Praise Report: Life and Death and Keeping Perspective Here on Earth

Life and death. 

Earlier this week we were joined together in prayer around the sweet little cousin of one of my dear blogging friends. We got to meet in real life. ALWAYS a highlight. My visit to her school outside of Houston was in the works for ages, before we got all of our ducks in a row. My visit  ended up being in the first  several days after Barbara was in a head-on collision, on a bridge, in the middle of the afternoon. The fact that she was able to get out of her car which was completely totaled by a drunk driver, was no small miracle in itself. It was quite a duet, when me {the two time cancer survivor} and she {the miracle woman} joined together in my song -- on the first day that she was able to return even briefly to school, to support  my author presentation. Meeting at that heightened 'intersection,' makes for a unique relationship. Memorable.  

Just before we started our Twitter chat on Tuesday of this week, I read with a heavy heart that Barbara's little five year old cousin Jack had gone on to heaven. HEAVY HEART. 

I had a very hard time preparing to fall asleep. 

Then I remembered that I had written a poem called, "Kindergarten in Heaven" for precious little Carter, sweet nephew to one of my BC Sistahs. So in my sleeplessness I dug around till I found it. I sent a message to Barbara and included the simple sentiment that I'd written a couple of years earlier. If Barbara thought it appropriate, she could send the poem on to her extended family. 

I went to sleep imagining Carter welcoming Jack to a Heavenly Kindergarten classroom and the two of them on the field trip where they got to ride dinosaurs. 

All of that happened on Tuesday.....late in the day (by the time I found out.) 

Wed morning, very early Allen was driving me to my school visit about 45 minutes away from the Denver kids home. I spent the entire time deleting pictures from my phone, in the hopes of opening enough space to download the periscope app. Just as we pulled into the school parking lot I had dug back nearly two years in my camera roll to photos I took of a little book that Crystal Radke had her Kinders create for me. I took dozens of photos, in case I ever lost the book. Most of the pictures were drawings of me in polka dots. Some were drawings of me with the flag, or me wearing my tall giraffe costume. There were rainbows and smiling stick figure children. There in the midst of all of those children's drawings was only ONE photograph with children's handwriting. This is the photo that I found immediately after Barbara told me that Jack's mother would like to use my poem at his celebration of life. 

When I went back to Barbara's FB page to see if there was any further news, I saw that she shared this photo below. One of the prayer warriors for Jack noticed that the photo of Jack in the hospital, on the nurses station monitor appears to have captured a small angel figure to the right of Jack. 

I have taken the liberty of cropping the photo above and adding some slight 'shadow' enhancement, in an effort to more clearly see the image. An angel, INDEED!

All of my own concerns take an entirely different perspective in light of this image. 

Please pray for Jack's family. 

Please pray that every child's guardian angel

speak directly to them during times of need. 

#TeacherFriends Twitter Chat 9/15 "Global Learning!"

TUESDAY TWITTER TEACHERS TWEET! 

Tonight's Twitter Chat at #TeacherFriends will be all about going global! 

How can you use technology to bring the world to your students? 

Have you been slow to adopt Twitter as an active social network? 

Tonight's the night! 

We will be led by Becky Morales, a true citizen-of-the-world.

She blogs at Kid World Citizen. 

Meet her amazing family.

You can see that she 'walks her talk.'

LOOK AT THOSE SMILES! 

Becky will be sharing her insight and experience in the chat by using the questions below. Sharing the questions ahead of time can help you organize your responses. We LUV when you include links to earlier blog articles -- AND PICTURES!

You are welcome to 'schedule' your answers ahead of time and then check back after the fact for the archive Storify of the evening's sharing. I schedule my answers using the Tweetdeck site. 

***Just be sure to schedule your 'answer' in the minute that follows the question. Otherwise you look a little clairvoyant. Be certain you think through the whole time-zone equivalency, too! We chat at 9PM EST. You'll have to do the math. Here's a little reminder.

If you are truly new to Twitter, we welcome you to arrive at 8:30 to join in our "Practice Chat" portion of the evening. The pace is much slower and we visit and support those on a learning curve for the platform. 

After you're into the swing of the 'conversation' you will earn your very own certificate-of-participation! 

#TCV = Twitter Chat Virgin 

Every week we have prizes! Be certain that you enter your name and contact details on our Google Doc that will be tweeted beginning at 8:30! You only need to enter once for ALL of the prizes being awarded!

I act as the moderator for the evening and tweet out the questions. 

It's a great idea to 'follow' me..... to help keep up with the chat. 

I will be giving away a digital copy of my "Tall Giraffe" song and instrumental to one lucky winner. 

The zipped file includes both Mp3 versions, 

plus pdfs of both the sign language and music notation. 

This digital download is available at my Teachers Pay Teachers store! 

Hope to 'see' you tonight! 

Praise Report: Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

#BeThankful #BeThankful #BeThankful 

Our extended family's current times of stress and trial have helped me grow. 

Quite frankly. There's been no option. 

Whether you subscribe to the bumper sticker wisdom of: 

a.) Put on your big-girl panties  

b.) Suck-it-up buttercup 

or

c.) Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional

The fact of the matter is...... Life-on-Earth has challenges.

Periodically those challenges are both unthinkable and enormous.

Make your favorite quote into an image at Recite.

• Whatcha gonna do when the chips are down? 
• How do you handle bad news, challenges and heart ache?
• Where do you turn when your whole world crumbles? 
• What gives you strength when you're beyond exhausted?
• How do you handle seeing those you care about in pain? 
• How do you keep hope alive in the absolute darkness?
• What techniques do you have to stare down the fear?  

This week in my inbox I received my daily devotional and scripture lesson from Joyce Meyer via YouVersion. She wrote about suffering and quoted 1 Thessalonians. Her message arrived with perfect timing for my heart. Here's a portion of her devotional. {That's what led me to make the first image above at Canva.} 

Each new day hour minute gives us the opportunity to learn, grow, stretch and respond as we witness life's inequities and sorrow. The way that we grapple with our current set of circumstances tells the world about both our faith and our foundation. How do we respond? The world is watching.

Over the course of 2015 I have learned more about my ability to 'compartmentalize' my experiences. I've learned that I can carry on with my mission of sharing joy -- even when I am totally and completely bereft of that feeling myself. Good to know. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. Manufacture joy. 

I've learned that I can be focused on the absolute moment at hand and manufacture a sense of peace from peering into long eyelashes, from absorbing the majesty of a sunset, from tapping into the enthusiasm of others.... despite the 'bigger picture and the many unknowns.'  

Announcing my Presidential Race in MD!

This past week was the first ever of seeing our tribe in three different states! MD, OH and CO! It can be done! Labor Day weekend on the eastern seaboard. We had such a delightful time with attending "The Fix" -- gifted tickets from our youngest to a high powered dancing musical with politics tied in a knot. 

We also had a glorious day for exploring Old Annapolis together. 

Great memories and incredible rejuvenating experiences -- with an eye toward the future as well. Good to have connections to the future. Things to look forward to.  

Then it was a quick hop through OH and football scrimmage with Flat Stanley along to cheer the learning progress. Blink your eyes and we're off to the Rockies.

We planned this westward trip to be able to be a part of the state BMX finals for team Clement. 

We got to see the unveiling of the new Clement jerseys.

Hard work culminating in opportunity. 

Yeah team!  

One of my favorite 'non-family' moments of the week was our Twitter chat about supporting "Sensory Challenged" students in the classroom. Such a wealth of support, ideas and insight. It is such an honor to orchestrate the sharing and growth of professionals across the country and around the globe. 

The truth is that each and every child is the very ultimate in the eyes of our Creator. No doubt about it. Those that cause us the most pain and make us heart-sick over their actions and choices are still children of the King. 

Every week this year is one of challenge as we wrestle with the two sides of that coin. How do we make peace in the face of distress and fractured relationships?  

We arrived in the Denver airport to appreciate this public mural on the eve of the anniversary of the observation of September 11th. 

Is it any wonder that there are global hotspots, when we have fractured families?

We thank you for your continued prayers of support. 

We continue to grow in the midst of our pain. 

We continue to take baby steps toward the future.  

#TeacherFriends Twitter Chat: Sensory Processing Disorder

TUESDAY! It really is Tuesday! 

Set your alarm to remind you that today is Tuesday. 

Tuesday means Twitter Chat at the hashtag #TeacherFriends! 

Tonight we welcome Jennifer Hughes to our spotlight! 

She will be leading our learning on the topic of 

SENSORY PROCESSING DISORDER.

Here are the questions for the evening. 

We are now using an 'open-book' chat format. You are welcome to schedule your answers in response to the questions above. Just remember to schedule your answer in the minute following the questions above. {Be sure that you take into consideration the time zone..... as we tweet in the Eastern Standard Time.  

How much do you understand about SPD? This is your opportunity to learn more if you don't know a lot, or to come and SHARE more if you have great insight. 

We will be giving away a Wobble Seat to one lucky participant. They are a perfect alternative for kids that have sensory needs and concerns. 

I recently created a little iMovie so that you could see the Wobbles "in action." 

Take a look to see how your fellow teachers are using them in classrooms across the country. 

We are happy to process your school purchase orders! 

You're welcome to use Donors Choose and select us as a Special Request vendor. 

I will also be giving away a digital copy of "Red, White and Blue." 

Praise Report: Family Life, Army Keynote and Blessings Galore!

There are big weeks and then there are BIG weeks. This is one of those BIGGGGGGGGG weeks!

So much gratitude. So much appreciation. So much delight. Mixed together in the midst of real-life heart-wrenching challenge.....  makes Friday's triumphant zenith all the more spectacularly other-worldly, mind-numbingly out-of-body-like as I sit here and attempt to begin to type.

"It was the best of times. It was the worst of times." Name that classic novel's opening lines. My reading of a "Tale of Two Cities" in sixth grade hardly prepared me for this week, but the foreshadowing was indeed there.  

We left our summer hideaway hiatus heaven-on-Earth early Monday well before dawn and waved goodbye to Eagle Harbor under a glowing moonscape in shrouded mist. Cue surreal setting for departure. Could it possibly be true that an entire summer had transpired? {Something about unexpectedly selling your home and relocating creates an unusual season to be sure.} 

Our final motorcycle ride the afternoon before yielded my favorite annual find: locating the first tree on the peninsula to go full blown "color."

I absolutely marvel that while 99.9% of the entire Door is decked in full-on green, there is every year a single tree that goes renegade and mutates before the pack. Early adopter. Gifted and talented. Obstinate. 

Like walking into your favorite department store in flip flops to be slammed with an entire wall of Jolly Saint Nicks, months ahead of the celebration. I'm like a kinder-kid. STOP! Turn that motorcycle around!!!! Go back and document. PHOTO OPPORTUNITY. Right there on Old Stage Road, in front of the Moravian church. I kid you not. A foretaste of the feast to come.

We arrived safely in central Ohio in time to unload the vast majority of our Earthly belongings in time to get to Mini-Gold football practice. What's a 12 hour drive through Chicago, without a nightcap of seven year olds in full pads and helmets attempting to learn that there is a difference between offense and defense? The things we do for love.

There is absolutely NOTHING more gratifying on this planet, than having your WonderPeeps gallop across an open field to pummel you with hugs. Like a slow motion fast-stop scene in an indie movie. Savor, savor, savor. Attempt NOT to get the air knocked out of you, in the full on crush and drink it all in. Priceless. Knowing that we were JUST together a mere couple of weeks before makes the reunion all the more sweet.

Three days of football/cheerleading practice are just enough to realize the length that parents go to on behalf of their wee-wonders. There aren't really enough minutes in the day, but a mama's heart is big.

   

This week. In the midst of packing boxes, and final bites of carrot cake and cartwheel practice and preparations for speaking engagements and Twitter chatting and a computer showing signs of utter meltdown, it just also happened to be the exact timing of the home visit of the court appointed Guardian Ad Litem for those same WonderPeeps. You may remember that the entire backdrop of this weekly Praise Reporting of mine is the divorce proceedings and custody battle that also continues unfolding as the seasons turn. That I was present for this monumental occasion is yet more evidence for a Creator invested in the minutia of life here as we know it.

Solomon in a denim skirt.

From my own personal time-hop: It is one thing to have your entire life that you are in the midst of living be declared null and void by your spouse, it is quite another to be thrust into a scenario where total strangers determine the next chapters of reality for your life. There is absolutely nothing about having the rug pulled out from underneath you that is easy. Trust me. I have the #BeenThereDoneThat t-shirt in my own collection.

The true test of character was walking through the fire, holding my head up and NOT embracing a victim mentality, in the midst of my world being torn apart. Item by item and weekend by weekend. Again, I know about being duped. Up close and personal. 

My own divorce 'ramp-up' story afforded me sufficient time between the feeling-in-my-gut, to my observations and the total destruction of all that I knew -- to devise a plan. Reflecting back now, I realize that to be the silver lining. Even back in the day, I was aware that I had the opportunity to come to grips with so much change because I had seen the evidence with my own eyes and while reeling as gravity and everything else I took for certain changed .....I was able to keep breathing. I digress. 

Tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time is the pretrial for our daughter's "LIFE". That's when the prayers need to mount up. That's when the total strangers will gather together and make decisions. 

{Or not. Anyone that has ever been involved with the courts knows the utter devastation of 'thinking' that there will be some closure by such-and-such a date, only to have that house of mirrors feeling of a continuance or some other interruption derail decisiveness, yet again.} 

So that was the beginning and middle of last week. 

There's just sooooooooooooo much to be grateful for in MY world. Spending time with those I LUV the most? PRICELESS.  Having meaningful work -- where I can contribute? That makes my life complete. 

Army Officer's Club. Fort Belvoir, VA Keynote and Workshops

Last week concluded with our trek to the Washington DC area. I got to give the keynote to start the school year at Fort Belvoir, one of our DC area Army bases. To say that I was humbled with the opportunity is an understatement. Quick wrap up there? THE TECHNOLOGY WORKED! We gathered in the Officer's Club. I gave four different break-out workshops following the keynote. The participants were so very receptive. 

It is an honor to share my picture book, "Red, White and Blue" whose song I wrote in the aftermath of September 11th with the teachers who teach the children of our Army personnel. [I had this opportunity to speak, because of having spoken in Germany at our Army bases there a couple years ago.] 

We ran out of books again. This is a VERY good problem to have. ESPECIALLY since we had driven and had an entire car packed with inventory(!) When you're preaching to the choir, a rousing response is not a surprise. A thunderous response however is a true delight.  

Let's suffice it to say, that I got my daily share of FitBit steps easily. 

Since then we have spent the weekend with daughter Noelle and her hubby. Such great times. We were part of the whole migration to the Eastern shore debacle with the Bay Bridge being closed. It was a LONG drive to get Noelle to the stage for her MidAtlantic Symphony concert in Delaware, but she made it!!! And we were thrilled to witness the concert. Her symphony was joined by the Army Blues band for quite an array of music before the concluding fireworks. WOW! 

It has been an ARMY weekend, indeed..... with my two Navy men. 

Then yesterday we had a great day together with amazing eats and seeing the musical "The Fix." Truly a stellar week! Wisconsin, to Ohio to Virginia to Maryland (with the concert in Delaware.) Tomorrow we return to Ohio before we fly to Colorado. Are you keeping this all straight? 

#TeacherFriends "Music in the Classroom" Twitter Chat w Sara @SimpleSongs!

TUESDAY TWITTER #TEACHERFRIENDS TWITTER CHAT

We continue to gather weekly! 

Can't wait for THIS chat! 

MUSIC IN THE CLASSROOM! 

Hoping to gets lots of my own thoughts into tweets! 

We welcome Sara Wall to our spotlight. 

We met last month at Frog Street Press at their national SPLASH conference. 

How can you resist that Sara smile? 

We were actually both wearing our pjs -- as we met at the pajama party! 

I don't think we thought to pose for a photo together? 

I did have the presence of mind to ask Sara if she would be our #TeacherFriends guest.

Not only was she willing, 

but she will be our guest while in Tokyo on an adventure!

THIS IS A FIRST! 

GUEST tweeting from far-flung continent!  

Here are the questions for all participants to respond and share. 

  

It's like an open-book quiz.  

You can even schedule your answers if you want! 

{Just schedule in the minute AFTER the Q!} 

Sara will be giving away some products from Super Simple Learning. 

One winner will receive the plush SET AND their choice of DVD! 

In order to be eligible to win, you need to get your name and details listed on our Google Doc that will be tweeted just as soon as our Early Bird chat gets underway. 

Here's a reminder of the Tweet Zone differential! 

We start officially at 9PM EST,

but the EarlyBirds gather at 8:30. 

If you are truly new to Twitter, or chatting there, 

arriving for the EarlyBird 'ramp up' will be extra supportive. 

I've gathered a couple of thoughts about music here for you, too! 

This is the mind map that I made last summer. 

It is a FREEBIE download over at Teachers Pay Teachers. 

Just a few of the many ways that music makes a difference! 

Here are a couple of my favorite quotes-as-images for music! 

Tonight I will be giving away a digital copy of my perennial classic for September. 

I wrote the song, "Red, White and Blue" in the immediate aftermath of September 11th. 

It is such a fitting contribution as you reflect on that day. 

Many will use my simple patriotic song as a supplement to teaching the Pledge. 

The digital download gives you 2 Mp3s in a zipped file. 

If you're looking for my picture book version of the song, it includes a CD insert! 

Each has a chart of sign language to support the performance of my song. 

Take a look at this colossal Kinder collaboration! 

Each quilt square below was created by marble painting construction paper! 

What an amazing patriotic Kindergarten construction. 

I hope to 'see' you on Twitter tonight. 

Be sure that you follow me, as I am the moderator.