What is to come

I feel like I am trying to be some sort of a creative writer because I tried to think of a creative title...I know, all you writer are saying "really?" If I wasn't trying to be cooler than I am I would have just titled it "I'm so excited".
Anyhow, I really am just so excited right now.
I start in-service tomorrow. For those of you who don't know what that is ( someone asked me earlier today), it is what teachers had when you had the day off...you know, when you didn't have school but your teachers were still working. We have a week of in-service before our students come next week!
My classroom is basically non existent because up until this weekend I didn't even have all 4 walls, several rooms in the school have been under construction. I heard that I have all 4 as of today ( but no paint yet) so hopefully I will be able to post some pics of my room soon, meaning that I am able to get in there and decorate.
I am ready to get started because I feel like i'v been preparing for this for awhile! I say that I am mentally ready, because honestly I am not pratically ready. Clearly, no room, no lesson plans written, lots of things to create still but hey, I am mentally ready. I am ready to invest in these kids, care about them, get to know their families, love on them, show them joy, and hope. I know that many days will be a disaster and I am ready for that. I'm just ready to mess up and keep going because I know that will happen. Maybe I am so ready because it is so clear to me that this is what the Lord has called me to for now.

Over the last few weeks the Lord has been stirring my heart more and more for children and families. I have always had a heart for them but lately I have been very sensitive to this demographic, a few examples:
(and can I clarify that my heart is for hurting children and families, I don't know why but it just is)

*last week I found out that my brothers daughter ( she doesn't live with him) has had CPS at her house twice recently, what do I do with that? I won't go into the details but it just broke my heart that any child has to feel that hurt and that shame. That she has to feel worthless or maybe that she has to earn love. It makes my heart weighty, that the Lord allows this to happen. It reminds me that our world is broken, that people are selfish and not loving not with pure love anyway. But the truth it does remind me of is that God is faithful, that God is soveriegn, that God is our protector and also that God longs to see His glory. I know in the depths of me that my Great God can use any event or circumstance, any dysfunctional upbringing to bring glory and honor to Himself, which in turn bring me hope and peace.
*We watched the movie "Swing Vote" ( if you haven't seen this you may want to skip this one, I don't really give anything away but...),
and for some reason this was very heavy for me. From the beginning of this movie my heart just broke for this little girl. The whole mother scene was awful for me, I was just bawling. Maybe after hearing about my neice this was touchy for me. The fact for me was that this movie is reality for way to many children and their story doesn't always turn out so picture perfect.
* Driving to school a couple weeks ago I was listening to a Tim Hughes cd when his song "God of Justice" came on and just hit my heart. I don't know what but it was like the only line I heard was"stand beside the broken". I am still trying to figure out what to do with this because I definitely feel it was the Lord speaking to me, which I love that He does! I'll keep yall posted...

So, I hope some of that made sense and wasn't me throwing up in the blog world all of my thoughts for the day. I'm not even going to go back and edit ( which I always do, maybe not for grammar but for sanity).

oh, here are the lyrics to that Tim Hughes song:
God of Justice, Saviour to all
Came to rescue the weak and the poor
Chose to serve and not be served

Jesus, You have called us
Freely we've received
Now freely we will give

We must go live to feed the hungry
Stand beside the broken
We must go
Stepping forward keep us from just singing
Move us into action
We must go

To act justly everyday
Loving mercy in everyway
Walking humbly before You God

You have shown us, what You require
Freely we've received
Now freely we will give


Fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out
Fill us up and send us out Lord

M.I.A.

I wish I haven't been so bad about blogging lately. After a more than 2 week vacation to Portland, including a 3 day drive back home, I started teacher training last week! Between the house, teacher training and adjusting back to work schedule I am a bit overwhelmed, to say the least!

So far this has been a very difficult transition for me partially because I tend to like this "just so" and partially because I feel like I've had to say no to a lot of things lately and that I hate!
Amongst all the busyness, I am trying to find the line between not doing things in order to keep my sanity and not doing things because I am selfish. Where is the line!!!???

And to brag on my sweet husband...he has been so patient and such a servant! You see, what happens when I get so overwhelmed is that i basically become paralyzed. I have no idea where to begin. I also don't always respond in the sweetest way, I'm sure none of you can imagine that but well, its true! Today I became paralyzed, there is so much to do around the house ( I still haven't figured out how all our stuff fits/works in this house) and soooo much to do at school that I didn't even know where to begin. All my sweet husband starting doing was working, he just saw things that needed to be done and did them! AMAZING! It kind of helps me get started! Thank you sugar!!!

I'm definitely feeling the Lord stretch me in new ways and I know i need to look for Him through this very stressful time. I feel torn in so many ways and I just pray that the Lord brings clarity to me and who I am supposed to be in HIM!

Sorry about all the rambling, welcome to my world! :)

I will post some pics of my classroom as soon as I can-( my room is currently under construction)

Love,
Mrs. Warren

An Update in Pictures

Birthday Celebrations
Sam and Katie took John and out for diner to celebrate my bday! I love these girls and we have so much fun! I don't think there is ever a time we get together without taking a pic full of laughter!
























Cute picture - the one I force him to look "normal" in ;-)












Typical John picture ;-)- check out the look on his face- ha!



















The Lookout Point Inn- B&B
Hot Springs, AR












John surprised me with a night here on our way back from Family Camp! It was beautiful and a wonderful night away with John. It was our 4 year anniversary celebration ( a few weeks early).











































More Birthday Celebrating...
Emily, Nat and Kimbo took me to breakfast for my birthday and Emily made me this adorable bag! I love it and can't wait to use it!































PINK Flamingoes....
A few weeks ago our house got "flamingoed"...is that a word?
In case you don't know ( Oregonians) when your yard gets "flamingoed" you have to pay to get them out. It is a very creative fundraiser...












Sorry for the random post and disorganization of the pics. But at least they are up, right?
John and I are headed to Portland next week for 10 days! We can't wait to see our family! I've been missing the nieces and nephews so much lately! So here we come Knakals!!

I hope all of you are enjoying the summer , love from the Warren's!

Our Conquering Lion

The Conquering Lion
Shall break every chain
He will wipe every tear away
He will take all my hurt and pain
Conquering Lion
Shall break every chain
He will wipe every tear away
He will take all my hurt and pain
He will lead me to springs of living water
He will lead me to springs of living water
He will lead me to springs of living water

I wrote about this song in this post a long time ago, the day Olivia died. I have been thinking about her daily lately. I'm not sure why. My heart misses her and I get overwhelmed with thoughts of her and the pain of not having her here to call, spend a weekend with, laugh with, shop with, dream with, pray with and share my heart with. I visited her myspace page tonight searching for anything new I could find, something I didn't know. I want to know something knew about her. Maybe its that I wish she could share new pictures or blogs, if I could find something new, I would still have her here. I don't think any of this makes any logical sense but inside me it does. I want to read something new or see somthing new about her so I can hang on, not loose my thoughts and memories of her! I decided to listen to this song again, Conquering Lion by Grace Faulkner ( itunes it), nervous because I knew it would bring tears. I immediately go back to that late Saturday night in Olivia's room the week before she died. Marisa, Shana, Samantha and i were in her dark room, praying for Liv, begging the Lord for her life on this earth to last longer. This song came on and we just sang it to her. It was such a sweet time and I just want to transport back to that place, sit a little longer, laugh with Liv a little more and enjoy the sweetness of friends holding each other up. I am so thankful for the gift of friendship, what an amazing gift from God! As I listened to this song tonight I was reminded of my own brokeness, I don't have cancer and I am physically healthy, but my heart is sinful, its broken. Jesus has taken that, he has died so that I can live. He has willingly taken on the burden of my sin, my pride, jealousy and bitterness so that I can choose to walk free, no more bondage. I have the choice to walk in the freedom that His brutal death on the cross provides me.
The Lord is teaching me a lot about the condition of my own heart and its tough, I'll be honest, it makes me angry. I have to deal with the reality that I am sinful, its how I was born. There is no room to blame anyone for my feelings, actions, etc; I must take responsibility.
Its this process He is taking me on that will allow me to lay down these dirty, sinful actions and feeling of mine, He's taking me to springs of living water. Its a daily process, not a quick say one prayer event! I mean I know that years ago when I decided to believe in Jesus, I became His, saved but knowing Him, becoming like Him and walking in a way which is glorifying to Him is a process!
I hope you find encouragement in knowing that He is the ultimate Conquering Lion, He will break every chain and wipe all your tears away and take all your hurt and pain! He will be lead us to springs of living water...but it will be a journey! He is so faithful! Thank you Jesus!

Update

Mostly I just felt the need to update so...here goes:
*John has been wearing an arm brace since last week. The Dr. wanted to put him in a full blown cast but John refused...I know, totally not like John- ha! ;-). His thumb has been hurting for several months and he finally went in to get it checked out. Its either tendonitis or the gout...?? He has been very humbled through wearing the brace as it is an extremely minor annoyance. Let me explain: On Sunday we met a girl who was only supposed to live until October and she has probably the most extreme prognosis I have ever heard of. I don't want to give to many details because I do not have her permission to write about it but it definitely put lots of things into perspective in our life that day! It also reminded me of Olivia! This girl is 22, younger than Liv but just as joyful and ready to serve as Olivia and she seemed determined to not let this awful illness get in the way of letting Christ use her. Jesus has obviously worked in her life in transforming ways!
*I am taking care of 4 children this summer, it should be lots of fun and lots of practice ;-)
*We have also invited a girl to live with us for a few months. She is getting married this fall to a guy on staff. She will be moving in at the end of this month and I think it will be a great few months. She can get a peek into marriage life- ha!
*I had an interview with a Denton school yesterday and should know by the end of the week who they picked...Its actually been fairly easy to trust the Lord with this because I know there is nothing I can do!

I think that covers it, no silly dog mishaps to share this time.

Who really runs our house??

So part of me is embarrassed about the photos below....but clearly not enough to keep them to myself. ;-) I came out from getting ready this morning, calling for Lilly because I thought she might need to go outside....I walked into the living room to see this:
Now, as far as I know this has never happened and I totally should have yelled at her and made her get down the minute I saw her but all I could do was slowly walk to the camera and hope she didn't move. Obviously she didn't move, in fact she just stayed there and starred at me...it just cracked me up! I kinda feel like one of those moms who can't help but crack up laughing at something their children say and shouldn't!
And I promise I cleaned my coffee table! :)

Summer fun and summer salad!

Nat Drew, Emily Rozell(and Rev) and I went down to the square tonight for the Twilight Tunes, or something like that...basically Denton has live music on the courthouse lawn every Thursday in may and June! Its quite the event, everyone bring food or grabs pizza and wine from the shops on the square and we just hang out! There is a bounce house for the kids and people dance....we decided that they had to have been drinking! ;-)
Anyhow, we went and found The Chandlers ( Steven and Janet , I mean) and the Burkes...what a great time we had just chatting on the lawn for a couple of hours! I'm a sucker for silly nights like these. I love the Summer and cheap thrills like the Twilight Tunes in Denton!
Plus, I get to make delicious salads like this one: ( my mother in law always gives me the best recipes, this is one of those! Thanks Linda!!!)

Potato, Tomato, Corn and Basil Salad

Prep: 15min
Cook:20 min
Servings: 6-8 (maybe a few more)

1 lb baby red potatoes
4-5 med ears of corn
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes (halved lengthwise)
1 small red onion thinly sliced ( 1/2-3/4 C)
1 large bunch of basil leaves-rinse, dry and tear in 1/2 if you want)
1/4 C olive oil
2 large lemons, juiced
1 t kosher salt
about 15 grinds fresh ground pepper

Place potatoes in a large pot and bring to a boil. Cook until just fork tender ( about 15 min)
Spoon out potatoes and place directly into a bowl of ice cold water to stop them from cooking.
Shuck the corn and break each ear in 1/2. Cook in the same water for 5-7 min. You want them tender but not soft!
Remove the cooled potatoes to a dish cloth to drain/dry
Immerse the corn in the same ice bath until cool.
Cut potatoes into quarters and place in large bowl.
Remove corn from water and let drain.dry.
Cut the kernels from each ear and add to the bowl.
Add tomatoes, onion and basil leaves. Add olive oil and lemon juice, S&P and gently toss! Serve at room temp or cool.

Enjoy!