Good old golden rule days...

Tomorrow is the 1st day of school!!!!!!

I always get SO excited about everything- new students, new supplies, new organization ;), etc... I LOVE it! This year I am especially excited because it is the 1st year I've taught the same grade, in the same room, in the same state! I felt like I could really take the time to set up my room the way I want it, and it makes a HUGE difference when you actually know what you're going to need throughout the year.

I've been blessed with excellent assistants each year I've taught, and this year is no exception! I gave her a to-do list today that was forever long, thinking there was no way she could possibly accomplish it all, and within an hour she had about 3/4 of it done. Yes! LOVE you Natalie!!

Here's a few pictures of my room, from start to finish. Of course, it's never REALLY finished, but you get the idea. :)

This is what it looked like when I first walked in...

After a couple days of work....
Almost ready....


Finished and ready for the 1st day of school!

LOVE my little library area!Guided Reading... and supply bins that won't be there past the first couple days :)
Whole group area

Contentment

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." -Hebrews 13:5

Lately, I've really been struggling with being content in my life. I've been thinking about what life will be like when we finish school- we can buy a house, we can settle somewhere, instead of living in transition, Will will be able to start his career, we will be able to take vacations instead of using vacation time to take classes, etc. God has really convicted about my lack of contentment. He has given us this season of life for a reason, and that's all it is, a season that will be gone before we know it. Then, I'll be wishing for things to be like they are now.

One of the things I've really been struggling with lately is that we don't own a home, and the prospects of home ownership really aren't anywhere on the horizon. We have an 800 sq. foot two bedroom apartment. In order to become more content in our present circumstance, I've decided to make a list of things that I am thankful for about our apartment, so here goes:

1. It takes me less than two hours to clean the apartment from top to bottom.
2. I only have to clean 1 toilet!
3. If I use the right outlet, I can plug in the vaccuum cleaner 1 time, and vaccuum the whole apartment.
4. We have a dishwasher (our last apartment did not).
5. We have our own washer and dryer (many apartments don't).
6. We have real carpet, that makes those lines when I vaccuum (our last apt. had this office-style carpeting, and it was brown).
7. Our room is big enough now that our bed does not have to be pushed up against the wall ,and I don't have to climb over Will every time I get in or out of bed (we had a TINY bedroom in our last place!)
8. Our heating and cooling costs are very low.
9. We don't have room to hang on to a lot of junk, and I'm not the kind of person who hangs on to a lot of stuff.
10. Our rent is cheap, which allows both of us to take classes, and still be able to live comfortably!
11. We live right across the street from our church.
12. Our guest room is bigger here than at our last place.
13. Because most of our furniture is hand-me-downs, most of it has a story (this was your grandma's, dad made this, etc.)
14. If I need Will for something, he's never too far away. :)
15. A small apartment means that it didn't cost too much to decorate.
16. The next time we move,we won't have very much stuff to move.
17. We have friendly neighbors.
18. We live in a safe area of town.
19. We are closer to my school than we were before.
20. We have 2 bedrooms. It's nice to be able to have space for Will's office, for guests, and it's nice to know that if we get pregnant again, we'll have room for a baby.
21. We have more closet space here than we did in our last apartment.
22. We have an open floor plan, which makes the apartment seem bigger.
23. Our rooms are square! (again, something you learn to appreciate when you live in a place with weirdly angled rooms).
24. Our guest room is bigger here than the last place.
25. We live in a relatively quiet complex.
26. Our landlords are nice people.
27. We have the opportunity to minister to people outside of the seminary community.
28. We've got this great garden center/ fruit stand across the street that is the ONLY place in Louisville that I've been able to find good peaches. We've missed good peaches.
29. We can see God's hand at work in providing us with this place to live.
30. I was so overwhelmed after the miscarriage (miscarried on Tuesday, moved on Saturday) that I couldn't handle unpacking very many things at all. Thankfully, we didn't have very much to unpack anyway! I love that God takes care of us in the little things as well as the big things.
31. We don't have to do any maintaince, upkeep, or yard work.
32. We will appreciate our own home so much more one day.
33. Everyone should live in a place so that later, they can say, "remember when we lived...."

God has been so good to us. I am thankful for the experiences He is giving us. My prayer is that in my anticipation for the future, I don't miss out on His blessings now. I want to be content in all circumstances.