day 5 A Signature

In His Arms,
Beth



I learned tonight that some of the writers of books in the Bible signed off on their letters at the beginning rather than the end. Now this is not a letter but rather day 5 of my 30 days of writing but I thought having learned this just tonight I would put it into practice. (hence my signature at the top of this entry) It has been a good day ... it started early with friends praying together and actually it ended later again with friends praying together.

In between I did some teaching, playing, sleeping and eating and now I am going to bed for the night ...

day 4 He Cried Loud and Hard

The conversation for this blank page today is ... He cried loud and hard. I could see the bone just below the skin. He was in a lot of pain and it hurt me to see him hurting so much. Just a small 2nd grader. I wanted to cry for him but instead I prayed, held ice on the arm while she put a board under to stabilize the arm. She called 911 and He called his mom. He cried so hard. He was in so much pain. Finally his mom and dad came and the paramedics arrived at the same time. He was taken on the stretcher to the hospital. I headed back to the classroom.

The whole class made cards for him and she called his house to see how he was doing. He had broken his arm and was still at the hospital. She said he would not be coming back to school until next Monday.

We will not forget this day of playing Colors in the Motor Room ... it had painful results ...


Beth

small notebook

What a great name for a blog ... I may change the name of my blog but I am not sure at this point but I do have a new favorite blog I'm reading. I think you will enjoy it too. Check it out at ...


http://smallnotebook.org/blog/

day 3 Simple but Profound

Reading the title of this blog you many think I will write about something simple but profound. You are correct yet I still do not know if what I write will be what you expect. But then who may be reading my blog in expectation. There is something to having people read what you write but there is even a bigger something for me to just write.

As for the simple .... it's the change in the look of my blog. I wanted to create something simple and for this reason I have changed the look. I also wanted to create more read space of what I acutally write ... hence the "wider" new look.

As for profound .... it's the color background. Some people who know me would expect that I might pick blue as that is a favorite color of mine. Or some people who know my new favorite color is black would expect to see black. But that's just a new favorite wardrobe color 'cause so much can go with black and it makes my choice of clothes each day simple. Black shirt, black sweater and blue jeans. (oh how I love that I can wear blue jeans to work) I choose profound purple. I think of purple as being a color of roality ... as purple mountains majesty ... as the color of the sky at early evening.

Simple but Profound ... these are two words that I would use to describe myself!

Simply in His Arms and Profoundly grateful to feel His embrace.

The Heavens Proclaim His Glory Created and Compliled by Lisa Stilwell

After having finished a road trip vacation around some of God's Handiwork I was pleasantly surprised to read and more importantly linger on the pages of this book. There are amazing pictures of creation taken through the Lens of the Hubble Telescope. Not only are the pictures amazing but the selection of words with pictures are well thought out and placed though out the book. There are so many wonderful combinations of words and photos that it is hard to pick favorites. It is profound to think of "more stars in the universe than there are grains of sand on the beaches of the world" as stated by Joni Eareckson Tada. And what beautiful "snapshots reveal dramatic activities within the core of the galaxy NGC 3079."

I would say for me personally the scriptures are descriptive of the photos and the quotes from various Christian authors add to the photos as well. I liked the end of the book where the history of both photos and contributing authors are summarized. This would be a great addition to a family room coffee table and would also make a wonderful gift book for a friend. The Heavens do indeed proclaim His Glory though out the beauty of this book!

Thomas Nelson has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book to review.

day 2 Gratitude September 27

151. grateful to be writing on day 2 of a 30 day journey of writing

152. grateful to be awake and alert this morning after a good nights rest

153. grateful for priorities, disciplines, reading and writing

154. grateful for daytimers, calendars, planners

155. grateful for colored pens

156. grateful for different sizes and shapes of paper

155. grateful for all the "stuff" I have that helps me be creative and write

156. grateful for sleep-overs with grandchildren

157. grateful for pictures of the Tx grandchildren on my fridge

158. grateful for my husband doing the grocery shopping

159. grateful that He created me to write

160. grateful for the Giver of all gifts

30 Days of Writing

I know I have writings to share and at the very least one written thought a day. The trick for me is to be able to get the thought(s)down on the blank page, weather it be on my blog or in my journal. The advice that comes from writer's is to write every day.

Now my daughter has done a number of 30 day journeys. I would love to be motivated to commit to writing for 30 days in a row and see what happens towards my desire to actually write more.

Just for today I am thinking about ...
Deeper is sometimes just better priorities.

This is something a friend of mine said. Today is Sunday and for me it's always a good day to set my weekly intentions and priorities so ............

I desire much different priorities for the week ahead then I had last week. I think just having the desire to put the last week behind me and move forward to the week ahead will be helpful.

write more tomorrow ... day 2
ps today was an amazing day of worship and prayer with HopeWatcher's

What if I were the Teacher?

If I were the teacher when I see the little girl cry during the spelling test I would reassure her, "It's OK, just do your best and I will help with the rest."

If I were the teacher I would say, "I noticed that you walked down the hallway. Way to go!"

If I were the teacher I would say, "It's Ok to not know all the answers, sometimes I don't know all the answers."

If I were the teacher I would say to the other teacher who's comment regarding the student is, "He's so mean!" ... "But we have the opportunity to teach him to be kind."

Thankful that I am the teacher and I am having a daily impact on these lives teaching them, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control along with reading, writing and math.

Gratitude Pages, Monday, September 20

In preparation for next week HopeWatcher's I was struck with this question for the kids ... If given the opportunity to praise God would you praise Him for your clothes or would you praise Him because He is the God who provides? Why?

In Gratitude for who He is today!

129. All Able
130. All Knowing
131. All Sufficient
132. Gentle and Kind
133. My Counselor
134. Compassionate and gracious
135. My Confidence
136. My Precious Father
137. My Giver of life
138. My creator
139. My Giver of every good gift
140. Exalted
141. Everlasting I Am
142. Faithful
143. True
144. Trustworthy
145. My Burden-Bearer
146. My Peace
147. My Portion
148. My Master
149. My Lamp and Light
150. Finally today My Vine and My Abiding Place

Highlight of the First Week of School

I was taking one of my 1st graders to the bathroom this week and he grabed my school name tag (which has my picture on it) and he said, "Is that you"? I replied, "yes." and He asked me firmly, "Well what grade are you in?" To which I replied, "Well I am in 1st grade, remmeber I am in your classroom." He looked up and smiled at me, quite pleased that we were in the same grade.