First Day

Well, one day down and a few more...well a lot more to go. We survived!!! YAY!
Chris shared some of his pictures from that day with me. These are only pics of B and his room, not mine, so I'll have to share those another time.

B had a great first day. When asked what his favorite part of the day was, he said, "Eating lunch in the cafeteria!!" That was a pretty exciting thing. It's kind of fun letting him be a special boy on campus too. All the teaches know him and are looking out for him. They stop him in the hall and ask him about school and what he thinks of it. They think he's pretty cute too!!!


B and Mrs. Gilliland, his teacher. She is precious!!


Mrs. Herritage, the teacher's assistant


Goodbye Mommy!! Mommy is going up to start her own first day in class. There were 24 4th graders and their parents waiting in the classroom. But I knew B would be fine and do a great job, so leaving wasn't absolute torture.

Now we're excited about today! Thanks SO much for those of you who prayed for us! We coveted your prayers and still do. One day down, but there's a lot to go!!

P.S. Yesterday I came down with what I thin is pink-eye, so please pray that the meds I have clear it up pronto!!!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the big day for me and for Benjamin. I've been on the clock at Trinity for 7 days now and I feel like I've hardly gotten anything done. I know I have because school will start tomorrow and I have to be ready for that somehow. I honestly feel though, that I've been spinning my wheels. Oh well, the time has come, ready or not. Tomorrow school begins at Trinity Christian Academy and I am in charge of 24 precious 4th graders. As an overprotective parent, I know exactly how those parents must be feeling tonight. Sadness... at the idea that their baby is growing and changing and becoming closer to leaving home with every day that passes. And jealous...jealous of the time that the teacher will have with their child all day, every day while away from mom and dad. And joy...joy knowing that they have picked an incredible school for their child to attend. And lastly...peace that God is in control. He has put their child in the class that He knew they needed to be in. He has put them with the teacher that God knew they needed. I'm anxious to see how He will work this year in the life of my students, as well as how He will refine me personally because of these students.

I wanted to ask you to pray for us tomorrow. Benjamin is a little "nervous" as he has been saying, but mostly excited. It will be an emotionally draining day for me...sadness at sending B to Kindergarten, plus anxiety and excitement for my own students and new responsibility to them. Thank you in advance for those prayers.

I wanted to leave you with a few of the precious faces from my class. I am so excited to be an instrument in their lives this year.














My amazing assistant, Charla. You will be hearing a lot about this amazing woman of God. I already know that I will learn a lot from her this year. And yes, I have an assistant for 5 hours out of every day. No taking attendance, making copies or transporting kids to special classes or recess. I just get to teach. Imagine that!!!

Me and B at my class picnic. The room moms set up a picnic for every class where the parents and students get to meet their teacher. Talk about being in the hot seat...in a good way though!!

Stay tuned tomorrow for pictures of Benjamin's first day of school!!!!! I'm gonna try to get all my tears out tonight!

The Miracle

Mindy sent this to me. It was written by a friend of hers who has walked through a trial for over 7 years. It was too good not share.



"Do not pray for easy lives, pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers, pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work will be no miracle, but YOU shall be the miracle." Phillips Brooks

That elusive word. Healing. How often do we pray for it, long for that miracle, that touch from God’s hand that so assures us He is real, He loves us, hasn’t forgotten or rejected us. "Hope deferred makes the heart sick."

So how do we live without our deepest longings fulfilled? We give them to God. Pray that He will use them and be glorified through them—whether He changes them, fulfills them or leaves them as they are—longings, unfulfilled.

What can God do with brokenness, with emptiness? We say we believe God can do more through them than through our strengths, and yet none of us want pain and suffering. Why not? Why, if God can do more through our trials and troubles would we not embrace them, not welcome them as if welcoming the very presence of God? Come, God, and work through me—do what I alone cannot do.

We long for the eradication of pain, and not wrongfully so. But perhaps sometimes we are so focused on making that our goal that we miss the gentle whisper when God visits. The gentle whisper Elijah heard on Mt. Horeb when he was filled with fear for his life and a world of hurt, wondering if anyone else was left who loved the Lord.

Perhaps you’ve lived through the storm, the earthquake, the rumblings and terror, and God has been in none of them—but have you waited for the whisper? Listened for it, knowing it’s coming? He will come.

Maybe if God is not changing our circumstances, He wants to change us instead. Maybe He is calling us to be the miracle.

by Merry Marinello

Visitors!

I am so stinking behind on my posts!
Oh well...last weekend two dear friends from college came to visit Kathryn Sowell and me. We had a grand old time catching up and letting our kids pay together. Good old fashioned girl time!!
Thanks Lori and Danielle for putting up with me being so stinking distracted all weekend and for making you work on my school stuff! That is a true friend, ya know!!


Here's a picture of all the kids, minus Rachel because she was sick :-(
Elijah, Benjamin,Rebekah and she is holding Micah, Abigail, Cait and Jonathan at the bottom.

So when is the next reunion?? I say next time we meet out at the ranch and shoot shotguns!!! Yeah!!!!

Quote of the day

Okay, so I've been up at Trinity this week for teacher in-service. Tons of students and moms have been coming by to help. Every student I have met is absolutely precious!!! One little girl I met today said to me, "Oh, Ms. Perkinson, you're prettier than I thought you'd be. I'm happy about that. One thing though...your roots are really dark. You should get a touch-up soon."

No lie. This is a fourth grader at Trinity Christian Academy. It's gonna be a fun year!!!!

P.S. I assured her that a "touch-up" was already scheduled for before school began!!! She seemed relieved.

Happy Birthday to My Sweet Girl!

My baby girl turned 4 years old on Monday, August 6th! How time flies. It seems like just yesterday I was swollen and pregnant and wishing she would hurry up and be born!! Now she's here and so grown up and so much fun. What a joy God has given me in her!

We celebrated Cait's birthday the night before her actual birthday so that her Poppa and GiGi could be there! We had a cooking party with 4 little girl friends and a brother!

First we mixed up some pink cupcakes and poured them into ice cream cones to bake. Then, we made our own little pizzas. Here's Truth and her mommy working on her pizza.


Chef Cait


Rebekah showing off her masterpiece of a cupcake.


Sweet birthday girl!!!


Anna's work of art


The Newtons were in town for a visit and we so so blessed to have Amaleah at the party!!



Mom and dad finishing off the chef hats that the kids started. What helpers they were! Thank you mom and dad!


All the little chefs in their homemade aprons and hats


All the moms in their girls' aprons and hats. What silly ladies!




Then yesterday, on Cait's actual birthday we went to get nails and toes done. We let Cait wear her new princess dress. Here she is with a lollipop in her mouth getting flowers painted on her toes! So adorable!


For lunch we went to "Into My Garden" tea room in Plano. Benjamin and Cait got to have "pink tea" in their own tea pots. They thought this was pretty cool.


Here is the sweet plate of food they brought the kids


My dad and Benjamin were thinking they better do something manly being in this girly tea room. So, they arm wrestled a little.


Mindy was visiting from Maryland and I was blessed to have her stay with me from Sunday until Wednesday. here she is with her baby Brianna.






Fun times!!!!

Forgiveness

Well, the Lord has been showing me some things over the last few weeks. I remember asking my pastor and his wife about forgiving the people who had wronged me almost immediately after I learned of the offense. He told me that it would come in time. I had to somewhat put it on the back burner for the time being so that I could process and heal a little. I knew I wanted to forgive them, but I didn't know when that would fully happen. I don't know a lot of things, but I do know that it would be only by the grace of God that I could forgive the people that offended me in the way that they did. I know that I don't have it in me, for certain!

Yesterday Benjamin and Cait had a little crash. Ya know, the kind where they are playing happily and bodies crash into each other. No one was being malicious, but someone did get hurt. I heard the cry come from Cait and then an immediate, "I'm sorry Cait, it was an accident!" come from Benjamin. She was wailing. B continued by saying, "Would you forgive me?" Cait continued to wail. I intervened and told her that she needed to forgive her brother. Her reply struck me as so profound. She said, "Mommy, I can't forgive him yet because it still hurts!"

Wow. I wondered to myself if I was having the same thinking pattern. It still hurts. It does. The offense toward me is the greatest I've ever known and the greatest I hope to ever experience. It was the ultimate betrayal and disappointment of my life. It STILL hurts and may always hurt to some degree because the repercussions of it will last for the rest of our lives. But I know that it is time. It is time to begin to forgive. The difference between Benjamin toward Cait and my offenders, is that no one is asking me to forgive them. I just know that I need to forgive because it is what God would have me do AND it will serve me and my children best if I harbor no bitterness and anger towards others.

Trust me when I say that I know this will be a process. It will not happen over night. This will be a road of 1) deciding to forgive, 2) deciding again and again when the thoughts and feelings arise to forgive, and 3) praying for those who have offended me.

"Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse." Romans 12:14

"But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you , and pray for those who spitefully use you. Luke 6:27-28


If you have any other verses or encouragement for me in this area....I would really appreciate it!

Question of the Week

So yesterday Benjamin asks me, "Mommy, do you still love daddy?"

*sigh*

I mean...really, how do you answer that? Seriously! I tried to go around the question and say that when you're married to someone, then you love them in a very different way than if you're not married to them...which I'm not married to your daddy any more. So he says, "But do you still love him?" So I told him that I love him like a brother, as God would have us love others and treat them as friends. I immediately changed the tone of the conversation and started asking him questions in a silly tone about who he loved. "Well... do you love daddy? Do you love GiGi? Do you love baby Mia? He was laughing and saying "yes, yes, yes!!!" to them all.

*shew*

Then, this morning on the way to work Cait says to me..."Mommy do you still love daddy?" I wanted to throw my hands in the air and just yell. I guess my answer to her brother the day before hadn't sufficed! I have become a master at avoiding the questions that are too hard to answer or answer them in a way that is perfectly appropriate for a 5 year old and 4 year old. It is so interesting to watch how my kids have processed all of this mess. I know it doesn't seem messy to them, but it is a retraining of their minds. Parents don't always stay married. Mommies have to be married to have more babies (he's been begging!!!) and ... life goes on. It just goes on and we all learn to cope....even Benjamin and Cait are learning the harsh realities of life and sin and the mess that it leaves behind. We're all just coping and compensating for our sin and the sin of others around us. It's hard to watch your kids cope with that kind of thing though. As a parent you want to protect them from the ugliness of this world. But...when the ugliness is part of everyday life.....well, you just learn to deal with it.

"Let me find Your grace in the valley.
Let me find Your life in my death.
Let me find Your joy in my sorrow,
Your wealth in my need...
That you're near with every breath,
In the valley."