Lesson(s) Learned

Candid Camera. Please tell me you've seen that show. (You know, the one where "unsuspecting people are placed in confusing, impossible, embarrassing, ridiculous, and hilarious circumstances, while their reactions are recorded on a hidden camera.") It's right up there with "America's Funniest Home Videos." Just the right amount of silly/goofy humor to occupy your mind when you're bored and have absolutely nothing productive to do.  Don't give me that look. You know you're just as guilty as I am of watching episodes of one or both of these shows. And - just maybe - laughed a bit at them.  In the show Candid Camera, after an allotted time has passed, someone calls out, "Smile! You're on Candid Camera!" And naturally, the crowd laughs. That's to be expected. They were in on something the "suspect" wasn't. They had information the "suspect" didn't. They had no surprises. They knew exactly w...

Change  Have you ever gotten to a point in your life where you reckoned your plans with reality and said to yourself (maybe even audibly), "No, no, no! It wasn't supposed to happen this way"? I know I have.  Often.  Recently, even. I've heard it said, "The only thing constant in life is change." And boy-oh-boy is that true in my life these days. Change is all around me. Change is in my family. My dad now "works from home," sometimes. My mom is in the midst of "remodeling" our home. My oldest brother is now engaged. Another brother has twin baby boys! Another brother is pretty much traveling the nation this summer with his job. My sister seemingly gets promoted in the corporate world on a quarterly basis. And I just moved from Lynchburg, VA to Jacksonville, FL on a faith decision that God was going to work out the details of my life for His glory (job, housing, etc.) with no sight of what was and is to...

I never venture into writing poetry (simply because I'm bad at it); however, I just felt a little expressive tonight. This week has brought with it a lot of work, emotions, and plain-out exhaustion. I'm just so very thankful that I serve a God who sustains me through it all! So, without further adieu, I give you…. Rosemary's first (and final) attempt at poetry: To whom it may concern: Most things are better left unbroken, Most words better left unsaid. Most wishes left unspoken; off-course dreams, slain and dead. Some days come without sunshine, giving way to pouring rain. There is no success without trying; no love without the pain. What happens when you're intersected with pain that helps you grow? Blind-sighted by the change it's bringing; the hurting is all you know. Half-hearted commitments, relationships gone a-wry. Does the outcome really matter, or is the significance in the "try"? Remember ...

Broken Pencils, Boys, and Dating So it all started a day this past week when I was cleaning out my classroom to pack up and move all my teacher junk to Florida…. and I found a broken pencil on the floor.  then, another.  and yet, another.  Soon, I had a collection of broken pencils in my left hand and some building frustrations in my right mind. "Why so frustrated?" you may ask.  Because the pencils in my hands weren't just any regular broken pencils, broken by natural causes (i.e. the lead had broken off the tops).  No, it looked like they all had been karate-chopped directly down the middle of them for apparently no reason at all. Plus, someone had to pay a ridiculous price for all those brand-new pencils. (I did.) And someone had to clean up those pencils' pieces when they were broken and scattered all over the live-long day. (I did.) And, besides, shouldn't someone be teaching these kids the value of a dollar?? (Ohhhh, believe me, a...

People Pleasing Gone Wild It's true. Most of the time, I'm what you might label a "people pleaser." I like people to be happy with me, and I struggle when people aren't.  Looking back over my life (all 26 years of it), I've noticed that some key decisions I've made were to please people that were instrumental in my life at that time, while other decisions I've made have been based on what I thought the right thing to do was. Because of that, I ended up having to live through various interpersonal issues that arose as a result of people being not being splendidly happy with me. (Not exactly a walk in the park with a snow cone on the fourth of July.) Recently and not-so-recently over the last three years or so, I have wrestled with the idea to move back to Jacksonville or to stay in Lynchburg and teach. The last couple of years, my mind was pre-occupied with this minor hobby of mine called GRAD SCHOOL. But this year, now that grad school i...

The Problem With Us I'll be the first to admit that I have an overactive imagination. I tend to over-symbolize the everyday happenings of life and oftentimes make them out to be far-reaching spiritual lessons. When, in reality, to everyone else, they're just everyday happenings of life. Allow me to explain. Take today for instance. My kids (students) this year have helped me design this little game that enables them to learn vast portions of their Bible memory verses with relative ease. Not to mention they have FUN whilst doing it. "How exactly is this accomplished?" you may (or may not) be asking. Well, it's simple. I either handwrite or type the verses, word for word, on the dry erase board or the SmartBoard. We all say the verses together as a class, then students come up - a handful at a time - and begin erasing off words of their choice. Then, we pause and recite the verse together again. We proceed through this same routine until everyone in the class ha...

I had some random thoughts today. The theme of my thoughts? Hope. But not just any flat-out-boring-sized human hope will do. As in, "I hope it doesn't rain today."  or "The only thing I can do is hope and pray for the best." or "I hope to make a difference in the lives of others." or "I hope for world peace." Blah, blah, bland. These kinds of statements don't necessarily focus on hope, hopefulness, or the hope that is to come in the situations aforementioned. Rather, they disgustingly focus on the hopelessness within the situation(s) at hand, put 'prayer' as a last resort, and depict 'hope' as a destination that may or may not be attainable on this train-ride-go-around of life. And, let me tell you people, that kind of hope simply won't do. Which is why I'm not referring to that kind of hope…. I'm referring to something more. A much greater Hope altogether. In Goof Troop The Movie, dad and son are pictur...