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;)

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!!

"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.

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.

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.

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 :)

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.