Learning my ultimate need for Christ

Since becoming involved in our church, Xenos Christian Fellowship, here in Columbus my life has changed for the better. I'm so thankful for the people in our home church and have been really blessed. God has really been showing me how much I need Him. I'm the type of person that likes to-do-lists, feeling organized, and getting all of my ducks in a row. I still try to control things in my life in terms of goals, my chosen road map and each turn along the way. I've always known that God is in control but I've learned to TRUST that His plan is better than mine. It's easy to say, "I know God is in control and wants good things for me", but it's another to be able to REST in that and learn to truly rely on that truth in a practical, daily sort of way. I'm definitely still learning how to do this, and I'm sure I'll be learning this until the day I'm with the Lord but He's showing me more and more each day how to be confident in this.

I've found the most peace in this area when I focus on my ultimate need for Him. It seems counterintuitive but when I come to Him and am aware of how little control over things I really have, that's when He shows me that His plan and so much better than anything I could ever plan for myself and He gives me the most strength and peace. A recent example of this is the deposit for our new apartment. I really wanted to move out of our current apartment but I was hesitant to look for a new place because I was worried about coming up with money for another deposit. We stopped looking for a new apartment for a few weeks and just tried to be okay with where we are for now. During this time, I found out that I would be getting a bonus at work from the previous school year. Before this point, it was never clear when this bonus would be coming and I didn't have any idea how much it would be. Shortly after finding this out, we looked for an apartment. I found the posting on Sunday and by Tuesday we had seen the apartment, applied and got accepted. The best part was that the deposit ended up being the exact amount of my bonus. Some people might say that's a coincidence, but I chose to believe it was God showing me that He provides for us in practical ways! We're now moving in a couple weeks and I'm very thankful.

Moving away from Oregon was, and still is, a very difficult thing, but through that struggle God has drawn me closer to Him and shown me His love and dedication to me more than any other point of my life. I'm so thankful for our home church because it teaches the bible, love for each other, and God's grace. Once we admit our need for Jesus and ask him to be apart of our life, our name can never be erased from his book. We are His children forever and can never be seperated from Him.

Repurposed dresser!

I guess I've found a new addiction in DIY projects. I started small and built my way up to refurbishing an old dresser! I blame all my inspiration on Pinterest! I haven't thought of many original ideas, I just see something I like and decide to make my own. I found the idea for this weekend's project originally from this pin... http://pinterest.com/pin/49539664623487288/

 

My sister's neighbor just happened to be getting rid of their own dresser so I snagged it off their sidewalk! Lucky me! This is what is started out as...

I borrowed some supplies from my lovely friend, Erin, and jumped right in! I'm learning as I go and hoping it all works out :) I started out with a little sanding.

The sanding process was MUCH easier than I was anticipating. I feel like everything I've heard and read about sanding is horrible. It helped that the dresser didn't have a glossy top coat and was pretty worn down to begin with.

Next, came filling in the huge gouge in the front of the drawer. This wood filler was like magic!

Now on to the primer...

Next, I had to figure out how to remove that back ledge. With the help of picture messaging with my dad, I got it off...

It had an old fashioned bolt and turning mechanism.

Voila!

Now I was left with these huge holes. Which gave me another chance to practice my skills with the magic wood filler :)

You'd never know it was there :)

 

Primer is now done. On to the paint :)

 

I used a high gloss paint since the dresser will be used a lot and have things placed on top of it.

I taped the inside to insure I didn't get paint all over the inside and be left with drawers that would stick when you try to open them.

I really like the detail on the legs.

All painted! Now just needs new knobs :) If I'm lucky, I'll be able to get a granite or marble top. I'm happy with it for now though! I may just use a big butcher block style cutting board to use on the top.



I've been desperate to keep in touch with all of my amazing Oregon friends lately. Group texts, facebook groups, emails, texts, and phones calls. Man, what did people do before all of this convenient technology. Any time Jesse and I are apart from each other for more than a couple days I think about Cathy Noles telling me that her and her husband, Greg, wrote letters and spent hundreds of dollars on long-distance phone calls. Now we have FaceTime and skype! We're spoiled. Am I ever thankful though for these things. I was able to be apart of the births of Adelyn and Ezra through FaceTime. Thanks goodness!

So, between my continued attempts to stay connected with the people I love, and the fact that I have a lot of extra time this week due to having jury duty, I decided to follow through with my bloging idea. I always love reading the blogs of others so I decided to share mine.

I'll start with work. This year has been  A THOUSAND times better than last year. No furniture or book throwing, no fist fights, no chasing each other around the room and, imagine this, there is significant LEARNING happening this year :) The fact that I am the only teacher my students have had this year and that we've been together since day one is HUGE. That's what has made the most difference. Of course I have a few more tricks up my sleeve this year and my teaching partner and I work super well together (although that's just like last year) so that helps too! My classroom is full of fun and learning. Our newest thing started last week. We have "brain breaks" in between subjects so we all can have a quick breather. The kids dance along with a video called "Just dance kids Hampster dance". It's so cute and they love it! I got the idea from a fabulous teacher at my school. Here's the link if fellow teachers want to try it out.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHZN3CDCXcs

Moving on, Jesse and I are moving in three weeks! We're moving to a cute apartment in Worthington. It's about 5 minutes away from where we are now. It's in a much cuter area and near a library and farmer's market! We're super excited. It has a bigger bedroom and bathroom and a nice kitchen. AND, it doesn't smell like smoke outside our door-what a lovely idea, right? I'll post pictures when we move.

This post is getting long but I have much more to share. I'll write again soon-probably really soon considering that the most stressful part of my day today is when I'm going to get up to use the restroom. Rough life at jury duty...

My love to you all