Matthew 7:11

So, only a week after I posted my blog about my financial worries God provides!

Mike and I both have the opportunity to tutor students 3 days a week after school. I think we are going to start next week. It will help us pay off our loans quicker. Maybe we could even use some of the money for fun! Imagine that!

I was reminded of Matthew 7:11 when I heard the news. I had been praying that God would open up another opportunity for us to make a little extra money.

"If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

Good gifts...yes this is definitely a good gift! Thank you, God!

Oh how I hate dealing with bodily fluids!

I'll get to the title of my post in a little bit; I'm going to start at the beginning.

Today was class picture day. The students came in with their hair styled (and gelled for some of the boys) and their uniforms looking perfect.

Today was also P.E. day….we have P.E. first thing in the morning. So by the time they had changed into their P.E. uniforms they were looking not so perfect…and they hadn’t even started P.E. I went to the office to figure out when they were having their pictures taken in the hopes that they could take them before P.E. so they wouldn’t be all sweaty. I was told that they would take it last. I asked when that would be and I was told before noon. I went back to the room feeling okay about it because I figured they would have at least an hour to cool off and fix up before our pictures.

P.E. finishes and I go to ask when our pictures will be (because they looked to be taking the stands down) and they tell me now. Now I’m a bit annoyed. I go back to Kristen and let her know the bad news. We rush the girls into the hall and I start breaking them into groups to go to the bathroom or the one mirror that was in the hall.

(Here comes the bodily fluids part)

Some students couldn’t fix their hair on their own so I had to help. I had no brush…so I had to comb through their sweaty hair with my fingers. I don’t deal with sweat well…I felt really sick! As they sit down (or stand on the metal stand) then the photographer gives me a comb for a few of the students that were still disheveled (yeah…could have used that about 5 minutes ago..thanks).

I’m not sure how well the picture will turn out…at least their cheeks will be nice and rosy. They’ll also have a nice sparkly glow about them ;)

Tomorrow is individual picture day…let’s hope it doesn’t rain as they are coming in!

His Eye is on the sparrow

At school Thursday we were visited by little sparrows. The doors to the "cafeteria" are kept open through most of the day to let air flow through. I was walking back to class after dropping the kiddos off at Japanese class and I looked outside to see a pair of sparrows searching for snack leftovers right outside the door.

I thought it was so adorable so I took some pictures (sorry can't upload them since my recent computer problems) then went inside. A few minutes later I peeked outside my classroom door to see if they were still outside. They weren't....they were inside! They were sitting on the cafeteria chairs (I'm assuming looking for more food). I grabbed my camera again and took a few pictures. One flew off but the other hid behind the curtains. I walked over and it started to flutter about pounding on the window. Luckily there are not screens on the window so I was able to easily free it and it went flying away (hopefully to find its mate).

Later in science I handed out the students new packets for the next theme: birds. We flipped it to the first page and I read the Bible verse for them...Matthew 6:26 - Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

I almost cried on the spot as I read it. Not only because the bird sighting I had seen earlier in the day but also because concerns I've been having lately. Mike and I are not suffering financially in the least here yet money is tight. We are living on one paycheck and saving the other paycheck to send back to our bank to pay off loans. We should be able to pay off our loans by the summer as long as we keep it up...it's just hard. I was very encouraged to be reminded of this verse in light of our situation now. I know that no matter what God will provide. In less than a year we will hopefully be able to start saving money...and make a call to Dave Ramsey with those 3 wonderful words "I'M DEBT FREE!". Jesus already paid for my spiritual debt...now just to get rid of the material debt.