August?!?! Really!?!? Summer is Over? Where Did it Go!!???

I am in my classroom right now, just can't believe how this summer flew by!! I will begin with my August Currently:

Here's a little more on my currently,

LISTENING~~I have been in my room since 9 am and it is currently about 11:30 am.  I have been listening to my ipod as I have been working.  I have been listening to some of my favorite music; Steven Curtis Chapman's Glorious Unfolding, Casting Crown's Thrive, Colony House's When I was Younger, & now Mercy Me's The Hurt & the Healer.  It is helping me to stay in the right frame of mind.

LOVING~~A few day's ago Amazon had the Kindle version of Mark Hall's {Lead singer of Casting Crowns} book Thrive: Digging Deep & Reaching Out for only $2.99 so I got it and then signed up for their 31 Day Thrive Challenge.  Mark talks about how many of us are 'surviving'; 'if I can just make to...' He says, "You were not made to survive life....You were not made to exist until you can get over the next hump or get to the next break...You are not living the life you were created to live if survive is your word. You were made to thrive." {emphasis his}  He describes thriving as living to know God and make Him known.  I have definitely felt {for YEARS} I have been in 'Survival Mode'  I am ready to THRIVE!!!!

THINKING~~I am not others, I am me.  I am who God created me to be & I want to THRIVE as me.  I tend to get overwhelmed with life & feel frustrated with not being able to do it all.  I see the Blogging/TpT 'Superstars' & my sister who are SUPER neat & organized and always seem to have it together.  I tend to shut down when I don't feel like I am 'good enough' and I am trusting God to use me for who I am flaws & all. Step, step, step....I decided to take pictures of what I am doing each hour to document that I AM doing a lot {trying to convince myself, not so much everyone else} I took a break about 45 minutes ago from my room to blog, & will get back at my room in 15 minutes no matter how far along this post is.

WANTING~~I live in the High Desert of Southern California & it has been HOT!!! Okay, just checked phone & it says it is only 90 degrees today, but the humidity has been higher than usual lately.   The air doesn't appear to be working very well in my classroom, but I have cooled down considerable since I wrote that above!

NEEDING & BACK TO SCHOOL~~{It is now Sunday morning!}

Yesterday I was really needed to make the most of my time because as you can see the calendar is busy.  I wrote this in my last post:

    {{{ I have shared all of the blessings of the last few days, now I have a prayer request for you.  My brother-in-law had a major stroke Saturday morning and will not recover.  I have spent much of the last few days on the phone and in prayer for him and my sister, your prayers would be greatly appreciated as well.  I hope to blog again within the next few days.}}}

    My brother in law passed away the day after that post & the following day was my sister's birthday.  My daughter & I went to her house for several days and it is part of why I have not posted like I thought I would.  Well, the yellow hearts above show that the weekend before school begins I will be out of town & focused on family.  I plan to do NOTHING school related; family must be the priority, as his service will be that weekend & there will be some other family stuff as well.  I do thank all of you who prayed and ask for continued prayer for my sister!
  
   I usually spend the whole weekend before school in my room & we can usually get into our rooms at the beginning of August {remember I have A LOT of stuff!!}. Well, they are painting our school {it looks the best I've every seen it BTW! :)} Keys are not being given out until tomorrow (Monday) but my principal had compassion on me since I will be out of town for the memorial next weekend so I was able to work yesterday...VERY GRATEFUL!!!!!

Here's what my room looked like when I walked in the door....


   Ah, forget it!!! If I don't hit the 'Publish' button now I never will.....don't know if I will link since it is now AUGUST 8th!!!  Hopefully get in another post about why I didn't get this one completed like I planned to!!