Christian teacher. Public School.

This is what happened during the time of Xerxes, the Xerxes who ruled over 127 provinces from India to Cush. - Esther 1:1 (NIV) It has taken me a long while to write this. There is so much I've learned and I wasn't really sure where God wanted me to go with this. I kept getting the impression that this needed to be about Vashti, and so that is where I began looking. Thing is, finding out anything about Vashti is difficult, and some things actually contradict each other. I looked up what the Midrash had to say about her and found that there are several different ways of thinking. I say this, because I am going to take a bit of license here, but I want to be fully open about it. I will leave links that I used to aid me in writing this piece, should one wish to go down that Rabbi hole (see what I did there). Also, I'm really bad at MLA (sorry Mrs. Alcorn, you tried to your best to teach me) so...links. ------------------------------------------------------------------------...

TRIGGER WARNING:   This post deals with mortality and school shootings. Please skip this post if necessary for you. ********************************************************************************* "We are sitting ducks out here."  I thought during a March fire drill last year. Panic struck, the most recent school shooting running through my mind. I double checked my roster making sure I had all my kids and said a prayer while hoping if something terrible happen all of my students would do exactly what I always tell them to do...run. Run as far away as you can. Get yourself safe and then worry later. And if you have to fight, fight. Don't be an easy target. I caught myself holding my breath as I waited for the all clear to be called so I could shuffle my children back into the semi-safety of my classroom. It wasn't until then that it truly hit me how much anxiety the shooting just weeks before was really giving me. I got in my car that afternoon and cried. ...

You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.  I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.       Psalm 32: 7-8 My daughter was sick. I'd been up two night straight with her crying. We were both exhausted. She had a chest cold. During the day she was perfectly happy and would play and laugh and sing (though her voice was hoarse), but after she'd gone to bed the coughing would start. It made sense. When she was up and moving all of the mucus that her body was producing was draining properly and when she laid down all that mucus would just build up...plus there is her Binky (pacifier) that I do not look forward to separating her from this summer. She thinks she needs Binky to fall asleep, but she needed to breath through her mouth since her nose was stuffed up. Bedtime became this little power struggle between my daughter's need to breath and her perc...

My father does not like whiners. He is a roll up your sleeves and get it done, "suck it up, buttercup" kind of guy. He is a man of few words, so I don't think he ever actually said "If you're going to complain, you'd better be willing to do something about it." He doesn't have to say that, though. He says it with his actions. He isn't one to complain about something unless he is going to do something about it. So...I guess this blog is an ode to my old man, my "Pops." The guy who gets stuff done, so then he can feel okay about complaining about it. See, I am a Christian. I love Jesus (and sweet tea, another thanks to Pops). My relationship with Christ is the only thing that keeps me sane. I'd be a nervous wreck without leaning on the rock of my salvation. After becoming a mommy, I kind of let that relationship falter. I put so much time and energy into caring for my sweet baby girl, that I didn't spend time in prayer like I sh...