School has been out for a couple of days now, and I have finally caught up on my sleep! The three weeks between Thanksgiving Break and Christmas Break were wild.The first week after Turkey day was supposed to be our first class field trip. I spent quite a bit of time and energy planning the trip, only to find out THE DAY BEFORE that the trip had to be canceled because it was "too far away." I was a little frustrated. However, I knew that we had another field trip the following week that would soften the blow a bit. The kids were disappointed, but they didn't tie me up and gag me like I was afraid...hahha:)
The rest of that week passed without too much madness. Week two between the breaks was totally crazy. We took a field trip on Wednesday to a Cabildo (it's like an art history museum) in the French Quarter. If you have ever been to the French Quarter, the Cabildo is directly to the left of St. Louis Cathedral. This part of the trip was interesting, but most of my students enjoyed the unplanned part of the field trip more. After a quick lunch, we ventured into the cathedral. It was incredible! The ceiling is painted, there are candles everywhere....It was like nothing I had seen before...and it was definitely nothing my students had seen before. They were totally silent, completely in awe of the beauty of the place. We found someone to give us some information about the cathedral. After that, it was time to head for the bus. On our way there, a couple of street musicians called out to us and taught the kids a song. We sang and sang and then sang some more. We were standing in freezing rain, but every one of the students wore a huge smile the rest of the day.
Thursday of that week, I left for school around 6:45am. The streets were dry, but low clouds filled the sky. I remember looking at the sky and thinking, "If I didn't know better, I would think those looked like snow clouds....but not in New Orleans." I pulled up to the school and got busy preparing for the day. At about 7:20 it started to sprinkle. Then at 7:30 the rain turned to snow. Snow! In New Orleans!!! Snow!! Nan (a friend who teaches next door) and I ran outside to play in the snow. The kids started arriving at the school an hour later, and it was STILL snowing! My students were so excited that they practically tackled me to give me a hug. One of my students walked in with a look of wonder and said, "Mrs. Kelley, it's a miracle." Out of my 32 students (oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I have 32 now) only 16 showed up that day, and one student went home early! It was a fun, very laid back, wonderful day.
Finally, only one week to Christmas break!! Monday started off well with the discovery of a dead mouse IN MY PRINTER. The whole day I couldn't figure out why the printer kept getting jammed...turns out my classroom mouse finally ate the poisen and found a quiet place to die...hahha. The week that followed had many moments that were difficult for me. These stories aren't appropriate for the internet, but what I will say is that God reminded me that there are hurting people in the world, all around us. He has me at this school, in this overflowing classroom, to serve his purposes.
Thursday night was our Christmas Program. I was like a proud parent watching my student on stage. They were soooo great! They sang a few songs and gave a presentation on Kwanzaa (an African tradition that begins right after Christmas). My favorite part was when my students wanted to meet "Mr. Kelley." A couple of the boys even came over to shake his hand. It was cute! Friday was the craziest day of the year so far. I got several gifts from students, which I am very thankful for. We ended the day with a Christmas party, and then it was over!
I survived my first semester of teaching! It was nothing like what I expected...but when is life ever what I expected??
Merry Christmas!!!
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
blown away
Two times in my life (that I can remember) have I ever been so blown away by a sermon that I actually stayed in my seat for 5 or 10 minutes afterward. The first time this happened was last October when I was listening to a pastor named Francis Chan preaching at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. The second time happened just a few days ago as I was in my car listening to a sermon given a month ago by David Platt. Both times, they involved the Christian's biblical response to the poor.
I want to caution you. Some of you may think you know where I'm going with this blog, that Bec and I exemplify your typical married couple that is learning how to live for God while starting married life dirt poor, like most couples. This, however, is not my aim. Instead, I have again started walking down a journey that God started with me a little over a year ago. I'm not quite sure how I fell off the wagon, but I gradually grew away from that journey in all that was going on with me leaving a church, moving back home to Birmingham, preparing for a wedding, and moving to New Orleans. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that God has led me back to that journey. And, I feel led to share it with you. I warn you, though. It may not be easy to hear.
In the beginning of this journey, God began to open my eyes to what He says in the Bible about the poor. This probably does not come as a shocker to most people, but God cares about the poor. The part that may shock some of us, including myself, is the realization that we are rich. And I'm not just refering to the upper middle class individuals who live in 5 bedroom houses in the rich area of town. I include in the category the single mom who works two jobs, the college student struggling to get by, and the four person family struggling to make endsmeat. Because, when compared to the world, even these are considered rich. Afterall, they are not dying of starvation and preventable disease like many in the world are. The reality is that what we pay to get a meal at McDonald's is more than what some people in the world have to live on in a week's time, some even longer.
Why do I bring this up? Because God cares about the poor. And those of us who are Christians have been charged with caring about what God cares about. Just consider these things Jesus said:
- It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 19:23)
- Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me...I tell you truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. (Matthew 25:41-43, 45)
There are more passages that deal with this topic, but I think Jesus' point is clear - If God cares about the poor, then how can you say you know and love God if you do not care for the poor?
I can't say that I have all of this worked out in my head right now or what it is supposed to look like in my life. All of this is just a huge part of a practical realization that everything in my life should revolve around bringing glory to God - and this includes my bank account and my budget. And if God cares about the poor, then that should be taken into account.
I want to caution you. Some of you may think you know where I'm going with this blog, that Bec and I exemplify your typical married couple that is learning how to live for God while starting married life dirt poor, like most couples. This, however, is not my aim. Instead, I have again started walking down a journey that God started with me a little over a year ago. I'm not quite sure how I fell off the wagon, but I gradually grew away from that journey in all that was going on with me leaving a church, moving back home to Birmingham, preparing for a wedding, and moving to New Orleans. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that God has led me back to that journey. And, I feel led to share it with you. I warn you, though. It may not be easy to hear.
In the beginning of this journey, God began to open my eyes to what He says in the Bible about the poor. This probably does not come as a shocker to most people, but God cares about the poor. The part that may shock some of us, including myself, is the realization that we are rich. And I'm not just refering to the upper middle class individuals who live in 5 bedroom houses in the rich area of town. I include in the category the single mom who works two jobs, the college student struggling to get by, and the four person family struggling to make endsmeat. Because, when compared to the world, even these are considered rich. Afterall, they are not dying of starvation and preventable disease like many in the world are. The reality is that what we pay to get a meal at McDonald's is more than what some people in the world have to live on in a week's time, some even longer.
Why do I bring this up? Because God cares about the poor. And those of us who are Christians have been charged with caring about what God cares about. Just consider these things Jesus said:
- It is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 19:23)
- Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me...I tell you truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. (Matthew 25:41-43, 45)
There are more passages that deal with this topic, but I think Jesus' point is clear - If God cares about the poor, then how can you say you know and love God if you do not care for the poor?
I can't say that I have all of this worked out in my head right now or what it is supposed to look like in my life. All of this is just a huge part of a practical realization that everything in my life should revolve around bringing glory to God - and this includes my bank account and my budget. And if God cares about the poor, then that should be taken into account.
Friday, October 17, 2008
prodigal writer, marriage novice
The prodigal writer has returned! Not that I have been spending my money or time recklessly (which is the real definition of "prodigal"), but I have left all of you hanging for quite some time now. I think that it is about time that I end the waiting. Well, I know that the most obvious question is, "What have you been doing all this time?" Well, I'm glad you asked because I was planning on telling you! To put it plainly, school started. It's funny that two words can really capture the essence of my absence from this blog. But, for those you who thrive on detail, you will be interested in knowing that, as of October 17, I have:
-- read 6 books (though there are 2 that I didn't finish completely by the due date)
-- written 1 book summary and a full-blown book review (10 pages)
-- completely outlined a four-hundred page book
-- turned in a 10 page budget project
--and by the end of October, I will add two more books and book reviews to that list.
Needless to say, I have been busy. And, just so you know, I'm not complaining. I just felt like you deserved at least a decent reason for my lack of contribution to the blog.
Well, enough of that. I actually do have something for you:
In exactly two weeks, Bec and I will have been married for 5 months. Quick show of hands: anybody else feel like time flew by on that one? Thought so. I feel like it was just yesterday that Bec and I were traveling to Gatlinburg for our honeymoon (Bec would probably say, "It feels like the wedding was just yesterday." But, that just shows where the priorities of a man and woman lie...wink...).
Anyyay, I bring it up because I have been learning a very profound lesson over the past 5 months. It's one that you 'married folk' probably already understanding, but for the sake of you blessed singles out there, I'm going say it anyway. You ready? Here goes: marriage isn't easy.
Profound, I know. For those of you who are either laughing or thought, maybe even uttered, the word, 'duh,' let me explain. I entered marriage with a wee bit of arrogance. I know that those of you who know me well know that I am never in the least bit arrogant (I totally just lied), but it is true. So, to my dismay, I have learned that marriage is not, in fact, as easy as eating a bag of doritos while lying on the couch and watching TV.
For instance, I can no longer stay up to watch tv after Bec gets off the phone with me so that she can go to sleep (We kind of live together now). Neither can I leave the tv on while I fall asleep. Time management is more difficult because you have to line things up with your spouse, and decision making...well, remember when you had to have your parent's permission to do something? To be honest, one of the things that does get easier is your ability to annoy to other person...
You can probably imagine that this was a little bit of a shock for me. Even more shocking, though, was finding out that neither one of us was any good at it (contrary to what any of you may believe). I have really struggled with this part. Many of you know that there is probably nothing that frustrates or depresses me more than being bad at something I care about. But there it was: my seeming inability to be the good husband that I desire to be. You may think I'm weird or raise an eyebrow at me, but it got bad enough at one point that I started thinking of myself as a failure as a husband. That scared me. I just couldn't figure out why.
To be honest, the answer is simple. We're not very good at it...because we have only been married for five months! Simple, I know. Yet, it is so profound.
And then it got me thinking. Marriage was given to us as a gift to show the world what it means to have a relationship with God (I could go into more of this, but I will save that for another time). That means that it marriage is not all that different from a entering into a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Here's what I mean. We sometimes have this misconception that an individual automatically becomes a good person when he becomes a Christian. This is evidenced everytime we say, "He's not the same person," or, "I can really see an immediate change in him." I'm not saying that this can't happen. After all, Paul did have a radical conversion. I do, however, think that we miss the fact that this radical conversion is not the normal pattern of scripture. Why else do you think Paul had to admonish Christians in the church to flee the sexual immorality of their past?
You see, salvation is a process. It's called sanctification, and it basically infers that you're not going to be very good at being a Christian when you become one. It's why we have a concept called discipleship, because we recognize that the Christian relationship with God needs to be developed. I've known Christians that have fallen away from the faith simply because they were not developed as believers. They fell prey to the fact that they weren't any good at the whole Christianity thing.
In my opinion, it's not all that different from a couple getting divorced. Why do couples separate? Because they come to the realization that marriage is hard, and they aren't any good at it. So, they leave each other in hopes of finding something else that is easier. It's a tragedy, especially when the husband and wife are both Christians.
There are a lot of us who scoff at these people. We can' believe they would do such a thing. But, here's the deal:
---If marriage is a gift from God that He uses as a picture of what it means to have a relationship with Him,
---and we recognize that we aren't very good at the whole Christianity thing and need discipleship to get better,
---then shouldn't the church take up the responsibility for discipling couples on how to have a successful marriage?
We as a church should stop blaming the couple and take some more responsiblity. The question at at the forefront of our minds should be, "Where did we go wrong in discipling them?"
Please hear me. It's not always the church's fault when a couple gets divorced. But, this should be our first response. I'm thankful that I have a pastor who recognizes this responsibility and takes it very seriously.
Christianity is not easy. Marriage is not easy. Both take work, and both require a church willing to disciple in both areas. But, I have found that there is no greater pleasure than growing in both my relationship with Christ and in my marriage to Becca because both bring honor to God. I may not be good at marriage yet, but "God's still working on me to make me what I ought to be." And you better believe that He is using His church to do it. Man, I love marriage.
your prodigal writer,
Kyle
P.S. Sorry for making you read a sentence with the word, 'know,' used three times.
-- read 6 books (though there are 2 that I didn't finish completely by the due date)
-- written 1 book summary and a full-blown book review (10 pages)
-- completely outlined a four-hundred page book
-- turned in a 10 page budget project
--and by the end of October, I will add two more books and book reviews to that list.
Needless to say, I have been busy. And, just so you know, I'm not complaining. I just felt like you deserved at least a decent reason for my lack of contribution to the blog.
Well, enough of that. I actually do have something for you:
In exactly two weeks, Bec and I will have been married for 5 months. Quick show of hands: anybody else feel like time flew by on that one? Thought so. I feel like it was just yesterday that Bec and I were traveling to Gatlinburg for our honeymoon (Bec would probably say, "It feels like the wedding was just yesterday." But, that just shows where the priorities of a man and woman lie...wink...).
Anyyay, I bring it up because I have been learning a very profound lesson over the past 5 months. It's one that you 'married folk' probably already understanding, but for the sake of you blessed singles out there, I'm going say it anyway. You ready? Here goes: marriage isn't easy.
Profound, I know. For those of you who are either laughing or thought, maybe even uttered, the word, 'duh,' let me explain. I entered marriage with a wee bit of arrogance. I know that those of you who know me well know that I am never in the least bit arrogant (I totally just lied), but it is true. So, to my dismay, I have learned that marriage is not, in fact, as easy as eating a bag of doritos while lying on the couch and watching TV.
For instance, I can no longer stay up to watch tv after Bec gets off the phone with me so that she can go to sleep (We kind of live together now). Neither can I leave the tv on while I fall asleep. Time management is more difficult because you have to line things up with your spouse, and decision making...well, remember when you had to have your parent's permission to do something? To be honest, one of the things that does get easier is your ability to annoy to other person...
You can probably imagine that this was a little bit of a shock for me. Even more shocking, though, was finding out that neither one of us was any good at it (contrary to what any of you may believe). I have really struggled with this part. Many of you know that there is probably nothing that frustrates or depresses me more than being bad at something I care about. But there it was: my seeming inability to be the good husband that I desire to be. You may think I'm weird or raise an eyebrow at me, but it got bad enough at one point that I started thinking of myself as a failure as a husband. That scared me. I just couldn't figure out why.
To be honest, the answer is simple. We're not very good at it...because we have only been married for five months! Simple, I know. Yet, it is so profound.
And then it got me thinking. Marriage was given to us as a gift to show the world what it means to have a relationship with God (I could go into more of this, but I will save that for another time). That means that it marriage is not all that different from a entering into a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Here's what I mean. We sometimes have this misconception that an individual automatically becomes a good person when he becomes a Christian. This is evidenced everytime we say, "He's not the same person," or, "I can really see an immediate change in him." I'm not saying that this can't happen. After all, Paul did have a radical conversion. I do, however, think that we miss the fact that this radical conversion is not the normal pattern of scripture. Why else do you think Paul had to admonish Christians in the church to flee the sexual immorality of their past?
You see, salvation is a process. It's called sanctification, and it basically infers that you're not going to be very good at being a Christian when you become one. It's why we have a concept called discipleship, because we recognize that the Christian relationship with God needs to be developed. I've known Christians that have fallen away from the faith simply because they were not developed as believers. They fell prey to the fact that they weren't any good at the whole Christianity thing.
In my opinion, it's not all that different from a couple getting divorced. Why do couples separate? Because they come to the realization that marriage is hard, and they aren't any good at it. So, they leave each other in hopes of finding something else that is easier. It's a tragedy, especially when the husband and wife are both Christians.
There are a lot of us who scoff at these people. We can' believe they would do such a thing. But, here's the deal:
---If marriage is a gift from God that He uses as a picture of what it means to have a relationship with Him,
---and we recognize that we aren't very good at the whole Christianity thing and need discipleship to get better,
---then shouldn't the church take up the responsibility for discipling couples on how to have a successful marriage?
We as a church should stop blaming the couple and take some more responsiblity. The question at at the forefront of our minds should be, "Where did we go wrong in discipling them?"
Please hear me. It's not always the church's fault when a couple gets divorced. But, this should be our first response. I'm thankful that I have a pastor who recognizes this responsibility and takes it very seriously.
Christianity is not easy. Marriage is not easy. Both take work, and both require a church willing to disciple in both areas. But, I have found that there is no greater pleasure than growing in both my relationship with Christ and in my marriage to Becca because both bring honor to God. I may not be good at marriage yet, but "God's still working on me to make me what I ought to be." And you better believe that He is using His church to do it. Man, I love marriage.
your prodigal writer,
Kyle
P.S. Sorry for making you read a sentence with the word, 'know,' used three times.
Monday, October 13, 2008
31.
I've discovered that life is always busy. There is always something to take your time, something to finish. It has been a busy month, but a good month.
In my last update, I told you about the class combination. Overnight I went from a class size of about 15 to a class size of 28. That was quite a transition. Learning to manage such a large class has taken a few weeks. I finally felt like I had things under control...until this past week. Last Tuesday I was enjoying a nice extra hour of free time while the students were at art. The office secretary knocked at my door and introduced me to my new student from Texas. He was displaced from hurricane Ike.
Deep breath. 29. I can handle 29. I have 30 desks, after all.
That same afternoon, I learned of the possibility of one of the fourth grade students being moved to the 5th grade (long story). There was to be a meeting Friday to make the decision. The teachers and principal agreed that it was a bad idea...However, the final decision would be up to the parents. I was out of town for the meeting, but received a phone call that evening. The student would move to 5th grade on Monday (today).
30?!?! I did NOT sign up for this.
This morning on the way to work, I was praying...begging God to help me. He reminded me that this job...at this school, in this city, was HIS idea. Not mine. That means that HE will give me what I need to survive...and not only survive, but succeed. He has to. "But...but...there isn't enough time in the day! I don't have enough time, enough energy. How can I love 30 kids all day and still have love for my husband at the end of the day? I'll run out." Unfortunately, He wouldn't let me off that easily. He reminded me that if I love students with His love, I will still be overflowing at the end of the day. He will give me what I need. He has to.
Well....after school today, I found out that yet another student would be moving from the 4th grade to 5th grade. This student was supposed to be placed in the 5th grade to begin with, but when she moved, her test scores were...lost. They have now been found, and it turns out that she passed the test and should have passed to the 5th grade. She will move grades by the end of the week.
31.
God will provide for all of my needs. Don't worry, I still love my job. Today was still a wonderful day! Please keep me in your prayers! I need all the support I can get!
In my last update, I told you about the class combination. Overnight I went from a class size of about 15 to a class size of 28. That was quite a transition. Learning to manage such a large class has taken a few weeks. I finally felt like I had things under control...until this past week. Last Tuesday I was enjoying a nice extra hour of free time while the students were at art. The office secretary knocked at my door and introduced me to my new student from Texas. He was displaced from hurricane Ike.
Deep breath. 29. I can handle 29. I have 30 desks, after all.
That same afternoon, I learned of the possibility of one of the fourth grade students being moved to the 5th grade (long story). There was to be a meeting Friday to make the decision. The teachers and principal agreed that it was a bad idea...However, the final decision would be up to the parents. I was out of town for the meeting, but received a phone call that evening. The student would move to 5th grade on Monday (today).
30?!?! I did NOT sign up for this.
This morning on the way to work, I was praying...begging God to help me. He reminded me that this job...at this school, in this city, was HIS idea. Not mine. That means that HE will give me what I need to survive...and not only survive, but succeed. He has to. "But...but...there isn't enough time in the day! I don't have enough time, enough energy. How can I love 30 kids all day and still have love for my husband at the end of the day? I'll run out." Unfortunately, He wouldn't let me off that easily. He reminded me that if I love students with His love, I will still be overflowing at the end of the day. He will give me what I need. He has to.
Well....after school today, I found out that yet another student would be moving from the 4th grade to 5th grade. This student was supposed to be placed in the 5th grade to begin with, but when she moved, her test scores were...lost. They have now been found, and it turns out that she passed the test and should have passed to the 5th grade. She will move grades by the end of the week.
31.
God will provide for all of my needs. Don't worry, I still love my job. Today was still a wonderful day! Please keep me in your prayers! I need all the support I can get!
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Adjustments
Well, I (Becca) suppose it's time for a quick update.
Ike sent us quite a bit of wind, but nothing serious. There were places in southern Orleans Parish and Jefferson Parish that flooded, though, and they need prayers. It was so windy that school was canceled in Jefferson Parish (where I teach) on Friday. It was a blessing for me, though, considering some changes I needed to prepare for...
On Thursday the other 5th grade teacher, the 4th grade teacher, and I were called into the principal's office. Even as a teacher, I felt like a guilty student who was trying to remember what I had done that deserved a trip to the office...Our principal announced that due to the lower than expected numbers, we had to combine the 5th grade classes into one class. Wow. I am to teach this new class of 28 students, and the other 5th grade teacher will fill another position at the school. I will now teach all subjects except Social Studies. The 4th grade teacher and I will trade classes for Social Studies and Science. This means that I have twice as many students to manage at a time as well as twice as many lessons to plan and papers to grade. It will be an adjustment, but I'm just thankful that we all still have jobs. I was the last one hired, and could easily have been fired.
I must go to bed now. Tomorrow will be a long day. Kyle promises to update soon...I'll keep reminding him;)
Ike sent us quite a bit of wind, but nothing serious. There were places in southern Orleans Parish and Jefferson Parish that flooded, though, and they need prayers. It was so windy that school was canceled in Jefferson Parish (where I teach) on Friday. It was a blessing for me, though, considering some changes I needed to prepare for...
On Thursday the other 5th grade teacher, the 4th grade teacher, and I were called into the principal's office. Even as a teacher, I felt like a guilty student who was trying to remember what I had done that deserved a trip to the office...Our principal announced that due to the lower than expected numbers, we had to combine the 5th grade classes into one class. Wow. I am to teach this new class of 28 students, and the other 5th grade teacher will fill another position at the school. I will now teach all subjects except Social Studies. The 4th grade teacher and I will trade classes for Social Studies and Science. This means that I have twice as many students to manage at a time as well as twice as many lessons to plan and papers to grade. It will be an adjustment, but I'm just thankful that we all still have jobs. I was the last one hired, and could easily have been fired.
I must go to bed now. Tomorrow will be a long day. Kyle promises to update soon...I'll keep reminding him;)
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Well, we finally made it back home to our cozy hotel room! After a week in Birmingham (with me doing a whole lot of nothing, and Kyle working hard on his seminary homework), we are thankful to be back. None of our belongings were damaged in the storm, and for that we are relieved. The campus and my school also survived relatively unharmed. There are trees down and shingles missing, but nothing devastating.
We decided to refund our plane tickets and ride home with some friends who were also in Birmingham. This allowed us to bring home a few extra things we collected through the week. We rolled into town at about 1:30pm on Saturday, 8 days after we left for our "long" weekend. We had planned to spend Saturday afternoon repacking and moving boxes from our hotel room back to the storage unit. However, as soon as we got into the room, my stomach rebelled, and I (Becca) spent the rest of the evening throwing up and generally feeling miserable. Kyle took very good care of me, and we both finally fell asleep around midnight. This morning was much better, and we went to our new church (FBC Kenner). It truly felt like home. The pastor gave a wonderful message about God and his glory. We then drove all over town looking for an open Subway. We spent the evening repacking boxes...but after watching the Weather Channel and good ole Ike, we decided to leave the boxes in the room for a little while...
Tomorrow I head back to school and try to catch up on lost time. Kyle will spend the day doing homework. His classes do not start back until Tuesday, but even for classes he misses, he has to turn in work online.
Haha...on another note, a Camo-colored jeep just pulled up beside us with soldiers in their ACU's...National Guardsmen, I guess. OH! I forgot to mention where we are sitting right now! The internet is out on campus, so Kyle and I are sitting in the car in the McDonald's parking lot, using their internet connection.
Anyway, we are doing well, and we are happy to be back in New Orleans. It was wonderful visiting Birmingham for a full week, but we don't really want to go back again next week....so hopefully Ike will goooo away! :)
God Bless!!
We decided to refund our plane tickets and ride home with some friends who were also in Birmingham. This allowed us to bring home a few extra things we collected through the week. We rolled into town at about 1:30pm on Saturday, 8 days after we left for our "long" weekend. We had planned to spend Saturday afternoon repacking and moving boxes from our hotel room back to the storage unit. However, as soon as we got into the room, my stomach rebelled, and I (Becca) spent the rest of the evening throwing up and generally feeling miserable. Kyle took very good care of me, and we both finally fell asleep around midnight. This morning was much better, and we went to our new church (FBC Kenner). It truly felt like home. The pastor gave a wonderful message about God and his glory. We then drove all over town looking for an open Subway. We spent the evening repacking boxes...but after watching the Weather Channel and good ole Ike, we decided to leave the boxes in the room for a little while...
Tomorrow I head back to school and try to catch up on lost time. Kyle will spend the day doing homework. His classes do not start back until Tuesday, but even for classes he misses, he has to turn in work online.
Haha...on another note, a Camo-colored jeep just pulled up beside us with soldiers in their ACU's...National Guardsmen, I guess. OH! I forgot to mention where we are sitting right now! The internet is out on campus, so Kyle and I are sitting in the car in the McDonald's parking lot, using their internet connection.
Anyway, we are doing well, and we are happy to be back in New Orleans. It was wonderful visiting Birmingham for a full week, but we don't really want to go back again next week....so hopefully Ike will goooo away! :)
God Bless!!
Thursday, August 28, 2008
"Mrs. Kelley, you scared of the storm?"
The city holds her breath. Everywhere you go people are whispering, or talking, or joking about Gustav. Tomorrow is the third anniversary of Katrina and the city will bury the 80 something bodies that were never identified after the storm. I cannot count the number of students who wanted to know where I would run to hide from the storm. At age 9 and 10, my students vividly remember the last devastating hurricane. They expect Gustav to wipe their lives away. I try to explain that we just don't know what will happen yet...but I can see the worry in their eyes.
We have no idea what will happen. As my mom and Kyle both pointed out, this storm is going somewhere, and it will cause trouble and pain for someone. Because we are connected to the seminary, we are required to leave in the event of a mandatory evacuation. Also, we have had plans in place for weeks now to visit Birmingham for the Labor Day weekend. Our plane leaves Friday night, so rest assured, we will be safe, whatever happens. Kyle and a neighbor will be bringing some of our belongings from the storage unit to keep in the hotel while we are gone. The risk of flooding is much lower in our second story room.
Meanwhile, we hold our breath along with the rest of the Gulf Coast, and we wait. I am spending my evening grading papers and planning lessons. Kyle has to work tonight (did I mention that he has a job?!), so he'll sit in the technology office and do homework. Business as usual.
We are safe. I worry more for my students. Pray for them. For their safety, for their worries.
More updates to come!! Sorry we've been so lazy about updates...school and work have a way of taking over life! We'll try to keep you updated as the hurricane drama plays out.
We have no idea what will happen. As my mom and Kyle both pointed out, this storm is going somewhere, and it will cause trouble and pain for someone. Because we are connected to the seminary, we are required to leave in the event of a mandatory evacuation. Also, we have had plans in place for weeks now to visit Birmingham for the Labor Day weekend. Our plane leaves Friday night, so rest assured, we will be safe, whatever happens. Kyle and a neighbor will be bringing some of our belongings from the storage unit to keep in the hotel while we are gone. The risk of flooding is much lower in our second story room.
Meanwhile, we hold our breath along with the rest of the Gulf Coast, and we wait. I am spending my evening grading papers and planning lessons. Kyle has to work tonight (did I mention that he has a job?!), so he'll sit in the technology office and do homework. Business as usual.
We are safe. I worry more for my students. Pray for them. For their safety, for their worries.
More updates to come!! Sorry we've been so lazy about updates...school and work have a way of taking over life! We'll try to keep you updated as the hurricane drama plays out.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
First days of School
Yikes! It has been a long time since we last updated! I (Becca) started teaching on Monday, August 11. I will be teaching Science and Math to 4th and 5th graders. The first two days went smoothly. Tomorrow I will begin the "real" teaching. Students will change classes for the first time, and I will truly begin teaching, instead of simply teaching rules and procedures.
I am encouraged after two days of teaching. The students are wonderful--full of personality. They are very social creatures, which suits me very well. My only struggle right now is with myself. I am the type of person who likes to plan well in advance. If it were up to me, I would have planned the entire school year a month ago. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Instead, I found out on Friday (the 8th) that I would teach 5th grade, and then changed it on Monday (the 11th) to a departmentalized 4th/5th math/science. Don't get me wrong, I am excited about my teaching assignment. But it is totally against my personality to "fly by the seat of my pants." I get home at the end of the day--exhausted--and then proceed to spend a few hours trying to plan the next day. I am hoping to get ahead soon, so that I can relax and live life a little!
Kyle is the perfect husband...he is completely patient with me. He takes care of me when I'm too tired to cook, and he has been very understanding of the difficult situation work has put me in. As I said before, hopefully I can get ahead soon, so that I can live life...maybe I can take care of him sometime too!
The Lord continues to provide. He has given us plenty of food each day, a wonderful shelter, and an amazing support system. We have found a church that we love, and will probably join soon. He sent my parents at just the time we would need them most. (They came this past weekend and spent almost their entire 24 hour vacation in my classroom, cleaning and unpacking and repacking.) He is faithful in all things.
I am encouraged after two days of teaching. The students are wonderful--full of personality. They are very social creatures, which suits me very well. My only struggle right now is with myself. I am the type of person who likes to plan well in advance. If it were up to me, I would have planned the entire school year a month ago. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. Instead, I found out on Friday (the 8th) that I would teach 5th grade, and then changed it on Monday (the 11th) to a departmentalized 4th/5th math/science. Don't get me wrong, I am excited about my teaching assignment. But it is totally against my personality to "fly by the seat of my pants." I get home at the end of the day--exhausted--and then proceed to spend a few hours trying to plan the next day. I am hoping to get ahead soon, so that I can relax and live life a little!
Kyle is the perfect husband...he is completely patient with me. He takes care of me when I'm too tired to cook, and he has been very understanding of the difficult situation work has put me in. As I said before, hopefully I can get ahead soon, so that I can live life...maybe I can take care of him sometime too!
The Lord continues to provide. He has given us plenty of food each day, a wonderful shelter, and an amazing support system. We have found a church that we love, and will probably join soon. He sent my parents at just the time we would need them most. (They came this past weekend and spent almost their entire 24 hour vacation in my classroom, cleaning and unpacking and repacking.) He is faithful in all things.
Friday, July 25, 2008
hiccups
OK, so I have no excuse this time. I (Kyle) actually have two blog posts rumbling around in my head, fighting for the chance to make it onto this posting. Each idea is good (very good, in fact) and knows that it is worthy of your attention. But, they also know that I have begun to exhibit a reputation for giving ideas rare opportunities to display their wonderful talents of grabbing a reader's attention and entertaining him/her for hours at a time. So, I must choose and hope that the other idea will not fall into relative obscurity within the confines of my brain.
Well, no one said living here and venturing after God's will was ever going to be easy. In fact, I seem to recall several passages in a widely-known, 66 volume book that explain that it won't, in fact, be all rosy and peachy-keen. This is not to say, however, that we are facing overwhelming obstacles. I just mean to say that we are experiencing several annoying "instances" that threaten to rob us of our sanity. And, since I have, within the past three years, developed a slightly annoying habit of hiccuping frequently, I have affectionately begun to think of these not-so-easy portions of our new life as 'hiccups.' [caution: not finishing this entry could result in the reader jumping to false conclusions.]
Hiccup #1 - The Debit Cards
As both Genesis 2 and the Spice Girls have correctly pointed out, marriage involves the meshing together of two individuals into one. What is often missed, however, is that this meshing process encompasses so much more than...well...what normally comes to mind. Two days ago, we began to notice that we had yet to receive our new debit cards. Before we moved to New Orleans on July 5, we had visited Becca's bank (which has locations in both Birmingham and NOLA) to 1) change her name, and 2) to put my name on the account. When we got to NOLA, we went to a branch to order debit cards. After two weeks of waiting for our cards, we called the bank to figure out the hold-out. Come to find out, neither Bec's name, nor our address had been changed, which is why we have yet to receive our cards.
Hiccup #2 - The Cell Phones
Before moving, we also transferred Bec's cell phone over to my plan. Well, something was lost in translation, which has resulted in a sudden, unexplained disappearance of minutes. The further result of this cellular caper is that we no longer have any minutes (no rollover milk-minutes or anything) until July 28 (which is not good, considering all the phone calls we have had and still need to make in order to complete the moving process). It's a shame that the cellular company told me that they can't do anything about until that bill clears after the 28th.
Hiccup #3 - The Driver's License
Unfortunately, I did not realize that I was going to need both my social security card and my birth certificate in order to get my Louisiana driver's license. Since I do not quite know where my social security card is, I had to go to the social security office (which is strangely located in the Clearview mall across from the food court) to order a new one. And, my birth certificate was sadly left in Birmingham because I did not think that I would need it. So, I must wait to get my license.
Hiccup #4 - The Transcript
This one is actually funny. Bec is supposed to go into the Jefferson Parish Board of Education office on Monday to fill out all of her paperwork. She will need her Univ. of Alabama transcript and her Alabama teaching certificate. The teaching certificate actually hasn't been a problem. I praise God that, after all that we have been through to get that certificate, she was actually able to hold it in her hands yesterday. The transcript, on the other hand, is a different matter. I ordered Bec's transcript about 10-12 days ago. As of yesterday morning, we had yet to receive it. We called UA and found out that they sent it on July 15. That was 10 days ago! Then an idea popped into our heads. We called the Seminary Registrar office. Surprisingly, we found out that Bec's transcript had been sent there instead of our P.O. Box! It makes a little sense, considering the only thing separating our address from theirs is the "#261" tacked onto the end of ours. So, we went to pick her transcript from the Seminary Registrar office yesterday afternoon.
There are a couple of more, but you probably get the picture. I want to be clear. I do not share these with you as a means of venting. I never want to use this blog as an avenue for complaining (Philippians 2:14-16). That would waste both your time and mine. My reasoning for mentioning these 'hiccups' to you is two-fold: 1) We covet your prayers in these matters - that we would be able to work all of this out before Bec's first day of school (Aug 11); and 2) because these areas pose a great temptation. Paul urges us in Romans 12:2 to "not conform any longer to the pattern of this world." We rightly think that this pattern consists of the "ultra-sinful" practices like sexual immortality, murder and hate (Romans 1:24-32). However, we sometimes fail to consider that the pattern of this world involves anything that hinders us from seeking after the kingdom of God as our first and sole priority (Matthew 6:25-34). The pattern of our daily lives is perhaps one of the greatest hindrances to the advancement of the gospel and God's Will in America today. We get up, go to work, go to church, pay the bills, and take care of everything to ensure that we have food, clothing, and shelter. Sometimes, the advancement of the gospel and God's Will gets lost in all of the hustle and bustle of our lives. Succumbing to this temptation is sinful.
So, Bec and I ask for you to pray with all of this in mind. We want to see God eliminate these hiccups so that we will not be distracted from our ultimate purpose here. We thank both you and God in advance. Although these seem little, they could trip us up like a small stone can trip a runner and cause him to break his leg and not be able to finish the race.
Well, no one said living here and venturing after God's will was ever going to be easy. In fact, I seem to recall several passages in a widely-known, 66 volume book that explain that it won't, in fact, be all rosy and peachy-keen. This is not to say, however, that we are facing overwhelming obstacles. I just mean to say that we are experiencing several annoying "instances" that threaten to rob us of our sanity. And, since I have, within the past three years, developed a slightly annoying habit of hiccuping frequently, I have affectionately begun to think of these not-so-easy portions of our new life as 'hiccups.' [caution: not finishing this entry could result in the reader jumping to false conclusions.]
Hiccup #1 - The Debit Cards
As both Genesis 2 and the Spice Girls have correctly pointed out, marriage involves the meshing together of two individuals into one. What is often missed, however, is that this meshing process encompasses so much more than...well...what normally comes to mind. Two days ago, we began to notice that we had yet to receive our new debit cards. Before we moved to New Orleans on July 5, we had visited Becca's bank (which has locations in both Birmingham and NOLA) to 1) change her name, and 2) to put my name on the account. When we got to NOLA, we went to a branch to order debit cards. After two weeks of waiting for our cards, we called the bank to figure out the hold-out. Come to find out, neither Bec's name, nor our address had been changed, which is why we have yet to receive our cards.
Hiccup #2 - The Cell Phones
Before moving, we also transferred Bec's cell phone over to my plan. Well, something was lost in translation, which has resulted in a sudden, unexplained disappearance of minutes. The further result of this cellular caper is that we no longer have any minutes (no rollover milk-minutes or anything) until July 28 (which is not good, considering all the phone calls we have had and still need to make in order to complete the moving process). It's a shame that the cellular company told me that they can't do anything about until that bill clears after the 28th.
Hiccup #3 - The Driver's License
Unfortunately, I did not realize that I was going to need both my social security card and my birth certificate in order to get my Louisiana driver's license. Since I do not quite know where my social security card is, I had to go to the social security office (which is strangely located in the Clearview mall across from the food court) to order a new one. And, my birth certificate was sadly left in Birmingham because I did not think that I would need it. So, I must wait to get my license.
Hiccup #4 - The Transcript
This one is actually funny. Bec is supposed to go into the Jefferson Parish Board of Education office on Monday to fill out all of her paperwork. She will need her Univ. of Alabama transcript and her Alabama teaching certificate. The teaching certificate actually hasn't been a problem. I praise God that, after all that we have been through to get that certificate, she was actually able to hold it in her hands yesterday. The transcript, on the other hand, is a different matter. I ordered Bec's transcript about 10-12 days ago. As of yesterday morning, we had yet to receive it. We called UA and found out that they sent it on July 15. That was 10 days ago! Then an idea popped into our heads. We called the Seminary Registrar office. Surprisingly, we found out that Bec's transcript had been sent there instead of our P.O. Box! It makes a little sense, considering the only thing separating our address from theirs is the "#261" tacked onto the end of ours. So, we went to pick her transcript from the Seminary Registrar office yesterday afternoon.
There are a couple of more, but you probably get the picture. I want to be clear. I do not share these with you as a means of venting. I never want to use this blog as an avenue for complaining (Philippians 2:14-16). That would waste both your time and mine. My reasoning for mentioning these 'hiccups' to you is two-fold: 1) We covet your prayers in these matters - that we would be able to work all of this out before Bec's first day of school (Aug 11); and 2) because these areas pose a great temptation. Paul urges us in Romans 12:2 to "not conform any longer to the pattern of this world." We rightly think that this pattern consists of the "ultra-sinful" practices like sexual immortality, murder and hate (Romans 1:24-32). However, we sometimes fail to consider that the pattern of this world involves anything that hinders us from seeking after the kingdom of God as our first and sole priority (Matthew 6:25-34). The pattern of our daily lives is perhaps one of the greatest hindrances to the advancement of the gospel and God's Will in America today. We get up, go to work, go to church, pay the bills, and take care of everything to ensure that we have food, clothing, and shelter. Sometimes, the advancement of the gospel and God's Will gets lost in all of the hustle and bustle of our lives. Succumbing to this temptation is sinful.
So, Bec and I ask for you to pray with all of this in mind. We want to see God eliminate these hiccups so that we will not be distracted from our ultimate purpose here. We thank both you and God in advance. Although these seem little, they could trip us up like a small stone can trip a runner and cause him to break his leg and not be able to finish the race.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Down Time
It has been a busy two weeks as we have settled in and begun this new chapter of our lives. I (Becca) cannot believe all that has happened...I already feel like we have lived in this tiny hotel room for months!
I attended Montessori training every day last week. I am thankful for the time because, although it is boring, I have been able to get to know my co-workers much better than if there had been no training! Instead of dreading those first days of school, I am looking forward to it because of the support I know I'll have. I still don't know what grade I will be teaching. I have been trying to familiarize myself with the curriculum for both grades...Either way, the things that I teach the first two weeks will be very basic and can work for both grades. Right now I am calm and not too scared. However, I'm pretty sure that I will be very nervous in a couple of weeks. We have this week and most of next week off, so I am at home alll day every day this week. Kyle and I are getting a little stir crazy...
But God is faithful. He provided a grant for Kyle's education! We have a roof over our heads and food to eat. We have already made friends in New Orleans. It is so wonderful to see his hand as he provides for us. We are trying to enjoy this two week break. Once school starts, down time will be hard to come by.
Well, that's all I have today. I wanted to let everyone know we are still alive and well! Maybe next time we will have some more interesting details to write about :)
I attended Montessori training every day last week. I am thankful for the time because, although it is boring, I have been able to get to know my co-workers much better than if there had been no training! Instead of dreading those first days of school, I am looking forward to it because of the support I know I'll have. I still don't know what grade I will be teaching. I have been trying to familiarize myself with the curriculum for both grades...Either way, the things that I teach the first two weeks will be very basic and can work for both grades. Right now I am calm and not too scared. However, I'm pretty sure that I will be very nervous in a couple of weeks. We have this week and most of next week off, so I am at home alll day every day this week. Kyle and I are getting a little stir crazy...
But God is faithful. He provided a grant for Kyle's education! We have a roof over our heads and food to eat. We have already made friends in New Orleans. It is so wonderful to see his hand as he provides for us. We are trying to enjoy this two week break. Once school starts, down time will be hard to come by.
Well, that's all I have today. I wanted to let everyone know we are still alive and well! Maybe next time we will have some more interesting details to write about :)
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
homerun
I (Kyle) have a million things that I want to write. The unfortunate thing is that I simply cannot write them all down here. Either I would end up spending more time writing than I do actually living my life, or you, the reader, would grow exponentially in the boredom category so that you would stop reading the blog altogether. I'm not a very big fan of either of those options, so I will just share what's on my heart.
I originally wanted to write about Becca's new job from my perspective, but I'm not going to. Instead, I am going to take a reprieve from the story of our lives to share one from that of someone else. Bear with me through the whole story, especially if you are like the 90% of the Alabama citizens who do not like professional baseball. I promise the story will be worth it. And for those of you who already know the story, you can just fast forward to the next entry.
Most of you know that my absolute favorite major league baseball team is the Texas Rangers. The unfortunate thing about my unwavering devotion for this team is that they have been the epitome of mediocrity for the last 8 years or so. And by mediocrity, I actually mean really, really bad. LA Clippers bad. But alas, I remain steadfast in my devotion and continue to check the boxscores everyday to see if the Rangers happened to pull out a victory.
Much to my surprise (especially after having the worst record in the whole league at the end of April), the Rangers are actually doing pretty well. Part of this has to do with the exceptional play of one, Josh Hamilton. And it is here where the story picks up.
In 1999 (keep in my mind, that is almost ten years ago), Josh was drafted first overall by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. And there was good reason to draft him. Josh was one of the most promising a gifted young players that year. It was no-brainer to draft him. However, Josh never made it to the majors. Instead, he spent 4 years in the minors, only one of which was spent above Class A ball (class AA). Then in 2002, Josh left baseball altogether (for a period of time that last three years). Josh had both a drug and alcohol addiction, one that required several trips to rehab. Finally in 2005, he gave it all over to Christ after being confronted by his grandmother about his addiction.
From here, he began to work his way back into baseball. Eventually he made his way to the majors last year (2007), and only played a small portion of the year. He was traded this past winter to the Rangers. This is his first year to play an entire professional season...ever. He leads the league in RBI and is considered by many to be the top candidate for the American League MVP.
Yesterday, and this is the cool part, Josh participated in the Home Run Derby (a competition to see who can hit the most homeruns). The day before, Josh shared that before he was reinstated back into baseball (2005), he had a dream that he was participating in the Home Run Derby at Yankee stadium. When he was done batting, he was interviewed with a mic in his face. Now, fast forward to the actual derby yesterday. Josh was batting last. By the time his turn came, the leader had 8 home runs. Josh came up to bat. He hit homerun after homerun until he had 28 total homeruns for the first round...shattering the previous record of 24. He more than tripled the second place guy. It's pretty amazing considering the guy he chose to pitch to him is a 71 year old man (Clay) who used to throw batting practice to Josh and a bunch of other kids in Raleigh, NC. When he was drafted back in 1999, Josh promised Clay, that he would use him as his pitcher if he was ever invited to the Home Run Derby. As Josh walked away with the entire stadium (it was Yankee stadium, by the way) chanting his name (that's right, New York Yankee fans), he was interviewed on the field with a mic in his face. He was the only player in the first round to be interview like that. At that moment, Josh chose to give glory to God.
Unfortunately, Josh did not win the whole thing because of a rule that says the two remaining players will start the third round at 0. He was probably tired from the first round. But, as the derby ended he was approached with the mic again. And at the moment when he lost, he chose to give glory to his "Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for giving [him] the opportunity."
Everyone knew it was Josh's show. Even the guy who won felt bad and undeserving of the award. In three rounds, he didn't even hit as many homeruns as Josh hit in the first round. But I'm okay with Josh losing. How often does someone get the opportunity to speak the glory of God's name to millions after losing an event. Josh did. That is a rare privilege in a day and age when people scoff at references to Christ by an athlete who has just won an award or the championship. They say, "God, if he even exists, doesn't care about baseball or football to the point where he helps Christians win." And to a certain extent, I will agree with that. I'm not sure that he does. But, I know that my God works everything so that the glory of His name is spread to the masses. And in that losing moment, Josh Hamiltion made himself less with his defeat, and made Christ's name greater to the masses. To God be the glory for the transformation and sanctification that has taken place in Josh's life.
I originally wanted to write about Becca's new job from my perspective, but I'm not going to. Instead, I am going to take a reprieve from the story of our lives to share one from that of someone else. Bear with me through the whole story, especially if you are like the 90% of the Alabama citizens who do not like professional baseball. I promise the story will be worth it. And for those of you who already know the story, you can just fast forward to the next entry.
Most of you know that my absolute favorite major league baseball team is the Texas Rangers. The unfortunate thing about my unwavering devotion for this team is that they have been the epitome of mediocrity for the last 8 years or so. And by mediocrity, I actually mean really, really bad. LA Clippers bad. But alas, I remain steadfast in my devotion and continue to check the boxscores everyday to see if the Rangers happened to pull out a victory.
Much to my surprise (especially after having the worst record in the whole league at the end of April), the Rangers are actually doing pretty well. Part of this has to do with the exceptional play of one, Josh Hamilton. And it is here where the story picks up.
In 1999 (keep in my mind, that is almost ten years ago), Josh was drafted first overall by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. And there was good reason to draft him. Josh was one of the most promising a gifted young players that year. It was no-brainer to draft him. However, Josh never made it to the majors. Instead, he spent 4 years in the minors, only one of which was spent above Class A ball (class AA). Then in 2002, Josh left baseball altogether (for a period of time that last three years). Josh had both a drug and alcohol addiction, one that required several trips to rehab. Finally in 2005, he gave it all over to Christ after being confronted by his grandmother about his addiction.
From here, he began to work his way back into baseball. Eventually he made his way to the majors last year (2007), and only played a small portion of the year. He was traded this past winter to the Rangers. This is his first year to play an entire professional season...ever. He leads the league in RBI and is considered by many to be the top candidate for the American League MVP.
Yesterday, and this is the cool part, Josh participated in the Home Run Derby (a competition to see who can hit the most homeruns). The day before, Josh shared that before he was reinstated back into baseball (2005), he had a dream that he was participating in the Home Run Derby at Yankee stadium. When he was done batting, he was interviewed with a mic in his face. Now, fast forward to the actual derby yesterday. Josh was batting last. By the time his turn came, the leader had 8 home runs. Josh came up to bat. He hit homerun after homerun until he had 28 total homeruns for the first round...shattering the previous record of 24. He more than tripled the second place guy. It's pretty amazing considering the guy he chose to pitch to him is a 71 year old man (Clay) who used to throw batting practice to Josh and a bunch of other kids in Raleigh, NC. When he was drafted back in 1999, Josh promised Clay, that he would use him as his pitcher if he was ever invited to the Home Run Derby. As Josh walked away with the entire stadium (it was Yankee stadium, by the way) chanting his name (that's right, New York Yankee fans), he was interviewed on the field with a mic in his face. He was the only player in the first round to be interview like that. At that moment, Josh chose to give glory to God.
Unfortunately, Josh did not win the whole thing because of a rule that says the two remaining players will start the third round at 0. He was probably tired from the first round. But, as the derby ended he was approached with the mic again. And at the moment when he lost, he chose to give glory to his "Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for giving [him] the opportunity."
Everyone knew it was Josh's show. Even the guy who won felt bad and undeserving of the award. In three rounds, he didn't even hit as many homeruns as Josh hit in the first round. But I'm okay with Josh losing. How often does someone get the opportunity to speak the glory of God's name to millions after losing an event. Josh did. That is a rare privilege in a day and age when people scoff at references to Christ by an athlete who has just won an award or the championship. They say, "God, if he even exists, doesn't care about baseball or football to the point where he helps Christians win." And to a certain extent, I will agree with that. I'm not sure that he does. But, I know that my God works everything so that the glory of His name is spread to the masses. And in that losing moment, Josh Hamiltion made himself less with his defeat, and made Christ's name greater to the masses. To God be the glory for the transformation and sanctification that has taken place in Josh's life.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
The Job
God is blessing us and affirming our decision to move here every day! I (Becca) went to my job interview Thursday morning and was offered a job. Right there. On the spot. I couldn't make the decision without talking to Kyle , so I told the principal that I would call her that afternoon with an answer. After going to my second job interview that afternoon with the RSD, Kyle and I sat down to make our decision. We could find no reason to say "no" to the job. So... I have a job!
I will be teaching 4th or 5th grade (it depends on whether or not a few students pass or fail summer school) at Washington Elementary School in Kenner, Louisiana. My understanding is that the kids come from low socioeconomic homes. The school is going to teach using the Montessori method (which basically means hands on learning with more concentration on success as an individual, rather than simply making the grades). I will still teach the "regular" way because my students are older and not accustomed to Montessori. However, I will be expected to integrate Montessori materials into lessons.
The staff has only 4 members who remained from the previous year. Other teachers chose not to stay because of the Montessori training, etc. The staff is also fairly young, with several teachers having 5 or fewer years of teaching experience. I am one of 3 first year teachers. I already love my co-workers! They have amazing personalities and keep me laughing constantly. I was excited to learn that one of the 4th grade teachers' husband is also taking classes at the seminary. We were able to get to know them a little better at the staff cookout last night.
God is taking care of us. He is faithful to fulfill his word. He told us to go, so we went. He has provided shelter, food, and now a job and friends. We are more thankful than words can express.
I will be teaching 4th or 5th grade (it depends on whether or not a few students pass or fail summer school) at Washington Elementary School in Kenner, Louisiana. My understanding is that the kids come from low socioeconomic homes. The school is going to teach using the Montessori method (which basically means hands on learning with more concentration on success as an individual, rather than simply making the grades). I will still teach the "regular" way because my students are older and not accustomed to Montessori. However, I will be expected to integrate Montessori materials into lessons.
The staff has only 4 members who remained from the previous year. Other teachers chose not to stay because of the Montessori training, etc. The staff is also fairly young, with several teachers having 5 or fewer years of teaching experience. I am one of 3 first year teachers. I already love my co-workers! They have amazing personalities and keep me laughing constantly. I was excited to learn that one of the 4th grade teachers' husband is also taking classes at the seminary. We were able to get to know them a little better at the staff cookout last night.
God is taking care of us. He is faithful to fulfill his word. He told us to go, so we went. He has provided shelter, food, and now a job and friends. We are more thankful than words can express.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
The Job Search
It's my (Becca) turn for an update...and what a busy two days it has been for me. I'm learning to balance being a good wife with finding that all important job! Yesterday morning I woke up with that determination that I sometimes get. I just HAD to do SOMETHING to get a job. So, I made a phone call to the Recovery School District. The RSD is a district of schools that were already in terrible condition before Katrina hit. After the storm, the state of Louisiana took over the schools and began looking for the best teachers to staff the schools. Many of the students in this area (the heart of New Orleans) come from families living below the poverty line. The students have bigger concerns than school, and therefore are performing below grade level.
So I left a message with the appropriate person and sent an email to that same person, hoping to get some sort of response over the next week. I also decided to send an email to the Jefferson Parish contact that I made at the job fair in April. Just a few short hours later, I decided to check my email. I was shocked to find a response from both parties. The RSD told me to come in Wednesday morning to take the basic skills assessment, and the Jefferson Parish contact told me that we had never met...oops!
I sent the email to the wrong person!! I was embarrassed enough that I decided never to try to work in Jefferson again...haha. Well, an hour later as I was cooking dinner, my phone rang. It was the lady that I HAD met a the job fair (Ms. DiCarlo). It turns out that I accidentally emailed her superior, and her superior sent the email to Ms. DiCarlo. After all of that confusion, Ms. Dicarlo told me of some schools in her district that were hiring, and offered to pass out my information. She told me that I would be contacted by the principals withing the next few days.
This morning I took the test (I passed), and over the past 5 hours have recieved phone calls from two principals and the RSD representative. I have two interviews tomorrow, one at 9am and one at 12:30pm. My third interview is Monday at 9:30am. I can't believe the rate at which God is throwing interviews in my direction! I am excited and nervous. Hopefully I can keep my head on straight tomorrow during the interviews.
I appreciate prayers!! Pray for me tomorrow and over the next few weeks as I seek a job and try to make decisions.
So I left a message with the appropriate person and sent an email to that same person, hoping to get some sort of response over the next week. I also decided to send an email to the Jefferson Parish contact that I made at the job fair in April. Just a few short hours later, I decided to check my email. I was shocked to find a response from both parties. The RSD told me to come in Wednesday morning to take the basic skills assessment, and the Jefferson Parish contact told me that we had never met...oops!
I sent the email to the wrong person!! I was embarrassed enough that I decided never to try to work in Jefferson again...haha. Well, an hour later as I was cooking dinner, my phone rang. It was the lady that I HAD met a the job fair (Ms. DiCarlo). It turns out that I accidentally emailed her superior, and her superior sent the email to Ms. DiCarlo. After all of that confusion, Ms. Dicarlo told me of some schools in her district that were hiring, and offered to pass out my information. She told me that I would be contacted by the principals withing the next few days.
This morning I took the test (I passed), and over the past 5 hours have recieved phone calls from two principals and the RSD representative. I have two interviews tomorrow, one at 9am and one at 12:30pm. My third interview is Monday at 9:30am. I can't believe the rate at which God is throwing interviews in my direction! I am excited and nervous. Hopefully I can keep my head on straight tomorrow during the interviews.
I appreciate prayers!! Pray for me tomorrow and over the next few weeks as I seek a job and try to make decisions.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Sacrifice
Kyle here. Becca's in the kitchen/bathroom cooking dinner, so I thought that I would write. Our experience in New Orleans has been interesting, to say the least. God has already been teaching me so many different things. After a long couple of days of loading furniture onto a uhaul truck, driving 6+ hours, and unloading most of it into a 10X6.5X9 unit (trust me, it's not that big), we ventured to Metairie (reminds me of what it would be like if Hoover, AL and Buckhead, GA got married and had kids...of course, you will have to excuse the absurd personification) with my family to grab some much-deserved dinner. As we said goodbye to my family and began to make the trek back to our hotel room, I couldn't help but feel a certain degree of uneasiness. Becca and I come from a very upscale area in the state of Alabama. And as a certain best friend of mine reminds me from time to time, where we lived in Birmingham is only as old as we are. That's 24 years, which is not a lot in city years. So, everything is new and state-of-the-art and rather spacious. And a lot of rich people live there...even if they don't think they are.
It couldn't be more different in New Orleans. We live in an area where, less than a block away, there is a shopping center that has been abandoned since Hurricane Katrina hit in Aug. '05. Just go a few more blocks, and you will see the abandoned Wal-mart, which happens to be one of the first sites you see as you head down I-10 into New Orleans. In fact, the closest Super Center seems somewhat out of place. Getting to it requires driving through what reminds me of the urban version of a ghost town (my guess is it has been this way for about three years) or an urban desert that all of a sudden gives way to a mirage-like giant of a grocery/retail store. And yes, it even has palm trees. Needless to say, we are in the heart of the city. In fact, it's not just any city. It's New Orleans, which as I have been reminded within the past month, has a certain dark reputation coupled with its hurricane devastated past.
I write all of this to preface one idea that, at that very moment in the car on the way back from Applebee's, God began to use in order to radically change our mindsets toward lifestyle ministry. In all of the prayer and thought that went into deciding to come to New Orleans, I never once was intimidated. On this night, I was both intimidated and, truth-be-told, scared for the very first time. It was out of this fear that we both starting taking notice of the huge sacrifice that we were making. And as I have been careful to describe to you, the assumption that is often made (us included) is that our area of Birmingham is a ton better than our new home. We thought to ourselves, "Of course it's a huge sacrifice to give up living and working in that upper middle class area where our families are just down the road along with the huge subdivisions, high quality schools, and 1,000+ member churches that have flourishing student ministries." And then it hit us. As I thought about how different suburban Birmingham is, I thought about how it has to be in the top 1% of nicest areas to live in in the world. In other words, it's the exception, not the norm. And then I thought about the many followers across the world that are giving up their lives and their families (forced separation) to advance the gospel. Some spend years in prison, pastor churches whose buildings are burnt down regularly, or watch as their spouse is killed right before their eyes. That is sacrifice. Giving up living in the top 1% of the world pales in comparison, even if it is where my family lives.
I want to be clear. I am not bashing the place that served as my home for the past 1o years, nor my family who currently lives there. After all, it's located in the most unchurched county in Alabama, and they need Jesus just as much as poor people do. I am merely saying that in the grand scheme of things, our "sacrifice" is small, including living 5 hours away from our friends and families. And we are glad to make it. We love New Orleans. Every bit of it. And we are excited about what God has for us to do here.
Matthew 10:37-40
"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. "
It couldn't be more different in New Orleans. We live in an area where, less than a block away, there is a shopping center that has been abandoned since Hurricane Katrina hit in Aug. '05. Just go a few more blocks, and you will see the abandoned Wal-mart, which happens to be one of the first sites you see as you head down I-10 into New Orleans. In fact, the closest Super Center seems somewhat out of place. Getting to it requires driving through what reminds me of the urban version of a ghost town (my guess is it has been this way for about three years) or an urban desert that all of a sudden gives way to a mirage-like giant of a grocery/retail store. And yes, it even has palm trees. Needless to say, we are in the heart of the city. In fact, it's not just any city. It's New Orleans, which as I have been reminded within the past month, has a certain dark reputation coupled with its hurricane devastated past.
I write all of this to preface one idea that, at that very moment in the car on the way back from Applebee's, God began to use in order to radically change our mindsets toward lifestyle ministry. In all of the prayer and thought that went into deciding to come to New Orleans, I never once was intimidated. On this night, I was both intimidated and, truth-be-told, scared for the very first time. It was out of this fear that we both starting taking notice of the huge sacrifice that we were making. And as I have been careful to describe to you, the assumption that is often made (us included) is that our area of Birmingham is a ton better than our new home. We thought to ourselves, "Of course it's a huge sacrifice to give up living and working in that upper middle class area where our families are just down the road along with the huge subdivisions, high quality schools, and 1,000+ member churches that have flourishing student ministries." And then it hit us. As I thought about how different suburban Birmingham is, I thought about how it has to be in the top 1% of nicest areas to live in in the world. In other words, it's the exception, not the norm. And then I thought about the many followers across the world that are giving up their lives and their families (forced separation) to advance the gospel. Some spend years in prison, pastor churches whose buildings are burnt down regularly, or watch as their spouse is killed right before their eyes. That is sacrifice. Giving up living in the top 1% of the world pales in comparison, even if it is where my family lives.
I want to be clear. I am not bashing the place that served as my home for the past 1o years, nor my family who currently lives there. After all, it's located in the most unchurched county in Alabama, and they need Jesus just as much as poor people do. I am merely saying that in the grand scheme of things, our "sacrifice" is small, including living 5 hours away from our friends and families. And we are glad to make it. We love New Orleans. Every bit of it. And we are excited about what God has for us to do here.
Matthew 10:37-40
"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. "
Sunday, July 6, 2008
$40
It's Day 1 in New Orleans. After a restless night's sleep filled with ambulance sirens, honking horns, and blasting radios (all of which are affectionately now known to us as "drive-by's"), We have settled into our living arrangements on the campus of New Orleans Baptist Seminary. Well, it's not quite on the campus. It's on the Seminary-owned property that is across the street. And, I say living arrangements because we are living in the Seminary-owned hotel while we wait for an apartment on campus to become available. Meanwhile, we take comfort in the barbed-wire fence just outside our front door.
Yesterday was a long day. We arrived in NOLA around 3:15pm. The storage unit turned out to be surprisingly small...but with an incredible amount of patience and talent, Kyle and his dad managed to fit all of our belongings into the...closet. Meanwhile, Becca and Kayla found the hotel and checked in...too bad they weren't expecting us. It was also a shock to Bec to discover that the hotel room did not come with any linens...no towels, pillows, sheets...etc. It was quickly decided that a trip to the store was needed, since we do not own king size...anything. Nevertheless, we eventually moved everything to its new home.
Today we did some major shopping to make our hotel room more like home. After a quick lunch, we headed to Bed Bath and Beyond to spend our FAVORITE kind of money...gift cards! We searched the first floor of the two story store (that's right, 2 floors) and could not find the linens that we needed, so we headed to the escalator...wondering how we would get the cart upstairs. Did you know that there are escalators for carts too?? That's right, but the sign is sure to point out that you should take the child out of the cart first...
So we finally found the king size sheets. We found the cheapest set, which also happened to be the ugliest set, grabbed some pillows and a few other items, and headed for the check out line.
The total amount to be spent on linens was $40...much to our disappointment. That, combined with our other purchases, was sure to wipe out the remaining gift card money. However, when we stepped up to the register, the cashier discovered that one of the gift cards had more money on it than we thought. $40 more.
It may not seem like much in the grand scheme of things. But in a time when we keep leaning on God's assurance that we are truly obeying his Will for our lives, it was nice to recognize God's hand in our crazy new life. We had an unanticipated need. And God provided.
God called us to New Orleans. We have no doubt about that. He knows what is in store for us. Tomorrow is a misty road to our eyes. We cannot see past right now. But our Father who knows all things will provide for us according to his grace and mercy. He wants to bring glory to His name through our experiences here. That is why Kyle came up with the idea of this Blog. Through this journal, we can share our joy, laughter, pain, and fear. We can tell everyone who reads this who God is to us and what He is teaching us.
Pray for us as we follow in His steps.
James 4:13-15
"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.' You don't even know what tomorrow will bring--what your life will be. For you are a bit of smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead you should say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'"
Yesterday was a long day. We arrived in NOLA around 3:15pm. The storage unit turned out to be surprisingly small...but with an incredible amount of patience and talent, Kyle and his dad managed to fit all of our belongings into the...closet. Meanwhile, Becca and Kayla found the hotel and checked in...too bad they weren't expecting us. It was also a shock to Bec to discover that the hotel room did not come with any linens...no towels, pillows, sheets...etc. It was quickly decided that a trip to the store was needed, since we do not own king size...anything. Nevertheless, we eventually moved everything to its new home.
Today we did some major shopping to make our hotel room more like home. After a quick lunch, we headed to Bed Bath and Beyond to spend our FAVORITE kind of money...gift cards! We searched the first floor of the two story store (that's right, 2 floors) and could not find the linens that we needed, so we headed to the escalator...wondering how we would get the cart upstairs. Did you know that there are escalators for carts too?? That's right, but the sign is sure to point out that you should take the child out of the cart first...
So we finally found the king size sheets. We found the cheapest set, which also happened to be the ugliest set, grabbed some pillows and a few other items, and headed for the check out line.
The total amount to be spent on linens was $40...much to our disappointment. That, combined with our other purchases, was sure to wipe out the remaining gift card money. However, when we stepped up to the register, the cashier discovered that one of the gift cards had more money on it than we thought. $40 more.
It may not seem like much in the grand scheme of things. But in a time when we keep leaning on God's assurance that we are truly obeying his Will for our lives, it was nice to recognize God's hand in our crazy new life. We had an unanticipated need. And God provided.
God called us to New Orleans. We have no doubt about that. He knows what is in store for us. Tomorrow is a misty road to our eyes. We cannot see past right now. But our Father who knows all things will provide for us according to his grace and mercy. He wants to bring glory to His name through our experiences here. That is why Kyle came up with the idea of this Blog. Through this journal, we can share our joy, laughter, pain, and fear. We can tell everyone who reads this who God is to us and what He is teaching us.
Pray for us as we follow in His steps.
James 4:13-15
"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.' You don't even know what tomorrow will bring--what your life will be. For you are a bit of smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead you should say, 'If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.'"
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