Happy 2015 to everyone! One of my
New Year’s Resolutions this year is to do a better job keeping up with Favorite Things Fridays and the blog in
general. I’ve had a really hard time keeping up with the blog since September
when I had to start teaching again, and I really don’t want that to be the case
starting NOW.
Quite honestly, this school year has
been incredibly tough. It’s become increasingly difficult to teach for several
years now and for many different reasons. Some people are natural-born teachers
and some are not, and one thing I’ve discovered about myself over the past ten
years of teaching is that I am not a natural teacher. In fact, often I find it
quite painful and the difficulty of the job has taken over a large portion of
my life making it hard to put a lot of energy into other areas. So that is one
resolution for this new year. Put more time into my marriage, my home, and the
important things in life.
2014 carried many blessings
and good things such as the publication of Song
from the Ashes, and the opportunity to make new friendships through writers’
associations and online networking. For these things I am very thankful. I’m
also thankful for my eighty-six-year-old grandmother’s recovery from pneumonia
and a weakened heart condition. Just a few weeks ago she was in the ICU,
and last week I was able to visit her in the
comfort of my dad’s home where she looked as beautiful as ever.
My
husband and I are truly blessed to have wonderful families. My grandfather and father-in-law
both had ninetieth birthday parties this year, and Stephen and I are close with
both our families and love spending time with them. I think that’s the most
important lesson I’ve learned this year: family is king. I know a lot of people
have major drama, hardships, and heartbreaks with their families, and it’s not
always a pleasant experience for people. For us, we love time with both families and we’ve begun to realize that we need to be closer to them. Both sets
of parents and all family members live in the South Carolina/North Carolina/East
Tennessee area, and it’s becoming difficult to be the only ones up here in the rat race
of Northern Virginia.
So
for 2015 we are praying for positive change and whatever opportunities the Good
Lord may bring our way. Ultimately, it’s all in His hands, and we trust and
believe in his sovereign plans and provisions.
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11
Thank you for always being so positive. I hope that you can keep up with your Favorite Things Friday blog too. I also think that natural teachers can find teaching painfully difficult sometimes, many times, or all the time. Your students for the last decade, your students this year, and students you may have in the future are lucky to have such a committed and knowledgeable teacher who they can call a role model.
ReplyDeleteI hope I'm not reading too much into the part about being closer to family. I don't want you to move away. I still want you to work at Gatehouse with me someday.
Awwww...thanks, Bryan! I'm still up for working at Gatehouse!!
DeleteSo sweet with your grandmother, I am glad she is doing better health wise. So true about family. So true too about God. Wishing you a joyful new year.
ReplyDeleteBetty
Thank you, Betty! I hope all is well with you too!
DeleteTeaching is never an easy job. I work every day with truly gifted teachers - far more so than I - and it's tough for them, too. I'm not sure anyone outside the profession truly appreciates that, apart from maybe the poor souls who were crazy enough to marry us.
ReplyDeleteLooks like you got some great family time over the holidays - a great way to start off a new year.
You're so right. I think the spouses get it...and they suffer too. Thank you and happy 2015! Looking forward to great cephalopod conversations in 2015!!
DeleteI continue to pray for you - that you'll get through this tough school year and that it will be your last year teaching there! I pray you and Stephen will be able to move soon and get out of that rat race. (I regret many things in my life, but moving from NOVA is not one of them!) I enjoy finding out things going on with your life through your blog. But if it becomes just too hard to keep up with it - then perhaps this is not the season in your life for it. See where God leads you in it. So fun seeing your dogs in that last picture!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa! We appreciate and covet your prayers.
DeleteHappy New Year! It's a blessing that you realize what a blessing your family is to you while they are still here. Too many people don't appreciate them until it's too late.
ReplyDeleteI don't make resolutions, but I DO resolve to read your book this year.
Thanks, Susan. I rarely make resolutions as they're so hard to keep! Happy new year to you!
DeleteNinetieth birthday parties? WOW! I can see what you mean about teaching. It's a very difficult job and the pay is not nearly high enough. I do wonder if all teachers have that feeling of doubt? The teachers I see posting on Facebook seem to grapple with job issues almost constantly.
ReplyDelete