Up the Sunbeam

-- A little more than ten short months ago, I set out toward a cherished dream  to become a teacher, and today I reached the first major milestone on that road. I clicked the SUBMIT button to turn in my final assignment in the final class of my freshman year of college.  I love looking at the row of binders that hold all my textbooks from this year--each one represents a five-week chunk of my life that I spent on the way to achieving my big dream. Stacked up together, they feel solid, substantial, sacred. Not sacred because of their content (although every bit of truth they hold belongs to God), but sacred because this work is all an offering of love, given for God's glory. He is the reason I stay up late to finish papers. He is the reason I fuss over details. And He is the reason I step up to lead team projects with a commitment to excellence instead of letting someone else do it (or not do it) and just get by with minimum effort. Last year, just before I starte...

-- I'm not sure who originated the idea (anybody know and want to tell me the story?), but many of us who blog have adopted the practice of asking God for a word and a picture to go with it as a theme of focus for the new year.  This is my second time joining in--last year my word was ABIDE and I focused on abiding in my Father's love, looking to Him in eager expectation while I learned to settle down and rest in adoring relationship with Him. Abiding will be a lifelong focus, so I am not dropping last year's theme for a new one, but this is a year of newness for me and that being the case, 2012 needs it's own word.  The word I believe God has been repeatedly bringing to my heart the last couple of weeks as I prayed about my One Word is:   CHALLENGE. At 48, I am not at an age that is typically characterized by new beginnings or launching points, however, 48 or not, I am beginning something new.  I am picking up the reins of a dream I let go of when I ...