Sisters of My Heart

I have an amazing sister. Recently I bid her farewell as she embarks on the next portion of her journey. I treasured the time that we spent together, and I'll miss her dearly! With thoughts of sisterhood swirling in my head, I entered a nearby coffee shop on July 4th.

Upon entering the warm surroundings of Joe Sipper's, I spotted my dear friend and former roommate. We hadn't talked for several months. Smiles were exchanged and conversation began. As we talked, I felt a connection of our hearts. Even though changes have been made in both of our lives, we were somehow on the same page in our walk with Jesus.

While tasting the delightful turkey sandwich, humus and chips, I spotted another young lady that I hadn't seen since my early teens. She told tales of following Jesus with sparkling eyes. No, I don't have a deep relationship with this dear one, but I must tell you, it felt like we were sisters.

On Sunday, my dear pastor's wife and I had an exchange about sisters, and I must say I count her as mine.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that although blood is strong, my sisters are of different ages, walks of life, denominations, and locations, but the bond of sisterhood is a stong one. I think that through these times of reuniting/connecting we get little glimpses of what Heaven must be like. What it must be like to spend eternity with those who have a living/vibrant relationship with Jesus!

I could write a lengthy BLOG about each of you, my sisters! Thank you for your support and encouragement. I can't wait until our next meeting, when hearts connect and we spur each other on in our journey!

Busy, busy, busy!

Hello dear friends. It's been some time since I've ventured into blog world. This is due to the great amount of craziness and change since my last post. Wow, since then I've made the decision to move to Florida to teach fourth grade. With the help of my awesome family and Alanna, (THANK YOU GUYS!!!!) my first grade classroom is packed and sitting in my parent's garage. We're in the middle of a VBS this week at my parent's church. It is going really great! Here are a few pictures to document what has been happening lately.

A great visit with my grandparents, Lucas and Alanna!

Lucas helping to blow up the whale...Willy!

Willy lives!!! A BIG thank you to my cousins Christian and Kelsae for helping to finish the blowing process! : )

Underwater creatures hanging from the ceiling! Rachel, Christian and Kelsae did all of this!!! THANK YOU GUYS!!!

Fun decorations! Yeah!

THANK YOU Esther for cutting out these scary critters! : )

Willy hanging from the ceiling!

Bible Story Time.

Fun cupcakes my aunt Donna bought for snack! : )

Our first night of VBS we had 15 boys and girls and last night we had 14. Please pray for us that we might reach the boys and girls for Jesus. One little girl brought her bible that we had given to her during Faith Finders two summers ago. Here is a picture of our little note to her.

Thank you for your prayers! : )

More Moments from First Grade

Student 1: "Wow, I wish we were in Mexico today so that we could celebrate Cinco de Mayo!"
Student 2: "No way, I wouldn't want to be in Mexico."
Miss Ryder: "Why not?"
Student 2: "I'd probably get Swine Flu."

Today was one of those days! :)

Miss Ryder...Look!

This morning, while settling into the classroom, one young man approached me. His face was filled with excitement.
"Miss Ryder, Miss Ryder...Look! This book has one of those things where you can choose which thing you would like to learn about!"
I responded with, "And what is that called?"
His response without hesitation was, "The Table of Continents!"

Funny, funny, funny! I'm thankful for these cute moments as we wrap up our school year! :)

A Quick Little Funny!

In my classroom we share things pretty openly. We're sort of like a little family here for eight hours each day. :) One of the young ladies in my room had missed a couple of days due to having severe/migraine headaches. I talked with my class about this and we were all concerned about her.

At the same time we are beginning a butterfly unit. We have spent quite a bit of time discussing monarch butterflies.

One of my sweet, little first graders went home and told her mommy that she was worried about one of her classmates because she was having monarch headaches. :) So cute... :)

Books, Books, Books

As a teacher who has a background with reading, I’m sure that you can imagine that I enjoy reading books. I love stories of all shapes and sizes, but I also really enjoy nonfiction. I thought I’d just share some of the books that I’ve read this school year. I’d love to hear about what you are reading.

In the Classroom:

I’ve read a multitude of picture books. One of my favorites is "My Little Sister Ate One Hare" by Bill Grossman. This is a highly amusing tale which ends with a very yucky conclusion.

I enjoy reading E.B. White Books: "Charlotte’s Web", "The Trumpet of the Swan", and "Stuart Little." All three stories are utterly delightful.

"Ramona the Pest" by Beverly Cleary. I have several students who are struggling behaviorally this year. I have found that seeing the bad choices that Ramona made, helped them to begin to looking at themselves.

"The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Barbara Robinson. Each of my seven years of teaching thus far, I have read this book during Christmas time. We have traditionally read it as a family for several years. If you haven’t read it, I highly recommend this story! This year I cried during the story because I have so many boys and girls that live the Herdman lifestyle.

"The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. This is one of my favorite books of all time and my first grade students absolutely loved it this year. Our superintendent came to my class the other day and they got the chance to tell him all about it!

"My Father’s Dragon" by Ruth Stiles Gannett. This is the first time that I have read this book. It is truly a delightful tale and a wonderful book to use when teaching children about predictions.

"The Mouse and The Motorcycle" by Beverly Cleary. We are currently reading this book in class. My boys are especially into this tale!

Educational Reading:

"12 Powerful Words" by Larry I. Bell

"Results Now" by Mike Schmoker

"Reading Essentials: The Specifics You Need to Teach Reading Well" by Regie Routman

Personal Reading:

"The Shack" by William P. Young. This was a thought provoking book.

"Each New Day" by Corrie Ten Boom. There are some wonderful short nuggets of truth in this little book.

"The Firstborn Advantage: Making Your Birth Order Work for You" by Dr. Kevin Leman. This is a very interesting book.

"Completely His: Loving Jesus without Limits" by Shannon Ethridge.

"Answering the Guy Questions: The Set-Apart Girls Guide to Relating to the Opposite Sex" by Leslie Ludy. Eric and Leslie Ludy have written a variety of books. I have quite the collection of single girl books. I just got this one recently and my roomie is reading it now.

"A Chance to Die: The Life and Legacy of Amy Carmichael" by Elizabeth Elliot. This is what I’m reading currently.

There are other books that I read bits and pieces of, but here it this school year in a shell. So, what are you reading?

Jo

It is Finished?

At the close of a beautiful, restful Easter Sunday filled with the love of my creator, I ventured out to a choir service. The melodies met me as I entered the church door and my heart swelled with wonder and amazement as my mind focused on Him.

The final song that the choir sang was "It Is Finished." I chose to focus on what my Savior had done, but my heart became heavy as I pondered statements made prior to the choir singing this old song.

The leader presented the prospect that if I give my life to Jesus the battle will be over, or finished. While I agree that as I develop a relationship with God, a desire to please Him is there so that I don't want to go against His best, the battle of our flesh and spirit seems to still exist. Maybe I'm just the odd one, but it is a daily choice to follow Jesus. I must consistently, consciously choose to give up myself so that He can form me to be like Him.

You see, I have layers, or areas that Jesus continually shows me as I walk with Him. I have a choice as to how I respond when presented with another area that needs work. I can take the easy route. I can blame it on others around me. I can blame it on my personality or the way that I was raised. I can reject it as truth and simply go on believing what I want to believe. OR
I can ask for forgiveness concerning this area that I did not see and with the help of God I can grow and change and move along to the next layer.

This to me doesn't seem like a battle that is over. Yet, a continual refining of me and continual trusting of my Lord.

Recently there have been several issues in my life that I have reexamined. I've felt a little out of the loop, sort of like an older woman. :) Here are the ideas of some other people who seem to think that the battle isn't over.

Ellen White
On one occasion I spoke in reference to genuine sanctification, which is nothing less than a daily dying to self and daily conformity to the will of God... Paul's sanctification was a constant conflict with self. Said he, "I die daily." 1 Cor. 15:31. His will and his desires every day conflicted with duty and the will of God. Instead of following inclination, he did the will of God, however unpleasant and crucifying to his nature.

Helen Keller
“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through the experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

Oswald Chambers
“Jesus Christ had no tenderness whatsoever toward anything that was ultimately going to ruin a person in his service to God.... If the Spirit of God brings to your mind a word of the Lord that hurts you, you can be sure that there is something in you that He wants to hurt to the point of its death.”

If you follow this link, you will find a clip of Elisabeth Elliot speaking about dying to self.

http://faithvisuals.com/content/thecove/rediscoveringthefaithfulone/dyingtoself.html

I would love to hear your suggestions, comments, ect. I've found that often I can see things more clearly when it is contradicted by someone. :)

Have a great day!