. It was so great to see all of them and hear about what all they're doing now. Going off to college, going to be seniors, and really growing up! Two of the youth drove us to the airport which was a great treat. They were just starting to drive when we were there. The flight was good, I finished my "The Biggest Loser" book and got really inspired to start their total body work out on top of my cardio...that's a whole other blog. We got to Minnesota in the evening, waited around a while to get taxied to our car, then had a quick visit with Tim's brother Dan and his wife Maggie. They were so kind to have some dinner for us. Then off to our house!

I am really glad that we got to go to Texas. I wish we were able to see my brother Jon and my best friend Brianne. Next time we're down we'll have to make a point to make that happen. Pray for me 'cause I am homesick and wish we were living closer to my side of the family right after visiting. But I know that we are in the place where God wants us now. There's no doubt that we're in God's will, it is just hard at times.

Posted in: ministry, texas, vacation on Thursday, July 31, 2008 at at 7:57 PM 0 comments    

I haven't posted in a while, and would like to wait until we get home, but I don't want any more time between my posts. This vacation has been pretty interesting, with lots of ups and a few downs, but definitely worth doing. Here's our schedule of what we've done.

I apologize now for a long post. Hopefully you can skim it if anything.

Friday, 18th
Flew to DFW, sat around the airport for an hour before picking up our rental car; Visited PSI where I use to work. Oh my goodness it was so wonderful to see everyone. God really blessed me with such a wonderful place to work. I miss those people so much! Then we ate lunch with Edna Jane, a lady who Tim use to help with her computer. We went to Fry's Electronics, ate dinner with Katie, Laura, and her boyfriend (friends from Tim's childhood), then spent the night hanging out at the Minters.

Saturday, 19th
Woke up early to a wonderful breakfast at the Minters. It was so good to hang out with Debra and her family again! We drove up to Oklahoma City, returned our rental car, and hung out at grandma and grandpa Wayman's house with cousins. Then spent the night at a hotel.


Sunday, 20th
Tim and I went to Sunday School at G'ma and G'pas church in their young adults class. Then we went to service with all of our family and cousins. We visited my Great Uncle Claxton in the nursing home, and later that evening found out he passed away. Went back to the hotel early to rest up.

Monday, 21st
Drove up to Roman Nose, OK with my parents and sister. My Dad use to vacation there when he was a kid. We drove around the resort, took pictures, and ate a wonderful dinner. I got a chicken friend steak and fried okra, one of my favorite southern meals! Then after our super heavy dinner we went for a walk on their hiking trail, ending up spending one and a half hours out there. Lots of fun!

Tuesday, 22nd
Mine and Tim's 2 year anniversary! We woke up early and headed out to the farm. Dad bought some land in the family and is building a barn our where I grew up fishing with my Grandpa. Tim kept on saying how nice it'll be to take our grandkids out there on vacation. I'm excited to be able to keep on going out to the farm. We have lots of great memories out there. For lunch Tim got to experience how much the Waymans (my maiden name) stay in touch. We ate at the Wayman cafe and figured out how we were related to the people there. It was a new and funny experience for Tim being in a small country cafe where the whole restaurant talks to each other. Oh! And we all got to take turns driving my Dad's tractor. We also went out to see the Oklahoma Salt Plains in Jet, OK. Dad had to give Tim the tour of everything we grew up with. We also went to the dam out there and watched the fish try to swim up it. Pretty funny to watch, and huge fish out there! This was a long country day for our anniversary. I loved it! Wanna guess what the high was for the day? 108! Ouch!

Wednesday, 23rd
Horse back riding! The resort had stables where we could rent some horses to go on a trail ride. The horses are so use to the trail that we didn't need a leader with us! It was pretty fun from stubborn horses, to jumping horses (Mom's horse) to being lead through branches. Right after we all cleaned up, packed up, and headed back to the city. We had to go shopping for clothes for Uncle Claxton's funeral. We weren't planning on needing anything when we left for vacation. Katelin and Mom introduced me to a new fun clothing store called Vanity. Not a great name, but they have cute clothes for a good price.

Thursday, 24th
We got up early to drive up to Still Water for Great Uncle Claxton's funeral. It was nice to see so much family that we weren't planning on, it was just too bad it had to be under these circumstances.

Friday, 25th
I woke up at 6:30! I was wanted to go jogging and decided I'd just go when I got up, but I didn't count on waking up this early! I tried to do a 3 mile jog and ended up almost doing 4 on accident. It was rough though being so hot outside. I ended up walking about half of it. The rest of the day was spent in the car heading down to my parent's house in Texas. And to top the day off we at BBQ! Mmmmm I loved my bbq ribs!

Saturday, 26th
I woke up early again this morning, this time at 6am when I was planning on waking at 7. I'm glad I got up earlier though to beat the sun up. I did a quick 2 mile jog before I got too hot. This Texas weather is nice to be warm, but you can't stay in it too long. Mom, Katelin and I went to the mall to shop some. We went to many stores and only Katelin came away with one shirt. God was watching my budget! Then Tim's old roommate Tim and his wife Carrie came up to hang out. We went to the church and played ping-pong, frisbee, and the wii. Then we had a great steak dinner cooked by my parents. Now I'm writing this while Tim is at the movies with 2 of the guys on my Dad's church staff watching the new Batman movie.

Posted in: family, oklahoma, roman nose, texas, vacation, vanity on Saturday, July 26, 2008 at at 7:28 PM 1 comments    

If you normally just read my blog through email I encourage you to go to my website and check it out. Tim helped me last night to pick a different template and make my blog more unique to me. I really like it, but I picked a bad time to change it. I was in the middle of making Tim's anniversary gift, and took a break to check my email, and I don't know what spurred me to want to change it, but I did. I've wanted a new look for a little bit now, but I should have waited.

I went to bed way too late, but God graciously woke me up early, at 6:20. I ate some breakfast, checked email, am writing this, then I'll go put some time into Tim's anniversary gift before I go jogging at 7. Yesterday was tough getting out to jog. I'm hoping today will be a little easier, but I'm still tired.

I'd like to have Tim's anniversary gift finished by tonight at 10. Please pray that I'll stay focused and get it finished. I have a feeling I might have to take another 2 hr. nap today while Isabelle sleeps too. She is the easiest baby to watch!

Our Belize mission trip is officially over. We gave our report at all three services Sunday. Then after church I signed up to help with VBS, which started yesterday. I'm keeping myself busy, which I probably shouldn't have done with making something elaborate in a small amount of time. Oh well.

We leave on Friday for Texas. I am so excited to see my family, and actually feel some summer weather. Our anniversary happens while we're down there, so I need to finish the gift before we leave. Yikes!

Posted in: anniversary gift, blog on Tuesday, July 15, 2008 at at 4:38 AM 3 comments    

Tim has set up 2 nights this summer for parents to come over for dinner and get to know Tim, myself, and other parents. Tonight was our first one, and it was great! We had 8 people show up, with us made 10. Everyone brought part of the dinner, and we sat around sharing about how to better serve the youth, helping them in their spiritual walk. I really don't like to talk in large groups, and with 10 of us it was a little hard, but I kept feeling God pushing me to share a couple things, so I did. I had seen and knew who each parent was, but it was nice to have time to talk with them and get to know them better. We've been here for 18 months, and we still have a lot of people to get to know.

So, my last blog was about healthy stuff, and I've been doing pretty good, until today. Kelsey (the Mom and friend I am baby sitting for) bought some M&M ice cream treats for Tim and I. Tim wont eat them 'cause they're colored, so there's a whole box for me. Yikes! Luckily we have lots of college students (about 50 I'm hearing...) coming over, so I'm sure I can get someone to eat them. But, I also made the cheddar biscuits from Red Lobster, and we have a lot left over to give away tomorrow. I ate 1 and half of another, went back for seconds on the lasagna, and ate until I was really full. I'm glad our Pastor was here to ask me if I had gone jogging today 'cause I hardly thought of it today, and pretty much figured it was too late to jog. But once everyone was gone, and it was a little after 9 with a tiny bit of light left, I headed out.

I am so grateful for that accountability. For some reason when I put my ipod on and started stretching I got quite a bit of energy. I think I probably did my first mile in about 10 minutes, but I didn't want myself to slack off after that so I forced myself not to look at my watch. It was so tempting the whole time to look 'cause I kept up my pace during my second mile and even sped up going up the hills. On my 3rd mile I slowed down a little, but still kept faster than my usual. When I finished I was so proud 'cause I did the 3.08 miles in 33:58!

I usually average around 36 minutes and however many seconds. This was a major improvement. Especially while still digesting food. I kept on thanking God the whole time for giving me the energy to keep up my pace. Especially when I got inside the house and there was no more sun light. Hopefully I wont be to burned out tomorrow so I can do another 3 miles jog. Hopefully at the same pace, but I'm not counting on it! :)

Posted in: exercise, jogging, ministry on Friday, July 11, 2008 at at 8:43 PM 1 comments    

Tim and I just got back from a quick 2 mile jog, and I just scarfed down some cauliflower. I've never eaten a vegetable so hastily, and I'm glad I had it around to eat instead of something else.

Once the snow melted up here (and even when it came back) I started jogging and wanting to kick off my winter pounds I've been storing. I was doing pretty good for about a month, even worked my way up to be able to jog 4 miles, which I was very proud of! But then before we went to Belize I got sick, and during the mission trip I didn't get much exercise, so I had about a month off from working out.

When we got back I was kinda bummed 'cause that was 3 weeks that I had lost with trying to get into shape. So I wanted to give me a kick start this time around and read something to give me more information on nutrition, so I got the book, The Biggest Loser. The show is amazing, so I looked at their website and was reading information, and instead of printing everything off I figured I might as well buy the book. I'm still reading through it, but the thing I've tried to implement already is eating a lot more fruits and veggies, and more veggies than fruits.

I figured fruits would be easy to eat, and veggies not too bad, but eating more veggies than fruits is something I mentally have to work on. While Tim and I were jogging our second mile and my stomach started to feel empty I started thinking of all the veggies we bought yesterday, and then was wanting some type of dip to go with it...luckily we didn't have any. So we got home and I went straight to the fridge and the phone, for the cauliflower and to ask my Mom how to cut up a head of the stuff. I was really impressed with how good the cauliflower tasted (especially since we don't have dip in the house). I hope it still tastes as good tomorrow when I eat it for a snack and not only after jogging 2 miles.

Posted in: cauliflower, health, nutrition, The Biggest Loser on Wednesday, July 09, 2008 at at 7:01 PM 0 comments    

We've actually been back for a little while. God did some pretty amazing things while we were in Belize. We mainly did VBS, had a couple days of construction on the Christian camp in Hattieville, visited a nursing home, orphanage, and did outreaches in the market place on the main land and island.

God used me mainly as a behind the scenes person with administration and discipline. Not my favorite choice, but God knows what He is doing. It was great seeing the kids stepping up to something they weren't exactly comfortable with, but being open to what God wanted to do through them. The nursing home was a huge place for that. We couldn't even understand half of the people there, but God used us to paint their nails and just love on the women. Something they don't usually get... physical attention.

All the pictures are posted on our youth group's website if you want to check them out.

This was mine and Tim's first missions trip to go on as a married couple. That was pretty special, and I think God helped us out a lot trying to learn how to shift over to ministry as a married couple. Pretty exciting.

Tim and I are home for two weeks before we head south for vacation with my side of the family. I am trying to get back into my jogging routine after being off of it for 3 weeks because of Belize and getting sick before the trip. I jogged 3 miles yesterday and 2.5 with Tim today. Both days pretty much killed me. I'm completely sore, but hopefully I'll get use to it again.

Posted in: Belize, ministry, missions, youth on Saturday, July 05, 2008 at at 6:03 PM 1 comments    

We are leaving the church in 6 hours to head to the airport (at 2am). We're excited and exhausted. Trying to fit all of our stuff and VBS stuff in our suitcases without going over weight. Finding out my problem is that my bag is just heavy by it's self! My personal things only took up half of my bag, which left tons of room to pack supplies for the mission trip.

We finished 2 full days of training for the mission trip. We have a great group of students and adults going to Belize. Today was awesome. God has already started answering our prayers for the trip and people are starting to mesh. I can't even imagine how close everyone will be by the end of this. First thing this morning everyone shared their testimonies for practice while we're in the mission field. It was awesome hearing everyone's story. I loved it!

I'm trying to make this quick 'cause I'd really like to get some good sleep before we leave. Please pray for us without ceasing while we are gone. God has really timed this trip at an incredible time. It's been about a month since the pastor passed away from the church we will be working with. Pray for Kevin and Robin, the leaders who are taking us to Belize. Every time they have gone down Pastor Dyer has greeted them and been with them on their trips, this will be their first without this.

Pray for my patience and wisdom and to learn how to use the grace of God. I have found out in the last couple of days from watching Tim and Kevin that I hardly follow God's example of grace, and I would really like to. I think along with that will come the patience and wisdom.

Pray for health with everyone. We're all going to a new place and will eat new food, and stomach problems are bound to happen, but if we can stop it at that it'd be awesome.
Pray for the people in Belize. For the children and adults that we will be meeting. That their eyes and ears will be open to hear about Jesus Christ and that their hearts will be open to accept Christ as their savior.

We are so excited and can't wait to see how God is going to use us, stretch us, and teach us new things. Tim will be updating our youth group website about the trip hopefully every day if we can get on the internet. And hopefully pictures will be posted too. So make sure you check it out (every day!)! :)

Alexandria Youth Group

Posted in: Belize on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at at 6:02 PM 0 comments    

Dad,
You have been such a wonderful man in my life. You were always loving and caring. You never stopped teaching me even when I didn't want to listen. It took a while for things to sink in, but you were patient and waited for me to learn my lessons in my own time. You were my prayer warrior (along with Mom) while I was away on mission trips, and you stood by my side without question when I was following God's will. Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for telling me I am beautiful. Thank you for being my Dad.
I love you!

Posted in: Father's Day on Sunday, June 15, 2008 at at 6:06 PM 1 comments