What's Up Wednesday

  Happy Wednesday, Y'all

Today, I'm joining Shay and Sheaffer for the first What's Up Wednesday link-up of 2024. Can y'all believe that today is the last day of January? Wasn't it just New Year's Day?! 

Every 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 pot of chili on Monday. Oh my word, y'all... It was so good! And it might not have been cold outside (quite the opposite, in fact). But I totally bottomed out my AC that evening and pretended like it was winter inside. Whatever it takes. Right? Ha! :) 

What am I reminiscing about?

Our current senior class as students over the years... Because I taught some of these kids back when I was an elementary teacher (1st, 4th, and 5th grades) and then a few since becoming a special ed teacher (which started when this class started 6th grade), not to mention all the class sponsoring and other stuff I've done with them... I recognize the gift/privilege it has been to have all these years with them, and it's one I don't take lightly. I love that I've had this sort of front row seat perspective of seeing them learn and grow over the years. And while I know I'll be crying all sorts of happy/proud tears on their graduation night in June, I really can't wait! What an awesome group of people they are!

 What am I loving?

One night, as I was praying about a situation I'd recently experienced, the Lord laid Lamentations 3:22-23 on my heart... 

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning...

Anywho - As I read this verse, I thought about my view as I walk across campus each morning, on my way from my apartment to my classroom. I love this view of the beautiful sky/beginnings of the sunrise peeking behind the trees and buildings. So I made it my mission to stop each morning and take a quick picture of the sky. By doing this, it has allowed me to force myself to stop, take a breath, and thank God for his incredible mercies and to thank him that even if something bad happened the day before, it's okay. His love and mercy never ends. It's new every single morning. And that is such an incredible gift!

What have I been up to?

Some friends and I went grocery shopping the other day. And while I was sitting in the car waiting on them to finish up in one store, I had to laugh. Here I am sitting on the side of the road and when I look up, I see a bunch of goats walking towards me. This one just stopped and stared at me. It's such a natural sight here, so I shouldn't let it surprise me. But for some reason, it still does all these years later :)

What am I dreading?

Pretty much anytime I have to go outside... The dust has been so awful lately. I feel like the minute I go outside, I instantly feel choked up. It's just so heavy in the air, turning the air almost orange/tan. In fact, most of the weather apps have put out warnings a lot lately about the quality of the air, due to all the dust. It's always bad this time of year. But I feel like it's worse for some reason this year...

What am I working on?

Trying to not get sick... Ah, one of the joys of working in a school. Kids are the best at sharing germs with one another. And it seems like there's always something going around. Here's hoping it stays far far away :)

 What am I excited about?

One of the perks of teaching for as long as I have is getting to see students come back and visit along the way. When a former elementary student reached out, saying his school was visiting our city for an event, asking if I could potentially meet up, of course I jumped at the chance. And I'm taking a few of his former classmates with me as well. We say that our school is sometimes like a revolving door. Kids are always coming and going. So it's rare they're around for long periods of time. That's what makes this meet-up happening tonight such an exciting one for me. My teacher heart is excited today. That's for sure :)

What am I watching?

I watched "A Man Called Otto" on the plane on my way back to Senegal. Y'all... I was literally crying at the end (and at multiple other points during the movie too). I know I'm late watching it. But still... It was such a good movie that had me on the edge of my seat the whole time.

What am I reading?

I'm reading through the book of Philemon with one of my classes, as we put into practice some of the lessons we're learning on the spiritual discipline of Bible studying. We're using Philemon, since it's one of the shorter books of the Bible and we're therefore able to read and reread it multiple times, gaining all sorts of wisdom from it as we go. I love exploring, with my students, all the lessons God has for us through the reading, studying, and application of His Word!

What am I listening to?

While in the States and listening to the radio one day in the car, I heard the song "Brighter Days" by Blessing Offor. I love the music by itself, even without the lyrics, but I did, definitely, like/appreciate the words as well. I wasn't having the best day the first time that I heard it. I was feeling quite down, in fact, worrying about something and dwelling on the unknowns and bemoaning all of that to my mom. Then a few minutes later, this song came on the radio and it really made me stop and adjust my thinking that day...

What am I wearing?

Nothing exciting... It seems like the coolness didn't really last too long. So unfortunately, I'm back to wearing things that are lightweight and cool again. Here's hoping by next month, I'll be able to answer this question a bit differently... What do y'all think? :)

 What am I doing this weekend?

Since I'm a (co) sponsor for our senior girls Small Group, that means this weekend, I'll be hanging out with 100+ high schoolers and some of my co-workers, at our High School Youth Group Retreat. I am looking forward to spending this time with the majority of our high schoolers. And I'm praying this weekend is a good time for them to continue drawing closer to the Lord.

What am I looking forward to next month?

We'll be planning our last big fundraiser for our senior class (insert break to cry a little here), which will be happening on the 1st of March. But all the work will be happening next month... So that's the biggest thing. Then there's a few fun things I have planned for the classes I teach. Plus Valentines Day is next month. And while I could live my life without the holiday, personally, I do like it as a teacher. I'm a big fan of finding ways to treat my students :)

Favorite recent Amazon find?

I ordered a few accessories to go with a "costume" idea I had for the fundraiser I was just talking about. And by costume, I mean, something to go with the t-shirt and jeans I'll be wearing. That way I can fit in with the theme but still be comfy, since I'll be working during the event, itself. But since the theme hasn't actually been announced yet, I won't share what I bought just yet... But I still am pretty happy about what I bought. :)

What's new this month?

Not a lot, other than things I've already mentioned in this post... Just living this life God's called me to live :)

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

What about you?

What are YOU up to this month? 

My Word for 2024

 Happy New Year (plus a few days) from Senegal!

A few years ago, in place of the more traditional New Year's Resolutions, I decided to start choosing a word (or words) for the upcoming year. Words that would guide my thoughts and actions throughout the year... Words I could focus on as I moved throughout the year ahead. 

In 2017, I chose the words joy, move, write, read, and rest.

In 2018, I chose the word growth.

In 2019, I chose the words grace and rest.

In 2020, I chose the word care.

And then in 2021, I chose the word grace (again).

And then I don't know what happened the last two years. I guess I didn't blog about them. However, I did still choose words for both years... In 2022, I chose the words "be still" and in 2023, I chose the word "faithful."

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

A few weeks ago, I began praying about what word/words I would choose for the upcoming year. And one word kept coming to mind...

Choice

It made me think of a quote from Thomas Guthrie, that I'd saved from Instagram a month or so ago, which said...

"If you find yourself loving any pleasure more than your prayers

Any book better than the Bible

Any house better than the house of the Lord

Any table better than the Lord's table

Any persons better than Christ

Or any indulgence better than the hope of Heaven

Be alarmed."

That quote had definitely stuck with me.

I read my Bible every day. But how often do I find myself mindlessly scrolling through social media or watching some funny TV show, saying I'm too tired to read/study and that I'll fall asleep if I read?

How often do I feel frustrated about a situation and want to vent to a friend instead of first (or at all) spending time in prayer about the situation? 

How often do I take a more negative/pessimistic view in life?

I could continue, but you get the idea.

While I'm a bit ashamed to admit the above, I still wanted to share. Perhaps in the spirit of honesty and vulnerability and maybe some accountability too... 

Yes, I'm a Christian.

Yes, I'm in ministry. 

But I'm also human and (obviously) not perfect. 

So, all that to say...

This year, my word for the year is 

CHOICE.

I'm going to work harder at making the right choices.

The choice to spend time reading/studying my Bible MORE than reading other books or mindlessly scrolling through social media or watching a TV show

The choice to spend time in prayer FIRST before venting to, or asking advice from, others about any situation that may arise.

The choice to look for the positives MORE than the negatives.

The choice to eat healthier and NOT settle for junk as much. And along those lines, the choice to do more prep work ahead of time for meals AND snacks. That way I'll know that I have good, filling, healthy options available. Will I still have snacks and eat junk food or order a pizza every now and then? Of course. BUT I know me. When I plan ahead, I do so much better.

The choice to spend my time doing more things that fill me up and bring me JOY. 

The choice to say NO when I need to and actually be okay with that. As much as I'd like to think otherwise, I tend to be a people pleaser. And part of that involves saying "yes" to all the things, even when I really really don't want to do all the things. So I'm going to do a better job of choosing what I say yes (or no) to. And I'm going to remind myself that it's okay to say no every now and then.

The choice to be happy with myself and who I am.

I realize that last one semi-contradicts a lot that I've said earlier in this post. But hear me out... I tend to be quite negative about myself (in many areas), often comparing myself to others or letting others' opinions of me affect how I view/look at/think about myself. But I'm going to make a more conscientious effort to CHOOSE to look at the positives of me. I'm happy with this life God's given me. I'm happy with who I am. And that's important.

And now, if you've made it this far and read my ramblings, I'd like to say thank you. I started this blog 14.5 years ago, as a way to keep family and friends back home updated when I moved overseas. These days, I don't write nearly as much as I used to. It's basically been morphed into a journal of sorts, where I share random info about my life at the moment. But I keep writing/posting because I enjoy it.

Happy 2024 Everybody!

What new/positive choices will you be making this year?

Currently

   Happy Friday, Y'all

I'm joining Jennifer from Overflowing with Thankfulness, along with a few other bloggers, and sharing a look at what's currently going on in my life. The prompts for this month are:

* loving * looking forward to * resolving * doing to stay cozy this month * cooking *

I'm currently loving this picture that I took while flying back to Dakar yesterday. I've always loved looking up (or down when in a plane, of course) at the clouds. It just makes me marvel at how beautiful/cool God's creation truly is. 

I'm currently looking forward to school starting back on Monday. Don't get me wrong... I loved my Christmas Break. It was amazing! But, I do so much better when I have a routine in place, so that part will definitely be nice. And I love being with my students. So I'm excited to have them back in my classroom again too. It'll be great to see them again, hear about their breaks, and to be working with each of them for another semester.

I'm currently resolving to make better/different choices in a lot of areas of my life. I'll write more on this later. But I decided that my word for the year is going to be choice. And it all (well, mostly) started with this quote that a friend shared on Instagram a few months ago...

I'm currently doing a little to stay cozy this month. It's definitely not winter here in Senegal. The temp here is about 30-40 degrees warmer than the temp was in Alabama when I left the other day. So there won't likely be any cozying up under a blanket happening here. But, I am planning to cozy up in my comfiest chair to work on my Bible studying and journaling later this afternoon/evening. 

I'm currently cooking nothing big. I brought a Korean BBQ flavored ramen cup with me from the States and brought it today to eat for my lunch while working in my classroom. I'll go heat it up for a late lunch in a little while. And then I'm thinking that for dinner, I'll probably just make a cheese quesadilla to go with some salsa I forgot I had in my fridge that is still, thankfully, good. Easy peasy.

And since it's my blog and I can, I'm including a few more currentlys in this month's post :)

I'm currently feeling grateful for the time I had with my family during my trip to the States. I do so love spending time with these people!

And speaking of that trip, I'm currently also feeling grateful that I had such a  smooth trip, with no major delays and that all of my bags arrived with me. Often, neither of those two factors happen. So I'm always especially grateful when they do.

I'm currently reflecting on these verses from Isaiah 51. A friend shared the following on her Instagram this morning and it got me thinking too... What a great reminder for us all!

And that’s about it for me.

What  about you?

What are you currently up to?