Life Is Good!

Even though I miss my friends and family back in Mississippi and wish I could see them now, I am beginning to love my new life here in Texas. I'm making new friends at work, church and home. I am teaching sixth grade English in a small town outside of McKinney (where my apartment is located). This teaching job has definitely taken me outside of my comfort zone and is stretching my creative abilities to keep ahead of these bright students. Right now, they are involved in using a childhood fairy tale to write a skit about the characters appearing on the Oprah Winfrey show. It should be interesting to see the results.....

I'm teaching with a GREAT team of Christians who keep me inspired. We try to meet every Monday morning for prayer and we eat together in one of the teacher's rooms everyday. My new principal is new and energetic. A note for Monica...he is like a younger version of Ed Harden.

My apartment is beautiful. It's new, so my germaphobic self doesn't oogie over the fact that others have been here before me. I've made friends with a really sweet couple across the breezeway, the Chapmans. They have two girls - a 14 year old and 1 year old. He is a former country singer who opened for some pretty famous groups. He calls me Sis. She is a loving mom and has a bubbly personality. She and I are work-out buddies at the apartment's gym. They are both in sales. They are always inviting me over to eat Misty's good cooking.

I've found a great church home. The first day that I went, two ladies reached out to me and made me feel really welcome. This church works at being a "body" of Christ. There are lots of small groups for fellowship and the groups meet frequently. I'm involved in two now - a singles group and an empty nester group called Serendepity. I was sharing with the Serendeptity group about how welcome they made me feel at a time when I was feeling so lonely and so withdrawn socially. One sweet older guy and a fellow gardener told me, "Welcome back, butterfly." Later in the evening, a lady who is becoming a friend turned to another lady and said, "See, I told you she was really a lot of fun!" When I asked her who she was talking about, she answered, "You, dummy!" So I guess the "glowworm" (as my friends at Southside used to call me) really is hatching into a "social butterfly".

Ofcourse, I am loving the fact that my kids and grandkids are so close by. I'm living halfway between the two families. I went with Daniel, Carla, and Dylan to look at houses for them today. They are working towards owning a home. Pray for them as they come to realize this dream. Last Saturday, I went with them to a "Pumpkin Patch" that Dylan totally loved! This next weekend, I am keeping Wyatt and Trey while Jona and Donna take a short trip. I've been going to Wyatt's football games and I went to both their baseball games last summer.

As you can see, I am feeling truly blessed....more to come later.