The Greens: June 2011

Okay, I didn't realize how behind I am on blogging! Let me try to catch you up!

The end of the school year was an emotional whirlwind. It was so hard for me to say goodbye to my students. In God's strength, I was able to rejoice and be thankful for my five years at Fortville Elementary: for all the kids I've influenced (and have influenced me!), all the projects, my friendships with staff members, and all the countless and colorful memories. It was overwhelming to sit back and reflect on all of it. There were lots of tears, especially those last few days! It was a painful ending, and I feel extremely relieved to have it all in my rear-view mirror at this point!

The start of summer symbolized me walking into the land of the "unknown", not my favorite location. :) Will I be a stay-at-home mom? Will I start my art teaching business like I've talked about? Will I find a job? (And if so, who will take care of Natalie while I'm at work?) How will we figure out the issue of health insurance and making ends meet? If I didn't have a relationship with God, I would have checked myself into a mental ward by now! Trusting God isn't easy for me (okay, maybe it's hard for everyone...but it seems to come easier for others than for me, or maybe that's what everyone thinks!)....but I know God is good and that He has everything under control. Right now I'm at the place of 'whatever you want God', which is a peaceful place to be. Now I just need to remain there and rely to Him completely.

Tomorrow I'll have my 5th interview of the summer. It's been encouraging to have so many, so there are opportunities out there...so there's a chance I might continue teaching next school year. My summer art camps have been very successful and lots of fun. I have already done two weeks (M-F, 2 hours in the morning) and have one more to go. I've had about 12 kids in each camp. That's been an 'open door', so there's a opportunity there to provide afterschool and/or Saturday classes during the school year.

Okay, enough about me...Wes is keeping busy at Habitat now that it's prime building season. His passion for disc golf has not died down one bit! In fact, he's even gotten me to play. He's passed along this addiction to my dad, which has been fun. The two of them played 72 'holes' (baskets) last weekend when my parents were down visiting!

Natalie's soooo much fun right now. Walking like crazy, a very BUSY girl! Her vibrant personality is so much fun to watch. She is turning into quite the silly girl and she makes friends wherever she goes!

Here are some pictures of our summer so far....