Bonnie Gray of Faith Barista "serves up shots of faith for everyday life".  I love to participate in her Thursday Faith Barista JAM sessions whenever I can.  I'm a bit late in publishing my Thursday post but I didn't want to miss out on this one.

This week Bonnie asked if we had any God-given interests and passions that we've put to the side.  She suggests that it might be time to "start believing God placed them in you for a purpose".

As I began to consider answering her question, I started jotting down a few thoughts.  This wordle says much about my passions and interests.

It's very interesting to me that many of those passions had been placed on hold for a variety of reasons.

CHILDREN

I always imagined being married and having children.  But alas, I had fertility issues.  Despite several painful surgeries, we were unable to have children.

But God ...

In the midst of some very challenging circumstances, I had to return to work last year.  Since I had worked as a cardiovascular nurse specialist for 25 years, that might have seemed like a logical choice.

However, since I had retired from that career path more than five years earlier I would have had to return to the university for a refresher course.  So I took a job in a private school working with little children.

God knew what I needed and exactly when I needed it.  
I get to spend my days with three year old children who are delighted to learn new things.  Just last week they were each given a popsicle to see what happens to them in the Phoenix heat.  Of course, they started to melt but not before they each got a taste.  They used the melting popsicles to paint a picture.

LOVE

Since becoming a Christian, I've had a heart filled with love.  I get to share that love with my husband and family.  But now I also get to share it with children.  And that ...makes me smile.

BLOGGING

I love to write.  I've kept journals for years.  I've written a few short stories (never published).  I guess writing goes along with my love for books and reading.  And blogging has become a natural extension of that.

I began blogging as a way to help my husband in a technology company he was starting.  Social media was  becoming  a new marketing means.  But in the process, I found something else I loved.  The surprise for me were the relationships that developed online with other bloggers.  I've come to love so many and have actually met about a dozen face to face.  There's something so special when you already know a person's heart and then get to meet them.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Photography is something that I've loved since the late 1970's.  I purchased my first 35 mm camera and took a photography workshop.  We learned about f stops and ISO and composition.  We even took a field trip for night photography.

It's become much easier now with digital photography.  My Nikon D70 is my constant companion.  And yet, I've never even completely read my manual.  I figure things out as I go.  I've not taken the time to focus and learn all I could learn to develop my skills.  I believe God has prompted me to get more serious now as I love to photograph the children at work.

FAITH, TRANSFORMATION

In the past 15 years, I've become more passionate about my faith.  I long to grow and reflect God's love more fully.  I've found that it's in the midst of trials, that I cling to Him.  And He chisels away at  my 'self life' and asks me to trust Him.  I'm learning and growing and it's an ongoing project.

I'm so thankful that Bonnie asked us this question.  It has stimulated many thoughts in my mind.  My prayer is that God's desires for my life would become my desires.

How about you?  Do you have any God-given interests and passions that you've placed to the side?





Blessings and love,

I'm continuing to count those everyday blessings as I link up with Ann of A Holy Experience.

We just completed our second week of school.  A few tears continued to flow from a few of the little three year children.  But when mommies and daddies learn to leave quickly or drop their child off at the gate, it really helps. It's hard to say goodbye but the kids do so much better.  And they actually have lots of fun at school!

Stacking cups can be such fun!  The kids love it.  And when each fourth grader teamed up with a three year old child ... it only got better.

Of course, there's always someone who wants to build a high tower.  People never change, do they?

#133  The smiles of children learning new skills

#134  Watching older children work with the little ones

#135  The sounds of excitement as they learned to stack their cups and build towers

The children each have a cubby with their name on it.  When they complete an assignment, they are asked to place it in their cubby.
Little Maya would ask me each time "is this my cubby?"  I would ask her to look for her name and she would point to it.  Finally she felt confident and placed her item in her cubby all by herself.

#136  Seeing the delight as children learn to do things for themselves

I never realized how many details need to be taught.  Teaching in a three year old class was new to me as this is only my second year.  But things like how to hold a crayon or a pencil is something that needs to be learned.

The children are learning their colors.  They are also learning concepts like "on, over and under".

The youngest child in our class is named Raja.  I had been helping him to correctly hold his pencil.  He  called out to me "Miss Debbie, is this right?"  And it was right!

#137  Seeing the evidence of children learning important skills

#138  Seeing little hands as they explore and learn so quickly

#139  The blessing of working another school year with Heidi

Heidi and I work so well together.  It can be very tiring to work with little children all day.  But having a friend who is an encouragement and support makes it so much better.  And she is such a good teacher.  The children are fortunate to have her.

Despite having a cold and sinus problems all week, I can still count many blessings.  How about you?  Are you looking for those everyday blessings?



Blessings and love,