Little triumphs.

"I firmly believe that any man's finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle - victorious."   -Vince Lombardi

Having not blogged in two months, I've been busy to say the least. Through the craziness of starting my second year teaching, adjusting to living by myself, reconnecting with old college friends, and life going-ons, I've made it!...to fall break anyway.

As a child, I used to think summer was my favorite season, but fall is just so inviting. The scents of cinnamon, pumpkin (although I don't like eating it), and leaves just make me so happy. Indeed, it's those little things, triumphs, in life that make it so wonderful right now.

LTs at...
...work:

Amazing teachers I work with

• the feeling of more preparedness and confidence in myself as a teacher.
• having awesome parents who care about their children.
• seeing my old kids from last year's class say "Hi, Ms. Leung!" and giving me hugs in the hallways.
• seeing my old kids from last year's class say "Hi, Ms. Leung!"and giving me hugs at Target, Kroger, and the occasional high school football game.
• having a hilarious and respectable partner teacher.
• building professional and personal relationships with my third grade team. 
• One of my girls running up to me in the middle of recess, saying "Thank you for everything"

  

  BHS homecoming game with awesome teachers & kids

   

...home:

• building assembling a dining room table on my own. 
• letting myself be okay with clutter...sometimes.
• loving the silence of being home after a long day at work.
• DVR. Technology rocks.

...church:

• knowing several of my kids and tons of our school kids are involved at NVBC.
• serving in the preschool ministry with the cutest little 18- to 24-month olds. Seriously, adorbs. One of the little boys who was crying the majority of the service fell asleep on my lap on a rocking chair. Kind of had a mom moment there.



UT/FL game with fellow alumni!

• ministering to a sweet college girls community group that meet at my place once a week. Makes me really thankful for my own college experiences I've had. And it keeps me accountable for keeping my apartment clean! We are doing "James Mercy Triumphs" right now, so you know Beth Moore can't go wrong.
  

...other miscellanea (that's a word, right?):

• reuniting with old college friends for the UT-FL game. Made me very happy to call UT the college I graduated from. I've learned that once you move away from East Tennessee, not everyone's a Volunteer fan. This has made me even prouder to wear my orange. In fact, at work, I'm known for wearing a lot of this color. GBO, all day, every day.
• reuniting with old college friends in Nashville. I love living here, and it's amazing how God can bring back people into your life. Since I've moved here, four of the girls I've known from college live in the middle TN area. Chelsey, in fact, lives literally 2 minutes from me. I love spending time with college friends not to reminisce about the past, but to see how far we've all come from crazy college kids to "young professionals."
• getting back on the running wagon. Technically, I never fell off. And I don't plan on stopping my enjoyment of running. There's something about running that feels so incredibly free. Now that it's fall, one of my favorite sounds on a run, other than hype running music and the Nike Running app updates, is the crunch of leaves on the road.
• having to go shopping for jeans because all my current ones were way too big. I could literally roll them up from the top (like they were gym shorts) to keep them on me. Not owning a scale, I don't know my current weight, but I know that regular exercise and changing my diet has helped tremendously. I challenge anyone to think critically about the amount of fats, preserves, and unpronounceable ingredients in your favorite foods. It's amazing how so many people value convenience and instant gratification over true health and treating their bodies right. 
• eating healthy via cooking healthy. Yes, I've had some frozen pizza nights since school has started back up, but I'm still more aware of what exactly I'm putting into my body. There are so many nights that I absolutely dread cooking and would rather get dinner at Chick-Fil-A. But I've found that just like running, it's all in you head. Once I think of cooking healthy as more of something that honors and strengthens my body, I want to do it more. It becomes less of a chore and more of a necessity. Currently as I type, I have Mexican chicken in the Crock-Pot that I'll use tonight for chicken tacos. Delicious!

Hello, sunshine.

So yes, these are such random thoughts you are reading. To sum it up, I am so happy to be where I am in life physically, mentally, and emotionally. I could have ranted so many negative things and worries that consume me from day to day. But that is not what God has called us for. A couple Sundays ago, our pastor's message was about Psalm 23. He said, "Any area where I am experiencing worry is an area that I am not trusting my shepherd." No matter what happens in my life and yours, God has already got it figured out. Don't let Satan win by giving glory to worries and negatives in your life. Fight with God at your side, and bring praise & glory to Him.