the prayer problem-or lack thereof

so...the past couple of days we have been in the training room at school with different grade levels working on data and intervention plans.which basically means it's been a little like this meme for me. i totally welcomed the occasional texts this morning for help with the MAP testing, and excused myself to go up and help in whatever capacity possible!! oh, you need to use the bathroom? sure i can come up to relieve you! no worries!!

yep, true story. 

today i was informed by a precious friend at school that she did not feel i was myself. 'not the firecracker, spunky julie' i think she may have been right, but i'm working through that. i am actually in the middle book about prayer that is taking me back to when i used to actually prayer journal-i was am a huge becki tirabassi fan, and 'my prayer partner' was a huge deal to me! i went through that binder and the extra packs of paper... i was consistent-and God was faithful! when did i stop doing that? what caused me to lose that focus? obvious answer here, but i really miss that, and i am actually going to begin to do this again, because one of the things that strengthens my relationship with God more than anything is that communication and awareness of my need and that he truly is the only one who is always there-no fail-

and to be honest, when i am not in a cycle of prayer, my focus is dimmed and blurry...my passion watered down. i begin to let things that shouldn't bother me, bother me. i need to settle myself and fall in love with my prayer life again. 

so today my knee was still a bit stiff- it felt kinda like something had been strained-perhaps just over-worked..i tried to start my walk with a run, but two steps and i was convinced that it was just going to have to be a walk, so we took off (me and the band...you didn't realize NEED TO BREATHE were into walking?) guessing that people didn't really appreciate me singing at a certain point with one of the songs i may or may not have had on repeat for the last half hour...deal wit it! it was a beautiful day and i couldn't keep myself from smiling! and amazingly enough, by the end of that walk, i didn't even notice my knee, so hopefully it's just as good tomorrow as it is right now (says me as i sit on the couch exerting 0-force) that's what fresh air, positive music and exercise will do for ya!

i'm missing excitement. my life was never meant to be boring...i am in dire need of something. not sure what, but do you ever just kinda feel antsy but with no real reason why? totally me. something's gotta give. 

goodnight!

julie

homemade barbells and poison ivy awareness

yesterday was kind of a freebie-i am so glad that we had no snow days because i really needed yesterday off! (even if i did spend a good chunk of it painting murals...a-gain). i don't know if we'll finish before summer. oh well, i got texas, the u.s. and the continents started-need a few more details. i also finished the watermelon shell in the cafeteria because i was working with greens.

 today i woke up at 7 and had to get up because otherwise i would have been laying awake trying to sleep for a few more minutes...so i did it. i got up and chaco said, "'bout time!" and we had a delicious apple, raisin, cinnamon and granola breakfast. well, i did...the boys had the usual.

for lunch i had a recipe i wanted to try out, and not gonna' lie, it was delicious! it was a chicken stir fried rice-wow! and then i decided i needed to work out, but i had no desire to go to the gym (i didn't even know if it would be open). so i made my own barbell because today's workout was deadlifts and squat jumps.

yes, as a matter of fact, those are cement blocks...so?

it was good-got my heart rate up!

yesterday the boys and i took a walk on the back trail, and i had to keep the boys on the sidewalk because they kept wanting to get close to the bushes. normally that wouldn't bother me, in fact i took them over by one to enjoy the smell of the honeysuckle, which is out now.

i've mentioned it before, i've loved the smell ever since my friend, laura, introduced me to the flower!

 but the enjoyment of our visit to the bushes and flowers was short-lived because this was at the foot of the honeysuckle bush.

poison ivy is of the devil.

i am so glad that i hung out with hank at kamp-he taught us how to identify poison ivy. that is truly a need-to-know for everyone! yes, dogs can get rash too (if they are allergic, they can have anaphylactic reactions as well) so, we'll be keeping our eyes open when we go walking from now on!

poison ivy scares me because i have had a couple of friends at kamp who have suffered from terrible rashes all over their bodies in the wretched summer heat of the ozarks! to the extent of needing to take steroids to get better. they were legitimately miserable. and i learned a couple of things about it. you can get it without touching it if you are too close to it because the oils can brush off on your clothes and can transfer to your skin if you touch it. also, just because you don't get a rash on the first contact, doesn't mean you are forever immune...you can still develop allergic reactions.

i was going to watch passion of the Christ tonight, but it isn't on until 10 p.m., so i will be recording it and watching it tomorrow. i don't watch it every year, but i did go to the opening back when i lived in des moines. i went with a dear friend i worked with, but we got there a little late and there weren't two seats together..boo. that's the worst! it is necessary to be reminded of the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross; i think in the society we live in, i take it for granted.

exceedingly thankful for the imputation of righteousness that Christ has bestowed upon undeserving me
 blessings,
 julie