Snowstorm 2010

our snowstorm photos:

i love icicles...

We actually got a good amount of snow- the most we've seen in five years and to the people down here a big deal. :)

my herb garden is almost all covered except for this lavender and another one (i can't remember which one we planted there)

rob and i had to take barbara to work... we played around being silly (i don't like photos of me, but thought i'd oblige my family) :)

the front porch is buried deep in a drift

i love our home that God gave to us- in every kind of weather :) i still almost a year later can't believe we live here, that we don't rent it, that it is ours, that what was impossible was given to us by God's good grace... and now on this snowy, icy, cold day, here i am, sitting here curled up under my fuzzy blanket enjoying a pretty fire and am so thankful for His provisions.

and in other news, matthew gave himself a mohawk (ten years after he started asking me for one...) :)

snow, snow, snow, snow, SNOW!

it's snowing- "real" snow- here in NC! :) WOO HOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! rob and i woke up around 7 AM this morning and there's a lot of snow on the ground- more than we've seen in five years since moving here to the balmy south.

the t.v. meterologist is saying 6-8 inches has fallen so far here with another inch or two to come. it's mixing with bands of sleet now too.

we were down to close to bare cupboards and fridg since it was the end of the month. today would have been my normal monthly grocery shopping day, but with the "storm" i was afraid i wouldn't be able to get the food- everything has shut down here. so rob and i braved walmart last night - OH MY WORD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! talk about culture shock. i have never in my whole midwestern life seen so many people in a store- not at Christmas, not at Black Friday, not the day after Christmas- never! it was HILARIOUS!!!! you'd have thought the rapture or Armageddon was about to happen or something. :)

EVERYTHING is closed- even the hospital is scrolling across the tv screen with some sort of emergency plan in place. my coworkers are talking about us not getting back to work for quite some time- HILARIOUS, and from what i've seen even when we do go back i'm sure we'll be late starting everyday. the late start part i don't mind, but the missing i do- we'll be going to school until july at this rate.

as i've said often since moving here, "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore." ;)

today my heart broke

7:50 AM- The school day has just begun. My classroom is a busy, bustling place filled with happy faces and busy children & teacher. We are preparing to leave for our various "Reading Club" classrooms. It is Spotlight Breakfast day and two of my children are being honored and receiving awards from me. One of them came back early, slamming the classroom open, stomping in, and throwing his award into his cubby quite angrily. Before I knew it, this very, VERY tough little boy who does not like hugs or accept physical attention/affection but rarely is in my lap, head on my shoulder, sobbing. And so was I. I think I felt my heart break.

I Wish I May, I Wish I Might...

Okay, first off, I have NEVER done this before, but Ruhiyyih did a post on her blog about her wishes, and it got me to thinkin'. So, I hope she won't mind but I am stealing her idea and doing the same. If you would, leave me a comment and let me know something you're wishing for and I'll pray for you too along with all my other wishes (which for me are really prayers).

I wish & pray for the world:

• that people would come to know Jesus' love- not just about Him or to think about all the bad things they know about Christians or the church or whatever their preconceived ideas are & associate that with HIM, but that somehow, someway they would just come to KNOW His unending love.
• that the horrors of war, genocides, famine, starvation, and tragedies would come to an end- I've been reading more about Rwanda most recently (been doing a lot of reading about war-torn African countries in the last couple years)- it breaks my heart. How it must sadden God.
• that no one would go to bed hungry.
• that orphans around the world would find love and forever homes like my nephew has.
• that the homeless would find shelter, food, friendships.
• that the world would learn to set aside their differences, their political views, their ideas about race, gender, likes and dislikes and learn to live peaceably with one another.

I wish & pray for my students ("my kids"):

• that God would somehow help me find ways to reach through the learning difficulties, past drug and alcohol damage, past hunger, past dysfunctional homes and hurting hearts and teach my children and help them grow and reach their full potential. I pray this a lot as I work throughout the day, when I hug the kids, when I sit down at the table to teach, when I see them struggling to understand something I am saying.
• that God would keep my kids safe from harm at home, in the world, wherever they go.
• that God would comfort A tonight whose heart is sad because of the death of his cat.
• that God would bring K safely back to us from his faraway trip.
• that God will bless & help my children grow up into happy, confident, responsible, and most important of all compassionate adults who bring up their families to be the same.
• and that God would be with kids whose names/initials I will not list but whose lives are not good. That somehow He would love my children through me and heal their hurts and mend their small, so young, but already broken hearts and lives.

I wish for my family:

• that my children would continue on the path God has chosen for them, that they would seek His will for their lives and continue to live for Him and serve Him. That they would make Him proud of them!
• that my momma and pop will continue to live healthy, active, long lives. I'm so, very, utterly thankful for the "extensions" on life God has recently granted them, and I would just like to have them as long as we can. (Okay, that's a selfish "me-wish" also.) :)
• that my sister and b-i-l would be blessed by God and granted the desires of their hearts!
• that God will allow our family to serve Him and please Him all the days of our lives.
• that our family will have "enough" of the things we need.

I wish for me:

• that Rob & I would see clearly God's path for our future and follow it.
• peace at work (either at the current place or a new one).
• to be acid/heartburn/ulcer free (which means a less stressful workplace I believe)
• to really have the stick-to-it-iveness to do what I need to do.
• that I would take care of me and live to be an old lady. (On that note, I am trying really hard to make some serious life changes, but don't want to say more until I prove it to myself).
• that I would be a more gracious, loving person.