Weekend!

Ah... 1/2 days. Our school gives us lots of them.
Sometimes teachers get to go home with the kids, and sometimes, like today, we stay and have in-service.
Either way, they are nice.

Dustin is gearing up to start school again on Monday. This will be his 5th semester here at Southern! He is taking some very interesting classes, including a class on Islam that includes "field trips" to mosques. He's reading a book about Muhammed right now and knocking out a few other books as well.

Next weekend, we'll be joining the Bebees, Plevans and Whites and heading to the Lone Star State for a QUICK weekend trip to help with the El Dorado D-Now! We're very thankful for this opportunity and excited to see what God will do through the weekend as Eron Plevan leads and some of us are involved in some breakout sessions. We're also excited to see the Polittes and their sweet boys and I'm hoping to see some Cozarts as well!! And whoever else may be there. Pray that God would use us, that we would have energy even if we are tired, and that we would be intentional and careful with our words and example to these youth.

Tonight, we are headed to "the farm" for dinner where our good friend Tim's girlfriend works and lives. It's something called Luci Center where she works with animals and they let children with disabilities come and ride the horses and have therapy by spending time with animals! I hope I'm explaining that right. We'll also get to spend a gift card we've been saving to a very special and snazzy restaurant on Saturday night. Very thankful for this date night... even though we are always content with time together if it is just ping pong at the rec center or Jason's Deli. =) Easy to please, but the occassional fancy schmancy can be fun!

School is going much more smoothly this year. New teachers, take heart! It really does, by God's grace, get a little easier each year. I'm encouraged to see that God is helping me in the area of efficiency, grading, time management, planning, etc. This has translated to more time at home, which I enjoy thoroughly.

Our new pastor just began a Wednesday night Bible study on the book of James and this was our 2nd week. It was, as it always is, encouraging and convicting to "chew on" verses 2-3 of this wonderful book.

Count it all joy, my brothers,when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.

It doesn't matter how many times you hear it, it's always challenging and good to consider deeply.

Keep those crockpot recipes coming! They look fantastic so far!

Okay... time for in-service!