talk to your kids about cooties

Long Overdue

I should have posted this about a month ago, but I must thank my dear friend, Mr. DeeOh, for creating the awesome header for my blog. He even made three so that I had options. Thanks Mr. DeeOh. You're a good friend!

Busy Rest

I am a restless person. Resting is so hard for me. I am always looking for the next adventure.

Looking for the next rush.

I have never had a job for over a year. Since I graduated high school, I have moved 8 times.

Eight.

Are you kidding me. My parents have only moved twice. And they have been married for over 30 years.

I should get a prize for that.

I am a wanderer. A dabbler. I leave at the peak of my stay so that I don't overstay my welcome.

I guess my heart just yearns for something more--so I just move on. And I leave everything else--and everyone else--behind.

Don't get me wrong, I have great friends all over the country and stay in great contact with most of them. But as for me--I leave. I move on to what I think are bigger and better things.

And so the cycle continues.

I mean, I just started my teaching job (yes, I got a teaching job in Irving teaching Chemistry and IPC) and on my first day I was already thinking about what I could do next year instead of teaching at this school. What is my problem?

But, what if this whole time, the thing that I have needed most is rest?

And, maybe I just have that nature about me. Maybe I will be a wanderer for the rest of my life. (Although I hope not, because the idea of being "settled" sounds so great!) Maybe I will, though, always feel the call to move to a new place.

But what I need to learn is how to rest while I am wherever I am. I need to be all here. This is something that I have known for a long time, but have to be reminded of.

My new teaching job is very stressful and overwhelming so I am very busy, but I am learning how to be all there. I am learning how to be completely content with THIS job, in THIS city, with THESE people. Although I am very busy, I feel very rested. Very stable. Very content.

We'll see how long THIS will last!!!

Fall Foliage at its Finest

This past weekend I was blessed by Paula and David Vierling with a pass on American Airlines to visit my AMAZING boyfriend, Joe. We spent the weekend in Boone, NC--where he goes to school--and thoroughly enjoyed the fall foliage that North Carolina has to offer! We went on three different hikes (yes, I know, we are so active!), and I was able to meet all of his friends. Here are a few pictures of us enjoying the fall leaves!

I was also able to fulfill one of my "30 before 30" items. (30 things I want to do before I turn 30.) Enjoy!

a breath of fresh air

[note: I already posted once about this, but thought it was lame, so here's my second attempt.]

This weekend my small group and I were able to get away for about 24 hours and enjoy the great outdoors. We headed up to Turner Falls in the great Arbuckle Mountains of Oklahoma and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

Meet Melissa, Macee, Andrea, Mackenzie, Stephanie, Melanie, Annie, and well, you know me!

We started off our day with a great hike which ended up being mostly on the pavement b/c I got us lost, but we did have a little bit on a trail. It was very nice to be a bit in the wilderness! Here we are walking down the HUGE hill at the end of the hike.


After our hike, we began to scavenge for some firewood. Now, this proved to be a hilarious endeavor. We all started looking for some bigger logs...but to no avail. Melissa busted out an awesome pocket knife that J.J. (her boyfriend) let her borrow that had a saw-type knife on it. She and Annie and Mac had the brilliant idea to start sawing at a bigger tree limb. Praise the Lord that they were persistent, because, after much sawing and many funny grunts, they got us some wood!



Macee had the brilliant idea for me to climb a dead tree to get some of the bigger branches. I, of course, obliged (any excuse to climb I'll take!). Melanie and Steph were a bit nervous, but Macee had faith in me and we got us some good firewood!



We then got our fire started--thanks to Annie and Macee's amazing help and had our fireside fajitas. After dinner we slacklined (thanks Colby) and just sat by the fire and enjoyed some great quality time together.

The next morning, Melanie made us some coffee, we made a stop at the falls for a photo op and then headed home. It was an amazing retreat from the city and I think we all felt the Lord's presence in our time together in the outdoors! Girls, I had a blast. Let's do it again soon!

Paul delivers yet again

"Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God..." -Romans 1:1

The other day my daily Bible reading said to read Romans 1-3, I only made it through verse 1 of chapter 1.

Bond-servant.

This word cut deeply. Deeper than I would have liked.

For the past week I have wrestled with this word. What exactly does it mean? How am I to live out being Christ's bond-servant today? A bond-servant is bound to his master and does exactly what his master bids exactly when his master bids it. A bond-servant is not free. Yet, we have been freed by the blood of Christ.

"For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another." -Galatians 1:13

"Act as free men, and do no use your freedom as a covering for evil, but us it as BONDSLAVES of God." -1 Peter 2:16 (caps mine)

Freedom was given to us only for us to become bond-servants. Sounds a bit twisted.

Only it's not.

If I have learned nothing else during my Christan walk, I have learned of my complete ineptness to do anything on my own--even waking up some mornings! I am and will never be strong enough or wise enough to walk through this life on my own. The world tells me to be strong and look out for myself and to continue to get stronger so that I can survive on my own.

Here's the problem--I cannot make myself stronger. I cannot survive on my own. I need the cross. I need His strength. I am and will always be completely dependent upon Him for everything. Just like a bond-servant is dependent upon His master for everything. I am bound completely to Christ and I am nothing and can do nothing apart from Him.

I am His bond-servant and am His bond-servant because of the cross.

To be His bond-servant, we must live our lives by faith and hope. For the majority of my Christian life, I thought that this meant things like faith that I will always have friends, and hope that I will always have a good job. But, it's not.

It's leaps of faith that cannot be explained. Leaps that will define and enhance our walks. Leaps that will bring about more leaps. Faith that will produce righteousness. Faith that is contagious.

The Greek meaning of hope ("elpis" that I have tattooed on my wrist) is "joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation". Hope that is hard. Hope that will bring us to the cross. Hope that will bring us to a place of utter dependence upon the Lord. Hope that, like Abraham, will bring us full assurance that all that the Lord has promised, He will perform.

He promises sufferings and trials and, in the end, SALVATION!

So, this is what I will hope in. This is what I will have faith in. This is who I will be a bond-servant to.

Christ Jesus who died on the cross and shed His blood as a complete covering for my sin--of which I am completely undeserving.

Is Lafayette ready...

...for another mini Ben and Simonne Broussard?

They have already produced on the of the cutest and funniest kids I have ever met who is a fabulous combination of Ben and Simonne's strange humor.

Can they do it again?

I dare say that I think they can.

Here's a video of Noah Broussard along with my other favorite little people--Jacob, Mary-Grace, and Ava Landreneau--dancing to the "Cupid Shuffle" for your viewing pleasure. (So sorry for the sideways camera shot.)




Congratulations Ben and Simonne on the new Mini-Broussard!!!