...Find Alisha's Keys
how is it possible to lose 2 sets of keys in one day? lucky for me, ive found the least important of the two; still on the search for my house keys
i might possibly have a roommate up in greenville.
i'll keep yall updated.
i'm headed to houston this weekend; fun times await me. the wedding is for a girl i grew up in houston with...should be a pretty fun reunion. people there i havent seen in like 5 or 6 years...and then i get to hang out with mr. meads. thats all, i know its not a super exciting post, but i'm bored at work and so messing around on the internet is all i can do....
anyways,
peace in the middle,
lish
i just felt the need to share how incredibly HUGE my bandage is..... 
comforting words from my dr. as he instructs the medical student on fixing my toe:
"a good surgeon would do it like this...I mean, not that I'm not a good surgeon, but well, i do it differently..."
needless to say, my toe is fine..i have the most ginormous bandage on it right now and a really hot, blue paper slipper...im pretty sure my foot isnt going to fit in a shoe.
peace out,
lish
best-
Function: adjective, superlative of GOOD
~excelling all others
is best something you can measure?
what makes someone your best friend? i mean cause a lot of people have more than one best friend...and what distinguishes them above your "really good friends"?
Will is the 2nd best man in a wedding; because he's #2 does that lessen his best"ness"?
Philip, my Russian 4 yr old, told me and Ms. Rice we were the best teachers in the entire world; but am I as equally good as Ms. Rice?
what is "our best"?
being the best at something requires more, it isnt just average or satisfactory, people expect more because being the best makes you stand out above the rest, theres almost a sense of responsibility.
just random thoughts while i'm bored here at work.
grace & peace,
lish
let it be known that libby d. leatherman is one cool gal.
i was able to spend the weekend with this incredible chick; dallas weddings are great ops for trips to the metroplex. while the weddings arent my actual favorite, im glad they allow for time with the bff.
greace & peace,
lish
After working a week in summer school, I've come to a realization that (and this is a ginormous generalization) teachers never really outgrow high school and catty-ness. My first week has been literally exhausted my mind. The conversations I've listened to have been such an eye opener to the true meanness and pride that consumes our lives because of the overflow of our hearts through our mouths, if that makes sense. Minus a few conversations centered around health and growing up in College Station, all these church-going, Christ-beliving, nice, loving women talk about are other people and their dislike or annoyance of them. Simply put, they dont talk about anything, they gossip about everything, circling rumors, throwing flames from their tongues. I guess my test comes in at being the youngest, a rookie and not knowing how to combat it, but wanting the Lord glorified through our speech, and just glorify Christ in all I say and do. Authority and maturity and sin are pretty difficult to deal with and the devil does an amazing job at weaving these things together to creat confusion and a dilema in reflecting Christ's love and gospel cause its pretty near impossible to set the example at the bottom of pole, as I'm sitting in a group of women that are over me in my job and a lot older than me and are sister's in Christ. I'm not saying I can't do it, because I know in Christ, I have the power to move mountains, and through prayer I know these hearts can be changed. My hope and prayer for my group of teachers and myself this summer is that they would come to an understanding as it says in James 3 "Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue is a fire, a world of evel among all parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire......but the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness".
Its good for me to be conscious of the importance of filtering my speech, learning self-control but also knowing when to say something that needs to be said inspite of what others may say about me later when Im gone..and i think thats the hardest, most scariest part for me: praying for boldness of speech because I know the Lord will give it to me and then I'll have to be obedient to what He calls me to say.
the mouth is a powerful thing. let us be mindful of our words on a daily basis. speak the truth with grace because it perserves love, and we are called to love one another.
grace & peace,
lish
so much going on to post about..not really, but on top of working summer school, i'll be working part time at the psychology lab, tutoring and will have 2 lovely roommates for the summer: Tracy and Didi..i move into the Foster St pad this weekend!
one day of summer school down
lesson #1
asian kids are a lot different than hispanic ones
our first softball game of the season is tonight..i'm quite excited its been way too long since i've played!
grace & peace,
lish
so, many doors have been opening for me and now its the lesson of really trusting and hearing from the Lord. With acceptance to grad school, the Lord has really pressed upon me the need to yet again to wait i'm so eager to go overseas, but He yet again is saying hold on. Going through the process of my application I learned so much, but He's opening other doors for me. Most of my grad school studies will give me ample training, education and experience for being overseas and basically for lack of a better term, "raise me up" to work in a field overseas..and i say overseas to mean in Spain or South American country.
with all that being said, i will NOT be going to conference. My application with Greater Europe Mission has been put on hold, until i get back in touch with them; if the Lord calls me back to them when I'm done with my Master's.
in other news, please be praying for my mom's family..my grandpa and aunt's health are very poor; my mom is under a lot of stress in having to manage them.
grace & peace,
lish
monday was the last day of school for our kids.
i was sad to see them go and even a little bit sad i dont get to be their assistant anymore, or the assistant in the fall...cause my favorite Oscar was a repeat (He isnt old enough to go to kindergarten so he gets to repeat head start).
tomorra is my last day as a substitute, and then the 31st i start as an official assistant for the prek ESL summer school class...and how fun is this?: i get to ride my bike to school, yeah, summer school is held at southwood valley elementary right by my house.
i register for classes next week..over the weekend i have to figure out my concentration-the electives that best help me persue my "career goals"..yeah have to figure those out too. its still pretty crazy to me that in 2 months im going to be moving across the country, going back to school.
i feel preparations for something big in my life coming, something that you could almost call radical. slowly, the Lord has been changing my perspecitve on a whole lot of things...as a book i am reading refers to as a reformission. and even now, with my acceptacne to grad school that these "perspective" changes fall perfectly in with the changes that will come with being in north carolina...kinda giving me an arena to put my thoughts into a reality..not that i cant do that here in college station, tx, but like a im still being molded and taught, again, its all in His timing. There are still issues that i have to deal with in the here and now before i can fully be ready for the future of what He's calling me to, if that makes any sense at all.
[sidenote for valerie: thanks for the encouraging words tonight-especially the past about being friends..right back at ya..and im not saying back because you said it, but i feel the same way friend. you broke my phone record by the way and i cant wait to see you tomorra. be safe driving.]
so, tony comes in to town tonight for our baby sister's graduation on friday...its nuts, i feel really old..and im really excited about graduation for a special reason, but i have to keep it a secret until friday, but ill have pictures posted, no worries :)
thats all i got, nothing too terribly exciting.
24 season finale was quite the cliffhanger...i dont know if ill make it til january ;o) something tells me that jacks gonna survive..i mean didnt he sign on for another 3 seasons?
grace & peace,
lish
the waiting is a little bit over!!!
ive been accepted to the MAIS (Master of Arts in International Studies) program at ECU in greenville, north carolina!
thanks friends for the prayers and encouragement during this waiting/transition time! i'll be sure to keep yall updated.
grace & peace,
lish
the pictures.
we made good time.
we had fun.
1. charlie hall & flying into daybreak
2. chef cao's
3. caleb carruth & darkness falls
4. a clean room and clean clothes
5. jj's sno cones
6. ice skating with 4 yr olds
7. hairbands that stay
so i ran the 2nd annual Maggies/AMC GLOW 5K...so much fun! pics will be posted in the days to come..once i get them.
pandora.com
and no i did not stumble upon this myself..i wish i were that cool.
its been a couple days since my last post. and i cant remember what i said, but again, im gonna talk about my kiddos. being in head start has been wonderful. my class is really great. we did assessments this last week, which was stressful for me cause i was the "teacher" all week (sidenote: i'm so glad that im not a teacher..i know without a shadow of a doubt that the Lord is not calling me to teach at the "secondary" level: elementary to highschool). it amazes me the gifts and skills the Lord creates in us. All our kids come from homes where Spanish is their first language, and a handful of them do speak some english in the home, but for the most..its all espanol; so then we test them and half of them test fluent in both english and spanish. you have to understand this is abnormal, to be fluent in both languages at 4, not having "formal" education...yes we do have an academic side to head start, but theres more to it than preparing them for kindergarten.
anyways, their minds are beautiful and daily im blessed to be in the presence of the molding of hearts; through these precious, little humans, created in the image of our God, I hear the Lord saying "this is the faith i'm calling you to have, there is no fear in love Alisha, listen to me because i am in control and I know whats best" so many times im convicted and burdened by the things i teach and tell my kids in class, because those same things have a spiritual application to my life-like the Lord is telling me..listen to yourself...hear me-this "advice and wisdom" youre imparting to them is what i want you to trust and listen to from me.
i wish i could really put to life how much of a joy the South Knoll Bilingual Head Start class has been in my life. i wish you could come see me at work-cause thats the fun of it...its not "work": i get to do what i do best everyday-so that helps me battle all the insecurity and doubt & confusion i've been going through lately; my job affirms the Lord's hand in my life. granted my kids do get on my nerves, they arent these "precious little angels" all the time, but thats where the reality of our flawed world comes in-that we are dirty at the core of it-even at 4.
switching gears, last night was our final night of logos and the Lord truly blessed our time together with wonderful food, fellowship and laughter. for a couple weeks i was MIA here and there, but it was allowed cause Ben was always gone too and he was the leader. anyways, our group was a really random conglomeration of people & i love thats how the Lord works because I would have never had conversations with some of them because they would have never crossed my path. it made me sad that the semester was ending cause i still want to meet every week with them. luckily, lisa will still be here through the summer & beyond since she's taking over lacy's job, so i'm hoping to get some quality time with her.
anyway, today i took a much needed day off from work, and traveled up to btown to see Marissa and get some wisdom from Marcus; and its the first time ive been back since i left. its really affirming to see that my "decision" to step down was the "right" one. Debbie is doing an amazing job with the children's ministry and just the progress and attitude of everything was affirming to see in Marcus's and Chris's lives; so much so that i know i can be a bigger part of their lives than i have been. i kept my distance for awhile-just felt like that is what was needed, but after being here today, i know i can be a present instead of a past..that sounds so cliche & lame, but oh well- i know i am loved and have family here and am in the place to finally receive it again...too much i think im driven by fear-but priase the Lord we are empowered by the Holy Spirit..hope and power are to promises im holding to these days.
grace & peace,
lish
here are my kiddos...such blessing, reminding me daily of eternal perpesctive and childlike faith
yes, that is valerie in her girl scout uniform with a gameboy and talkboy & thats me being an awesome passenger.
This past weekend I had the pleasure of accompanying, one of my favorite people in the entire universe, Valerie Blakey, home to Brandon, Mississippi, a suburb of Jackson, the captial.
We left CS around 430 Thursday afternoon and made it into our beds in MS around 200am and slept gloriously until 845 when Lady Grace, the dog woke me up and then i subsequently after an awkward conversation with Val's mom, woke Valerie up. Friday was spent recovering from the drive and relaxing, since it was vacation. Friday night we hung out with on of Val's really good friends and ate a Greek place..it was very yummy, and then she showed me around downtown Jackson..a very cool place. Saturday we slept in, grabbed lunch with some more of Val's friends who were in town for Easter too. After lunch, it was more hang out time at Val's homes away from home, and then to the Mississippi Brave's game...yes, the MS Braves..they are a farm team. The game was a lot of fun. Saturday we stayed up late watching one of our favorite movies Elizabethtown and then talked and determined Sunday morning when we were at the 8ooam service that it was too late. After church, we went out for breakfast with Val's mom, toured some more of Jackson & then headed back to the house. There we napped and packed, the headed out of town about 145 and made it back to College Station at 1230.
a couple revelations about the trip:
1. a crappy cd player will not play even the most perfect of cds
2. people in mississippi are more literate than we give them credit for
3. I will never like cats.
4. stapling your ear to lose weight is one of the dumbest ideas ive ever heard.
5. the residents in Baton Rouge, LA dont eat out
6. its all about who you know
on a different note, my orientation packet for going overseas with Greater Europe Mission came in and Im officially waiting for my graduate acceptance/rejection letter to East Carolina University. Still in the bilingual Head Start at south knoll elementary and loving it.
grace & peace,
lish
well..since nothing in my life is very exciting..the closet most exciting news is that my sister has a date on Friday :o)
maybe i'll be able to update more this week.
grace & peace,
lish
last monday i decided no matter what was going on, i was taking a trip up to arlington to see my BFF..the only thing stopping me, was extreme plans like going out of town, funeral, wedding, etc..
Libby time was wonderful-free concert, fun bsm kids, sleeping til noon, a haircut, a bbq & ranger game, icecream and church @ 121. time with Libby is always special, full of laughter and great fun. i got to see first hand why she loves uta so much. its a family there..man, at no time did i feel like the random friend from out of town...it was good times! It was such an encouragement to hear about her work there and the hearts that are changing, and internationals coming to Christ. It really was a blessing to see the Body at work.
anyways..libby thanks for a great weekend!
grace & peace,
lish