To see him one more time
What would I say?
Or do?
Said within a hug so tight
How long can I hold on to you, Daddy?
I've missed you so much
Why did you have to go?
Do I still make you proud?
I try
They ask about you all the time
I am glad they remember
Your legacy
You loved
You played harmonica
You rode your bicycle backwards
Made the Donald Duck voice
Made us laugh
I learned so much from you
I wish you were here to teach them
What you taught me
Family-how much it matters
Promises-kept
Creation-beauty
Sky- it's open unsuffocating hope
Love-deeply, expressively
Unending...
Vanished.

Summer's End

Ah, summer. As a teacher I love the long, lazy days of summer because they offer me the necessary time to relax my neck and shoulder muscles enough to realize that I CAN relax. As a devoted momma I relish my 8 weeks of summer to spend quality time with my beauties, Carter and Camryn.
To recap our summer we have hosted friends and family in our home, and we have made two trips to our hometown St. Petersburg, Florida to visit with family and friends. We have visited sugary-sanded beaches and visited my little brother's firehouse in Sarasota. We have tubed the Chattahoochee with dear friends and dined at the famous Dillard House. We have stayed up late, and slept in. We have read wonderful books, pieced together puzzles, and watched lots of TV. It has been a good summer.
However, it is now time to ready ourselves for a new school year. This year is the first time that we have ever sent our kids to school on the county's dime. Since my kids were school age, they have always attended the school at which I was currently teaching. This past year we have come to realize that the local public school offers more supports that our kids really need, and so we made the decision to give it a try. If you are a praying person, please join me in praying that the Christian values and scriptural truths we have instilled in our children will be sealed in their hearts, and that they will view any material to be learned through the eyes of a Holy Spirit-filled Christian before accepting it.
It is easier for my sweet hubs Scott to accept because he was a product of the Pinellas County school system, and turned out just fine. (Most of the time, anyway!) For me, it is a little tougher. I was raised in a Christian school and even attended Christian college. You can imagine my apprehension.
Apprehension takes a back seat to the direction I feel confident we have received from the Lord on this. God closed and opened doors to make it evident that this is the way we should go.
Sooooo... here we go!
I am really excited about my new crop if eighth grade students and I am even more excited about the opportunities my kids will have at their new school.
Blessings to all as we head into a brand new school year!

A Big Idea

I'm so excited! I have been waiting to have an original idea big enough to start a fiction novel, and I think I finally have one. I have been writing for a few years (mostly as examples for my writing students) short essays, poetry, symbolic analyses, etc. but I never thought I'd have an idea big enough, and layered enough to write a novel- but I finally do!
So, friends, pray for me as I begin this journey. I know it will take some time, but it just feels right to begin. Everytime I think about it, I come up with more which is a rare thing for me.

Steps of Faith

So here we are in a new year, 2010. I remember someone asking me when I was a child what I thought I'd be doing in the year 2000. In my childish mind I thought the year 2000 sounded like it must be 1000 years away. My answer was something like, "I'll be ALIVE in the year 2000?"
Little did I realize back in 1980-something, I would be bringing my first child in to the world in that enigmatic year. And so here we are in the year 2010.
This year already packs great promise.
It brings my mother and stepfather to live in the house right next-door to me. If you knew them, you'd know how amazing it is that my mom (who has said she would never move again) and my stepdad, Chip (whose picture is next to the entry "creature of habit" in the dictionary) are the last folks that I ever dreamed would leave their Florida home to come here to this chilly place called Georgia. (Well, it's chilly right now.)
We moved from St. Petersburg, Florida in July of 2008 on a crazy step of faith. We believed that God was leading us here and was showing us that by opening the doors for me to teach at a Christian school in this area. Knowing that, and nothing else except that God would not lead us where he wouldn't keep us, we took the step. Since then God has continually confirmed to us that the choice to obey him was the right one by leading us a little further down the path each day. He provided everything. A friends' home to stay in while we got settled, a job for Scott, our dream home, and on and on.
Then one day the house next door to the afore mentioned dream home was put up for sale. I jokingly told Mom that she should move in. (Doesn't it always start with a joke?) After a few more weeks of frustration at her job she "jokingly" asked me to check around to see if I could find her a job. Before I knew it I found myself talking to a friend in her line of work who actually did need someone in his office. (Someone just like Mom as a matter of fact.) What are the chances my stepdad's employer would be asking him to make a choice between a promotion to a VP position or ... well, nothing. Too bad the VP position had an impossible list of demands. The alternative (finding something better somewhere else) was looking a lot better. Mom and Chip were in a position to make a move and now it was their turn to take the step of faith. I am so glad they did.
Tomorrow, they will get in their car to drive the eight hours to their new little town in Georgia. What an amazing God of no coincidences we serve. Now he has blessed us with having our family right next door. 2010 is looking pretty promising!