Countdown...

it's officially less than one day until I leave for the beautiful, exotic, historic Greece! I couldn't have been more blessed than I already am and here I now get the opportunity to experience God in one incredible way, serving God and missionary kids. As much as I'm scared, nervous, anxious and worried about all the "what if's", I have to put it all aside and simply be excited for the adventure that God has ahead of me. And who knows...maybe I'll be like that girl in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and find me a "Costas" :)
Here are just a few pictures of Greece and the things I hope to see and experience...

The "Crew"

What an amazingly fun Sunday!!! Today was my day out on the town with my fabulous Live Wire (5th-6th graders) kids. It was an amazing time of just hanging out, being real and simply doing life as we would with any group of friends. I think the neatest thing about this group is that they are so real and honest, but yet so fun and willing to learn and grow. I'm excited to see what happens in our future outings and the growth we have as a group. But here are a few memories of our fun-filled day...

We started with lunch at the always fantastic In-N-Out...


Then off to the bowling alley for some fun...these are my girls, Lindsey, Julia & Ariel


Here are my boys....Dominic & David


A little group pose...


My favorite of the day...the whole "Crew"


And to finish the day off...you gotta have some ice cream!


The question now is...what will our next outing be and where? :)

Psalm 142:5b

so it's been forever (and i apologize for the few of you who actually read this) and i feel it's time to catch up.

job: still teaching 4th grade and loving it all the more with each new day. i'm finally on Easter vacation for this week, which i was initally all excited for, but now that it's here i'm missing my students and want to just get back to my daily routine. i realized i do extremely well when i have a routine. as for teaching next year, i'm still hoping the school i'm at reaches enough enrollment for me to have a job there next year, but if not, then my summer will be spent looking along with everyone else in california for a teaching job. so pray for me!

ministry: over the past few months i've realized that as much as i desire a relationship, it seems God may have other plans for me. if i were in a relationship, much of my time would be devoted to that ministry. but since i'm not, God has given me a new desire to switch focuses of what i should be devoting my time too. let me explain: in the beginning of january i started to read the Bible all the way through...in 365 days I'll have read the Bible in chronological order. so far i've read for everyday. so, we get to a point in the reading where moses has died and joshua has died too. it says that the future generations forget all they have learned and started the rebellion against God. how retarded right? i mean, here they have all the commands God has already given them, 2 amazing leaders who've taught them everything God has spoken to them and yet the generation forgets? so my mission, excuse me, my ministry is to focus on the generation(s)after me. what am i doing to prepare the next generation to become future youth group worship leaders, the next spiritual cheerleaders for their friends and so forth? sure i serve every sunday and wednesday at church, i teach at a christian school...but what am i really doing? so i've been praying about it and thinking it's time to start investing myself in those who understand what ministry is. so i've found 7 key 5th-6th graders at church that i'm going to start investing in. we're gonna do life together, have fun together and just allow God to grow us up into who He wants us to be. i'm so excited for this new journey and our first outing is this sunday after church...so i'll be sure to update you with how this new ministry is going for me! :)

life in general: other than that, things seem to be ok. not horrible and not super fantastic, but ok. oh, another exciting thing, i get the privilege of coaching soccer thru Immanuel Baptist Church. teaching kids to appreciate hard work, teamwork and learn self-esteem is the emphasis of this league. i get to coach 7th-8th graders (not my typical choice of age group...but i'm working with it) and i'm actually realizing what a blessing it is to serve kids through sports. and the only other update in life is my Greece trip quickly approaching. i leave in exactly 62 days!! i have a majority of my supoort raised and i'm starting to recognize how much of a blessing this is and how much God is going to use me.

i guess that's my life these days. i'm still learning, still growing, still struggling, still striving to be radically obedient. i love my life and all that God has given me...and a verse that i'm holding close to my heart is Psalm 142:5b and it says "you (God) are all i really want in life."

Photo #4

Tina tagged me with the fun blog of randomness :)

The Rules: 1. Go to where you store your digital photos and open the 4th folder

2. Post the 4th picture in that folder

3. Explain the picture

4. Tag 4 people

Well, this photo I hold very near and dear to my heart. Everyone, this is my 4th grade class! I really could not have asked for a better first class my first year teaching. I'm pretty sure they are that type of class that I'll remember every name, quirk, personality and so forth when I'm 60 telling my grandkids about my life as a youngster. :)

I love my students and I love the smiles, laughs, frustrations and growth they bring me everyday. I not only get to teach them, but they in turn teach me everyday of how I can be a better Miss Knight. I guess this might be a good time to explain life right now. You see when I went to Cal Baptist, I planned on becoming a Children's Director for a church or even work full-time in the camping ministry. When I graduated I saw myself no where else but one of those 2 jobs. Fortunately, in God's great plan, he gave me this job of being a 4th grade teacher. I never thought to be a teacher. But I can say without a doubt that this is exactly what God wants me to do. I love kids and being with them, teaching them, serving them, loving them and just being a big kid with them. I know that as of now, I can't see myself doing anything else but teaching! So this is a small glimpse into my life as Miss Knight, 4th Grade teacher! :)