As we begin this month of thanks, we truly have so much to be thankful for. In this crazy, fun, chaotic series of events that we call life, we often forget to take the time to really count our blessings. As we talk with those around us, we seem much quicker to count our woes; however, I propose that if we simply took a few moments a day to reflect on all the joyful occasions, we might actually be surprised at what we realize. I, for one, know that I was quickly humbled at all my blessings as I sat down and began pondering what to put in this blog post. I am always amazed at how all those seemingly "small things" throughout our days really do add up to some pretty amazing memories.
I challenge you, as you are reading this, to take just a few moments to make a small list of just the good, happy times over the past week. If you are like me, I bet that list doesn't stay small for very long. With each passing item, our joy begins to grow. As our joy grows, so does our thankfulness (or so it seems to me). And....if you are like me, by the time you finish that list, you will be able to say with confidence:
While the coffee cup may not seem big enough for some days, I can still joyfully say MY CUP OVERFLOWS!
As I write this (at 9 pm on a Monday night), I have just returned home from a night of basketball games with my cheerleaders. As tired as I am right now, I cannot help but be amazed at how hard they have worked this year. Here is a link to the video of them practicing their dance (and, yes, I have their permission to show this): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjGG290iF8E
Aren't they just precious?! They get even better each day, and I am just as proud as I can be. I am so thankful that God blessed me with the opportunity to teach another year at, what I am convinced, is the best school around. I may get tired and worn out, but I absolutely love my job, my students, and my co-workers. I know that not everyone can say that, so I truly try to cherish it (some days I do this better than others lol). I even got my first official yearbook picture made as a teacher!!
Last year, I just had to take a pic on a random day, and, of course, it just happened to be the day that I had my hair in a ponytail. Yay for a bald looking teacher, lol. Nonetheless, God has blessed me with another year at Central and another wonderful year on this earth, as I reached the big 24 this year! Okay, so maybe it's not that big, but still.... In fact, I made the mistake of saying "back in my day" in class the other day, and one of my students replied: "When was that, Mrs. Lanza, last year? You are so not old." haha I have to say that my birthday was wonderful and probably one of the best yet.
I finished out year 23 in my penguin PJ's and a very unhealthy dinner of baked mac-n-cheese. Then, I got to celebrate with my honey, family, and in-laws. Paul made sure it was an awesome day, complete with a night out to eat at Rolo's (my favorite), a strawberry cake with real strawberries and cool whip icing (there is nothing like it!), presents, and a dozen red roses. Isn't he just awesome?! I also had a meeting I had to be at that day for work, and it finished a little early, which allowed me to go home early on my birthday! Awesome, right?! I would love to say that I made good use of that extra time, but this old woman definitely went home and took a much needed nap. Needless to say, it was a pretty incredible birthday. My students also knew that I was going to be out on my birthday, so they sang to me the day before during lunch. They are just so sweet. One even brought me a cupcake the next day.
In regards to graduate school, I am now officially registered for my next class. I will begin taking my third graduate class in January, Human Growth and Development.
I am going to have to take some pointers from the hubs on how to balance work, school, and life, but I know that with God's help I can do it. It also doesn't hurt to have a husband who helps out A LOT. In case you can't tell, I am so very grateful for him and all that he does! We have so much fun together, and we even get to take time out for each other and friends. This past weekend, we celebrated our extra hour with the time change by going out on a fancy date night: dirt cheap, Steak 'n Shake, and a dollar movie. haha It doesn't take much to please us. By the way, Monsters University is a really cute movie.
We even made time for friends and had a wonderful time a couple weekends ago with our Bible class. We had a fun time roasting
weenies, toasting marshmallows, hanging around a bonfire, going on a ridiculously
chilly hayride, sipping hot chocolate, and more---oh how I love the warmth of
friendship on a cold night!
All of this fall fun is just so exciting. We even dressed up on halloween at school. I, of course, went as Pebbles, and I was joined by some of my co-workers (Alice in Wonderland, Where's Waldo?, and the Wicked Witch). We even had Ms. Frizzle from the Magic School Bus, but I don't have a picture of that one.
We even had Ponyboy show up to school that day from The Outsiders book.
and.....Of course, Paul's decorations was a big hit with the kiddos on Halloween night. Weather and all, we still ended up with about 150 trick-or-treaters, complete with screams as the jumping spider lunged at them as they rang the doorbell. Nevertheless, I cannot say that I am sad to see all those decorations go. Now, the REAL FUN begins. The Christmas lights are slowly making their way up, and I could not be more excited! This is the most exciting time of the year to me! I just love it. Of course, the lights will not be turned on until Christmas, but Clark Griswold is already busy setting everything up.
This is just a glimpse into the Lanza happenings, but what joy we have! As always, we are BUSY, BUT BEYOND BLESSED!
Back to my earlier sentiment about my cup overflowing, I can testify to the goodness of God's promises. Luke 6:38 : "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
You truly cannot out-give God. Take a moment to simply say thanks to our Father today. :)
Until next time,
No comments:
Post a Comment