A little bit of everything...

Well, last week I was in much turmoil due to some things that Ben and I were praying through. Tuesday I called my Aunt Sheila for wise council as I shared my burden with her. By the time I got off the phone, I had the most incredible peace, and I slept the best that I had in a long time that evening. By the end of Friday, the Lord continued to astound me by enabling something to happen that I didn't expect. All I can say is, "Wow." I'm still amazed.

This week I have had some other obstacles to overcome in dealing with some students at school. The thing about teaching is that every day has an unpredictability of outcomes. I have writing assignments to mark, report cards to grade...I'm soooo tired! I just need a day to work on things and this weekend will be busy as there will be a birthday party for my niece Arianna. Oh to have a snow day...

On the humorous side of life, Ben and I know that spring time is arriving because our annual snow flea killing tally is up and running. Last year I won, but thus far he has proven to be in the lead. I find myself constantly scanning a room in hopes that I'll spot one of the harmless black critters sauntering along my ceiling or wall. We've also spotted some silverfish (oh joy). No matter how clean we keep this apartment, they still like to venture out and annoy me. Ben is better at killing them then me - I'm too slow when it comes to getting the little critters. Oh how they mock me!

I'll close by saying that 10 years ago this evening, I was Miss NHS, and Ben was my escort to the pageant dance. What a ride it has been! I love him more each day. I'm so blessed!

Update on Doc Taylor and Pat

This was posted on my cousin Selinda's blog. She is serving in Africa as well.

Another Traumatic Event

I wish I could say that all was well in Swaziland, but I can't.
Indeed it is better for some than others, unfortunately I bring some
not-so-happy news after talking with Dave and Pat Taylor this
morning. About 2 am this past Monday morning the same two men, that
broke into the Taylor's house, ransacked it and tried to kill Dave
about 2 1/2 weeks ago, returned for another round. They broke
through the security bars on the office window and cleaned out what
was accessable. Then being unable to get to the rest of the house
because of a new security gate in the hallway, the men went back
outside and came in through the security bars in the spare bedroom
window. Their second entry woke the Taylors up and Dave looked
through the keyhole in the door and saw a shadow. At that he told
Pat to phone the neighbours for help and he no sooner got his
shoulder to the door when the men, using a crowbar, tried to get into
their bedroom. Both of them screamed as much as they could for help
and when the men couldn't get in, they gave up and ran off.
The Taylors were just dealing with the first traumatic situation and
now have another one on top. At this they have packed what
possessions they have left and are flying for Canada tomorrow morning
(March 15). How can one feel safe in their own home after all this
and with those men still on the loose. No one can blame them for
this, but it hurts to see them go under such conditions. They need
our prayers now more than ever before. Thank you for praying for
them these past few weeks and thank you for continuing to lift them
up in prayer. Pray for speedy healing from emotional wounds and also
pray for safe flights/travels. I forwarded notes I received about
people praying for them and they were encouraged by the number of
people praying for them.

Back to School!

Today it was back to work. The highlight of my day: I found a note on my desk. It was on a wrinkled corner torn off piece of looseleaf and it said, "*Student name* is to go to ________'s house for a birthday party. Bus #19. *Gaurdian Signature*" I knew it wasn't written by his gaurdian.

Reason number one: She wouldn't write it on a crumpled corner piece of paper. Reason number two: I found it AFTER lunch by an actual note written by another parent whose son was going to the party.
Reason number three: Let's just say that this particular student has a bad track record....

So I had the secretary phone home to check things out, and my suspicion's were right. At the end of the school day he exclaimed he was going to the party. "Where's my bus pass? I had a note."

"No you didn't," I replied. "I suspected it was your writing and it was confirmed when I had your house phoned. You're not going." He looked pretty sad. Needless to say, his guardian managed to show up right before the buses were loaded and give him a note to go. I mean really? Let's reward him for LYING to his TEACHER??? Whether or not he was actually invited is beyond me. Despite the fact that no moral lesson is being taught by his home (he's the type of kid who apparently can do "no wrong"), I found the whole thing somewhat amusing.

March...Break?

I got to be a housewife again today. Between yesterday and today I've cooked for my hubby and cleaned - BIG TIME (Spring cleaning...doing it early because my job can be demanding at times) - I washed walls, scrubbed floors, cleaned out cupboards...I even packed away my snowmen and took out my gerber daisies and ivy. Tomorrow it'll be back into the school to do some marking, planning, and work on report cards so that I won't have to think about it towards the end of the week. I intend on cooking a pork roast tomorrow as I'm taking delight in spoiling my husband this week (usually I'm too tired to do much cooking or baking of any kind). I'm going to take some time for me too, I just haven't figured out what to do yet (apart from already having watched the 5 hour version of "Pride and Prejudice"...I love how they speak...and their dresses...and of course Mr.Darcy...I remember Ben walked clear out to Sussex Corner during college once to say some lines of Shakespeare to me...how I'd like to hear him say some of those verses again! I'm convinced I could've been quite content to have been born in the days when speech seemed to be much more poetic).

I'm not quite as down in the dumps this week, but I am still sifting and praying through some things. My husband isn't quite as melancholy which is a help. He had to preach twice this past weekend as Ryan and Maridel are away on vacation. He's grown so much in his preaching. I enjoy listening to him speak, and I don't get nervous for him anymore :)

Well I must go get ready for an outing - we've been invited out for turkey dinner!

Three Things

1. Lori (Geldart) Crouse has a blog now: http://lorislatest.blogspot.com/

2. Ben us put his final video about his ice castle on his my space (check out my link)

3. I'm feeling "down in the dumps" due to some things that have occurred this week.

Personal Update from Doc Taylor

For a recent update on how Doc and his wife are doing, please go here:

http://www.naznet.com/community/showthread.php?t=9882

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST FOR DOC TAYLOR AND HIS WIFE

This was posted on my cousin Selinda's blog this past Tuesday. I figured I'd post it here in case some of you hadn't heard about Doc Taylor and his wife.

Please pray for Dave & Pat Taylor. He used to teach at Bethany Bible College and they are both dear friends of mine. They are now missionaries here in Swaziland and live only 30 minutes away. Two men broke into their house last Friday night, ransacked it, and took everything of any value, right down to his tennis shoes. This whole thing took about a half an hour. They hacked Doc with a bush knife in the head and neck, knocking him unconscious, then the men grabbed Pat and demanded money, cell phone, etc. with a threat to her life made with each. The Taylor's think that the men thought they had killed Doc and kept threatening to do to Pat what they did to him. When they left, Doc had come to and ran next door for help. Physically they are both doing fine and thankful to be alive, but they are very traumatized and afraid to go back to their house. They will get through this, but it will take a lot of time and prayer to deal with everything and get back to normal life.

Skating with my lovable Niece!!

This past Saturday I had a wonderful time skating with my niece Sheridan. What's even better was that the public skate wasn't publicized that well, and apart from about four children we had the rink practically to ourselves! It was so much fun! We pretended to be cars, we pretended to be cooking supper...we both fell once and laughed. I had such a blast. Uncle Ben put together two videos, and so we decided to let you vote on which one you like best. They're of the same footage, but one has nice sappy music to it (my and Maridel's favorite), and the other one has typical sports music. The video is only about a minute long. You'll have to go to this my My Space page to see them (and for those of you who aren't familiar with My Space - you know who you are...you'll need to press the "pause" button on the music button first in order to hear the music on the videos) The clarity isn't as clear as a regular video would be because my hubby had to down the size of them - but you'll get the idea! Happy voting!

http://www.myspace.com/waterspiller (or click on "Sarah's My Space" on the link bar)

Some other exciting news: I submitted a SmartBoard lesson to the District in hopes of "winning" one for my school/classroom as they have 60 that they wanted to give out, and I won one!!! They'll be installing it in my classroom in March. Two other teachers from our school received one. That's three SmartBoards for our school!! God has been so good to me :)

King of the Castle

I'm about the eat my words...my husband has been working on an "ice castle" that I never dreamed would happen. You must understand, in our four years of marriage these are a few things he's "dreamed" of building and talked about:

a one man helicopter
a boat
a rock wall on the back of the church

and now an ice castle...but it's actually taking shape. Check out his My Space for some videos:

http://www.myspace.com/crazypipedream

Never a dull moment in my household...

It's a Boy!

I just received news that Brent and Amanda's baby is a healthy baby boy! They're naming him Owen Douglas. The doctor tested for a number of things. He said that there was a one in (something hundred - I'm not sure) chance that the baby could have downs or something of that nature and that there was a 60% chance the baby was fine. He said that usually if something was wrong it would've shown up by now on the ultrasound. He also said it wouldn't hurt to keep on praying though - so by all means please do. Kayla your OB was right. Amanda said that were she to do it again, she wouldn't have had that test, but being a nurse we think she may have been pressured to take it.

Owen Douglas will be the first grandson on our side of the family, and I'm sure he'll be spoiled.

Thanks for your prayers!

8 AM Thursday Morning

I was talking to my mom last night. She said that my brother took a few days off of work because of worrying about the baby. From what I understand, he and Amanda headed for Saint John today because their appointment is tomorrow and they didn't want to travel through the winter storm. Their appointment is tomorrow at 8 AM.

I appreciate your prayers.

On a brighter note, Ben surprised me with Chinese food and a dozen roses after school today. I also discovered that one of my fifth grade boys thinks I'm "cute" to which I replied when a girl told me the info, "Why thanks. My husband thinks I'm cute too!"

MAJOR PRAYER REQUEST

My brother and his wife are expecting their first baby this July. This is something we've all been really excited about. The results of a bloodtest for the baby have just come back and weren't good. They indicate that the baby may have downs syndrome. As you can well imagine, this is tough news to comprehend. They have to go in for some tests on Thursday, and I'm asking that you pray that things will be fine with the baby. I'd really appreciate your prayers concerning this matter. The Lord has really worked in their lives, and this will definitely be a test of their faith. That's all I can write right now. I just received the news.

Thanks.

No Relief From a Friday...

You wouldn't believe the things that have gone wrong in my life this week.

Last night as Ben and I were driving to the church to decorate the the Valentine's Banquet/Ukraine Fundraiser I said to him, "I don't think it could get any worse...unless of course someone died."

Well, we arrived home last night to find out that our neighbour (who lived under us in our apartment with his wife) died. We knew his time was near as he has been in ICU for a long time. Ben will most likely be assisting with the funeral.

Poor Ben has been looking forward to Tim Branscombe coming to visit us all week, and now we're not sure what's going to happen with funeral and visitation arrangements. I also have a full plate of my own with some deadlines and teaching preparation, coupled with this banquet (I'm in charge of the program/entertainment). I guess that's just life - when it rains, it pours.

Could it get any worse? I'm not about to ask that question, because I know that it could...

UPDATE: The banquet was a hit, and Ben bought me grey and blue comfy pants in Grand Falls today (he had to go for a guitar lesson). My comfy pants make me smile so much, I think I'll be able to do my happy dance soon. Could the sun be trying to pop out from behind the clouds?

Is It Friday Yet???

Last Friday I told a student who has a hard time finishing his homework that if he came to school on Monday with an assignment finished that he claimed he'd do over the weekend (I don't typically assign homework on the weekends but he had missed some time that week), that I'd do my "happy" dance. This past Monday morning he slapped it down on my desk and said, "There you go Mrs. Canney." So I had to do my happy dance in front of the class.

Tuesday I had a blah day and the kids were kept inside for recess and lunch AGAIN because of the cold. They've been getting at each other because they've been kept inside for the last 6 days of school.

Today at one point I felt like I wanted to cry because of a number of things that took place at school. Exhausted is a word that barely describes how I felt/feel. I had to get "ugly" with my students today. I hate getting "ugly" with my kids. I'm under a lot of pressure right now as this week there are some things that are coming to a head.

I want to curl up in a ball and go to sleep, but alas, I have more papers to mark (this time it's for the Immersion class that I teach English to). At least I'm in my new comfy pants.

My New Pants and My New My Space

I recently bought a pair of comfy black athletic type pants from the Super Store for 10 dollars (regular price). I'm super excited about these pants. You have no idea how long and hard I have searched for pants like this. They don't make my butt look big and they're not skin tight (I'm no longer size 2 like I was in high school, so when I go into some of the stores that I used to (which I find I do less and less), the pants just aren't as "cute" on me as they used to be when I had no hips. I must have said to Ben at least four times this week, "Ben, we have to go back to Super Store in Grand Falls and I NEED to buy these pants in grey and in blue. I LOVE THESE PANTS."

I recently set up a "My Space." Today I was all excited about adding friends to it, and lo and behold, it won't let me on my site!! This is what I get:

"Sorry! an unexpected error has occurred. This error has been forwarded to MySpace's technical group."

Well gee, thanks. At least my blog is still being nice to me.

To Blog or To My Space? I'm so confused!!!

Okay, so I wanted to put some pictures on my blog which is always an annoying ordeal. For whatever reason, it's more difficult. So today while I was trying to change some pics, Ben said to me - "It's so much easier on my space." So now I have a My Space - and I'm torn - do I blog here and just update photos on my My Space? Or do I just blog on My Space? Then there's people who have My Space and a Blog and I'm just so undecided. Help?! As for Tom - I don't know who he is or how he became my friend on "My Space??!"

I'm so confused. All this time doing a "My Space" when I have papers to mark.

Here it is - with newer pics comin' in the near future. I'll keep you posted.

http://www.myspace.com/waterspiller

Right now I have only 2 friends. LOL. Sadness...I really need to go mark papers now.

Vienna, Austria

Ben and I just received an e-mail that confirmed our lay over for Ukraine will be in Vienna, Austria. We are now looking into options for visiting that part of Europe for at least a week, and we're even looking into going to Rome! I'm so excited, but I'm trying not to get too excited just in case things don't pan out.

On a side note, Ben has a "My Space" now...go figure. I don't know how everyone does it. I do well to keep up with blogs! There is a picture of the two of us with our nephew Alexander who will be a year old in February. Here's the link: http://www.myspace.com/crazypipedream

A Teacher's Prayer

"Enable me to teach with wisdom, for I help to shape the mind.
Equip me to teach with truth, for I help to shape the conscience.
Encourage me to teach with vision, for I help to shape the future.
Empower me to teach with love, for I help to shape the world."

I had a hard day at work today. I wouldn't even know where to begin if I were to go into detail. I was having such a great week, and then today with all of its turmoil came and tried to rob my joy. As Anne of Green Gables would say, "I'm having a Jonah day." No, I'm not running from God, but it sure feels like I was swallowed by a whale. Good thing it's Friday.

Better Late Than Never...

Okay, so I've finally sat down to blog...where to begin? First of all, I must tell you that Ben and I are FINALLY going to have internet at home again (high speed at that - glory hallelulah!), so that will make it much easier for me to blog. I can blog at school, but typically at school at the end of the day there's chatting, preparation, meetings, chatting... yeah you get the idea.

Life in the classroom is wonderful. I LOVE my kids - that's right - MY kids. I may not have any waiting for me at home at the end of the day (apart from my husband - ha.ha...), but I have 23 that I look after, counsel, teach, and encourage on a daily basis. I'm getting my prayer life back in order and I'm feeling it now...yup, the enemy sure knows how to try and put the pressure on, but I'm up for the challenge.

Ben and I are doing great! We went to UMPI last Friday night to climb the rock wall. I almost made it to the top of one - I takled that puppy three times and I couldn't quite make it - but I will conquer the wall! Ben, of course, being the monkey that he is made it to the top, but later struggled with a more difficult part of the wall - I was proud. I only try that stuff because I know he loves it so much. He sent me flowers to school this week - my favorite - gerber daisies! The best part was that he sent them just to say, "I love you." 3.5 years of marriage and we're still going strong. Of course we get the "When are you having children?" question a lot which is a question I've learned not to ask people. It's in the Lord's hands, and right now it's evident that the Lord wants me with these fifth graders. I'll leave it at that. We're going to the Ukraine on a missions trip in August. We're hoping that we can go a week earlier than the team leaves and do some sight seeing of the place where our lay-over is - Austria (perhaps we could see some surrounding areas). We thought it was going to be London at first. We're just looking into things right now, but we're hopeful! Ben's loan is also paid off (Praise the Lord!) and mine will be (providing we stick to the budget) by the end of May. The car will be paid off in June...God has really blessed us.

We went to the conference in Florida and we had such a blast. It was so much fun to see BBC people that we haven't seen in a long time (and their children - wowzers!). I got food poisoning twice (which I can laugh about now...especially after hearing that Kirk Perry had an awful case like me on the same day...we had eaten together with Ben and Tim the night before). I didn't get to go to Disney as a result, but since I'm better now I'm just thankful to be home and okay (it was that bad...I almost went to the hospital.) Ben, Tim, Kirk, and I also had a case of something from eating together somewhere else, and it hit us all at the same time (we nearly died laughing when we discovered what happened). Perhaps the four of us shouldn't eat together. LOL. Oh the stories I could tell - you should see the photo booth pictures...

Well, Ben has arrived to take me home...I have some Math tests and Problem of the Week assignments that are in need of being marked. I don't know though, with what I had to deal with at school today, and with an unexpected parent showing up (she just needed a listening ear it seemed and some encouragement), I'm wiped!

Looking forward to catching up - Ben's informed me Internet is ready to go at home!!

Sarah :)

Update Coming Soon

I wanted to post on my blog - but as usual after school people stop in to chat and my hubby will be here soon to pick me up. We don't have internet at home currently sooo...I will be posting soon to update you on things...