What's Up April

        Happy Sunday, Y'all

Today, I'm joining Shay and Sheaffer for their What's Up Wednesday link-up. However, I'm just a few days late. Chalk it up to a busy few weeks. But thankfully, this weekend has been a slow one for me. So I'm finally getting around to posting...

Anywho... On with the post. Each month we answer the same list of questions based on how things are currently going in our lives.

So let's get started...

What am I eating?

I made a BLT the other night. That’s my ultimate comfort food and it totally reminds me of home anytime I have one. Plus, it’s super tasty. Yum!

What am I reminiscing about?

I've been thinking a lot about my dad lately. The anniversary of his death was 2 weeks ago. And his birthday would've been the day after that. And his and my mom's anniversary was last week. As I said in my post 2 weeks ago, this year has been a lot harder for some reason. Honestly, I think it's because this school year has been so much more difficult and those are usually the times when I would have most likely gone to him more for prayer and advice. And I just so miss having the ability to actually do that... 

 What am I loving?

I love working with the juniors as part of my class co-sponsoring duties. This class has always held my heart. I taught one of them in 1st grade and then more in 4th and 5th grade. Then once I shifted to my new position, when this class was in 6th grade, I began helping/teaching others of them along the way. And since they've started high school, I've been able to get to know so many more of them while working with them on various events, especially this year, when it's their busiest fundraising year. So yeah... I've just been thinking lately about what a gift this groups of kids truly has been.

What have I been up to?

Teaching, and all the things that go into doing this job God has called me to do. I have little time for anything else these days. But thankfully, I love what I do. 

What am I dreading?

Nothing at the moment...

What am I working on?

Accepting the truth mentioned in the image below.

 What am I excited about?

I actually had a completely free weekend this weekend. And I honestly cannot remember the last time that happened. Yay for “unplugging” and catching up on some definite much needed rest! I've literally spent the last two days doing just that. And while as a result, I might have to spend most of today lesson planning and prepping for the week ahead, I must admit that it was worth it to catch up on that rest that my body and mind desperately needed.

What am I reading?

I’ve been reading in Ephesians lately during my personal Bible study time…

What am I listening to?

The silence at the end of the day has been kind of nice. I must say ;)

What am I wearing?

A few days ago, one of my students asked me why I was wearing old lady sunglasses. So my question was/is... When did tie-dye become something only old people wore? These kids make me laugh. Ha! :)

 What am I doing this weekend?

Y'all... I actually had (have) a weekend off. And it's a long weekend, at that, since there's no school on Monday (today)! I haven't had a full weekend off in I don't know how long. I had originally thought I might try to hang out with a friend or something like that. But honestly... I'm so tired from work. I really thought that I just wanted to stay home all weekend and catch up on sleep, work on some Bible journaling, and do as little else as possible. And it's been glorious.

What am I looking forward to next month?

We'll be wrapping up the end of the school year. So there's a lot going on with that. Honestly, I can't say there's anything in particular that I'm looking forward to. But I suppose I could say, we're just a bit closer to summer... So maybe that is what I'm looking forward to. After all, that is a pretty nice thought :)

Favorite recent Amazon find?

I ordered a few new e-books off Amazon recently, thanks to the remnants of a gift card and Amazon's "book deals" section. I'm looking forward to starting to tackle those soon.

What's new this month?

Nothing much...

And that's what I'm up to this month.

What about you?

What are YOU up to this month?

8 Years

 On this day, 8 years ago, my dad passed away.

It was the day before my dad’s 56th birthday.

And only 9 days before my parents' 31st anniversary.

8 years ago, my heart was broken worse than ever before. And you know... Some days, it feels just like yesterday while other days it feels like it's been an eternity. 

This year, it's been much harder. And I can't figure out why. I just find myself grieving stronger than in years past. And that's hard. So hard.

I wish, more than anything, that I could call my dad and ask him for advice about various situations, to ask for help with finding a Bible passage to help me with whatever issue I'm facing, or even more than that, that I could call and ask him to pray for me. Because I knew I could always count on him to do all of those things. He'd drop whatever he was doing to help me with that. And I miss that.

And while I had a few months shy of 30 years with my dad, I'm secretly (or not so secretly annoyed that that was all I got. And sometimes, I truly wonder why... I wonder why he had to pass away so young. I wonder why our family had to deal with this huge loss. I wonder why, if I ever get married or have children, he'll never get to meet them. I wonder why my mom has to be a widow. I wonder why my nieces will only have just a few memories of my dad - a man who absolutely, positively loved being a Pawpaw to those girls - who's life goal was to be a grandparent ;)

And then, I think about what I did/do have. I'm thankful for a Christian heritage he continued with our family. I'm thankful for the love of learning he passed down. 

I'm thankful for 29.5 years worth of happy memories.

I'm thankful, that even though, I'll never get to experience having him at my own possible wedding or births of possible future children, I got to see the immense joy/pride/love he showed on the day of my brother and sister-in-law's wedding and of all the time he joyfully spent with my beautiful nieces.

I'm thankful for so much.

And yes, I do still miss him terribly. 

But, I can smile, thinking of him hanging out with Jesus and talking to all the people from the Bible whom he loved to read/study/preach about for all those years. What a fun time that must be!Because you see... My dad loved the Lord with all his heart. And he loved sharing about the Lord with anyone who would listen. In fact, my dad preached his last sermon from his hospital bed exactly one week before he passed away. Using Romans 8:18 as his primary verse, he reminded us that, though we may experience suffering and pain here on earth, we can trust in the hope of our Savior. We can trust in the knowledge that if we are saved, we will experience that glory that is beyond compare.  And now, today, I am so incredibly thankful that his words are permanently etched into my memory. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I've written memories-filled posts every year on the anniversary of his death, which can be found below. While still sad, it's nice for me to be able to look back and remember how God's been with me through the past years' anniversaries...

1 year

2 years

3 years

4 years

5 years

6 years

7 years