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I am an artist & teacher with a ❤ for visual expression, educational methodology, homesteading, & Jesus. My geek-love is The Joshua and we have three peanut-butters: Caleb, Jack, & Louritta.

I’m Married Again!

12/06/2003

Josh got me a beautiful new ring today. It looks a lot like my last ring except that it’s all white gold, the center diamond is a bit bigger & sits up higher, and the wedding band has little diamonds across it. Last time I had two wedding bands (one on each side), this time there’s just one. It’s absolutely beautiful. I’m so blessed to have a husband that cares so much for me. Losing the ring the first time was my own stupid fault and I am amazed at the humility and forgiveness he has shown. This ring is special because it not only reminds me of my marriage vows & life with Josh, but it also reminds me on what a considerate, forgiving, and thoughtful man I married. What joy I feel.

Like Christmas – Only You Get Dirt & Water

12/05/2003

My school got a small art grant recently which I spent on miscellaneous visual aides for my classroom (slides & whatnot, a couple of videos). I also ordered some supplies for my students with my regular budget. Basically, I’ve been getting boxes of stuff almost daily. It’s really fun.
One of the teacher support providers from the district was touring my room. As she was talking to me, a guy delivered a bunch of boxes of clay on a 2-wheeler. When he walked in my room, I stopped the conversation w/ the support person and exclaimed, “YAY!!!!!! CLAY!!!” I ran over to the guy and helped him bring the clay in. The support provider said that I was more excited to get boxes from this guy than her kids during Christmas. I said, “Well, getting clay is kind of like Christmas, only when you open up your presents, all you get is dirt and water!”
I’m so clever.
Anyhoo…today a box of slides came which made me all excited too. I got to see some cool sculptures by Giacometti and Moore, as well as some multi-cultural and contemporary ceramics pieces. I’m still expecting more boxes of stuff…makes me excited to go back to work next week.
I have the coolest job ever. Seriously. It’s one of the few jobs where I’m pumped to go from day to day. Students look forward to the summer and I hate it. I always need to get some other job which is tolerable…but it’s just not teaching Art.

Cool Poem (I did not eat grapes while writing this)

12/01/2003

One of my students wrote this poem for me. It was after we were talking about God as a creator and a “molder of clay.” Then we made clay projects to create as God created us. Anyhoo…this is the poem:
God made us with some clay,
Special and different in some way.
Molding us into many shapes,
Not slacking or eating grapes.
Working hard on each part,
we are all His beautiful art.
(I like the thought that God was not eating grapes when he made us. Hee hee.)

Parents Just Don’t Understand

12/01/2003

One of my students is pretty roughed up. His parents just got a divorce recently and he’s dealing with it the best way he knows how. He seemed pretty down today, which makes me worry a bit. He spent his Thanksgiving helping his mom pack her stuff to move out of state. He “gets” to see her over Christmas, then again in the summer. So, he’s staying with his dad until then. He says that they would argue with each other like they were 10 year olds and slam doors, whine, feel sorry for themselves. I wonder how they would feel if they knew their 14 year old son viewed them this way. He’s glad there is no screaming anymore…but that life seems too quiet now.
I’m sorry if I sound like Dr. Laura. I just wouldn’t leave my kid to live in a different state. No way. Where do parents learn that it is “their life” and that they need to “pursue their own dreams”? Fine, you can do that if you’re single (although I would argue that your life is not your own and that you are to serve God). But, not when you bring a spouse into the picture. When you take marriage vows with another person, you are essentially saying that you will view that person as being better than yourself. That means that you put them & their interests before yours. And they are vowing to do the same for you. In a perfect marriage, each will be serving the other (therefore they are both blessed).
PHILIPPIANS   2:3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.
That is why a parent shouldn’t move to a different freaking state, essentially abandoning their child. I don’t care what stupid reason you have. When you have children, you serve their needs. When you have a spouse, you serve their needs. You are not the center of the universe. And, if you don’t have what it takes to serve others, then stay single. And please don’t bring kids into the picture.
My student asked if he could go to the counselor to request therapy for himself through the school. He knows that this situation is messing him up. It absolutely breaks my heart to hear stuff like this.

Learning to Trust

11/30/2003

I recently stumbled across these articles and was thankful to hear the stories of Christians who have endured miscarriage. In particular, I enjoyed Christian Wulfsberg’s article. He shared of his son, Noah, dying in the womb because he got strangled by the umbilical cord. After going through this death, he & his wife have another child. He says this:
So I’m sure you will understand why we named our youngest Elianah. It is an uncommon name in America, in fact, I don’t know anyone else by that name, for it is Hebrew, and it means “My God has answered.”
That’s some pretty powerful stuff.
I’m going to the doctor in a few weeks to get some tests done & whatnot just to see if I have any miscarriage-prone issues that I should be aware of. I guess I’m a little nervous about it. At the same time, I’ll be relieved to find out what, if anything, is wrong. It stinks to wonder. I think it will be better to know (if knowing is possible).
I think that these miscarriages have been a huge issue in my life, and in my relationship with God (sorry if ya’ll get tired hearing about it!). He teaches me to trust Him. He uses my weakness to show me His light. And I need Him so much. Yet, He still chooses to bless me abundanly in other areas of my life. These are blessings I don’t deserve, yet He pours them out on me. I am so thankfull for this amazing life.

The Book of Liz

11/29/2003

Mark Quinlan came in from MN for a visit this Thanksgiving weekend. It was good to see him. We went up to San Francisco to The Shelton Theater where we saw The Book of Liz, a play written by David & Amy Sedaris. (As all of you know…I’m a big Sedaris fan).
I would rather have seen it off Broadway where David & Amy actually starred in it. I think they would have brought so much more to the performance that the actors we saw. Not that the acting was bad, it was better than most High School plays I’ve seen. I think the directing relied too heavy on repeated slapstick jokes, rather than relying on the writing and trusting the characters. The script itself is tolerable, but it’s not the best Sedaris material out there, that’s for sure.

Stupid Scrape

11/27/2003

We had a student vs. staff volleyball game on Tuesday. It was really a lot of fun, especially since most of us adults don’t play very often. I think overall I did pretty well. I may consider joining a volleyball league because I forgot how fun it is. It heightens your senses more than the treadmill at the gym, that’s for sure.
Anyway, there was one point where I dove for a ball and slid across the concrete. I hit the ball out of bounds…so it was a fruitless attack. I also skinned my knee in the process. (You see, us teachers are too cool for kneepads).
The scrape wasn’t bad at all. Problem is, it’s on a joint. So, every time you move, the scrape just gets worse and worse. So, basically, I’ve been a limping gimp for a couple of days. When people ask me what happened, and I tell them I just have a stupid scrape, I feel kind of stupid for walking around the way I do.

God is the Owner and Keeper of All

11/23/2003

Today we had an awesome sermon in Church. It was about (many things, but here’s one) how people who trust things to God’s care, receive back blessings from God that are incredible.
I have learned a very valuable thing this past year. It is that everything I have is God’s. He’s nice enough to let me have a job where I can earn money and buy things. I don’t deserve the things…I’m just really blessed to live so comfortably.
Though I was horribly saddened by both of our miscarriages, I have come to a point where I realize that neither of those children were mine. They were God’s, and He just entrusted me with them until He saw fit to take them back. I’m sure I will meet them someday in heaven. (I actually tease a little, saying that God thinks that the Lewis kids are so cool that He really wanted to hang out with them…so He took them a little early).
It’s difficult to say this, but I do believe that the miscarriages have brought me closer to the Lord. I think they have given me a new respect for life and a new respect for God. It has made me aware of who these children really belong to.
I used to have a list of names of what I wanted to name my children. That list has been abolished. God has told me what I am to name His children when they come. That’s cooler than any name I could think of. And I will tell my children that they belong to a much cooler Father than Josh or I could ever be to them. And that He named them.
Today’s sermon also made me think of tithing. God blesses us with jobs (some of us) & some kind of income. Things that, again, really don’t belong to us. And all he asks for is a measly 10%. It’s so often easy for me to justify some reason why I can “tithe a little less” this time around. When I do that, I’m living outside of my means and need to cut back. Give to God what is God’s.
Well, that’s my rampage for today anyway.

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