A child of God educating other children.

I jogged 3 miles today. That seemed like such a long distance to run, but looking at the schedule I am using, 3 miles is nothing. Tomorrow I get a day off on the schedule that I am very excited about. Then Wednesday I'm back to 2 miles, then Thursday and Friday are 3 mile routes. I love how I feel after jogging. I'm always in a better mood and my body feels cleansed.

Tonight Tim and I went to the all-district orchestra concert. There were 10 kids from my classroom that played, and then lots of youth kids from church. I always enjoy making a night with Tim and attending programs that the youth are involved in.

I have 9 more days of subbing!

Posted in: exercise, jogging, orchestra on Monday, April 28, 2008 at at 7:48 PM 0 comments    

After having such nice weather on Wednesday and going for a jog I am really bummed that we are covered in snow again. It's 34*, feeling like 23* with the wind blowing at 17-23mph, and I just got back from jogging. All day long I have just been itching to go jogging again. I'd been complaining thinking there is no way I could go jogging, when finally (I guess Tim got tired of my whining) I was told, "Just go, you can do it." So I mapped out a 2 mile route a little different than our 1.5 mile loop around our neighborhood. Turns out Google map was a little wrong though, and the side road that goes in a loop I was going to jog around, ended up being a dead end, so I just mapped out what I jogged and I only did 1.9 miles. Disappointed, but I did go for 20 minutes, and I'm happy about that.

Walking home for my cool down I felt like such a rebel being from Texas and so determined to go jogging even though the ground is covered in snow except for what has been plowed on the roads. Maybe it's just Spring fever. I can't wait to see our apple trees in bloom again!

Posted in: exercise, jogging, weather on Saturday, April 26, 2008 at at 5:26 PM 0 comments    

I turned 25 today! My class asked yesterday if I was going to take the day off, but I told them no. I kind of wish I was there all last week so I could have taken today off. Oh well. Thank you to everyone who sent birthday cards. I put them all on my desk at school. That gave me good days looking at them.

This evening Tim and I tried out the new restaurant in town, Whiskey Creek. There is finally a place around with good bbq! We ordered an appetizer, split a full rack of ribs, and got a dessert on the house and sung "Happy Birthday" to. Our waitress was super nice. Tim got me some gloves for when we start biking when the weather gets nice. I went jogging yesterday in shorts 'cause it was in the 60s! I did 3 miles on a new route I mapped out. And guess what...tomorrow we're expecting so much snow that the schools are expecting a 2 hour late start tomorrow. No lie. Will it ever stop!?

After dinner Tim and I rented a couple movies and watched "Bee Movie" tonight. It was really good. And I got a nice surprise in the middle of it... Jon called! That was the only thing I really wanted for my birthday, and I got it. Thank you God! I also got to talk to my Mom, Dad and Katelin. We're trying to figure out when Tim and I will get to go to Texas this summer. I'm really excited!

I need to get some rest. I left school this afternoon without setting up completely for tomorrow, so I have a few things to do in the morning still. Tomorrow will be a good day. The students have math, and two tests tomorrow, then lunch and we leave for a field trip for the rest of the day. Good day to have after my birthday!

Posted in: birthday, family, weather on Thursday, April 24, 2008 at at 7:41 PM 0 comments    

I have subbed 4 weeks, and have 3 left. I am getting really worn out. I had to leave early Thursday and take Friday off this past week because I have been worn so thin. The academic part is good, I'm struggling with being the one the students come to when they let a rumor or whatever drama is going on to explode and then they tell me about it. I need to learn how to not take anything personal. I care for the students, but I am empathizing too much with them. I need to take their problems and hand it back to them, to teach them how to handle their problems. Pray that God will give me the strength to finish up this position. And pray that I will sleep extremely well every night so I get all the rest I can.

My mind has been so wrapped around this classroom that I haven't had much time to think of the girls in my small group, which I hate. I love seeing these girls every Sunday morning and Wednesday evening, but they deserve more of my attention than just then.

God blessed me with a great break this weekend. Last night Tim and I went down to the city to watch Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. I won a free viewing of it for our youth group, but the movie isn't lined up to come to our town, so Tim and I previewed it before deciding to promote it and bring it to town. Tim blogged about it, and we figured since it originally wouldn't be coming to town, it's worth taking advantage of my winning and bring it here.

We spent the night at Dan and Maggie's and hung out there all day. David and Adrienne were out doing a half marathon, so we got to play with not only Ruby and Titus, but Noah also. Maggie and I got to go to David's Bridal to search for a dress for her for Glory's wedding. That was pretty fun, then we had dinner when we got back, with David and Adrienne there.

Posted in: Expelled, family, work on Saturday, April 19, 2008 at at 8:33 PM 0 comments    

School was canceled today from all the hype about the snow storm that hit. We got maybe half of the snow we were expecting. I enjoyed a day off anyways though. How I miss sleeping in half of the week.

Tim and I just relaxed around the house. It was super windy all day, so we didn't go play outside. Instead we stayed in and played cards, xbox, and Tim did the dishes! I have been wanting to try to make a snow cone using real snow, so I made a small one, but my syrup seemed kind of old from last summer. Instead I had fun writing in the snow.

Exciting news lately that I'll blog probably tomorrow on. Isabelle Mae was born Wednesday. She is such a beautiful baby. And I just got word that our friend Amanda just went into labor. So tomorrow we will hopefully get to go visit and see Russell for the first time. I'll post pictures of that later. What a great week!

Posted in: Minnesota, snow storm on Friday, April 11, 2008 at at 7:10 PM 0 comments    

Tim and I had a great weekend with 14 students and 2 other adults down in Minneapolis. We went down Friday night, spent some time in worship with other Evangelical Covenant youth groups, then did missions work on Saturday. Each youth group is split up and sent to various places around the city to work. Our group went to Bridging Incorporated. It's a place that helps families in transition. Such as people coming over from other countries who only have the clothes on their back. This place gets donations from businesses that mainly do furniture, and then turns around and lets families do a shopping spree and get all the furniture they need for their home.

Saturday we helped clean inside and out, and also build furniture. Mainly book shelves and small dressers. It was nice to get to know the students better, and some of them for the first time.

Tim put together two good videos of the weekend. Check 'em out:
Overall Weekend
Kung-Fu-Fun

Posted in: Bridging Incorporated, Evangelical Covenant, M.O.V.E., Minneapolis on Monday, April 07, 2008 at at 6:28 PM 0 comments    

Tim and I went down to the cities to spend Easter afternoon with Dan, Maggie, Adrienne and the kids. We had a good time getting together. I can't wait for the next time!

Tim and Titus playing with Tigger.

Noah entertaining himself.

Ruby and I playing with the camera.

Subbing is going well. Tomorrow is a pretty slow day. I really don't even have a lesson to teach. We have a guest coming from the middle school to talk to the 6th graders about next year when we usually do math. Then they have 2 specials, then reading, just reading the first half of the story, then doing their state test practices. Hopefully I'll get a lot of things done to prep for next week and maybe longer. How nice that would be!

Oh, and it's still snowing up here. All day long, the ground was white and slippery when I left for work, and it still hasn't stopped coming down. When will it end?

Posted in: Easter, teaching on Monday, March 31, 2008 at at 5:49 PM 0 comments    

Thursday was terrible. Friday was much better. Thursday by lunch I was wondering how easily they could find a different sub, but thanks to the line of communication the teacher already had set up, when Friday morning came around student's attitudes were fixed thanks to their parents talking to them. Today Tim and I relaxed around the house and took things easy. Tim even cooked homemade chicken fingers for us tonight and let me choose a chick flick for us to watch! What a wonderful and caring husband. I really needed this day of relaxation. I have put off the school work that needs to be done until tomorrow though. Now I am praying that I will get a good night's sleep tonight and that I will be focused for everything needing to be done.

Thank you to everyone who has been lifting me up in prayers!

Posted in: cooking, relaxation, teaching on Saturday, March 29, 2008 at at 7:50 PM 1 comments    

It's before 9 and I'm having a chance to check emails and blog! This first week is going well. It's getting better each day as I learn what kids to watch out for and for what reasons. Monday and Tuesday I had the same problem with one student, which hopefully got fixed because we didn't have the problem today. Good progress! However, a new situation came up today with different students, which will have a stop to it tomorrow. God will help me, and the students will find out I am serious that when I tell them the consequences of something, I do follow through. I am pretty steamed about the situation I will be dealing with tomorrow. Please pray for wisdom and patience as I speak to the student that thought they could get away.

Also pray for the teacher I am subbing for. He originally took this 6 week leave as a paternity leave to take care of their new born and first born. He's been going to the doctor about his knee, and found that he tore his ACL, so will have surgery Friday, staying over night in the hospital. After his surgery he has to recover for 6 weeks, so now my 6 week assignment turned into a 7 week assignment. I'm excited about that, but I know I have to take this one day at a time with God's new strength every day. Pray that he will be able to care for his son with ease while recovering from surgery.

Posted in: God's help, teaching on Wednesday, March 26, 2008 at at 6:55 PM 0 comments    

The other day we got 8-12 inches of snow. I was pretty upset at first, but then had some fun. Here's how it started:

We went to Target, the church, and the post office today, then checked our mail at the end of the road and got stuck! 2 neighbors came to help which was fun. Then Tim got unstuck and drove on home. Our neighbor gave me a ride to the house since he has a 4WD truck, and we found Tim stuck again in front of our garage!
I ran to get the camera and start taking pictures, and on my way back out I noticed our neighbor stuck who gave me a ride! LOL lots of fun! We got my car in the garage then, went to help the neighbor, by that time the city plow had come and pulled out neighbor out.

After that Tim was actually in the mood to go play in the snow, so of course I had to take advantage of that time! We built a snowman (my 3rd one ever) and then Tim built an igloo.
You can see more pictures at our web album.

Today was my first day of my 6 week subbing assignment. It went well, but I am still nervous. I would really appreciate all the prayers y'all can give me! My goal is to be in bed by 9:00, but it's 9:40 right now, so that didn't happen. But I should be in bed and asleep in time to get at least 8 hours of sleep. I'll be waking up at 6:30 every morning. So what to pray for: Wisdom for me to know how to handle different situations that come up. Peace with teaching a classroom of 29 students, both 5th and 6th grade. Joy that I will appreciate where God has put me where I am right now. And also pray for the students that they will be respectful of me, and that we can develop a relationship that will let things run smoothly.

Posted in: teaching, weather, work on Monday, March 24, 2008 at at 7:40 PM 0 comments    

I really really wanted and expected to have snow for Christmas Day this year with being in Minnesota, and especially with my family coming to visit. But right now with Easter on Sunday I was hoping to have all the snow melted and being able to see only grass even though it's brown right now. When I woke up this morning and went to eat breakfast I noticed quite a pile on our porch, so I checked out www.weather.com to see how long this is lasting. It shows that we'll continue to have snow 'til Saturday night! I was hoping that I'd get to see a couple blooming flowers for Easter, but instead we're getting a white one.

My Grandma changed my view on this though this morning when I got her e-card and the first line says, "Praise Him with white for his spotless perfection." Thank you Grandma for refocusing my mind as we get snow this Easter weekend!

Posted in: on Friday, March 21, 2008 at at 8:52 AM 0 comments    

I usually leave the cooking up to Tim when it comes to making pancakes. I tried making some when we were first married living in the apartment and they totally didn't come out right. I think I tried it another time after that, and then again last night. I don't know what it is with me and making pancakes, I just can't get them right. I think I'll continue to let Tim do the cooking when it comes to pancakes.

I'm baffled though 'cause I have no problem cooking anything else. Like today, I was in the baking mood, so I made some garlic cheese biscuits (like you can get at Red Lobster) for the first time. They came out perfectly! And then for dinner I made spaghetti and green beans. Wonderful dinner, but last night my pancakes were a flop!

I don't know what my deal is with trying to make pancakes. I seem to have no problem cooking anything else. Hmmm.

Posted in: cooking, pancakes on Tuesday, March 18, 2008 at at 7:20 PM 0 comments    

I realized today that God's peace is all over mine and Tim's finances. We've been following Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover for around 8 months now and I have no worries about our finances. Yes there are times when I would like something that is not a necessity, but everything we need God has provided us.

In the devotion I am reading through and other Bible Studies I have done especially about marriage, it seems that money is the most popular thing that stresses people out. Even at our youth Bible Study last night talking about what kinds of things we put before God, and someone brought up paying bills.

I have so much to be thankful for because God is in control of our money. God is the one providing everything we need. All of our money belongs to God, so Tim and I give God back the portion specified in the Bible, and then we work out our needs (not our wants) for the month. And everything extra is going on my car right now to get us closer to being debt free. Which next month I should be blogging about my car being totally paid off!

Posted in: debt, debt free, finances, financial peace, money on Tuesday, March 11, 2008 at at 11:59 AM 0 comments    

I am so excited for our youth group! There is a guy who use to lead the youth praise band at his church and has moved to town to attend the tech school and volunteered to help kick start a Jr. high and Sr. high youth band. We have so many talented youth in our church, so it is very exciting to see their talent put to use. Some of them help out with Sunday services, but we have a lot more students who are not involved on Sunday mornings.

Tonight was the first night for our Sr. High praise band to play for youth group. They did an incredible job. I am really proud of them. Last Tuesday was their first practice and tonight their first time to play. What a good job at jumping in there and getting it started! Wednesday will be the first night for our Jr. High praise band to play. I can't wait to hear them. I like having worship by music in youth programs.

Posted in: ministry, youth praise band on Sunday, March 09, 2008 at at 11:02 PM 0 comments    

I only worked three days this week, but I am still tired. Monday David and Adrienne came up and visited for a little bit so we got to see Noah and hear his adorable laugh. They are down in Texas for a wedding so Tim and I are dog sitting for them. Tuesday I was home all day with the dogs, and then subbed Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Subbing was fun, I had the same 6th grade class all three days. I prefer being in a classroom for a series of days. Friday I also subbed for an after-school program, so I worked from 7:40-5:50. That made for a really long day. We're also not used to taking care of two other beings beside ourselves, so that has been tiring. It was a good run for us to figure out if we ever want a dog or not. We never talked about wanting a dog before, but I think we can say we agree that it is not for us.

Posted in: dog sitting, work on Saturday, March 08, 2008 at at 3:52 PM 0 comments    

I started my devotional by Elizabeth George over this week. I half heartedly started it a few months ago and barely got into it, but lately God has really been working on my heart, and especially my mind. God has really opened my eyes that my mind has really been something I have struggled to keep focused on God. It's always been easier to focus on negative things for me and has taken all my strength and God's to keep my thoughts on what is righteous and true.

I have also been trying to be more in tune with what God is trying to tell me or where he is leading me throughout the day. I'm getting a lot of practice with this at Wednesday night small group with our 8th grade girls. We were going to split up into 3 smaller groups and take prayer requests first, but almost everyone had the same type of prayer request so we stayed together and talked about what was going on and how they feel about it and how they can make a difference. It was really awesome to find more about what the girls go through at school and everything taking place around them. And eventually our conversation lead to some Bible verses that were actually in the lesson for the week.

I am really excited to go through the process God has started me on this week of how to love God with all my mind. The girls in my small group want to do a slumber party some time, and I mentioned to them about incorporating a Bible study with it and they were really excited. It's nice to know when God is working in me, and see him working in others as well. How great it is to know that He loves us so much!

Posted in: Bible Study, Elizabeth George, Loving God with All Your Mind, ministry on Wednesday, March 05, 2008 at at 7:44 PM 0 comments    

Today my Grandpa turns 21! It is so fun to say that he is younger than me. In fact, we were 20 years old in the same year. That was a very special year! I think I've told everyone I've come in contact about that my Grandpa's birthday is today. It's not very often that I can say that.

Grandpa,
Thank you for being a godly example to all of us. I love looking at the Wayman family pictures and knowing that you have raised us all to find faith in Jesus Christ and making that faith our own. I have so many memories of visiting G'pa and G'ma's house. I think some of my favorite would include every trip out to the farm, especially the fishing we would do. I also loved it when we would go digging for salt crystals and bring them back, wash them off and be in awe of what we found. Thank you for what you have made our family into. I love you lots!
Dana

Texarkana, TX

Tim and I staying with Grandpa and Grandma as we move to Minnesota.

Grandpa and his sons with a few of his grandkids at the farm.

Most of the Wayman clan.

Posted in: on Friday, February 29, 2008 at at 4:59 AM 0 comments    

Every week for the last 2 months my prayer request at confirmation was that I would get better. Last week my co-teacher suggested that I go see a chiropractor, that they usually have the best way to get over sinuses. One of our boy's small group leaders is a chiropractor so I found him before leaving last week and asked him about what to do for sinuses, so he suggested a natural herb that will boost my immune system. Tim has been going to the chiropractor the last couple of weeks for his back, so I had him buy what I needed when he went in for his appointment.

I have been taking this stuff for a week now and feel so much better. It feels like I've been better for 2 weeks now, I was trying to figure out how long I need to continue taking acidophilus. I was surprised the remember it's only been one week. I think the last time I felt this healthy was before Thanksgiving. I've also been working out regularly for 2 months now which is helping a lot.

My chiropractor's orders are to take acidophilus for 3 weeks, and to stop taking any other kind of medication. So that's what I'm doing. Last night before going to sleep I started getting a headache and would normally go for the Tylenol right away, but made my self just sleep, 'cause that is really what my body needed instead.

Posted in: health on Thursday, February 28, 2008 at at 4:53 AM 1 comments    

God has been laying on my heart to really study about His timing, and taking every day as it comes.

Last week I was subbing in a paraprofessional position that the district is hiring for, thinking that would be a good in, since I would like to be a para next school year. I was struggling all week wondering if my heart was really in it. I liked the thought that I would have the same kids to work with and see progress for the rest of the school year, but I was bummed that it was part time and I wouldn't be using my teaching license.

On Friday I got a call from a teacher in our church asking if I could substitute teach in his classroom today and tomorrow. I told him I was available for Monday but not Tuesday because of the position I was thinking about getting hired for, and he was going to look for someone who could take both days. Not even 10 minutes later he called back asking if I would take a 6 weeks long-term subbing position for his class after Spring Break. I told him I'd call back and let him know that day. I was really excited about the opportunity to take a class for that long and get to do all the teacher things for a period of time. Then I calculated out the finances of teaching for 6 weeks verses taking a part time para position for the rest of the year ('cause we're on a budget and paying off debt), and talked to Tim about it. Tim was so sweet to wake up and discuss the situation with me before I headed out the door.

So I turned down the para position and agreed to sub today and tomorrow and for 6 weeks after Spring Break. I was nervous about today, meeting the class, seeing how things go, if I could handle a 5th and 6th grade combined class... and now after the day is over I am really excited to go back tomorrow and for the opportunity starting next month!

Another great thing about God's timing, I was asked by another teacher today in our church at the same school if I can cover his class Wednesday-Friday this week when I'm done with this current assignment. God is really blessing me with lots of subbing positions and I am so thankful. I feel like my education has a purpose right now, which I was worried about last school year.

Posted in: God's timing, teaching on Monday, February 25, 2008 at at 2:32 PM 0 comments    

Tim and I have been in Minnesota for a year now! God has made it clear that this is where we are to be right now, and I am so thankful for that. Wednesday was the one year of the day we arrived here, and wow did God move at small groups that night! We were going along with our lesson when one of the girls was suppose to read a verse, but mistakenly looked up a different verse, then tried it again and came up with another verse that tied directly to the first "mistake." Then we read the verse with our lesson and I stopped us and said, "Let's go back and read those verses again and see if God is trying to tell us something." And sure enough, it convicted something one of the girls had just said, and convicted my heart about something Tim and I had talked about a couple nights prior. And the other girls were able to find something in their life that the verses applied to also. I love it when God shows up and gives us His agenda!

For Valentine's Day the girls in my small group had the great idea to make Valentine's cards for members of our church in senior homes and nursing homes. So Marcia (my co-leader) and I spent a couple hours on Thursday delivering the cards and visiting with people. It was such a rewarding day with lots of laughter and tears. Some of the women we met completely blessed us with our visit. I think that made this year my favorite Valentine's Day. I can't think of a better way than using the holiday to serve Christ.

Posted in: February, ministry, Valentine's Day on Friday, February 15, 2008 at at 9:08 PM 0 comments