Charles Wesley Poem

Family Visit

My Mom, Dad, and youngest sister came to visit! It was perfect. I didn't plan much, but I kind of liked it that way so that we could all have a relaxing time together. We BBQ'd, went to the Zoo (I'll show pictures), played Tennis and really just got to enjoy one another. 

I will think back on this weekend as one I LOVED. There are a couple of things that stood out to me. I will remember my walk with Dad, talks with Mom, sleep over with Abigail and listening to her play the piano, my lunch with Mom & Dad, and our trip to the Zoo. 

More than that I will really think of what I have been blessed with. Kyle and I have a wonderful life down here in Murrieta, and much of that is because of my parents. We stepped into church already having friendships because of them. My parents reputation preceded us, paving the way for us to serve the church, and they have been an example to Kyle and I of how to give and live selflessly. My parents think through their decisions in light of eternity, and we strive to do the same. I heard my mom say multiple times that "we pray that this has eternal value". I want to mimic that mentality. They were so giving to us that it was overwhelming. 

We are counting down to our trip in July when we will see them again, along with my sister's family, and Grandma!

Now for some fun pictures from the trip. 

Abigail loved playing tennis

She's improved so much at the piano, it was fun to listen to her play

Moving.... again

Well we were really blessed to be able to move into a new place that is in a great location and will be saving us some money. We have just moved in and we already like it. I think I will really love it when we are settled.

It's been a bit of a process. 

 This is "before" of the new place

"Before"

In process. Kylie was a HUGE help! (Except for when she got stuck between our toilet and bathtub.... trying to paint all of the crevices. )

Monique was excellent at making all of our lines straight!

This stair well is the bane of my existence right now...

Lara was so sweet to help us brick our wall (thanks for the bricks Kylie!)

More stairwell

Even more stairwell... I had to stand like Kyle was over and over.. I never want to paint it again!

Some of our helpers! I wish I had a picture of the Woodsums and Maly's too!

Ummm... a random before picture that just doesn't want to be at the top of the post... I've tried moving it quite a few times.

"Freddie" He is a little bird that flew in while I was packing up the old place. He did NOT want to leave!

AJ Woodsum to the rescue!

And Megan too!!!

My packed up apartment!

Grandpa Bushnell

Grandpa Bushnell is the man you wish could be your grandpa. He is the great grandfather of two sweet boys that attend our school. He is a man who has served selflessly his whole life. He adopted his daughter out of a horrible situation and loved her dearly until she passed away from cancer 25 years ago. He then raised his grand-daughter, and because she is a pretty absent mother he has now taken to raising his two great-grandsons.

He came in to school today to pick the boys up after tutoring and seemed pretty tired. I asked if I could get him anything, but instead of a glass of water he preferred to just "rest his bones for a bit" 

He had been at the Dr. all day. He is a cancer survivor, and has survived a stroke. Dr.'s now believe he has the first stages of Parkinsons syndrome.  

I told him I would be praying for him and his response was, "I'm pretty tired, I could go home to see my Father, but I pray He keeps me until these boys are old enough to be great men." He smiled when he saw the boys run towards him, then winked at me and said "they have a couple more years to go yet."

After they left, I barely had time to finish praying for them when another grandfather walked through the door. He was here to pick up his granddaughter because his sweet daughter couldn't make it. She has cancer and the treatment was too much for her today. She had been throwing up all day, and couldn't get out of bed. She wanted to protect her daughter from the pain of seeing her like that, and so grandpa to the rescue to get his granddaughter and take her on a date. 

Years from now she will remember her special relationship with her grandfather and not remember that her mom wasn't able to get her. 

My heart is so full. All I can do is thank the Lord that I am able to know about these families and pray for them, and love them to the best of my ability. I remember my own mothers battle with cancer and think that my mom and dad must have spared us so much heartache by protecting us just like these grandfathers are doing for their own. 

Moments like these make me so thankful that we get to look forward to Heaven. We will truly live in a place with no more physical pain and no more heartache! 

The grandfathers of these two families are believers. I think about that. What a legacy they are leaving! A legacy where they love and serve and put others first and rely on the Lord. Their walk with the Lord is affecting generations after them. 

Words cannot express how thankful I am when I think about my own parents; my children's future grandparents. They take the roll of grand parent so seriously, and I am already blessed because of it. 

Well this is part of what it looks like to work in a school. Some day's it's hard and some days it's funny, but it's always working with and loving people.

American Girl Club

So somehow I volunteered to do a book club with the elementary grade girls at school. 

Ok, not somehow.. I know exactly how it happened.

I had some sweet girls tell me they wanted a club. I tried to think of what I could do for them, and remembered my favorite thing at their age... American Girls Dolls

I had Molly

My oldest sister had Samantha, and Second oldest sister had Kirsten. I was thrilled to get Molly. I played with her so much that I actually broke her leg and she had to go to the doll hospital. I might have taken her everywhere and wasn't always careful...

My dad surprised me by sending her to the doll hospital and having her fixed for me.I think I was just as excited for that as when I got Molly for the first time.

The dolls are wonderful in their own right, (It was great to get new outfits for them and their accessories, we typically only got new things for our dolls at Christmas.) but one thing that made them EXTRA special was that my mom loved them. She bought patterns and made a lot of their clothes. She would play with us, and loved seeing the look on our faces when we got something special for our dolls. 

It was her belief that every young girl should have an American Girl Doll, and my daughters will have one too. If I don't end up having any girls... well then my Nieces will just have to be spoiled by me.

 

a little catch up

The past couple of weeks have been a blur, so I am going to go back a little and catch you up. It might be a little stream of consciousness, but here we go...

We went up to watch the Super Bowl on.... well on a Sunday, I don't remember the date.

I think it is really weird that Kaepernick "kisses" the verses on his biceps after he finishes a good play because with that helmet on he isn't even close to actually kissing anything...

The next weekend we headed up to LA again for a friends wedding. Kyle was in the wedding so we were there from Thursday night - Sunday night... it was fun to see old friends, family, and of course it was great to go to the wedding.

I woke them up with the flash, but I couldn't help it.... it was so cute to see them cuddling.

When we got home we jumped into a busy week of work, but it ended so well with Valentines Day.

My desk was overflowing with Valentines from the students and parents. It was so sweet. 

Kyle drew this for me, He's so cute... I didn't take a picture of anything else he did. But I will try to take one from our date this weekend. 

My favorite Valentine of the whole day was from one of my favorite students. He sent his crush a poem that said:

"Courtney, I see you look at all the other guys, 

(and it really makes me yawn)

They are hamburger and french fries,

While I'm Filet Mignon"

HAHAHA! It made my day

 

Chosen

If you were to ask me who I am, I would probably give you a great answer such as: "First I am a Christian, and then I am a wife, then a daughter, sister, aunt... and so on." While I do truly believe that, in my lower days, the ones I struggle through a bit more, I can start to think that who I am is the culmination of what I get accomplished in a day. Or, I can think of who I am in terms of relationships, I am "so and so's" friend, I am Dave's daughter, I am a member of FBC. 

Again, those things are true, but it's easy to turn those into comparative relationships. My Dad has 5 daughters, and on any given day my sisters could be, and really are most of the time, much better daughters then I am. I may be someone's friend, but am I their BEST friend? I am a member of FBC, but again, I'm not the best member, being fully sacrificial and serving the church to the best of my ability... there is always going to be someone who can do better than me. 

Well this morning I listened to a sermon on 1 Peter 2:9 and I was so encouraged to remember that who I am is not based on what I do, and really brought my thinking back to.. "First I am a Christian.."

1 Peter 2:9

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." 

"Now I love that first part as much as I love any of them. We are a chosen race. You have not just individuals but a race of people, and it's a race that's built across cultures and across colors.  There's a new chosen race, the church of Jesus Christ, the legitimate Israel of God, the chosen ones of God. Therefore, this race is made up of all tribes, all tongues, and all nations. So really, your identity as a part of the chosen race has nothing to do with you, but has everything to do with the fact that God has chosen you." -Matt Chandler

That is who I am, I am a chosen child of God, His possession.

In my low days I can remember this truth, and know that the most important thing I accomplish in my day is to  proclaim the excellencies of Him who called me out of darkness into light!