Praise the Lord!

One year ago today, God answered a prayer that I'd been praying for years. Brandon asked me to be his wife :o)  I was so happy and exuberant!  I'm still filled with joy over the blessings from the Lord.

I knew God made me for marriage....and I had known it for a while.  As a teenager, I thought I'd graduate from college, land a job, and meet my husband.  God still was working in my heart in 2005, and still working in Brandon's. It took six years before I would meet my husband and seven before I walked down (rather, skipped, hopped, glided, etc.) the aisle. Even though there was some heartache, lots of tears, lots of asking why in prayers, and lots of longing, God knew. And it was totally worth the wait. Totally.

So happy one-year anniversary of the engagement between Brandon and me! I pray I always remember he is a gift from God and our marriage is sacred and something to be celebrated.

Killing your darlings

I don't know who first coined the phrase, "sometimes you have to kill your babies/darlings." I thought it was the Southern writer Eudora Welty, but it probably existed before her time.  It means that sometimes you have to get rid of what is dear to you - as a writer, that is.

I think it goes beyond writing and into any area within one's job. Sometimes you have to get rid of something you've created, or come up with that just doesn't work.  Perhaps it worked at one time, but now it just doesn't fit with the times or the people you're around.

I've found this to be very true in teaching. I discovered a rhythm that worked well for a few years. This year, the state changed some things on me, so that took away some of my rhythm. I had to make some changes - some good, and some I'll never do again.

And so, I'm in the process of killing my darlings (not my real ones, of course). It's been a year of transition in my classroom, and students never fully respond in those situations. I'm really excited as I begin planning for next year. Now that I know what to expect from the state, now that I know what's expected from me as a teacher under the new curriculum standards, I'm really excited to begin anew and create some new darlings.