Lyrical Fridays: The Water (Meant for Me)

I was recently downloading songs to my phone via Amazon Prime music, and I decided to download an entire album by the band "I am They."  This band sings some of my favorite contemporary Christian songs to include "Make A Way," "Scars," "My Feet Are on The Rock," etc.  As I was listening to the album, a new favorite arose.  It is called "The Water (Meant for Me)."  Any song that has the phrase "this far" speaks so deeply to me.  It re-centers me and beckons me to remember that God is still holding onto us and that nothing we have gone through has surprised Him.  This is such a comfort to me.  Nine times out of ten, this remembrance will bring tears to my ears.




Lyrics:

This far, He has held us
Through the waters as they crash against
This far, He is with us, He is for us
Through the stormy depths
I will soar on wings like eagles
O God, You've carried me
This far, this far

There is power, victory
Hope for the broken-hearted
Healing meant for me
There is goodness, justice
Rest for the weak and weary
Love that's meant for me

This far, He has lead us
Through the darkness to the light of day
This far, He has shown us
Love and mercy and unfailing grace
When my hope is lost in the shadows
This promise, You have made
It's not far, not far

There is power, victory
Hope for the broken-hearted
Healing meant for me
There is goodness, justice
Rest for the weak and weary
Love that's meant for me

When the water, the water, the water is crashing over
He's gonna, He's gonna, He's gonna, He's gonna save us
The water, the water, the water is crashing over
He's gonna rescue us
When the water, the water, the water is crashing over
He's gonna, He's gonna, He's gonna, He's gonna save us
The water, the water, the water is crashing over
He's gonna rescue us
When the water, the water, the water is crashing over
He's gonna, He's gonna, He's gonna, He's gonna save us
The water, the water, the water is crashing over
He's gonna rescue us

There is power, victory
Hope for the broken-hearted
Healing meant for me
There is goodness, justice
Rest for the weak and weary
Love that's meant for me

When the water, the water, the water is crashing over
He's gonna, He's gonna, He's gonna, He's gonna save us
The water, the water, the water is crashing over
He's gonna rescue us

***

I hope this has spoken to you as it has to me. 




Until Next Time, 
Much love, Reba

Book Review

Since completing my internship on April 25th, I have been able to do some serious leisure reading and I love it!  Of course, now I'm studying to take a statewide teacher test for a subject out of my field of expertise to prove I'm highly qualified to teach that subject, so my leisure reading is suspended until June 15th, but I made a good run while I had the time.  All of these books except for the last three which I own and chose to read again, were checked out from the library.  I got the ideas to read the first four books from Zulily when they had a book sale, but I chose to look them up at the library instead of buying them for myself.  I've read several books in "The Cat Who" series and they are always a fun read, so I randomly grabbed one during a trip to the library and followed it up by re-reading some of my own copies of the books that I already had at home. Here's what I read from April 25th through May 21st:

Chasing Harry Winston by Lauren Weisberger.  I really love Lauren Weisberger's style of writing.  She's witty and current, and her books follow several characters throughout them and this keeps it interesting. Chasing Harry Winston is about three friends who all wonder about their love lives (one is engaged, one wants to settle down, and one is always known as the "good girl."  It's a tad racy at times and there's a little language throughout, but it's quite an entertaining read with a good storyline.


Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty. I've read Big Little Lies by Moriarty before and it was so suspenseful that I didn't even realize how quickly I was going through the book!  I read a caption of Truly Madly Guilty and thought it looked interesting enough to grab at the library.  I was engrossed once again in Moriarty's work.  It's almost like an inner battle in myself because the book is so suspenseful that I don't really want to keep reading it, but at the same time, I need the closure of finding out what happens at the end!  If you like suspenseful books, this is a great read.

13 Things Mentally Strong Parents Don't Do by Amy Morin. (I skimmed this one). I thought this book might help me out as I work on becoming a teacher.  I'm always eager to learn classroom management styles, and as a parent, I find many similarities between running a classroom and parenting.  I skimmed over this book, but it didn't offer enough revelations for me to commit to reading it cover to cover.

The Southerner's Handbook by Editors of Garden and Gun. (I skimmed this one). I thought this one would be a mix of design and Southern recipes.  It was almost more geared toward men though with information on hunting and bar-be-que.

The Cat Who Knew Shakespeare by Lilian Jackson Braun.

The Cat Who Could Read Backwards by Lilian Jackson Braun.

The Cat Who Saw Red by Lilian Jackson Braun.

The Cat Who Played Brahms by Lilian Jackson Braun.

I've read several of these Cat Who books.  They are all able to be picked up and read in any order (each book's storyline is completed within that book), but if you wanted to start from the beginning and try to go in order, then start with The Cat Who Could Read Backwards. "The Cat Who" series follows along with a newspaper journalist and his two Siamese cats (one who is extra-sensitive to what's going on around him).  The books are mysteries, but not gory or very suspenseful.  They are light-hearted and easy reads.



If you have time to leisure read this summer, I absolutely recommend these books!


Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba

LOFT Dress Review

For my birthday this year, my mother-in-law gave me a LOFT gift card!  LOFT is one of my all-time favorite stores to shop in.  I usually wait for a sale and really rack up on some good quality items!  This means that most of my clothes are "last season" but that doesn't really bother me.  I choose outfits that are timeless so that they can transition from season to season year after year.  With the gift card, I thought about spending it two ways: either keep my frugal mindset and get a lot of things on sale, or spend it on some items I wouldn't normally buy for myself.  I chose the latter. 

I have been seeking some good quality dresses to wear to school once I have a job, and I knew LOFT would not disappoint.  I searched "dresses" in the search bar and came across an unadvertised dress sale on the site!  I was able to get three dresses and a mixed media top with my gift card!  Here is what I picked out:

The mixed media top:

Mixed media tops are so fun!  From the front, it looks like a normal sweater or shirt, and from the back it's a surprising pattern!  I have another similar top from LOFT, but it wasn't long enough in the torso for me to render it usable after too many washings.  This top, though, is a much longer style and will be so perfect for this fall and winter!

This eyelet dress:

I had to find a dark dress to "harmonize" with the graduation regalia of my Master's graduation ceremony, and this one was the right color scheme and had a little something extra with the eyelet pattern to make it different from the average little black dress.  It's a ponte material, which is kind of like thick cotton/ neoprene feeling.  It's sturdy, which helps it keep it's A-line shape in the skirt.  For all of these dresses, I chose to get them in the regular length rather than the petite length, which guaranteed they'd be long enough for me to wear to teach in.  This dress washes and dries well (I lay it flat to dry) and has been wrinkle-resistant thus far!  It was a fantastic graduation dress.

This puff sleeve dress:

I love floral patterns, but hesitate to buy too many floral things for fear of looking matronly.  This pattern was small enough to complement my frame, and it was different from the typical colors that comprise the popular floral patterns of today.  The colors used in this dress include a citron and a teal which were just a little bit outside of the box for me and made me want to try this dress all the more.  The neckline is similar to a T-shirt style, so I knew it would be modest enough for school.  The sleeve boasts a slight twist and a puff which again makes it stand out a bit from common swing dresses.  The swing dress style is a favorite of mine because I can belt it if I want a bit of shape, or I can leave it plain which is a good disguise of a midsection that isn't so rock hard. 

This navy floral dress:

I wasn't sure how I would like the bright pop of yellow embroidered flowers on this dress, but I decided to give it a try anyway.  I liked the idea of a jersey-material for the swing dress.  When this dress arrived, it was pretty low-cut, so I paired it with a black tank, which is how I'll continue to wear it.  The V-neck also is reflected in the back of the dress, so the tank helps add in some layering there too. Overall, this dress is very lightweight and a good addition to my work wardrobe!

Until Next Time, 

Much love, Reba

Internship

My internship this past semester was so fun!  The internship was by far the most nerve-wracking thing on the list of what I had to accomplish in order to obtain my Master's degree.  I even put-off applying for this degree program for an entire year because I was scared of the internship.

Once I knew that this was just part of it, I applied for and got accepted into the Master's program.  After working full-time for a year while pursuing this degree online in the evenings and on weekends, I quit my full-time job in May 2018 to complete one intense summer of classes before my field experience and internship.

My field experience was a trip in itself.  Supposedly, Master's candidates would be assigned to a school classroom (or potentially three or four) to assist the teacher and observe the ins and outs of classroom management.  I chose to complete all four field experience requirements in one semester.  I did this in the fall of 2018.  Although I was supposed to be assigned somewhere in August, I wasn't assigned anywhere until October 2018.  I substitute taught in September while awaiting my placement.  My field experience requirements were due in late November, so I didn't have very long to complete the forms and field trips necessary for these programs. I was given the option of an extension by my professors, but I didn't want to do that.  I would feel unfinished over the Christmas holidays if I chose an extension.  So I buckled down and did the work.  I turned everything in on time and was able to have the entire month of December free to substitute teach.

I was very apprehensive about the internship process since it took nearly half the fall semester to even get an assignment for field experience.  On January 7th at the first seminar for internship, I quickly discovered that interns are golden children and field experience candidates are the stepchildren.  Interns get emails responded to within a couple of hours.  Placement assignments are handled beforehand, and every single intern walked out of the first seminar with a location to attend the following morning.  I got my top school choice and couldn't have been more blessed.

My field experience was in an 11th grade classroom, and although I was anticipating a 10th grade assignment for my internship, I received 9th grade World History.  This was seriously the best thing ever.

The cooperating teacher (ie, teacher I had to shadow and take over from), was my age and therefore was up to date on current events and we had lots to talk about during our planning period.  He was kind and offered constructive criticism in a way in which I never felt embarrassed.  I took over two of his five classes (the smallest class: 15 students, and the largest class: 31 students) and had an absolute blast.  During the first couple of weeks that I taught them, things were fast-paced and I scared a lot of the students with my expectations and requirements of them.  This was mainly because I had SO MUCH to turn in for my program and I needed concrete examples of students work in order to complete my own assignments.  After that first month, we settled into a routine and teaching was easy and fun.  The students from my large class started coming into the classroom during break to hang out before our class period began.  Students from both classes really developed a rapport with me quickly and it was easy to teach all 46 of these 9th graders.  Students from the remaining three classes that I did not teach kept asking me when I would teach their classes also.  Now, I am not someone to wear rose-colored glasses, so I understand that some students just wanted a change and wanted something new in their class, which is why they wanted me to teach it.  I will say that some of the students whom I taught were quite resistant to change when it actually occurred to them, and I had to work at breaking through the barriers and showing them that I had the credentials and aptitude to be there.   On my last day (which happened to be my birthday), I had several students wish me well.  One of the toughest students presented me with a gift-- a candle and a hand-written note.  Usually, I am not one for opening presents right away, but I could tell she wanted me to, so I did and when I praised the candle and thanked her for the note, her whole face lit up in a grin and that completely reaffirmed to me that I am needed in the school system.  I want to be there for these kids and show them that an adult really does care what they do and who they become.

On Tuesday of this week, I will meet with the principal at this school to talk about potential openings.  These openings may not be in my field of study, but in our state, teachers are allowed to teach "out of field" for a year.  So we'll see what happens.  God knows how much I want to teach there and I am trusting Him to prepare a path.

Until Next Time,
Much love, Reba