Hello Monday

      Happy Monday

Today I'm joining Holly and Sarah, and a few other bloggers, for today's Hello Monday link-up, where we say Hello to Monday with a look at what's going on in our lives at the moment.

 So what's on my mind?

A lot. But 'tis the norm with me, I suppose.

Things like...

Morning Views - I’m still loving them :)

Pete the Cat - I think I’ve mentioned it on here before but if not… My people are obsessed with Pete the Cat. We have story time during lunch and snack (in our classroom) each day, and 9 times out of 10, their first choice is going to be Pete the Cat. Anywho - I got the idea for a new behavior/reward tracker the other day using Pete the Cat and I prepped it over the weekend. Once Pete gets his 4 groovy buttons velcroed onto his shirt, they get a little prize. 

Being the Newbie - It’s hard. What’s even harder is knowing you have 14 1/2 years of teaching experience but since things are done wayyyyy different here, you’re left feeling like a definite newbie most of the time. Either that or stressed and feeling like your brain is swimming due to information overload. Or maybe feeling all of the above…

Stress Reliever - I’ve found a new stress reliever though. The friend I’m staying with has a couple dogs, one of which loves to be petted and typically tends to get as close to me as possible most of the time. So I guess it’s a win win. He gets the attention he wants and I get the stress relief from petting him. Ha! :)

Sunshine - I got this sticker at Walmart a week or so ago and I love it. It’s such a good reminder to look ahead at the good that’s coming… 

Sweetness - I received the sweetness below in an email from one of my former students from the school in Dakar. Bless his sweet heart… Neither his mom nor I knew that he knew how to even share a Bible verse from his audio Bible app, but apparently he figured it out. The part that made me cry was him telling me he would be praying for me :)

Missing the Beach - I’m missing the beach. It’s funny. I could live my live without having to even sit in the sand. But there’s just something relaxing about sitting close enough to see and hear the waves crashing. I love it! In Dakar, I could easily go to a restaurant on the water often and enjoy a meal while being so close to the water. Ironically, I now live close to water again (not quite as close as I was in Dakar, but still). However, I haven’t been yet. Hopefully I’ll be able to remedy that soon though. 

Renewal - Yesterday morning in church, the pastor said something that stuck with me. He was talking about how revival - true revival - starts in us. But before that revival can come, we need to be renewed… When he had this definition of “renewal” pop up on the screen, I felt like he was talking directly to me. It’s no secret that my move from Senegal and my close to 15 years of life/ministry there back to America has been difficult. I was burnout for sure when I left. I was hurt by how things ended with my mission. I was heartbroken at leaving my students, good friends, a place I loved, my home, and the life I’d known for so long. I felt like I’d lost my sense of purpose and identity and I just felt utterly and completely worn out and broken down. While I’d like to say things are 100% better, I can’t. I’m still struggling/dealing with a lot of that. But slowly, I’m getting better… And I know God’s working on/in me. Anywho - It was just such a sweet reminder that God will provide the renewal (and the revival too) that I so desperately need :)

And that’s about it for my scattered brain today. 

What about you?

 What’s on your mind today?