What I'm Thankful For...

Yesterday was a great day to reflect on all the things the Lord has done for me this year. As I look back to this time last year, I had just heard that Vienna Christian School needed a Special Ed teacher and was still trying to figure out if this is where the Lord was leading me. In December, I sent out my first round of support letters. So many things fell right into place. My lease was up at the right time, I had just paid off my car, my parents had a place to store some of my things. I started to sell my things and they either sold for asking price and a couple times the people gave me more than asking price...when does that ever happen? My support came in a couple weeks before I was scheduled to fly out. And it was just evident that this is where the Lord was leading me. Once I was here, the Lord provided a great apartment and furnature. I'm living with a great roommate!

The hard part of this year was leaving my two jobs that I loved so much. I came here and wasn't sure what my purpose was. I went through many tears and frustrations. I had expectations that weren't met. I realized that I had a lot of pride in my old job. And I brought that pride here thinking I would be able to bulid this program with no problems. The Lord really streached me and taught me that I needed to rely on Him and that I wasn't as great as I thought I was. And for that, I'm thankful. I'm also thankful for my first graders who are the smartest and cutest first graders in the world! They keep me on my toes and they keep me laughing! I'm also thankful for my 3 special needs students...I pray that the Lord will allow me to show them they are able to succeed and there is no better way than to show them Jesus in the process!

I'm thankful for my family that I left behind. My dad had surgery a few weeks ago where they found some pre-cancer. He also got some skin cancer removed. I'm so thankful that they found it and got rid of it! I'm so thankful for my Dad! I'm also thankful that my mom was able to get her knee replaced. It was a long stretch of pain for her but I'm thankful the surgery went well and that she is walking again without a walker or cane. I'm very thankful for for my mom. I'm also thankful for Dustin (my brother). He and his fiance, Alex, are getting married in June. They just moved to a nicer part of WI and have a puppy named Molly. Dustin was able to get a keyboard and a computer to set up a new music studio. I'm thankful for my brother. Alex has been a blessing to our family. She is such a sweet girl and I'm thankful that she will be my sister!