If you're a bird, I'm a bird

It's weird. We were at school on that Tuesday (October 4) and I told my students that we were having Wacky Wednesday the next day and I was bringing a jar of pickles for all the students that had great behavior that day. I'm sure they had forgotten, but I didn't forget. I picked up a jar of pickles at Piggly Wiggly to take to school. After school that Tuesday I was conferencing with our reading instructional coach when our administrator came on the intercom to tell us we didn't have school for the next three days. She and I discussed when we would evacuate because our husbands probably still had to work. My teammate brought me some papers to hand out as I was packing my bags. I left them lying on the table and said, "If the wind doesn't blow them away, then they will be sitting there when I get back." The rest of my team was like, "I don't know what to do. I feel scattered. Should I start planning for next week or just go ahead and leave?" ...

In 2007, I moved to Athens, Ga alone. I had survived a break-up 10 months earlier. I graduated from graduate school with a Masters in Elementary Education and took a job at a Title 1 poverty school in Athens, Ga as a 4th grade teacher. I had taught 3 years prior in private schools and had been a substitute in public schools. I had been making $18,000 a year and now I was making $40,000 a year, just like that.  I moved to a new city, had my own 1200 sq ft 2-bedroom apartment for $725/month. It was a pretty amazing, spacious place. My first year teaching in the public school was rough. I did plug into a church, Rock Church, right away. It was a small, spirit-filled non-denominational body. There were quite a few people my age and I was on the dance team. We did stuff outside of Sunday church too. I was still an avid runner, which I used as therapy after the intense break-up.  I asked a friend in Bluffton, SC if there were any single guys at her church, Lowcountry Community C...

The women’s director at church asked me to give a missionary update last night at the Women’s Ministry meeting. She forgot that she had also asked someone else to give some statistics about unreached people groups and the amount of money given to the unreached (meaning having never heard the Gospel before). Needless to say, I told the other woman to share her data with the group. By the way, for every $100,000 people make, $1 is given to the unreached… Speechless. Let’s just say the room was quiet. I still feel like I need to say what I feel God laid on my heart. I’m better at typing anyways so I will write this blog and share it. Hopefully, it will make more of an impact this way.  So I am going to start off by saying that my Bachelor’s degree is in Church Ministries/Missions. I went to Southeastern College AKA Southeastern University 1999-2001. I took courses mostly with guys who wanted to be pastors or youth pastors and a few other females who wanted to be missionaries....

I had professional development yesterday at May River High. For my lunch break, Joseph met me outside so we could eat the lunches we packed.   While I was waiting on the sidewalk for Joseph to arrive, a man approached me slowly saying, "Heeeeyyyy."   I just looked at him because I was trying to figure out if I knew him.   S: What do you teach?   M: 4th grade S: Wow! I could have sworn you were an art teacher. We need more teachers like you. Looks can be deceiving (looking down at his preppy clothes), but I am an art teacher.   M: (laughing) I guess I kind of look like one, but l'm not. S: Right on! Where are you from?   M: Beaufort. S: Wow, Beaufort doesn't have enough people like you.   S: Well, hey, I'm Scott (shaking my hand). Where do you teach? M: Whale Branch S: Whale Branch... M: Elementary S: That's right, 4th grade. S: I'm going to assume you didn't vote for Trump. M: Okay S: Alright, right on, it was ...

I am just so excited about some events coming up. Too many to put in a Facebook post. This next week at school is a big event. Our students have to complete a MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) test. They are supposed to take it 3 times a year, fall, winter, and spring, but 3rd and 4th graders are only going to take it twice now. They need to show a year's worth of growth from winter to winter now. My students test this week. I had one test early last week and she showed 12-point growth. I'm testing in small groups at my kidney-shaped table. They will have their privacy dividers so they aren't distracted by the person next to them. They will test on their district issued iPads. I have mints to keep their minds fresh and alert. I will have sharpened pencils and scratch paper. They can go to the restroom when they need to and the room will be a comfortable temperature. I'm bringing in ear muffs from home to muffle sounds in the room. I'm just so excited to see ho...

My husband and I were invited to join our church's missions small group for a potluck dinner and movie last Wednesday night. We took seasoned lima beans and rolls. There was other good food there like ham, squash casserole, sweet potato casserole, and a Filipino dish. The food was really delicious and I felt very comfortable in a home I had never been to. There were kids playing in another room, but we decided to get a baby sitter for 3 hours so we could watch the movie without interruptions. I spoke to people I do not normally speak to at church. It was such a peaceful environment and a pleasant evening away from home. So the movie that was being played on the home entertainment center was Insanity of God. I had not heard of the book or movie prior to this night. Most everyone had read the book or watched the documentary already. It was all new to me. The movie contained many testimonies of believers persecuted around the world. When a story about China came on, I perked up...

This is a blog post that has been burning inside. I do not know how else to get it out besides making a post. “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.” ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭68:5-6‬ ‭NIV‬‬ Several months ago, around June, I saw a post on facebook from Focus on the Family sharing information about Wait No More . I clicked on it and it led me to another website DSS: Heart Gallery-South Carolina where there are foster children available for adoption. There were pictures of children, a bio, and a short video. I scrolled through the gallery pictures. One stood out to me the most. A 15-year-old boy in South Carolina. Immediately, I felt a connection to him. For some reason, I felt drawn to the process of adopting a teenager, local through foster care. My thoughts, they are older, they may be out of hope thinking they’re least likely...