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I heard a talk tonight largely about the influence that we have on people simply through the way we conduct ourselves in daily interactions. That kind of went along with some other things I had been thinking about.
Last year, I think, about this time I heard a lesson about being a Barnabas. Unfortunately, being an encourager isn't always an easy thing to do. And I think it just comes more naturally for some people than others. But for everyone to some extent, it means really getting out of our comfort zone and saying or doing things that don't always come easily.
Criticizing on the other hand seems to come pretty easily, for me at least. But God calls us to be people who build up, not tear down. Someone once pointed out to me in Colossians 3, as it's talking about putting to death the old man and all his characteristics and putting on the new man...it's not enough to just clean out the fleshly traits; we have to replace them with something. If we just leave that space empty in our hearts, those things will continue to creep back in. We have to fill that space with godliness so that there is no room left for the undesirable.
Soooo, maybe the more effort I put into saying and doing encouraging things, the less room I will have for criticism. Hmmm. I guess you could say that's my big resolution for the year.
I go back to work tomorrow. Made it through my first semester in a school; now I can start looking forward to summer. Overall, working for the school system has been a good experience. I got to enjoy a long break at Christmas in Tampa visiting my sister, brother-in-law, and grandparents. And that's my life update. |
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I don't think I have said anything on here yet. But I have left my job in Cullman, where I've been for the past two years. And starting tommorrow, I officially start working for Jefferson County schools. I haven't had any school experience in the field of speech therapy; so it's time to get some along with saving a lot of time and gas money by working much closer to home.
I'm a little nervous, as the world of school requirements and IEPs are still pretty unfamiliar to me. But I'm excited about the change too. I'll be working 3 days a week at a K-2 elementary school and 2 days/week at a school for children ages 3-21 with severe disabilities or multi-handicaps.
I can't believe school is starting for the kids on Thursday; summer has flown by. But there are good things about fall - football season is coming. Hopefully I can go to a good Auburn game this year. Unfortunately, last year the only game I went to was the Georgia game, and it was a very sad day in the rain.
I have had all kinds of crazy information thrown at me in the past few days. By joining a union for liability insurance purposes, I also get a free life insurance policy. It will award up to 150,000 to your family, but as little as 1,000 - it depends on how you die!? So I was asking one of the ladies to explain it to me, and she said, "Well, I know that last year we had a teacher killed in her classroom, and her family received the full 150,000." Is that supposed to be comforting?
My other favorite quote at a new teacher orientation last week:
"How are all of you like teabags?
You don't know how strong you are until you're put in hot water." (Then they handed each of us a tea bag as we walked out the door; followed by a blow pop later in the day, which had a note attached: "Blow them away on your first day."
Gotta love teachers! |
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