I did it!

Well, I could go on and on for this post, but I essentially just want to PRAISE THE LORD for His goodness, mercy, and faithfulness. As many of you know, I just went through my first year of teaching. Wow, God taught me so much. God teaches us a lot when we are tired, stressed, confused, frustrated, and down-right mad. Being a teacher of nineteen 4th graders has been one of the most rewarding and difficult experiences in my life. I'll try to recap a few lessons-learned through some stories.


1) What is the most important thing in your life? We were reading the novel Because of Winn-Dixie early on in the year, and we ended up having a great class discussion about "the most important things" in our life. There were the typical answers like "family, friends, school, etc." Some students even mentioned God and Jesus, which gave me an instant opportunity to share my faith and how my relationship with God was the most important thing in my life. Hey, they brought it up, right?!
However, I was quickly enlightened as the conversation shifted and several (over half) of my students began sharing about how they could relate with certain characters of the story. One student commented: "I can relate with Opal [the main character of Winn-Dixie] because she doesn't have a mom." Other students immediately chimed in saying, "Yeah, me too" or "Yeah, but I don't have a dad." I was nearly in tears as I realized that most of my students were coming from unimaginable circumstances, and I had the opportunity to encourage them and love them. I realized that teaching goes way beyond curriculum and text books. I pray that I was able to show these kids love and encouragement throughout the year. How incredible it is that God used 9-10 year olds to teach me of his extravagant love and intricate plan to glorify himself.


2) A spontaneous Clothing Drive and an old t-shirt. I learned from a mentor teacher back in student teaching that it is always important to teach your students that they can serve and help others. I remember praying for an opportunity to show my students that no matter how bad they think they have it, there is always someone worse off, and there is always and opportunity to help. Then the earthquake in Haiti happened. We started having a discussion about how Haiti was already an impoverished nation who desperately needed help BEFORE the earthquake occurred. We couldn't imagine just how horrible it might be after being hit by an earthquake. As we were looking at the world map, some of them locating Haiti for the first time, my students started coming up with all kinds of ideas. "Mrs. Yarbrough, we could send them stuff!" "We could collect old clothes or toys for the kids." "I have some old shoes I need to get rid of." My students were so excited at the thought of helping the Haitian people. Within about an hour, we had planned a Clothing/Shoe Drive for our entire school. My very creative and smart student, Nikki, typed up a letter and we passed it out to all of the classrooms. Over the next 2 weeks, students began bringing in BAGS of stuff! Wow, it was incredible! I was so proud of my kids and their initiative to get the whole school involved. I was most touched by one of my students who came with one old t-shirt. "Mrs. Yarbrough, I looked through all of my things, and this is what I want to send. It's cute isn't it?" Wow, I was instantly reminded of the widow who gave 2 coins.  Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on." Mark 12:43-44.  This is one of my favorite memories of the entire year. 

3) Failure. So, I knew that I would have difficult students, but I guess in my mind, "difficult" would mean a kid who is always getting into trouble, being mean to others, distracting the class, or just shouting out. Don't get me wrong, I had some students like that, but that didn't seem to get to me... there's always detention and parent calls for that kind of behavior. No, the most difficult student I had was the one who did. not. do. anything. at. all. Wow, it became the biggest struggle of my entire year. This student was one who would come to class, sit, and maybe, if we're lucky, turn in one assignment, half completed. It was like pulling teeth day, after day, after day. I tried everything I learned in school: incentive plans, rewards, discipline, detention, parent conferences, isolation, grades. Still, no effort. Nothing, nada. I sought after wisdom from other teachers and friends, and still no results. This situation began eating away at me, and I was so discouraged by it. It lasted all year, and I finally had to give up what "control" I had on the situation. 

It seems like right when you let go of something, God slaps you in the face with a lesson to learn. He reminded me that I am so much like my frustrating student who would come to school everyday, sit and do nothing she was asked to do, care nothing for what was going on, or show no interest in anything I tried to teach her. Huh? Yes, he put me right in that very desk. So many times I will go throughout my day or week without a care in the world about what God wants to do through me, what he wants to teach me, or how he wants to use me. I just sit there and do as I please. Oh the irony! God taught me, through the toughest part of my First Year, that although so many times I am unfaithful, disobedient, and apathetic... He LOVES me! He LOVES me! I cannot say it enough. This has definitely been the most powerful and painful lesson to learn. I can't describe the frustration and impatience I had with my student, and to think of the frustration God should feel for the entire world! Yet, he LOVES us. He rescues us from our sin and redeems us. Praise God. I am thankful that I had to endure such a tough lesson. I pray that I would always be humbled through these tough times to look to the cross and constantly remember his immense LOVE.  

Back to the student. No, she didn't have a radical transformation at the end. In fact, it got worse. She will be doing 4th grade again, and yes it is hard as a teacher to see your students fail, but I can tell from experience that some of the greatest times of growth in my life have been through failure. Isn't it incredible that God gives us all a second chance? 

Yes, I learned a gazillion other lessons this year, but those were some of the greatest ways God taught me more about himself. 

I'll end with a short video that I showed my kids before they left for the summer. They were an awesome group of kids!

"The LORD your God is with you,
       he is mighty to save.
       He will take great delight in you,
       he will quiet you with his love,
       he will rejoice over you with singing."

Zephaniah 3:17

If I Could be a Spokesperson...

I haven't always been really mindful about money- saving, spending, etc. I never really had a "budget" or anything like that. Then, I got married. Praise the Lord that I married a man who is so wise about how to be a good steward with the gifts and money God provides for us. After a few rocky months of getting used to this whole "budget" thing, I will be the first to tell you that it is so important and makes your marriage and life so much simpler and easier.  BUT, I did say there were some rocky months right? Staying within budget is HARD! It takes discipline, time, and practice, and by NO means am I an expert! In fact, I'm still learning and will always be learning how to be better about spending/saving.  With that in mind, I want to share with you 2 tools that I LOVE to tell people about.

So, If I Could be a Spokesperson...

I'd represent Mint.com. This is a FREE online budgeting tool that is wonderful! You can upload any/all of your bank accounts onto it and track your spending each month. It's nice to see how much you spend on gas, food, rent/mortgage, clothing, etc. each month. I love it because before the month even starts, we have a set amount we want to spend in each category. Hunter or I will check it weekly throughout the month, and we can track to see how much we have left to spend. It's nice to have a limit or else, knowing my spending nature, I'd spend more than I should! Check out the website. It is easy to navigate and is also very secure.

Another great tool is E-Mealz. I am very new at this but I can already tell that I LOVE it. You pay $15 every three months ($5/month), and you sign up to download a menu/shopping list for a week's worth of dinners from your favorite grocery store. I shop at Aldi a lot, so I chose the option "Aldi For 2". There are family options, low fat options, point system options, and they have most common grocery stores (Publix, Walmart, Kroger, etc.)
I can't stop talking about E-Mealz because: A) It has a list of 5 yummy meals I can make that week... and do I cook 5 times a week? No. I usually cook about 3 and then have leftovers. SO, I can usually spend less than $50 for about two week's worth of dinners!B) It has the grocery items that you need listed already, and how much you should plan on spending (and by where you find them in the store)C) I don't have to rack my brain for good/exciting/different meals. They do it for me! Yes, no more going to the pantry/freezer, seeing a ton of food, and saying, "Hm, what should we have for dinner." It's so easy. I love it... and I can already tell that Hunter does, too!

..time to Catch up!

My apologies to all of my awesome blog buddies who hate that I am such a blog post slacker! I plan to make it up to you somehow.. maybe.

So a lot has been going on in the Yarbrough family lately! I'll try to update from since the last post happened, which I'm ashamed to say was over a month ago!

Hunter went out of town at the beginning of April, so I spent some time around the apartment doing some fun projects. I bought some flowers for our deck and then did something I'd been wanting to try for a while. I made a DIY vase! I follow this blog, Thrifty Decor Chick, and saw a super cute Springy vase that I just knew I could do! Sure enough, it was so easy that I made 3 of them in one weekend (could've done it in about 2 hours, but I had to get more supplies!). All you have to do is get a roll of jute from the local craft store (I found mine at Hobby Lobby), brush on some clear craft glue, and apply the jute around the vase to whichever height you like. See where I got my inspiration here: Jute Vase (just scroll down a little bit and you'll see).

Here is a picture. It looks SO much cuter with fresh flowers, but I didn't take a picture when we had them a few weeks ago! 

Wow, what next? April was a surprisingly busy month for us! Hunter and I went up to Nashville a few times, and one weekend we went for the Music City Half Marathon. A whole group of us usually runs together, but this year it was just Hunter's dad, Mike, and I who ran. We started out and ran about 9 miles together and that's when my legs felt like bricks and I had to encourage him to keep on going. (I hadn't trained nearly as hard as I have in the past due to an unexpected cold/cough that ruled out a few important long runs... so this was actually the worst race time I've ever had). I walked/ran for the rest of the race and loved it! My favorite part is around mile 10 when you run past Belmont Baptist Church and the praise team is out playing worship songs. Man, it is so incredible! I am so grateful God has given me the ability to run and be active! I pray I am always willing and able to run and stay active throughout my life!

Ok, so now for the BIG announcement here on blog land. We've pretty much told everyone in person, so now I can blog about it. 

After praying for nearly a year about what God would have Hunter and I do for the next few years of our life, we have decided to move up to Nashville and be involved with planting a church in the Hillsboro Village area. We are thrilled about this opportunity, and are eager and excited to see how God will use us in this process. However, this will be so hard as Birmingham has become our home and we will be leaving behind dear friends, great jobs/coworkers, and an incredible church. 

                                               

So we'll be making the move from Birmingham to Nashville this summer, early July, after our Israel trip. We have been so encouraged by our friends and family about this decision, and we cannot praise the Lord enough for how faithful he is. 

Since this big decision has been made, we have been taking small and big steps to prepare for the move. One BIG step is that we are now under contract for our very first HOME! It is actually a condo, but it will be ours! Last week was the long-awaited tax-credit deadline, and we made it by the skin of our teeth! Hunter and I are so excited because our new 2 bedroom/2 bath condo (that's right people, a guest room AND a second bathroom!) is located in a really cool part of Nashville, just minutes away from Belmont, Vandy, 12th Ave South, Hillsboro Village and Green Hills. I'm so thrilled that we'll be able to walk to some local favorites like Las Paletas Gourmet Popsicles and The Frothy Monkey. Birmingham people, you are ALWAYS welcome and we cannot wait to show you around Nashvegas! Once we get in and take some pics of the condo, I'll post some pics of it. 

So those are just a few of the things going on in our life right now. It is such a busy time, but we are excited for what God has for us and what He'll teach us through it all. Until the next time, and I promise it will be much sooner... grace and peace.