2009 in Review

January - Clay and I celebrated our one year anniversary with dinner at Trattoria Lisina.
February - I learned to dissect a lamb's heart.
March - Spring Break!
April - Clay turned 28, and celebrated 4 years. I got to spend 3 days in Houston with my kiddos looking at rockets and playing laser tag. Clay's parents came to Austin for the Easter service at the Stone.
May - I survived my first year of teaching! Lots of lessons learned, and plenty to plan and consider over the summer.
June - I began nannying for one of my favorite families in the world! We had a great summer! Lots of time at the pool, and some trips to Fiesta Texas and Schlitterbahn with Clay.
July - Clay and I made our first trip together...and it was the first time either of us had visited New York City. We stayed with a good friend, David, and got to continue the marriage celebration of the Andreanos.
August - ENGAGED! As I geared up for the 2009-2010 school year, Clay asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I love him! I began my second year of teaching...what a difference a year makes! First year teachers -- hang in there!
September-October - A huge blur! So many showers, parties, and good times with friends and family. Lots of planning sessions, and crazy-making conversations!
November - Clay and I became husband and wife on November 22!! God is good! We spend Thanksgiving with his family, and Casey went with us to the A&M v UT football game...it was a good night to be a Longhorn!
December - We are learning to live life together. Clay is an amazing husband who takes better care of me than I could have ever hoped. We had a wonderful holiday with our families and are looking forward to 2010!

Alden

Please pray for Alden Malachowski. She is a student at my school who was diagnosed with Leukemia in May 2008. She relapsed this summer, and after a transplant (for which we praise God) her body had been continually bombarded with infection. The current prognosis is not great, but we serve the God Who knew her name before the foundation of the world was laid. The God Who created every cell that makes up her body. The God Who healed lepers, the blind, and the lame. The God Who healed the Centurion's servant without ever seeing him. The God Who healed a woman who simply had the faith to touch his robe. The God who raised a widow's son, a little girl and His best friend from the dead. The God who has defeated death for us that we may live with Him eternally. I know that He will one day call Alden home to be with Him, for that is where her heart is and that is Who her trust is in. But I am asking you to join with us to pray that that call is in the distant future after a lifetime of living for Him.

Please intercede in faith, for the complete healing of Alden, and that the name of the Lord will be glorified and that many will come to know Him through her testimony.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/aldenmalachowski

Psalm 121

¹ I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

² My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

³ He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

⁴ indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

⁵ The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

⁶ the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

⁷ The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;

⁸ the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Mr. & Mrs. Dixon

Miss to Mrs.

in just 9 days! How is it possible that it is already here? Less than 2 weeks from tonight I will be sitting with my husband in our living room. Unreal.

One week from tomorrow will be my last day as Miss Clow :-) I wonder how well my kids will make the transition?

e3 Partners & Zambia

In the last month I have been introduced to e3 Partners through a friend at church. She works for them full time, and talked to the Africa Network at The Stone back in September. e3 focuses on church planting, and building up the local church by equipping pastors and local ministers.

e3 sends trips all over the world, and to my pleasure, they work in Zambia! I am considering a trip with a church here in Austin (Covenant Presbyterian) and one with a church in Alabama. I have no idea if this will come to fruition or not, but I am VERY excited to have Zambia and Africa on my radar again!

Oh, and if you are not familiar with the I am Second campaign, check out this website. It is an extension of e3 that has celebrities share their faith in short videos. One of my favorites is of former Korn singer, Brian Welch. Other celebs include Mike Huckabee, Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford, & Stephen Baldwin, and many more!

Engaged!

Well, this post is more than a month late, but in my defense it has been an insane month!

Clay and I got engaged on August 15, 2009! We are getting married on November 22 here in Austin, and we are so excited to begin our life together!

I'm going to post a few pictures on here, but you can read more about the engagement on our Knot site.

Intro to NYC

We arrived safely in NYC last night. As soon as he picked us up, David announced I was going to have to play kickball because his team didn't have enough girls. Rain may have eluded Austin for months, but that is not the case here. The clay field was more of a mud pit. We had a blast! If you know me at all, you know I am NOT athletic in the best circumstances....slippery, sticky mud does not enhance those skills. I did make contact both times at bat (but could not run fast enough to get to first!), and I caught a pop fly! Whoo hoo!

After the game we went to Turtle Bay with the rest of the league. About 11 we headed to Times Square. I loved being out in the city at night!

Today David took us on a walking tour of Manhattan...and oh my goodness do the ankles, calves and feet hurt! We started the morning at Chambers (for those of you who know and care), made our way past Ground Zero (which I did not view so don't look for photos), and on down to Battery Park. From there we walked back up to Houston Street. On the way we hit Trinity Church, China Town and Little Italy, and ate lunch at a random seafood place down near Brooklyn Bridge.

We finally made it back to the apartment around 6pm at which time someone managed to spill the soy sauce in David's fridge, which I volunteered to clean up since I wasn't heading out with the guys again.

And that is where we are now. I'm on the couching updating the masses on our travels watching The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, while the guys are buying David's Summer II textbooks and grocery shopping. We're heading to a humus place for dinner...I'm not sure what that entails, but you can be sure there will be pictures!

New York Bound

Clay & I leave for NYC in a little more than a week. I am now officially accepting suggestions for tours and attractions. I am already aware of when/where/how to find show tickets, but I am in need of suggestions for other things to do. I am so unfamiliar with the city I haven't a clue where to start.

Very, very excited!!

Happy Birthday to Us!

Sending birthday wishes to several loved ones with whom I share a birthday, and to a few who weren't quite cool enough to be born on June 16, but were close enough to straddle it. Happy birthday too all the Gems! Love you all :-)

Almost Made the 16th - June 15th Birthdays

Kyle Ambrose (Ok, I THINK yours is the 15th...I know it's only a day apart from Karis & I...)

Amanda Allen (friend in Clay's circle and new Stoner)

Jason Comer (old school Crusade)

The Coolest Kids - June 16 Birthdays

John Shivers Clow (my cousin)

Chrissy Alexander (Stoner friend)

Madeline Nagel (one of my senior cheerleaders!)

Kelly Pickette (one of my JV cheerleaders last year)

me (Duh)

Juuust Missed the 16th - June 17th Birthday

Karis Kendall (Queen of Mulungushi Village)

Missed it by several days, but it's June Teenth and Worth a Mention - June 19th Birthday

Paige Stevenson Cates (Head Cheerleader 1996-1997)

I am loving...

...summertime! I am so thankful for a break from school and time to hang out with the family I am nannying for! We saw UP in 3D today...very cute and I wanted to cry.  Staying out of the sun today since the boys and I both got some burnage yesterday.  Tomorrow I start housesitting for a week...God has been so good to me this summer with the opportunities for extra income.  I will be able to pay cash for all of my NYC trip, and also get ahead on my loan repayments.  YAY!

Summer 2009

It's here! Well, in 3.5 days it will be, so here are some things I am looking forward to this summer.

1. Floating the Comal very, very soon.
   
   
2. I want to go to Sea World. For real.
   
   
3. Sitting out on the porch watching, watching the light fade, talking about anything and everything.
   
   
4. I am SO excited about the week in NYC, and getting to celebrate Ash & Dan's wedding with her family!
   
   
5. Seeing my cousins in Leakey while they are home on furlough from Taiwan.
   
   
6. Going to the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
   
   
7. Sitting by the pool, re-reading The Outlander Series (by Diana Gabaldon) in preparation for book 7.
   
   
8. Spending time delving into Dante's Divine Comedy.
   
   
9. Hanging out with some of my favorite kids in the world.

Conflicted so Confessing

Just how I feel right now. One minute I am completely trusting and believing and it is TRULY well with my soul; the POW! the next moment I am frantically trying to solve it all myself.  So I am going to combine a counseling technique (fake it 'til you make it) with an exercise another teacher introduced me to in chapel this week (confessing belief in scripture aloud -- or here written).  I say I am combining the methods because I realize that as I read these truths, I do believe them with my head, but I need to beseech the Author of my faith to increase my faith so that these truths resonate in my heart and that I am actually believing God,  not just believing IN Him. I think that's one of the greatest battles of Believers -- getting out of our heads and into the relationship with the Lord that leads us to trust.

* A couple of months ago one of my moms gave me this devotional...

as I read the preface a few nights ago Moore speaks to the sovereignty of God and how therefore she does not

 believe this book makes it into anyone's hand by accident, but by Divine intervention. I tend to agree.

I am going to act as though I believe Psalm 23:1-3

The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in the paths of righteousness for HIS names sake. (ESV)

I am going to act as though I believe Proverbs 3:5-6

If I will stop thinking I know what's best in my limited view of the eternal "big picture" and trust my God and Savior with every aspect of my life, He will guide me in every aspect of my life. (Mindy's Translation)

I am going to act as though I believe Romans 8:28

And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. (ESV)

I am going to act as though I believe Romans 8:28-39

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ our Savior. (ESV)

The Big Apple

FINALLY! We have committed to a date, booked the tickets, and are heading to NYC! I cannot believe I am actually getting to do some leisure travel this summer! Our friend, David, moved to New York last fall to attend Columbia University so we are going to visit him. I write "our" not "Clay's" friend because I like David (as I do most of Clay's friends!) and think I have known him (and the rest of them!) long enough to call him my friend, too. We will be staying with him and his roommates for nearly a week (I hope we do not wear out our welcome -- hopefully we will not be "home"much). 

He's Still Working On Me

I knew this school year the Lord was going to be teaching me a lesson about humility. I proclaimed this flippantly, and a little arrogantly in my obviously insightful understanding of my spiritual needs, to family and friends as I embarked on this journey (oh the irony of being ARROGANT about realizing God wanted to teach me a lesson in HUMILITY -- jeez!!!)  Obviously, I had no idea just how far He needed to take me. A few things occurred to me today on the drive home. Well, occurred is a rather benign word -- hit me like a ton of bricks is really more appropriate.

I have a need to be right and for others to know when I am right, especially if it means they are wrong. I also have a strong desire to offer defenses or justifications when I have been called out for mistakes. Even when I am able to admit I was wrong in doing something, if I feel it was justified or somehow not totally 

my fault, I really, really want the "authority" to know that.

Neither of these are Christ-like responses.  The Suffering Servant is what hit me today like a ton of bricks. After describing how Christ was to take on all of our yuckiness, Isaiah says 

He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Isaiah 53:7

Christ was blameless. Unlike me, He actually had a real defense - He had done NOTHING. Yet in humility He did not cry out. In humility, He left His rightful place in Heaven, and took on the clothing of man in order to save us. He did not have the need to prove His right-ness.

I now see, a little more clearly, what God is calling me to this year, and already what He is calling me walk in next year. Humility. Realizing He has placed me in my position for a purpose. That He has allowed the trials to come with a purpose. The purpose is to refine me and make me look more like His Son. WHAT?! Are you kidding me? My God loves me enough to drive me to my knees...to bring me to a place where I know there is literally NOTHING I can do to change the outcome of current circumstances and decisions other than to trust Him and walk in HUMILITY. 

Forgive the obscureness and intentionally unspecific nature of this, but some big decisions are to be made in the coming weeks. Whatever the outcome of these decisions I will have to walk in great humility either way. My prayer now is that the Lord, Who is my Sustainer, my Provider, and my Refuge will give me all that I need to do just that -- walk humbly before Him (Micah 6:8).

Food for thought:

Listen to "Edifying the Church" and "The Good News of Recession". 

 *The picture is a painting from http://www.sarahhauer.com/price_list.htm. I found it when searching images for Humility. I think it's pretty so I shared it :-)

Springtime Insanity!

My week at a glance:

Monday - Easter Holiday

Tuesday - math review, grammar review, literature review & reading

Wednesday - final math review, grammar quiz, literature quiz, more reading

Thursday - math TEST, t-chart, LOTS of reading, prepare for Grandparents Day

Friday - GRANDPARENTS day

T-minus 7 days until we leave for NASA! That only includes 4 teaching days...craziness!!!

Psalm 51:7-13

There is nothing I can say to preface this sermon, other than PLEASE listen to it. I promise it will be worth your time. Click the link below, then once you are on the new page, click the little blue MP3 box next to the title "The Process of Transformation". 

The Process of Transformation - The Austin Stone Community Church (3.15.09) - Jeff Mangum

Teaching

I am 3/4 of the way through my first year of teaching.  So far, here is a list of the top 10 reasons I love it. They are in no particular order, and if the number has an  * by it, then it means this reason is likely unique to the school at which I teach.

1. My kids show love in refreshingly unexpected ways.
   
2. *I am shown daily how God works in the lives of our youngest brothers & sisters.  I never cease to be amazed by the Holy Spirit's work in them.
3. I am constantly challenged to find new ways of presenting old ideas to keep my kids engaged.
4. *The parents in my classroom have gone out of their way to make me feel welcomed and encouraged on a weekly basis.  Several of them have been a balm to my soul during times of trial this year, and I hope they know how much I appreciate them. 
5. I love learning -- and to teach something really forces you to learn it.
6. *Mentoring my children in more than just the rules of the English language -- actually mentoring them in areas that have eternal consequence is a burden and a joy all at the same time.
7. *My team is incredible. I am surrounded by Pauls and Barnabases who spur me on not only in my teaching skills, but in my walk with the Lord. I am truly blessed.
8. Our literature books are awesome.
9. I am increasing my vocabulary by ridding it of banned words.
10. *I haven't gotten to do this yet -- but I already know it makes the list. Next month we are going to NASA for 3 days!

Surgery

So after the crazy mix-up with people in Woodville thinking my mother had a bad reaction to anesthesia and died, she actually is having surgery tomorrow.

After 13 years of ridiculous attacks that would lay her out for hours she has finally found a doctor who was able to diagnose her problem as her gall bladder. So tomorrow, at 6am, she is going to have it out, praise God!

God is really cool

The Lord is doing some amazing things in my life and the lives of many I am close to right now. I don't have time for a full update right now - but wanted to let you know how cool He can be!

There are so many TINY things I am seeing His hand in...and those tiny things are adding up to HUGE eternal significance :)

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On a more somber note, my aunt, Elaine Clow, passed away this morning. Please pray for my family during this time. My uncle, to my knowledge, has never professed faith in Christ. It is my prayer that during this time he will come to know the saving power of our Lord, and trust in Him for all his comfort.