Even in the Summertime...

I still love to learn! And I've been meaning to share pictures for awhile now of the conference I went to last week. A man named Chris Biffle created a system of classroom management and effective learning strategies that work wonderfully in all classroom settings, and I got to attend his conference in West Plains last week. If you are a teacher or work with a large group of children, teenagers, or young adults, I really encourage you to check out the website for Whole Brain Teaching! (Click on Chris Biffle's name above.) His system has been proven to work with K-12 AND college-age students. Crazy, huh?

Chris Biffle and Chris Rekstad - teachers and co-founders of Whole Brain Teaching

But I didn't tell you the funniest part! It was a two-day conference, and I planned to drive back and forth each day, but decided to take things to stay overnight "just in case." When I got there, I ran into another group of teachers from my district who happened to be camping out there and invited me to join them for the night. I was so excited to add another adventure to my list from the summer...so - here are some pictures of our fun! Teachers in the summertime....gone camping! (Bet you thought I was going to say gone wild, huh? haha)

Home sweet home...we had it so rough! ;)

Marianne was a great fire builder!

She even cooked a lot of the dinner over the fire...she is a multi-talented teacher!

Kathy is excited to show off our yummy dinner and picnic area!

I thought I should try to be "primitive" somehow during the adventure...this is me failing to use a Swiss Army Knife-ish thing...to open tuna! haha

Mmmm...s'mores!

Gotta love a good camp fire!

Roasting, toasting, melting away!

Golden brown!

This is how I got the nickname, "Flaming Marshmallow Queen..." Need I say more? haha

Well...I managed to get a shower despite the 5c sign!

We had some high-class facilities...they even had doors and hot water! haha

Twin Bridges Camp Ground

And here are the bridges in the beautiful morning sunshine!

I like to call this one "Rose's Redneck Clothesline" :)

Time to hook it up and go...I was a great "supervisor" haha

Group picture! I had a blast getting to know a couple of these ladies better and spending time with the ones I already knew! They are some wonderful teachers!

Day 2 of the conference - we were smart! We brought our "comfy" chairs and decided to show them off! Note that I kicked Melinda out of the comfy chair so I could stretch out and make it into my throne as "Flaming Marshmallow Queen!" ;)

So this is Rose...she was the owner of the trailer and is a super-animated and fun second grade teacher! Here she is mocking...I mean ummm....practicing "rule #2" from our conference..."Raise your hand for permission to speak!" Don't you love that face?! haha

This one's for my sister...we stopped at a Western store, and I took this picture just for her! She just moved to Kansas and says she is going to find me a cowboy to marry so I will move there too...haha...maybe she can put this one in a personal ad for me!

I really do enjoy being a teacher! And learning all the time...there is always SO much more to learn. Sometimes it is overwhelming trying to figure out where to start with implementing what I learn in my classroom, but I'm trying to take it one day/year at a time. And having fun while I do it...here's to lifelong learning...with a few adventures in between! :) 

I have enjoyed sharing my summer with everyone so much! And I feel blessed to have had so much time to travel and enjoy it this year. I can't believe it is going so quickly. But - the next two weeks are an exciting time for me! I am taking a two-week training at UCA in Conway, Arkansas in the Orff-Schulwerk approach to teaching music. This is a three-level training, with one each summer. Last year I completed Level One, and this year I am taking Level Two! It has been great to catch up with friends from last year and meet other new teachers who are here! So...if you don't see any posts for awhile, this is why! Because with the training comes....homework! Yikes! :) But it is also SO worth it for the wonderful training I am receiving and the new ideas I will be able to take back and use in my classroom. I'm looking forward to being the student again for a couple of weeks, playing instruments, singing, and creating music! And if you are thinking, "Orff-what?" you are probably not alone! I'll share more about that with you soon, and hopefully some pictures from my time here! I'll still make time to read other blogs while I'm here, and look forward to updating my own again soon! Have a joyful week!

My Service Heart...

I think I was a child when I first began learning about serving others. My church had an organization called Girls in Action (GAs for you fellow Southern Baptists out there...), and we worked together to do mission projects for our community.

In junior high, I went on my first in-state mission trip with my youth group and loved the chance to work on a small construction project and help with Vacation Bible School.

In high school, a teacher encouraged us to begin building community service hours for our "resumes." Though I did work hard to earn hours, I always felt there was more to it than that. 

I always felt such a joy while I was serving. Helping others and encouraging them was something that my heart was passionate about. It wasn't just to "get hours" or to "look good" on a resume...it was a way God was using me to share His love through actions. 

During college, I attended First Baptist Church of Arakadelphia, Arkansas. They have always been a very mission-minded church - both home missions and foreign missions. But while I was there, they had an idea. Why not continue to focus on and support home and foreign missions....but bring missions to the community our church was in too?

And out of this desire to minister to the local community, Arms Around Arkadelphia was founded. It began with a few small projects around town doing minor repairs on some homes. Then it grew to a project through which every home in the community was provided with a set of batteries for their fire alarms. 

This year two homes were repaired during the first weekend project in May, and five homes were repaired during the week-long June focus. Repairs included painting, rebuilding, roofing, plumbing, electrical work, gardening, sanding, moving, hanging cabinets, and much more. The motto became, "It's not a mission trip...it's a mission life!" 

I think one of the things that touched my heart most was the variety of ages, skills, and work involved.

There were youth and young adults, senior adults, and children...all working together for the Kingdom of the Lord. (The precious picture above is our pastor's wife and her grand daughter, who had her own special pink rake...what a wonderful helper she was!) :)

We started every morning with a team devotion at our worksite. I enjoyed working alongside men and women who I had known before, and some who I had the blessing of meeting during the week. The sweet girl in the bottom picture is one of my favorite youth! I met her when she was in the children's choir I helped with at church in college. Now she has grown into a young lady with a beautiful heart that loves God above all else and longs to serve in missions as well. 

There were so many jobs to be done throughout the week. Some people served on the prayer team. Some served in the kitchen, preparing the lunches and dinners we shared together each day at the church. Others brought popcicles and gatorade in the morning. (Our favorite crew! haha) Still others were the "go-fors" who drove from site to site and made trips to the hardware stores while others served by picking up loads of trash that gathered at each site. 

Of course there was time for some fun too....and a little playing in the paint! :) You can see, we had lots to keep us busy! 

Testing out the stepping stones by jumping back and forth was also an important job! :) 

And of course we needed a video man to capture all the hard work and memories going on!

Being a part of this church in college was a tremendous blessing to me, and I still feel like I am going home when I visit there...almost like no time has gone by, and I'm just supposed to be there. I love each and every person I have grown to know there from children to adults to senior adults. 

As I've been working on my application for the Journeyman overseas missions program, I have begun to really look deep into my heart. What makes me who I am? What are the passions God has given me, and how does He desire to use me? Maybe you have heard Christians talk about "spiritual gifts" before. I used to hear this term and wonder what kind of gift God had given me. But as I've grown as a Christian, I have begun to see the desire He has given me to serve and to encourage others. I also have compassion and a burdened heart for those who are hurting and in need of love. So I was not too surprised when I took a spiritual gift inventory and found these results...

God has gifted each of us in such unique ways, and it is through the mixture of all these abilities, desires, and passions, that He builds the church. I love knowing that there are so many different "parts" to the body of Christ, and that no matter what your gift, He will use it if you are only willing and ready. 

How about you? What is your gift? Have you ever taken an "inventory?" I would love to hear about the unique ways God has made each of you and encourage you to take a closer look at your gifts! There are tons of resources to help with this, but I took a simple quiz I found through searching online. 

So - here is another one of my summer adventures. And my heart has been overflowing with joy from serving since last week...thanks for letting me share that joy with you! By the way, I am still trying to get the paint out from under my fingernails, and yesterday when I was combing my hair, I found a few strands with paint in them! Gotta love taking the work with you, even a week later! :) 

"Therefore, whatever you do, work at it with all your heart as if working for the Lord and not for man." -Colossians 3:23

"Serve the Lord with gladness..." -Psalm 100:2