A God of Hope

Have you ever felt that you were without hope? I think many of us can agree that we have. At some time or another we have felt beaten down to the point to no return. For some of us it has been a wayward relationship, while for others it has been a dead-end job. It could be a lost family member or it could be a dire financial situation. It varies for each and every person. Despite what the cause is, it is always a worldly connection.

Today's message at Hope Church Charlotte was all about hope and why it is so essential to our lives. The sermon began with a very moving prayer as a tribute to those lost ten years ago. The powerful words pulled at my heart as I recalled seeing the bodies falling from the buildings and the caskets draped with American flags. I'm sure the victims' families felt hopeless. Many may still feel hopeless. After the tribute Pastor Mike preached on the power of hope and why it is so essential to our lives as Christians.

Without hope we would have nothing. Hope is the reason we can so faithfully believe He will rescue us. Hope is the reason we can love and encourage our neighbors. Hope is the reason we love one another with good deeds. Without hope we would be lost. Yet in this world it seems people are more depressed and feel more hopeless than we ever have. It is pretty ridiculous for us to feel hopeless because regardless of how beaten and trudged upon you feel, God is there. He is always there.

Ten years ago today people felt hopeless, yet they found hope. They found it through their families, friends, neighbors, and even complete strangers. If they found hope despite the terror around them, why can we not find it in our safe situations now? What is stopping us from leaning on God and gaining our strength in faith from Him?

It is my hope and prayer that the reminder of day does more than sadden us. I hope that it is a reminder that gives us the strength to hope again.

We Remember

As the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks near, Americans are recalling what happened that day. We all remember where we were, who we were with, and how we felt the first time we saw the planes fly into the towers. I am no exception. The History department at our school is doing a wonderful set of lessons to help the kids grasp what happened on that fateful day. It blows my mind that these kids barely remember even hearing about it from their parents. They weren't even in school yet! Today, I continued the History department's lessons and had the students post a journal about their thoughts on the attacks. It amazes me how detached many of them feel about the whole event. That is not the case for those of us that remember.

I was in my 8th grade NC History class when the attacks happened. It wasn't until in between classes that I actually learned that something happened. The teachers were scrambling about talking while we rushed to classrooms to see the TV. Our language arts teacher turned on the news and let us sit there in watch. We were stunned silent. How often is a class of 8th graders silent? Almost never. She then prompted us to get out our composition notebooks and write exactly how we felt about what we were seeing. I wish I still had that journal. I can only imagine the raw emotion each of us included in our writing.

The rest of the day was out of whack as we all began to speculate what would happen next. At that point we had no idea if there were more planned attacks or if we were safe. Countless students were called out of class as panicked parents fled to the school to pick them up. For those of you wondering, Jenny Ward did not feel the need to pick her five bundles of joy up from school. Can you really blame her? She got one day off a week from work and us. Screw the terrorist attacks, she was enjoying her day off! Needless to say, we were all safe as was good 'ol Huntersville, NC. No one ever attacked the nuclear power plant or downtown Charlotte as everyone feared.

Looking back now, I can honestly say I have never felt such uncertainty and fear as I did in that very moment. It was like we all realized that if the adults in our lives were this upset, something unique must really be happening. While I hope nothing like that ever happens again, I do wish for my students to learn the significance of that day and the events that transpired because of it.

Where were you when the world stopped turning?

-Alan Jackson

Thankful Thursday-God Gave Me You

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I’ve lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it’s true
God gave me you

-Blake Shelton

Happy Thankful Thursday! It's been yet another cuckoo week here in Mobleyland, but it's good to be back. A few things I am thankful for this week:

*my sweet husband*

(I just adore him and he's wonderful. . . I'll stop before I get too sappy)

*lazy weekends*

(after all this rushing around during the week, I am stoked to lounge with my love some this weekend)

*our neighbors*

(we really lucked out with the awesomeness of our new 'hood. Every family we've met so far is stellar! Now, how many people can say that?)

*beautiful weather*

(wow, it is gorgeous out this week! I'm sure it's a sign we're in for a tough winter, but I'll take this beautiful day while I can get it)

*girls' weekends*

(this past weekend was spent shopping 'til I dropped (literally) and catching up on girl time with my momma, David's momma, and David's aunt. It was mahvelous!)

What are you thankful for this week?

Regular Routines

I am a routine kind of gal. I like when everything goes according to plan. I like when my calendar makes perfect, color-coordinated sense. I do not like when things are out of whack. I do not like when my to-do list is overflowing. I do not like when I don't know the plan. My name is Lauren and I am totally Type-A.

Honestly, neither of my parents are overly organized so who knows where this crazy came from. Maybe it's the eldest child in me who likes to be bossy and organized. Why I became a teacher is quite the question, because anyone who knows the profession knows that teaching is anything but routine! Plans change from day to day. Heck, plans change from minute to minute! I'm learning to adjust, but as a co-worker of mine kindly pointed out, "your to-do lists stress me out". Hmm maybe he's right. The odd thing is I love to organize and I love when things are in order. Part of the fun is finding the chaos and making it make sense!

In an already crazy profession, the first few weeks are even more so. From learning names and faces to figuring out academic abilities, you stay pretty busy. David and I thought we'd throw another kink in everything with that whole buying a house thing. Oof.

While it's been absolutely cuckoo for me for the past month I really have enjoyed it. I've loved the crazy and the opportunity to make it somewhat stable. But now it's time for some routine again. I am so ready for a lazy weekend of house chores and football with my sweet hubby. Who knows when that'll happen, but it better happen soon or this lady is heading straight to the loony bin, or the local spa. Whichever has a better masseuse.

Baked Ziti

I've tried a few different ziti recipes over time, but the Italian blood in me won't accept just any. Here is a recipe I found that is quite tasty and easy to make! Is there a better combination? I think not!

1 (16 ounce) package ziti pasta

24 ounces ricotta cheese

1 pound shredded mozzarella cheese

1 egg, beaten

1 (32 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. 

Add ziti and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and rinse. 

Preheat oven to 375.

In a medium bowl, mix ziti, ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese, egg and 1 1/2 cups spaghetti sauce. 

 Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish and spoon in ziti mixture. 

Top with remaining spaghetti sauce, followed by Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!