Good, Better, Best

Every year I look for books that I can read that will challenge me as a Christian, parent and educator. I don't want to be good, I want to be the best that I can be. I also would like to help others become the best they can be.
As a mother, I am faced with that challenge every day. Helping my children to see their strengths and talents and guiding them to use them with purpose. As a Christian, I encourage fellow Christians to grow spiritually by studying God's word, praying and teaching Bible studies or Sunday School. Being a principal requires me to place my staff in the right environment that capitalizes on their strengths and talents. I must also help each of these entities (children, fellow Christians and school staff) see their potential and to reach beyond themselves and the status quo.
Many times, it is hard to see our own potential and we underestimate our abilities. It is important that we surround ourselves with people that can see our potential, encourage and help us strive for
more.

Joys of Aging

Today I had the pleasure of escorting my husband to his first colonoscopy. I have not reached that wonderful age, yet. Why is it that when people talk about a colonoscopy it is spoken with dread, embarrassment or fear?
This procedure is a necessary evil of aging. As a result of Lavoy's colonoscopy, we discovered that our children will need to have one completed when they are 40 rather than wait until 50 and that they should have one every 5 years rather than every 10. The doctor didn't find anything earth shattering during Lavoy's procedure but there were some biological tendencies that could be inherited by our children. What is that quote? "An ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure." Prevention IS the best medicine.
I know my day is rapidly approaching as I creep up on 50. I will follow Lavoy's example and go through the procedure with ALL of God's grace, an ounce of humility and a pound of humor.

Wonderful Technology

Not to state the obvious but technology is developing every day. Case in point: I have had my Nook color since March 2011. In those few months, it has gone from being exclusively an e-reader to now being everything from a game system to a "netbook." Just last night, I wrote my own story using a new app "Tikatok" on my Nook color. It is a free app and easy to use.
After I created my story, I searched the Internet for ebooks relating to my profession as an educator. I found Eye on Education had over 100 ebook titles.
I then checked my email on yahoo from my Nook and finally wound down for the evening by playing Uno, solitaire and Unblock me. All of those activities in the palm of my hands.
I can only imagine what my Nook color will be able to do by December. My hope is maybe I will be able to watch Netflix or Hulutv.
What more could a girl ask for?

Memory Quilt

Early in my marriage I discovered that Lavoy had an unusually large collection of t-shirts. He is the hoarder in our family. I took about 30 of the shirts and made a t-shirt quilt for him. That quilt was our favorite blanket to take to the beach, spread out for a picnic or snuggle under when there was a chill in the air. Once we had children, they enjoyed the coziness of the t-shirt quilt. It has seen better days and needs some serious repairs. A dear friend of the family graduated from high school about five years ago. I made him a t-shirt quilt out of his many track, cross country and youth group shirts. A friend of his saw the quilt and contacted me to make one for her daughter and another asked for me to make one for her son. I went on to make one for my boss when she retired and one for my dearest friend when she went overseas as a missionary. Time came for my oldest son to graduate from high school. I had saved his many shirts and set out making his quilt. Cutting and sewing each shirt brought back all of the memories from kindergarten to high school. I continued to make quilts for special occasions. Our school was having an auction and I made a quilt of as many of the shirts I could gather. This past May, my daughter graduated from high school and I made her quilt filled with as many memories as my son's. I am keeping all of the t-shirts for my youngest child. I still have five years before I will make that one.
Making the quilt is not hard if you can use a ruler to measure, scissors to cut and a sewing machine to sew a basic straight stitch.
Start saving those shirts so you can create a memory quilt for someone you love.