the 2009 post

Things are going really well.  I got married in December 2008 and I we are very happy.  We moved into a house in my hometown, Evansville, IL and I'm still working at the same school.  Teaching went way better the second year than the first.

It's been along time since I've been on here.  I noticed that I had 242 unread emails from xanga since I have the updates sent every day, but I never have time to read them, so I thought I should post something again.

Great things have been happening in my life.  I got my teaching certificate this summer and I started teaching at the Lutheran high school inside my own town.  I am so happy to be able to work here and I don't have to hide my faith.  That works out great for me because my faith is a major reason for choosing to become a math teacher instead of a mechanical engineer.  Also, the school is small, so everyone is open to the ideas that teachers come up with and since I'm the only math teacher, I have alot of freedom to try things.  Everyone is really nice and the students behave well and almost always have their homework done on time.  God has been so kind to me.

Also, I got engaged a few weeks ago and will be getting married in about 2 years.  I am amazed that God led me to someone who is such a perfect match for me.  She is going to teach physics and science and I teach math and studied engineering, so we understand each other when we talk about work.  We are both Christians who strongly focus on God's saving grace.  We both like the same type of television shows and music and we both play video games even.  We usually talk to each other for hours every time we meet.  I had thought I would have to accept many compromises to find someone who would love me before I met her, but now I can be the person that I am and do what I like to do together with her and still be doing the same things that she wants to do and vice versa.  I am so happy!!!

Praise be to God!

It has been awhile since I last posted.  Good things are happening.  I started my observation this semester at Belleville West high school.  The teacher that I am working with is a good friend of mine that is from the same town as me. We went to school from kindergarten to 12th grade and we both were valedictorians of our high school class.  I am so happy to be working with her.  She is much better organized than I am so I am learning how she keeps thinks so well organized and how she saves time by having clear and efficient procedures in place for common tasks.  This is really important.  Also, I presented the lesson to one of the algebra classes on Tuesday.  It was my first time in front of a class.  It went pretty well.  I did make some mistakes and I was slow writing on the board, but the students asked many questions, so I know that they were paying attention.  I'm sure I will get plenty of practice this semester and next semester so that I will be ready for my own class.

Also, I am so happy about the joy in my life from my relationship with God and salvation through Jesus.  God has really changed the way that I see and how I think about everything that happens and I am so happy about what God is doing in my life.  The happier I become, the more I want to share God's love with everyone.  I especially noticed my family and the ways that focusing on God could improve everyone's life.  I also can see many times that our focus on other things has caused much harm and so I finally spoke about these things.  I tried to convince my mom, dad, and sister to go to church and find some Christian group but I didn't know of any group around there and they didn't either, so I decided to study the Bible and share experiences with my mom and sister each Friday at noon.  We have met two times already.  The first time, it was just my sister and me and the second time it was all 3 of us.  I was worried at first that I might mess it up, but God gave me the words to say and led us to parts of the Bible that were perfect for us to talk about.  I am really happy that things went well and that my mom and sister will continue to meet with me each week.  God is so wonderful.  God's surprises make every day exciting.

After class on Tuesday, I was bored and wanted to do something.  I thought about calling to do something but I was wondering if I should.  I prayed in my car and then opened my Bible up randomly and saw Mathew 7:12 right there.  I believe the golden rule is very important, but God showed me that I wasn't applying it enough in making decisions about what to do.  If I had a friend that was bored and wanted to hang out, I would want them to call me and see what is going on, especially if I knew about what was happing, so I called Aaron and asked if anything was happening and he said he would call me if anything did happen.  People went out to eat at Taco Bell that night, but I had just eaten so I didn't go.  I talked with Kyle on Tuesday or Wednesday about a problem I realized about myself on Monday and that was helpful.  The resolution to this problem and anothor problem came about as described in the rest of this post. I talked to Ellen on Monday and she said I should call if I was bored, so I decided to call her on Wednesday and see what was going on.  She was already doing stuff that day, so we decided to talk the next day.  Since Thursday night prayer supper was canceled this week and Aaron was out of town, I called Emily and asked if anything was going on, but most people were gone and some people were affected by the storm, so nothing was planned.  Then I called Ellen and we met and walked around the mall with Jen.  It was nice to be around Christians, but looking at close was not my thing even though we did see some funny cloths and that was entertaining.  I was wondering if God did want me to call and hang out since it was a different than normal behavior for me and I used a random page in the Bible to influence my actions.  It is easy to make mistakes like that, but I thought I should.  Well, later we went to the movies and saw Click.  I was laughing so hard.  That movie was so funny, but then I noticed that it was making a very important point and I reflected on my marriage and divorce and life and I got really sad and cried for the first time at a movie in public.  They didn't seem to notice since I didn't make any noise, but when we were walking away, I just broke down and cried.  I never do that around friends.  I realized that I still had more to learn from my relationship.  I don't want to live my life by only making the easiest social choices.  I never want to take any risks because I am afraid to get cast out of the group and people do not know me as well then.  I am myself still, but I need to do some things that I feel like I should do even if it is risky.  If people like me less afterwards, I will still know what I wanted to do and God knows my heart.  Well, when I was crying, Jen comforted me by reminding me of God's plan and his work in my life and shared some of her experiences that are very similar.  Also, I will use the way she helped as an example of how I should help others if they cry.  Ellen also shared some things to help.  I thought that I was supposed to be helpful to them because I knew of their struggles, but they ended up helping me much more.  I am always amazed by how God puts people in my life to help me.  I realized that I am frustrated to be alone and because I am too cautious to ask some girls that I would like to know better to do things, but I also noticed that girls have a problem that is just as bad.  Even though a girl can always be with a guy, most of the guys will just use them and then they can become skeptical.  I guess no one has an easy time with relationships and I know that I should not worry about it because God will show me the way, but I think I was saddest because I could have done so much better if I knew what I know now in the past.  I feel so stupid when I look back at myself and think, "How could you have done things that way?  What were you thinking?"  I am so blessed that God has shown me even more yesterday.  I thought that it would be awhile before I learned something super important again because usually there are a few years between these types of discoveries in my life, but this time he has shown me something right away so that I can benefit as early as possible.  I am glad that God does not forget about the work that he is doing in each of us, but that he continues to work on us every day.  Now I have a feeling of great excitement about the possibilities for what might happen as I act on what God has shown me.  I still must be cautious to not apply these things incorrectly though because I know that I often have that problem when I learn something new.  I'm sure God will refine what he has shown me in my mind and he will lead me, so I am not worried.  Praise be to God.  He can even reveal truths to us as we watch a comedy.  Praise be to God! His love is life changing.  Praise be to God!! Jesus died for us and we can always look to him.  PRAISE BE TO GOD!!!