A Month of Thanksgiving: Days 14,15,16, & 17

I was hoping that I'd post every day in November, but alas I forgot just how busy life is. That being said, here's a catch up post for days 14-17 of things I am thankful for.

I'm thankful for my kids in fifth grade. They brighten up my week!
I'm thankful for my cooperating teacher and the parapro in the classroom who high-fived me when I told them I was skipping a day of my classes. They told me I deserved a break. ( :) )
I'm thankful for feedback on my lesson from Dr. Pennington. All of the comments and suggestions were so helpful and needed.
I'm thankful for Bethany and Anna. Working out with them after class is usually full of laughter and good talks.
I'm thankful for Janessa and her testimony of God's never failing faithfulness... and her wisdom!
I'm thankful for submitting my SIP (Senior Integration Paper) and having that done and out of the way!
I'm thankful for good conversations with friends!
I'm thankful for chess and Micah's willingness to play it with me... even when one game took almost 3 hours.
I'm thankful for Davey's Happy Monday texts... every day this week. Haha, it had me laughing!
I'm thankful for Faith, Sonya, and Damarise and the coffee date we had on Friday afternoon. Laughter and great conversation and then dinner at home with them filled with more laughter.
I'm thankful for Thanksgiving break and Grandma's generosity in flying Damarise and me to California to spend it with family.
I'm thankful for extended family and the chance to be here with them.

This week was busy... so busy! But also filled with many things to be thankful for!

"Interestings" of the past few days...

1. We are breaking records! We survived Chattanooga's driest month ever. And we are now experiencing Chattanooga's wettest day ever. Hurricane Lee decided to come pour water on us for a few days. It has been raining non-stop since Sunday night. Monday we got over 11 inches of rain. Craziness!

2. I got this in my mailbox yesterday. My application to student teach! Ah! Senior year is approaching faster than I'd like. 

3. Damarise is amazing! I came home out of the rain tonight to find a hot cup of decaf coffee waiting for me. She's great!

Little Highlights of the Week

1. My aloe plant is still alive! Yeah! 

2. Mom and Dad sent us some Zambian coffee! First of all, the bag looks cool, but the coffee also tastes great! (Thanks Mom and Dad!) 

3. Along with the coffee came LETTERS! I love getting mail. And getting mail from the family... what could be better?! :)

4. Art, Music, and PE for Elementary Teachers is my favourite class this semester. There are about 17 of us in the class. (All girls). We've all been in the same education classes since freshman year, so this class is full of friends and it's great. We come into class and just talk and laugh with each other until class starts. Not only are the people great, but the content is SO fun! Last night we were under our desks drawing hands, like Michelangelo painting the Sistine Chapel. It's been fun and I'm learning a lot. (Two great combinations!) 

Overflowing with Thankfulness

I got a planner for Christmas this year. It has been one of the biggest blessings (and life savers) of my life. I didn't realize how disorganized my life was until I had a planner and realized how simple life could've been. I guess some lessons are learned from trial and error, eh?

Last Sunday as I was looking ahead for what the week would bring I wrote down Colossians 2:6-7 in my planner – ‎"So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness."

What a perfect verse for this week. This week I have been overflowing with thankfulness. My planner was filled with homework at the beginning of the week and by the end of the week it was filled with events that I hadn't expected and blessings on every day.

One major blessing was the possibility of a summer job. Since Damarise and I will have no home for the summer, we were basically freed up to go just about anywhere. On Friday somebody from WinShape Camps was on Covenant's campus interviewing possible camp counselors. Damarise and I, spur of the moment, applied on Wednesday and got interviewed for a job on Friday. The interview went very well, and now we're just waiting to see if we have a possibility for a summer job.

The rest of the blessings this week are the countless ways God has blessed me through friends. He has blessed me with amazing friends here. It's such an encouragement to know that even though our family will soon be half way across the world we have brothers and sisters in Christ here who care for us, love us, and encourage us.

When I got out of my interview Friday, my RA, Virginia, and I went downtown to a little bakery to sit and chat for a bit. It was a great way to begin the weekend and Virginia is a huge encouragement. I'm so thankful for her leadership on our hall.

Friday night, Micah, Davey, Janessa, Damarise and I went to Chik-Fil-A because four of us had gotten a coupon for a free milk shake from our interviewer. We had a fun time laughing, talking, and just being with each other.

Saturday morning Damarise and I woke up early and hung out at a coffee shop with Micah for a bit. It was great to start our Saturday early, and also nice to hang out with a friend.

Also, Damarise is an amazing photographer. She's updating her Flickr account once again (YES!) So be sure to check it out. I'm a proud younger sister!

This weekend the weather was beautiful! It was in the mid 60s all weekend. Damarise and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and spent our Saturday hiking down the mountain.

We hiked about 8 miles.

And had a ton of fun along the way.

Today we went to the early service at LMPC. It was great. The Pastor is going through the book of Matthew right now and it has been very good.

When we got back to our room we Skyped with the family. :) They make me overflow with thankfulness anytime I talk with them.

Once again the weather was beautiful, so we hung outside and talked (or rested) while enjoying the beauty of God's creation.

This week has been a tremendous blessing all around. I'm thankful to God for all that He has provided – amazing friends, great time in His Word, family, beautiful weather, and the blessing of knowing Him more.

I am overflowing with thankfulness.

God is good!

An 800 word paper due Friday is beckoning me right now, but I am taking a break from that to do other writing. Using writing as a break from writing seems a little strange, but blogging is fun to do, and so much happened this week that I need to share it.

The first week of classes of second semester sophomore year is over. I feel like this week has been chocked full of business. And when this week ended all I can do is look back and laugh, thanking God for His faithfulness throughout this week.

It's been a good first week. Busy? Yes. Good? Indeed. Already this semester is looking better than last semester. There have been many laughs, stress, prayer, and meals shared this week.

I started back into a long work shift on Tuesday, complete with accidently getting nothing right. I messed up on everything I printed that morning, but my bosses are very forgiving and showed me what I did wrong. It was an interesting start back into work. But I think I'm back into the hang of things ... I think.

I dropped a class for the first time ever and I'm glad I did it. I didn't realize how stressful this semester would be. It's not necessarily the classes that are stressful, but also the fact that at some point in this semester I will be saying goodbye to my family as they head back to Zambia.

The fact that my family will be heading back to Zambia soon may be stressful, but it brings me to another reason why this week has been good. God is good! This semester I have no work or classes until 9:30 or 10:00. I love mornings, so I don't mind getting up early. Because of this I have had wonderful and long times in God's Word and praying. It's been a great start to every day. Damarise and I are also meeting with Janessa every Friday morning to share what we are learning from God, what we need prayer on, and just encouraging one another through the Word. It's been wonderful. God has been so faithful, and even though my family may be moving overseas, God is always near and He is with our whole family even if we are separated by an ocean. It's been a good reminder this week and I'm thankful for God's Word to remind me of that.

Another good thing is the friendships that are being strengthened. I've never lived around friends 24/7 and I've never been in the same place for more than 10 months (besides a few places). It's been wonderful to put down some roots here in Georgia and delve into great, strong friendships. I love it.

This week has been full of time with friends. Janessa always welcomes me into her room and always gives a listening ear to my silly stories, my messed up American idioms, and my struggles. She gives me advice and is always encouraging. My hall, Imani, got together this Thursday for a hall meeting. It was wonderful. And I don't say that lightly. God has blessed our hall with great girls. We all get along well together and spur one another to love and good works.

Today topped off the week. Micah took Damarise, Austin, Janessa and me to a little bakery in the middle of town to get some amazing donuts. Then we went to Pasha's coffee shop. (Which was an amazing coffee shop!) We sipped hot coffee while talking about school, life, God, future plans and silly stories.

I am truly thankful to God for the friends He has given me. Right now as I type this I'm looking out my window. I can see the mountains of Georgia and the sun getting ready to set. I'm so thankful that God has continued to provide for Damarise and me to be here at Covenant. I'm thankful for the friendships He has given me. I'm thankful for His Word and the time He has given me to be in it. I'm thankful for my job, even when I do muff things up. I'm thankful for a good first week. I'm thankful for the conversations and prayers this week. I'm thankful that God is faithful. I'm thankful that I can trust Him knowing that He is sovereign over all.

Thank you, God.