Book Review: In God's Underground

We are headed into Week 8 of a new school year and I have done nothing except school-related activities for the last two months. Shopping - for school; reading - for school; Pinterest - for school; even blogging - for school. I needed to do something different, something for me, something that would boost my spirit. 

So I headed over to my dear friend, the Amazon Kindle store, particularly the under-$3 section and typed "missionary biography." This $1 gem popped up - In God's Underground by Richard Wurmbrand. 

A Luther pastor in Romania. The end of World War II. Communist takeover of Eastern Europe. You can image what happens from there. 

According to my kindle app, I am only 39% of the way through the book (so technically, I shouldn't be reviewing), but as of right now this is a must read!

I have been struck by a few things...

1. Pastor Wurmbrand may be Lutheran, but the man knows his Bible. At the end of the day, the doctrine of salvation will determine whether a man enters heaven or not - not the title which he chooses to associate. I don't necessarily agree with all that Pastor Wurmbrand has said, but he has been a fresh reminder to not be sooo caught up in religious titles and associations. 
2. What was the United States thinking when we let Russia claim half of Europe? Were we insane? 
3.  I am so blessed to live in a country where I do possess religious freedom, but should the day come that my freedom is taken I way, I pray that my faith may be as strong!

A few incredible quotes...

"The conversion of Svetlana Stalin, only daughter of the greatest mass-murder of Christians, a soul brought up in the strictest Communist discipline, proves that there is a better weapon against communism than the nuclear bomb - it is the love of Christ." (Dear sweet American Christians, may we apply this same thought to terrorists of our day. The love of Christ!!)

"So if a man calls himself an atheist as he sits with his wife over tea and cakes, that is no proof of atheism. A true conviction must survive enormous pressure, and atheism does not." (Wurmbrand wrote this after describing the genuine salvation of countless early communist leaders in Romania, whom he witnessed to as a fellow prisoner. He said that very few communist could maintain their atheism without claiming Christ closer to their death. But I also look at this as a challenge - for my faith to survive this enormous pressure if I were in a similar situation.)

"A man who visits a barber to be shaved, or orders a suit from a tailor, is not a disciple, but a customer. So one who comes to the Savior only to be saved is the Savior's customer, not His disciple. A disciple is one who says to Christ, 'How I long to work like Yours! To go from place to place taking away fear; bringing instead joy, truth, comfort, and life eternal!'" (Best description that I have ever heard about this exact thought!!!)

Moral of the story: You need to stop what ever book you are reading and get this book. It is convicting, inspiring, and truly life changing!!

Note to parents: The unspoken reality is that Communism was a brutal, Satanic beast. The Communist often used the worst sins of the world to torture faithful Christians. This is outlined in the book and I think in some ways, the longing of the sinful nature fighting against the spirit of Christ is more graphic than the description of physical torture. This book is best for more mature teenagers and adults. 

How to Make an Awesome Powerpoint

It's 11 PM and you have class first thing tomorrow morning. And there are two more assignments to grade. But... you really need a powerpoint ASAP. 

Ok, sorry, I can't really help you with that. But if you have a little bit of "free time" (aka work time/prep time), pull out your computer and pull up either Microsoft Powerpoint or Apple's Keynote. I personally prefer Keynote. When I first bought a Macbook in 2010, I couldn't figure out how to navigate the program, but when Apple rolled out an update that was free for everyone who had purchased the previous version and it was super-amazing! So easy and it makes so much more sense. 

I am currently working on a website for my students and classes.
So this article is shown on both my personal website and
my school website just so I could practice the design.
When it is functional, if ever, I will have to let you know. 

Choose A Layout

First thing that I recommend doing is choosing a layout for each class. I pick a layout that will work for the entire school year. For 7th grade, I use the brown "Typeset" layout. Eight grade gets the orange and charcoal "Improv." Ninth grade sees "Renaissance" on a daily basis, and the 10th grade gets my favorite "Moroccan." Whenever I have a special presentation like "Remember 9/11" or a Presidential speech from the night before, I will use "Photo Portfolio." I think consistency is a key aspect to a well-run classroom and that goes all the way to the background of my presentations. (By the way, I am just a little OCD. :) But, the kids know and appreciate it (whether they realize it or not). 

9th Grade: Cultural Geography always knows this Layout is theirs.
Also I make sure to place a limit on the amount of information included
on each slide. Sure, I said a lot more about Scandinavia,
but this was exactly what they needed to know at this moment. 

Include Only the Most Important Information

Don't put every word that you plan on saying on the presentation. The students will have a hard enough time discerning what information they need to know for your assessments. You don't want to overwhelm them with a flood of information. I filter this information by only including that I want them to write in their notes. The students are informed that they can put the information in their own words, and I typically will not slow down for them to copy the notes. For the 7-8th grade, I will pause for a few moments after I finish that slide's worth of information because they are still learning, but the older ones just have to deal with it. 

Use Basic Animation

During my class time, I want the students to focus on me - not my digital presentations. To accomplish this, I use very basic animation. Just enough to keep the next bullet point hidden until I am ready to present it. I keep it boring (only in animation), so the students are not distracted by motion on the screen. Every last bullet point in my presentations are animated to "Appear." You might want to use a different animation, but don't go wild!

Be Interesting

I Know I just told you to be boring, but don't! Be interesting! Using digital presentations allows you to visually connect with you students. It opens you to a whole level and learning style that you cannot attain simply through auditory learning. Use pictures appropriately throughout your presentation. What did Cicero look like? What are some illustrations of the Tower of Babel? What might the Hanging Gardens of Babylon looked like? I insert as many pictures as humanly possible without pulling off a cluttered look. Some of my presentations are about 25 slides of information and another 25 slides of pictures. Sometimes I use real life photographs, illustrations, cartoons, comics, and photos from places that I have visited (that relate to the class.) I also use video clips, but that is another story. The students love seeing what you are talking about! Also, they do live in a media-obssessed world, so it makes sense to relate as much as they possibly can. One last thing, the pictures make history real. It goes from dusty old textbook to living reality. 

8th Grade: American Republic is my favorite presentation layout.
I love the charcoal and white. It makes the pictures pop.
And who doesn't love American history?

Little Details

For the benefit of your students and more so for your own sanity, preview your presentations between you take it into the classroom. Make sure that the font is large enough to clearly be seen by everyone in the room. Make sure the pictures are not blurry or too blurry to be seen. Make sure the slides have the same consistent transitions. Make sure that words are not running of the page or details of a picture are obstructed from view. I often check presentations on my own computer, and if I have any concerns I will project the presentation on my tv at home just to make sure. 

Plan Ahead

I would be lying if I didn't tell you that it takes lots of time to prepare these presentation. Sometimes I will have just a short period of time or a poor internet connection, so I will just pull out the notes that I have prepared ahead and start transposing the text into Keynote. That will save me a ton of time late. Also if there is a really rough patch of time and I couldn't get the pictures in - at least I have the text complete and can still teach without changing the consistency in my class. (I am saying only do this in an emergency! Don't make a habit of it.) And finally, it really does take a while to do this. A regular week night is not the best time for me to create a presentation - look over it, sure! but never create. So look at what is coming up for your next week and add the pictures and animation while you are watching your favorite tv shows or movies over the weekend. 

The Best Thing I Ever Did

... Was get off Facebook!

I am sorry, but I am not kidding. I am a people-pleaser. I want people to like me. I always have. That is part of who God made me, but I started realizing that I was letting Facebook dictate my emotions. I am very visual and wear my heart on my sleeve. 

It was getting impossible to go onto to Facebook and reading people's "highlight reels" and wondering what was wrong with me? Why wasn't God blessing me with that? What did I do to deserve less than that person? I didn't get to spend four hours in my devotions today. Hey, I haven't done that (the four hours part) since Christmas break... maybe I am not as spiritual as that person. Or look at the person's beautiful new house. Oh, wait, you mean this is the third house upgrade they have had since we graduated college together? (Oh, yes, I am living in my third and smallest apartment in three years.) Oh, no, I am not a youth pastor's wife anymore. Oh, no, I don't have any kids. Oh, no, we don't have two awesome cars, two brand new iPads, a house, a dog, the latest clothes, huge diamond rings, and four perfectly angelic super-spiritual kids. Yes, I work outside the home and no, I don't do a great job cooking for my husband every night. It's a miracle we have clean clothes sometimes. 

And I was letting all of that crazy dictate my relationship with God and my emotions.

And that's wrong. 

My relationship with God is dependent on my time with Him and it is a personal relationship between us, not between me and Facebook and God or me and the entire planet and God. It is a relationship between me and God. I cannot let someone else determine how spiritual I am. I am never going to be Pricilla Shirer or Beth Moore or the most popular girl from my college campus. Right now, God doesn't even have me as a youth pastor's wife. 

But that is ok because I am right where God wants me to be. I am being who He wants me to be and my relationship with Him is growing. I am not perfect. I am will be the first to admit that. I mess up and fail God regularly, but my goal is to like Christ, not to be the person my "Christian culture" tells me to be. 

I had to come to the point where I realized that Facebook was part of what hindered me from growing closer to God and also what was causing some of the emotional distress I was facing. 

To break the Facebook chains of bondage I started by deleting the apps on my phone and iPad, but quickly realized that I needed to go through a period of complete separation from Facebook. For me, that was a two solid week period of zero-facebook. 

Since then I go on Facebook for ten minutes a week on either a Friday or Saturday night. Once that ten minutes is up, I get off.

The difference has been near magical!

In the last two full months that I have been off Facebook, I feel a little more focused, more content, more apt to ask a  person how they are doing personally, and far less dependent on social media. Yah, I missed my best friend's Facebook announcement about her second pregnancy. She lives several hours away, but we actually got to talk a few days earlier so I knew before the wonderful world of Facebook! I don't know what is going on in certain people's daily lives. It has been good and bad.

Moral of the story - I survived and I am surviving. I don't think I will be heading back to Facebook any time soon. The world keeps spinning. 

Map Skills Bulletin Board

As a first year teacher, I didn't want to spend a fortune on bulletin board sets, but at the same time I only have so many hours a day to prepare for a new school year. So I opted to use my limited budget to purchase a store-bought bulletin board set. It was a sacrifice that needed to be made. 

The first several chapters in my 9th grade Cultural Geography book are related to maps and general cartography. This bulletin board set was perfect. Almost every piece of the set coordinated perfectly with the terms. The latitude and longitude were an idea that I saw on Pinterest. 

My high school students loved the bright colors. They said it was fun to look at and educational. I call that a win! :)

Maps and Map Skills - by "Creative Teaching Press" 

All letters and borders purchased at my local teacher supply store. 

Teacher Space

            In my classroom, there is a very strict rule - no one is allowed in the teacher space without expressed permission. That space runs from my podium, includes the space in front of my tv, and extends behind my desk. It is my space and I can't be tripping over students between classes in this very small narrow space. Plus there is absolutely no reason why they should be in this area.

            Also, I am a firm believer that if you are well-prepared and functionally organized then everything will go smoother for the entire year. It was just this week that I had a student step into my space and it wrecked havoc!! The student tripped over a wire and caught themselves on my desk making a mess of the papers that were sitting there, and in the process of tripping over the wire, knocked the attached  iPad off my podium. Praise the Lord, another student caught the iPad. But it was a great chance to remind the students as to why I had set that rule in the first place.

So this is my space and I love it. It's neat and organized. Everything has a spot and isn't a difficult to put anything in the correct spot or locate it within a moment's notice. 

Dry erase board - a really standard dry erase board from Target. I use it to post each class's homework assignments. I have five different classes and use the sixth square to highlight upcoming events or birthdays. 

Dividers - made from washi tape that I put on leftover poster paper and attached magnet dots so that I could remove or adjust the dividers as needed. 

Arrow Magnets - also from Target. 

(Story: There used to be a world map poster where the dry erase board is now, but for various reasons I had to move my other homework board and the only place I could move it to was the location of either my world or US map.)

Binders - I made all of the binder covers and sides myself, except the small Substitute Binder - a pinterest find. In each binder, I store copies of my unit plans, handouts, test and quiz keys for my most recent and upcoming lessons. The current lessons are stored in my "Master Teacher Binder" and every Friday, I just quickly swap out the binder contents. It takes me a total of ten minutes. Having the binders available has been great in case a student has a question from a previous unit or for myself as I work ahead. It's very handy. Also each binder has a file folder where I store the upcoming handouts for that class.

Storage - The stacking desk organizer, the blue drawer organizer, and the utility thing on the right are all from the Container Store. I spent a good portion of my school money this year at the Container Store. Like I said, get organized now and the rest of the year will be a piece of cake! The blue organizer has a pop-up top where I keep an extra USB cord for my iPad, a wall charger, and my AV adapter (lightning to HDMI). It has been so handy!! The stackers hold extra laminated world maps for use when needed, page protectors bound together with those rings, and file folders with documents I use regularly but not necessarily during class time.

The Flower - Is actually a tape dispenser. Every time I look at it, it makes me super-happy! It was one of those splurge items that I had to have to add some personality to my room even though I hit my budget a few weeks earlier. The boys never ask for tape for some reason though...

My Desk -  (not pictured here) Is about 2/3 of the size of my desk last year, so I decided that I wouldn't put anything on it that wasn't absolutely necessary. So usually it holds my Master Teacher Binder, a textbook or two to grade homework, and depending on what's going on that hour - my laptop. Oh, and a stapler. The students are not allowed to use my stapler.

And yes... the little label on my filing cabinet drives me crazy! That is administration issued and may not be removed or replaced. I labeled everything so people clearly know that it is mine and if it disappears, their conscience will force them to return it out of pure guilt. But no one is stealing my filing cabinet. So why is it crooked???

Fleeting Summer Memories

Over the next few days, summer is going to officially pass us by. While that means the leaves will soon be exploding with color and the air will be brisk and refreshing with hints of Thanksgiving and Christmas right around the corner, it also means that the glorious adventures of summer are over. But before they go...

Here are a few of my favorite summer memories.

(Replica of Hammurabi's Code 

at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology, 

Philadelphia, PA)

(Fonthill Castle in Doylestown, PA)

(Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia, PA) 

(Niagara Falls, Canada) 

(Lake Erie, Pennsylvania)

High School History Classroom

Monday morning begins the fourth week of school! One month in! As a first year full-time teacher, it is refreshing to have made it this far. I mean, survived it this far. I am alive! In desperate need of some sleep and a time to rest my brain from school. 

For real though, the school year is going well. Lots of prayer and hard work are paying off, but I very much look forward to making it through this first year.

Before school started I totally forgot to take pictures of my classroom with something other than my phone. The pictures looked nice on a 4" screen, but not so much when I uploaded them to my laptop. 

Well, here is my high school history classroom. My goal is to make the room bright, colorful and fun with a subtle patriotic theme. But I didn't want the room to look tacky, overdone, or elementary. 

I knew I accomplished that when one of my students came up to me this past week to tell me how much she loves coming into my room. She said that it is exciting and colorful like an elementary classroom, but "grown up" and very educational. That part made me smile. It also made me very happy, because that is exactly what I was going for. If it inspired just one student, it was all worth it.  

The front of the room. I really wanted my students to focus on the fact that everything we do should be to the glory of God. I am really trying to put an emphasis on that each in my classes.

Although I don't teach my school's government class, I really wanted the students to be familiar with our government officials. So many times we hear about these people in the news and have absolutely no idea who they are or what they do. And... Sometimes there can be a lot of negativity in Christian circles regarding our government and it is my personal mission to change that with my students. Every Tuesday we are going to pray for these very important men and women. 

Continuing to move counter-clockwise... This is my door. I wasn't feeling as inspired as I should have with this door, but that is what I came up with. The hallways in my school are very narrow so the doors get pretty beat up as kids squeeze through with their book bags and two best friends. Basically, if you put something on the door, just know that it won't make it all year. Maybe that is why all of the high school doors have limited decorations?

My back wall. Not the most visually exciting, except for the flag, but I don't want the students staring at the back wall during class anyway. The goal was to trigger thoughts about our country and inspire patriotism every time a student walks into my room. I am still building up my collection of decor and for now those posters seemed to be the best. I would have preferred to leave the flag by itself except that it looked super lonely. 

This "Map Skills" bulletin board is one of the only bulletin board sets that I own. It worked really well with the first unit of my geography class, but it will need replaced soon as we just took our first test over the map skills unit. 

Last year I decorated my classroom/office in all owls. I had one class in there, so I just did whatever I wanted with it. Well, now the kids know me for my owls and they really are an obsession of mine, so this room just had to have a few owls in it. Maybe later in the year, I will get desperate enough to reuse the owls again so soon. 

The final corner of my room is my desk area and filing cabinets. I will save those pictures for another day. 

Disappointment

I don't even know where to start.

The last two/three years have been loaded with disappointment... crushed dreams... unmet expectations.

It's been a rough road.

And the worst part is - just when I think God is opening a door and I get a peak at what's ahead, the door completely slams in my face. I simply don't understand.

Let me give you an example. My husband and I are surrendered to be in full-time ministry. Since we were both thirteen years old, we have both believed that is what God wants for our lives. He has guided us in that direction. But our first youth ministry simply didn't work out. God clearly led us there, but He also clearly led us away. The work ethic, the dedication to ministry, and the Biblical doctrine seemed to be on a different page. But that was ok, because God was going to lead and guide us through.

So we moved and settled into being very much not-needed youth workers. That was really, really tough. I fought tears almost every single Sunday for six months. But I was co-teacher/assistant teacher to a sweet friend who got pregnant early in the youth group year (we follow the school schedule of September to May), so I had lots of opportunities to teach class.

Now we are preparing for this year and as much as I hoped that I would be wanted as a Sunday school teacher, I didn't have any expectation that I would be a teacher. It's not like teaching is a passion of mine or anything... but I know, I am very much not-needed. So I could handle it. Until I got this email saying something to the effect of "If you get the next email about the SS schedule, you are teaching this year."

And I got the email!! I will be honest. I was super-excited! I really hadn't been expected it. I had come to terms with not teaching again. Then I got to look through the awesome new curriculum and started making plans for things that I hadn't even thought of for over a year.

Then we went to the annual planning meeting and I found out that it was all lies. The email I received about "If you get the next email, you are teaching this year" was mis-worded. It was meant to be translated more along of the lines of "Yay! You are on youth staff." I don't know how what was said was supposed to translate to that, but whatever...

Can I just tell you that I suffered through a two and a half hour meeting and didn't shed a tear until I made it to the car? I felt that took a lot of strength!

Disappointment. I am no stranger to it.

So here is the question of the day... How do you deal with it?

Step #1: Cry it out. Cry until you cannot cry. Take it from me - strength is not a virtue. Being real with your emotions and not forcing them down into a hole in your heart is a necessary part of dealing with disappointment. Once you are done crying, do something or go somewhere or look at something that  makes you smile.

For me, that post-cry happiness is a trip to Charming Charlie or Home Goods, a quick shower and a nap, or a scroll through my "Pretty" board on Pinterest (loaded with bright flowers, beautiful scenes, and feminine things).

Once you calm down... relax... move your focus off of the disappointment... then you are ready to move on to Step #2.

Step #2: Remember that God is in control of absolutely everything. I don't say that to sound cliche. I mean it. God is in control of everything. He designed the universe and spoke it into existence. He named and knows the name of the stars. He cares about the disappointments and the trials, the joys and the happiness of my life, just like he cares about a sparrow that falls out a tree and a stunning lily in the middle of an isolated field. (I take that to mean, He has a great capacity for love and is concerned for the smallest, seemingly unimportant details.) If He cares for the tiniest details, He really cares for the things that cause my heart to ache and turn me into a soggy mess.

Step #3: Remember the big picture. You and I do not know the future. We cannot actually see the big picture - as hard as we try. It is 100% possible. In fact, 100% fact that God is at work and this huge disappointment, whatever it may be, is God doing something great that we absolutely cannot see right now.

Example: I graduated from college four years ago and desperately wanted a full-time teaching job right out of college. What I got was a job teaching two classes and helping in the administration. There have been a ton of disappointments with that, but also a lot of joys. I built a really strong relationship with my direct supervisor and even though she has since moved far away, she is a great mentor, a spiritual encourager, and a close friend. Also I had a chance to work through some of the difficulties that first year teachers experience rapidly in the first weeks of school and have to cope with quickly. I on the other had a chance to sit back and digest and fix those problems. Now that I have my own full-time classroom, I have already worked through most of those first year teacher mistakes. Yes, I am still making mistakes and have lots of room to grow, but God knew that I was going to need to really kill it right out of the gate this year and He gave me that chance to practice over the last three years. Also I was able to build a relationship with the students and the staff that few others can say they experience, and I was able to get my choice of classes. That was God working through major disappointment in my life four years ago. Let me say that again... It took FOUR YEARS for me to see the bigger picture.

Every step of the way, God knew.

God knows. Disappointment - it's a nasty thing, but don't let it get you down for too long!


PS (#1) - Like I said, I am no stranger to disappointment. So if you are thinking my examples are nothing compared to what you are going through, please know that these are just the examples I felt comfortable sharing with the world. You pick an area of possible disappointment and I think it is safe to say, been there, done that, still struggling through that one.

PS (#2) - Remember that dealing with disappointment today, doesn't mean that you won't have to deal with it tomorrow. It's surrender. And surrender is a daily commitment to God. Remember... Everyday surrender.

Fall Has Arrived

This weekend I really wanted to get you up to date on all that is going on with school and my very own super-cute classroom, but I realized I never took final pictures of my room. And blogs get really boring without at least one great picture.

But my day off was not wasted. I decorated for fall. If I didn't do it now before fall actually arrives, I will not get it done until Thanksgiving. Plus the turquoise, pale pink, and sunny yellows didn't feel like the end of summer, beginning of school anymore.

Well, my 750 sq. foot apartment is more function than decoration out of necessity. We have been living in this one bedroom for about a year and it is spacious for two. There is a lot of leg room, but there is a distinct lack of great wall space. Some of that is I refuse to spend money on larger pieces for an apartment that I didn't want to stay in for a second year. Some of that is I have some great wall art that I bought for a large spacious loft condo that we had, and it simply doesn't work. I don't have fourteen feet of wall to work with anymore. But I do have a decent fireplace and mantel. It is the focal point of the entire living space of the apartment.

The bike canvas print is my absolute favorite piece. It has great colors and blends well with all seasons, so it stays up year round. I found it for $25 at a Marshalls two years ago. 

The the gold glittery wheat with the cute ribbon were also found at a Marshalls (last year though). I know that it is a huge designer no-no to have such noticeably different heights on display, but the wall is actually angled back so the taller arrangements aren't awkward. It actually kinda works. 

Everything else is from a hodgepodge of affordable or discount stores like Kirklands, Hobby Lobby, Target, and Home Goods. Every item ran $15 or less and I repurpose a lot of those items throughout the rest of the year. 

So now at least one portion of my home looks like fall! 

Here are a few of my other favorite fall things:

This candle is the best Yankee Candle ever!! It is my favorite and super-hard to track down. I usually find it at Home Goods of all places. It's limited edition and only comes out every couple of years. When I first found this candle, I literally burned through the medium candle in a month. But the flavor had totally disappeared. My sweet husband tracked down two jars for me from Amazon and surprised me with them for our first anniversary. (How sweet is that!) 

This white ceramic owl was another Home Goods find - from this year. He is hanging out in my kitchen right now, because he doesn't match or fit on the mantle. The little dude who says "Enjoy Fall" was a Hallmark store clearance find. I am not a major clutter person and this guy falls under the "clutter" category, but he does remind me to smile, so I figured he is a necessity.

So that is what fall looks like in my apartment. 

Jewelry Mania

Summer break is officially over here! I started school this past Monday and the first week as a full-time teacher went really well. It felt natural! (I guess that is always a good thing when you sign a contract to teach full-time for an entire year.)

Although the job is going great, the rest of life isn't so much. My husband is working like a crazy person to get money in the bank - which translates to, I never see him! And after a year of warming the bench in youth ministry, I found out that I will continue to sit the bench for another year. I miss being the youth pastor's wife. Whatever lesson this is that God is trying to teach me is a HARD lesson. A great job that my husband applied for with normal hours fell through. We wanted to accomplish a few things this year and they all totally fell through... Not to mention, I am a little stressed with the new job...

So I took myself out to dinner tonight. I was in the mood for a salad from Red Robin and they have great Curbside To-Go, when your husband is working late on a Saturday night. While I was waiting for my order, I decided to run into a nearby Charming Charlie just to "kill time."

Well... about that... So I was there last weekend looking for a colorful statement necklace to go with a navy and white striped blouse I got from Gap. It was my first day of school outfit and had to be just right. The necklace I purchased was spot on. It inspired me to wear a necklace every day of the first week of school, which my female students told me I accomplished well. Yay!

There was this beautiful pearl-rhinestone-ribbon necklace that I loved, but it was $30 and I just couldn't persuade myself to spend that kind of money. Well, my husband told me I should go back and get it, and who am I to refuse?

I went in for that necklace and walked about with **FIVE** different necklaces. But oddly, they were all exactly what I wanted.

This creamy, sparkly, gold beauty was my favorite. I have been wanting one of those $40-60 J. Crew statement necklaces that I totally cannot afford, and I feel like this one satisfied that want. It was the most expensive of the five - coming in at $20. (I didn't feel so bad because it was still $10 less than the pearl-rhinestone-ribbon necklace.)

Of course, the money-saving inspired me to take a look at their clearance wall. I was pleased to discover that not only had it been restocked since I was their last week, but it was also buy one get one free! This cute flower necklace will go great with my navy striped Gap shirt or my Old Navy chambray shirt or a few other possibilities. Grand total: $8

I have always had a thing for layered, multi-strand necklaces and this one with a whole variety of gold and white beads made me smile. It looked just like a necklace from the regular-priced section but with just a hair more sparkle. Grand total: $7 

Now, I do love gold costume jewelry, these pretty baubles are actually rose gold and pink. The picture obviously does not do it justice. I love a simple long necklace and this just a simple rose gold chain with only the baubles in the picture. Grand total: Free!

And this last one, the lighting at my house and the background just weren't working, and I am no photographer. The necklace is a long double silver-based chain with smooth mint green sea-glass and slightly darker green beads. It really is lovely. Grand total: Free!

I wasn't expecting to buy all "matching" necklaces. I think the three gold-ish necklaces make great neutral statement pieces, if that is even possible. 

My goal for this week is to wear all of that jewelry I just bought. :)

**Full disclaimer - I am not a fashion blogger, though I do love fashion. Clothes, shoes, handbags, jewelry. You name it, I love it. 

**Another disclaimer - As much as I would love Charming Charlie to pay me to blog about them, that will never happen. This little advertisement was totally free. I did this because I truly love the product that I purchased. 

Graduation Owl Bulletin Board

Maybe it is because I just put this board up two weeks before writing this post or maybe because it is still hanging on my wall as I type. Maybe it is because graduation is just an exciting time for my seniors. Maybe it is because I have spent hours preparing for their graduation (I am the high school graduation coordinator). But I love this board!!

Graduation OWL Bulletin Board

Isn't this great? Our seniors wear navy blue, so the owls got blue caps. And our school has a patriotic theme, so graduation on Memorial Day weekend is always decked out in patriotic regalia.

Other Graduation Decorations

So I am pretty excited about graduation still (even though it was two weeks ago). All of the graduation decorations were purchased at Party City, except for the black and white 2014 Grad banner, which I purchased at Michaels. I plan on reusing the 2014 for something this coming fall. Don't know what yet, but I am all about reusing my stuff, so I have to find a purpose for it. 

 This banner was one of my favorite Party City purchases. It is a banner with graduation caps hanging off it. Can you see the little tassels? I thought it was super cute. I used miniature white binder clips to attach the banner to the structure on the ceiling. 

So that is it. That is my interchangeable owl bulletin board series.

Next year I will be teaching an entirely different set of courses, which will require a different set of bulletin boards. Looking forward to coming up with something new. Of course, I will share.

Spring Owl Bulletin Board

Spring is here… The sky is blue!!

I was married March and this song by the Dixie Cups is one of my favorite. It was my theme song the week of my wedding. I love the fresh air, bright flowers, and warmer days. Instead of going for the flower power explosion, I wanted my spring bulletin board to be a little different, so I instead went for the "April Showers" idea. Which ended up being prophetic as we had a super wet spring.

{And if you are wondering, I didn't skip a post about a January/February board, because I never did one. The way my classes work, I have very limited students in my room in January/February. It didn't make sense at the time to put my time or resources into a Valentine's Day or strictly winter board. Maybe when I recycle this board collection in a few years I will use my extra time to recreate it.}

Spring OWL Bulletin Board

This board was fairly easy to make. Just umbrellas and raindrops. I also added in the bird and squirrel that came in the original Carson-Dellosa owl set.

Next: Graduation Owl Bulletin Board

Christmas Owl Bulletin Board

I am super proud of my Christmas bulletin board. It went through a lot of last minute changes. I planned all of my bulletin boards at the beginning of the school year in a two week span, and I thought I had completed everything for all of the boards for the entire year. But as I was pulling out the Christmas decorations for this board I realized that I had forgotten to complete the larger pieces of my bulletin board. Oops! 

In the end I still really liked how it turned out, even though it barely hinted at the white Christmas decked with Christmas lights like I had been going for. But we had a fairly dry December so it all worked out. 

                                  

Aren't they adorable?? I put a lot of time into these guys, so you better think so! I drew the sweaters entirely on my own, which is why they are a little less polished than everything else. The caps and bow-tie are a hybrid of free internet clip art and my personal touches from Photoshop. It was an unnecessary amount of effort, when I discovered that Etsy sells clipart a few days later.
 
The ornaments and lightbulbs were purchased from an Etsy store. I did recolor the ornaments to match the color of the light bulbs.

To create the owl snowman, I just traced the original owl onto white construction paper and drew in the buttons with a sharpie. I also drew the carrot free-hand on orange construction paper.

The gift and the hat were free clipart from the internet, but I recolored the hat to match the gloves, which were purchased in a set with the ornaments (I think).

The original plan was to turn the leaves of the tree into holly leaves and drape the Christmas lights from branch to branch. And I also wanted to cut out some white construction paper to run across the bottom of the board to look like a blanket of snow, but obviously I didn't get to that either. Just some cute ideas to keep in mind for later.

Next: Spring OWL Bulletin Board

Thanksgiving Owl Bulletin Board

Thanksgiving is absolutely my favorite holiday. I love the Americana, the tradition, the Christian heritage, the anticipation of Christmas starting the minute the dishes are washed and put away. It is awesome. This Thanksgiving bulletin board also ended up begin one of my favorite boards to prepare. It actually was the first one that I made and served as the inspiration for the whole "interchangeable bulletin board" idea in the first place. 

Thanksgiving OWL Bulletin Board

 

I got the inspiration for the pilgrim hats from a clipart that I found on the internet, but drew and redesigned myself in Photoshop. (It took hours!! A few days later I discovered that I can buy all kinds of super cool clipart from Etsy. Next time I will just buy the clipart. It took way too much time and frustration to do it all myself.)

If I could do it all over again, I would change the phrase to "Seniors Giving Thanks." I thought of it too late. 

There were pumpkins on the board with the Thanksgiving owls, but for some reason they didn't make it into the picture. I got the black-and-white clipart from a free classroom resources coloring page. I added the color myself in Photoshop.  The pumpkins were kind of a disaster. I definitely could have done better. I wasn't thinking about how the stem and curly-que would do in the laminator when I chose them. The smaller ones were all bent up and folded over, so I had to just cut them off. 

 

Next: Christmas Owl Bulletin Board

Fall September Owl Bulletin Board

The school where I teach starts school the last week of August. By the end of September, the air is a bit cooler and the students are finally almost adjusted to the new school year, but they are also in need of a little refresh. Since everything is so new, it is hard to totally change up the board. I just added some fabric leaves that I found at Michaels. They were really pretty leaves too. I just sticky-tacked them to the board. Occasionally a leaf would fall off, but my students would always crack up because the leaves were falling off the trees outside too. 

Oh, and if you are wondering how students feel about the "less mature" bulletin board for high school seniors… They often mentioned that they enjoyed how fun it was. They said that the board wasn't stuffy and boring like a high school board usually is (loaded with information but not all that interesting to look at). 

Fall September OWL Bulletin Board

For a closer up of the leaves:

Next: Thanksgiving Owl Bulletin Board

Interchangeable Back-to-School Owl Bulletin Board

We are just days away from the end of the school year here! It has been an amazing year. It has been challenging, as my role at the school completely changed just two weeks before the start of the year. It has be difficult, readjusting to civilian (non-ministry) life. But it has also been a joy because I have had a chance to fulfill my career pursuits and purpose. 

Because my role at the school changed so dramatically at the last minute, I knew that I wouldn't have time to change my bulletin board and classroom decor every 4-6 weeks like I really should. My goal was to come up with some sort of board that would have the same base for the entire year and I could just change the accessories from season to season. 

My classroom had two bulletin boards. One board was used entirely for memos for class, schedules, and important paper. It was also very difficult to get to. It was bottom of the board was beneath the top of the two heavy teacher's desks in the room. I put a paper background that coordinated with my other board and alternated the double-border from the other board. 

My theme for the year was owls and I used the verse Colossians 1:10. That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knOWLedge of God; 

It wasn't so obvious, but did you see what I did there? OWL. Knowledge? … ok, so I know it is lame, but it was a great verse to use for my class. 

So this was the standard background that I used on my board. A sky blue paper background and a double-layered green then yellow corrugated border. 

From there, I double-sided taped on the tree that I had no intention of moving throughout the year. (See below.) I personally do not like stapling through bulletin board materials that I spend a fortune on. So if possible I   laminate all of my materials than tape or sticky tack them. If I absolutely have to, I will put a single thumbtack through a corner of the item rather than two holes per corner for the staple.

Because I teach high school seniors, I geared my bulletin board toward seniors. So I used the phrase "Seniors Increasing in Knowledge." It is slightly crooked but it does the trick. The owls and trees are from Carson-Dellosa, which I purchased at a local teacher supply store. The letters and apples were also purchased at a local teacher supply store, but I do not remember what brand. 

For the rest of the school year, I will be adding "accessories" to the board that I created and designed myself using Adobe Photoshop and/or legally free clipart from the internet. 

Back-to-School OWL Bulletin Board

Next: Fall September OWL Bulletin Board

Missions Baskets & More

My church just celebrated its 25th annual missions conference. It was an incredible time! We took on four new missionaries, ordained a man from our church who will be leaving in a few weeks with his family for the mission field, and had three returning missionary families. They will be scattered throughout the entire globe - Europe, Africa, Asia, South America, and the remote Pacific islands. Some of them I know personally and some of them I met for the first time, but by the end of the conference they all felt like family.

In effort to honor missionaries, I mentioned a few weeks ago about missions store or closet. This idea certainly does not work for everyone. There is the whole concept of stocking it and storing it, not to mention maintaining it. Something that might be a little more a feasible for your ministry is something as simple as a missions basket or missions gift bag.

Instead of having a "store" where the missionary or their family get to go in and select all of the items that they want, you could instead put together a collection of similar items into a basket or a gift bag (or one of those fun reusable shopping bags with your church logo imprinted on it). This might help you control the value of the gifts that your missionaries receive - if you are on a strict budget. Or it will make sure that your missionaries receive a fair amount of product or gift.

It might even be fun if you had individual families sign up to put together the baskets. (Less work for you!)

Other ways to get additional families involved would be:

1. Allow families to host the missionaries in their homes overnight. It will save you money on hotels and will be a life-changing experience and wonderful memory for your church family. Be sure to carefully select the families that you allow to host missionaries though. You want this to be a good experience for the missionary and a good representation of your church.
2. Have families sign up to provide a meal for the missionaries in their home, at a restaurant, or on the church property. 
3. Let people volunteer to provide services for the missionaries, such as car washing or mechanic tuneups, computer repair, hair cuts & styles (if professionals), manicures & pedicures, babysitting so that mom & dad missionary can go on a date, etc. 

God didn't call me to the mission field, but I have always been completely willing to go. I love missionaries and want to do everything in my power to help them understand how much I love and appreciate all that they do. I may never be able to visit that missionary on the field, but I want them to know that they always have a home at my church. 

Missions Store

Missionaries strive to do something that many of us, sitting comfortably in the United States, are unable or lack the courage to try. They leave their families, their friends, their comforts, to live in a foreign country with a foreign language, different food, transportation, living styles. And on top of that, they choose to lead people to the Lord and establish churches. That alone is difficult when everything else is going well.

Missionaries are among the heroes of our day. It is our responsibility to love them, pray for them, and care for them as much as we can. I personally love the idea of treating the missionaries like royalty or celebrities. They are the heroes and we should make it clear that we really feel that way about them!

How can we be a blessing to the missionaries, especially as they travel on the road for deputation or furlough?

The Missions Store
A fun way to be a blessing to the missionaries is to set up a little closet or place for them to "go shopping" for supplies that they need on the road. Now let me stress a few things... The missionaries are on the road a lot. So when you are thinking of supplies, consider things that are useful on the road. (I heard of one church that asked for donations for their missions closet and received items such as lamps, large picture frames, and curtains.) Also many times the missionary families are living out of their cars, so you want to provide items that won't take up valuable real estate in the vehicle. A wholesale club-size bottle of body lotion would not be appropriate in most situations.

Another church that I spoke with is determined that they are only going to supply things that they can get for free. This is a good idea. Free is always a great price. So they solicit local companies to donate items. The local companies give generously, but the reality is the church ends up with expired products and dollar store cast-offs. Not really a great way to honor our missionaries or make them feel special.

Keep in mind that they are spending hours upon hours in the car as well. Here are some generic items that you can purchase at a range of prices.

• Car maintenance items - window washer fluid, Armor-all, Rainex spray
• Coloring books, crayons, colored pencils, pencil sharpeners (the kind that catches the pencil shavings until you can empty it in a trash can)
• Pens & pencils, various sizes of notepads 
• Crossword puzzles, word search, sudoku books
• Fresh set of quality earbuds - You can probably skip the cheap ones that you will often find at the dollar store or the check out aisles. Apple earbuds can be expensive, although they are quality and often preferred. There is an abundance of nice earbuds that range from $7-15. 
• $5-10 Itunes or Amazon gift cards for portable devices, so they stock up on some reading material or music
• Pocket hand sanitizers and lotions, Wet Wipes (in the individual packages)
• First aid kits or loose medical items that typically go in them, like bandaids and neosporin 
• Diapers and wipes
• Rolls of quarters - I personally have had missionaries request this!! Great for toll booths, car washes, and the laundry mat!
• Selection of fresh snack items, gum, mints, and 6 or 12-packs of water (don't forget the grocery bags that can be used for trash)

I would also like to suggest travel size or small toiletries items, but with this note: Toiletry items are personal products. Some people can only use certain brands for health reasons; some people will only use particular brands; and other people don't care at all. The travel size items would be helpful just to hold a family over until they are able to get to the store in a few days. So if you are going to have these items available, make sure they are decent brands and a reasonable size. 

Whenever you are choosing items for your own "store," be selective. Choose items that you would want to receive. Remember that these missionaries are special people, and they should be treated as such. 

How do you stock your closet if the church budget cannot afford it? Share your vision with the church family, then once a year ask the church family to donate these specific items or designate their offering to the "Missions Store." For those who are donating items, you could ask them to bring them in those fun reusable shopping bags. Then you could use the bags as shopping bags for the missionaries. 

More ideas for missions coming soon!