God Makes All Things New

I am speaking at the mock dui car crash at East Ridge High School next Friday. Many things have come in my way that could distract me and weigh me down. Please pray for me.

I start the Genesis Process group from church tomorrow night. I am looking forward to this.

I found out tonight that I was accepted to the 2009 Florida Forestry Teachers Tour this summer in Fernandina Beach!!!!!!!!!!!! All expenses paid!!! WOOO HOOO!!! Science Photography, here I come!!!!!!!!!

I have some students from my chorus at school who are in the Lake County Honors Chorus. The rehearsal was this afternoon and tonight. It was wonderful! An 86 member chorus singing Latin and Hebrew! The concert is tomorrow night!

I am really enjoying having the cattle right by my backyard! It’s wonderful seeing the little ones, the mommas and the big horned bull! Oh, and of course, the horse that I am growing fond of!

Fire

From your album:
“Wall Photos”The fire in the wooded area near my home.

I was just thinking….

Really, the entire focus of my life is not just talking about grieving or my son’s death or drinking. It’s just that this happens to be the chapter of my life that’s on display once again.

In a little while, I am going to review the notes from my speech at the DUI car crash event from last May. I’ll do some more preparation tomorrow, then the next day is the taping.

I am certain that God will be there with me, giving me the words to say.

This past Saturday night, I attended a very nice banquet in honor of all the teachers selected for Teacher of the Year from their school. I was not selected, but someone from my team at school was. It was held at a very nice reception hall. It was where our son, Benji, was working at the time of his death. As I pulled in to the parking lot, the familiar desparation and pain of losing him jumped out from it’s box and pounced on me. God was there. He put it back for me, far enough away that I could enjoy the fellowship of other teachers and take in the moments and join in the laughter.

Tonight, I was repairing the piano bench. It has held momentos and pictures of the family for years now. I had to take all its contents out in order to renail the bench together. As I was putting everything back, I saw two school  group pictures of Benji. One was a group picture when he was in preschool and the other was his second grade class. Remorse came jumping from the box then. I am so thankful to have the times that I did with Benji. People will say that I should remember the good times. I know. Still, the hurt is there and the fact that I miss him so much and I have so much to say to him that was never said….. it’s big. No, it’s huge.

He was a little boy who never should have grown up and died from a poor decision one Monday night. Satan runs around tempting the youth of this world to trade their lives for a feeling of acceptance and popularity.

I wasn’t very nice when I spoke last May. The situation doesn’t warrant NICE. It warrants seriousness and bluntness and reality. It also warrants love. Because I love these kids that I will never know, I want to somehow give them the knowledge to make a better choice—-and live.  I won’t be nice Wednesday, either.

God, please let me say what You want me to. Help me, strengthen me to get through those moments, able to speak as You would have me to. Work through me according to Your purpose.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen

Please pray for me

Wednesday is the taping day for the 30 minute television show that I’m doing on teen drinking and driving. I am giving the same speech that I did at the high school mock dui car crash event last May.  I will be telling the story of our son’s accident and death and encouraging others NOT to drink and drive.

This is a very good thing, and yet it is a hard thing, as well. Just this moment, God is reminding me that “His yoke is easy and His burden is light.”

God will strengthen me Wednesday as He did last May. Would you pray for me about this opportunity/challenge that I am facing?

Thank you!

I’ve Really Been Thinking…..

I don’t usually reprint anything from Picture My Thoughts, but tonight’s devotional is the exception.  Here goes:

It’s happening again.

Each of us travels a singular path apart from everyone else. Our life experiences in their entirety are known completely only by us—-and God.  The journey that He maps for us is a personal one, filled with specific directions and unexpected detours.

About a month ago, I was speaking to someone about my life and the need for change. I mentioned that I was seeing some situations more clearly, as though I had put on sunglasses that had removed the glare from my mental view.

Just last weekend, I attended a women’s conference. The speaker made a remark similar to, “Put on your glasses and don’t waste another minute of your life…”   Those words probably rested quietly on the ears of the other women attending that day, but for me, they were trumpeted out with great fanfare. What was God wanting me to see?

You may feel that these two incidents were unrelated or perhaps only coincidental. This evening, I saw a book on the shelf that I had purchased several years ago. I was hoping for just a few moments of light reading—nothing too heavy or thought provoking. I opened the book randomly to page 59. The author had three bulleted points on the page. They were:

*What are we waiting for?

*Why are we rushing around the same course we’ve been following for years, getting nowhere fast?

*What’s our final destination?

The fanfare was beginning again. As I turned the page, four more bullets continued:

*Am I really content to live the rest of my life the way things are right now?

*What do I want out of life?

*What is expected of me?

*What is my purpose for living?

( from “Everything Worth Knowing I Learned Growing Up in Florida” by Dr. Jay Strack)

Coincidence? I don’t think so.

God is asking me some questions. Now, I must search my heart for the answers. I have a path to travel, and it is God that I must follow.

***************************from Picture My Thoughts, February 7th, 2009

SO, I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU ALL THINK! I DON’T WANT TO WASTE MY LIFE, BEING PASSIVE AND RUNNING IN CIRCLES, NOT ACCOMPLISHING WHAT I AM SUPPOSED TO. PLEASE COMMENT!!!

Here are some screen shots from the show.