Be a blessing

When Chad and I pray with our kids at night before bed, one of the things we usually always mention is that we want God to help guide us to be a blessing to others.  Whether that's to give a smile to an elderly person in the grocery store (I always hope people were kind to my grandparents when they saw them in public), to pack shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child, send food for a new mother in our church, help our teachers with a task at school, or whatever we can think of to be kind and thoughtful to other people.  The Lord never ceases to amaze me when I am trying to be a blessing to someone, I turn out being blessed in return!  IT NEVER FAILS!!

 

 

In thinking of our prayer lists lately, I was inclined yesterday to be a blessing to someone whom I will probably never meet this side of Heaven.  We have had several hectic days with end of the school year events including field days, awards days, speech writing, etc but I have tried very hard to remember a few individuals in my prayers each day.  The first I posted about last week, little Diva Delilah!  She is so tiny and such a miracle and I am so excited to be making my very first preemie dress at the request of her mother and I cannot wait to send it to her in Nashville and see that little precious thing in it!  The second is my sister Tracey's friend Tori.  She was diagnosed two weeks ago with leukemia and is in the Mayo clinic in Florida, already undergoing chemo therapy and will soon have a bone marrow transplant.  And last, we have 4 precious students moving from our middle school to the high school next year.  These kiddos are part of our special needs class and are truly a delight to my day at West View.  At Honors Day on Tuesday our entire student body and staff gave each of these precious kids a standing ovation as they went to the front to receive their awards.  Our lives have been so blessed by knowing them and watching them grow.  These precious people have been so heavy on my heart lately and reminding me (via my sister sometimes to eat my $11.50 staff breakfast and smile about it) that life is so incredibly short, we have no guarantees, we need to serve the Lord and be a complete and total blessing to others and quit being upset over things we cannot control! 

 

 

All that being said, yesterday I needed to do something.  I wanted to be a blessing!  I wanted to give back and I decided to donate my hair to Locks of Love.  You know, donating hair is such a very teeny, tiny, minuscule thing that I can do to give to someone that I don't even know!!  I had 12 inches cut off my hair and I am not going to lie but today I keep pulling on my hair and wondering where it has all gone! 

 

 

 

 

My hair will be sent to Locks of Love, added to other donations and created into a wig for a young child in need for whatever reason.  I am so glad to have been a blessing and I know that I will be blessed greatly in return!

 

 

Please remember my prayer list when you are praying.  Especially lift up baby Delilah, that she will grow healthy and strong and for Tori, that a bone marrow match will be found and her treatments will work soundly on her body.  Also, remember to be a blessing.  Always. 

Prayer Request

Dear Friends, I come to you today with a special prayer request.  A sweet friend of ours, Heather Watts (we went to CNC together and Chad taught with her at WVMS) has delivered a precious baby 3 months early and they are in need of your prayers!  Delilah Watts was born on April 25 weighing only 1 pound and 3 ounces and 11.5 inches long!  This new little family was sent to Vanderbilt where the doctors and nurses are taking good care of her and her parents have gotten into the Ronald McDonald house for the next month so they will not have to pay for hotel rooms - PRAISE GOD!

You can keep up with Diva Delilah on her Caring Bridge page.  Heather will post updates and hopefully pictures very soon of her sweet, miracle baby!  Please put Delilah and her family on your prayer list and let's lift them up to the Lord!

(Caring Bridge is totally run through donation only and you can make a donation on the site!  Please help this wonderful site stay open for families in need of contact with the outside world during their time of medical need. Also, please give to the Ronald McDonald house - we have seen several families have to use this wonderful program and we need to give back!)

2 posts in one day

Ok, so I know what you are thinking, 

"TWO POSTS IN ONE DAY???"

Yea, this was just too good not to share...I was looking at Yahoo on my planning and found this article.  Please click on the Yahoo link and watch.  I think we all need this burst of patriotism right about now after the Boston marathon bombings, the letters filled with poison sent various places, and the Texas explosion.  

Watch and be filled with pride in our country and as celebrity, Patton Oswald tweeted, 

"The good outnumber you, and we always will."

KLove

Do you listen to KLove?  Do you stream it in your office via the computer?  Do you listen during breaks at school when you need some peace and quiet?  Do you subscribe to their daily encouraging word?  It comes in your email and I check it daily because it always, always, always can be applied to something going on in my crazy world on any given day.  God's cool like that.  

Here is today's word: 

 "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." ~John 15:5

In times of trouble

Sometimes it seems all I can ever come up with to post about are sickness and tragedy.  Again today that rings true.  I can't get things off my mind and yet some how writing about it helps.  

There are two things that I cling to in times of trouble....The first and foremost is the CROSS.  I will not be afraid, because of the Cross.  I will not be upset, because of the Cross.  I will not carry a spirit of fear, because of the Cross.  I will not worry, because of the Cross.  I will not dwell on the negative, because of the Cross!

I choose to look at the positive, ALWAYS AND FOREVER, BECAUSE OF THE CROSS!

 

The second thing that I choose to cling to is a sense of pride and hope and community.  The symbol of what I cling to is the flag.  I cling to patriotism during these times.  I am thrilled to see flags at half staff honoring the victims in Boston.  In times of trouble we all need a sense of continuity.  We need a sense of community.  We need to send out a message to the evil of this world that says, "What you have done cannot break our spirit.  What you have done is not going to bring us down.  What you have done will only make us stronger.  What you have done will not go unpunished and will not be overlooked or forgotten."  

I read an article this morning about a Boston business man that is doing just that.  He is sending out a message and we should all be doing the same (Please click on the link to the article).   

Remember: CROSS first, PATRIOTISM second.  May God Bless You and the USA.

Up cycling!

Do you reduce, reuse, and recycle? I have to admit, there is no blue box in my house and we don't keep our plastics, paper, and glass!! However, I am a HUGE fan of recycling clothes for another purpose!! This amazing feat is called upcycling and I am majorly into it! I have upcycled tee shirts into scarves and layered dresses, I have used button down shirts for cute dresses and matching tie shirts, and I have upcycled old sweaters to leg warmers and vase covers! However, by far the best thing I have upcycled is the combination of two favs: vintage pillowcases and overalls!!! Please take a peek at my creation for Molly (I am pretty sure I would love one for myself)!!

Taylor Mali

So lately I have been caught up in teaching, praying for snow days, praying for babies fighting for their lives, nursing sick children with strep and a stomach bug, shopping for groceries (is it just me or have prices gone WAY UP?), doing laundry, etc.  And in those crazy, busy days we call life, I forget sometimes why I am doing the things I do....More specifically, teaching....It's mundane, it's routine, it's Sunday Night Blues, and Friday afternoon pjs and popcorn after 3:00 because we are so exhausted.  It's testing

And testing

And testing.

It's grading papers, it's catching up students who have been absent for days with no medical excuse whatsoever.  It's lesson planning and bell ringing.  It's prompt writing, it's curriculum alligning.  It's ball games and cheerleading tryouts.  It's club sponsoring and bus duty.  It's planning for subs and cleaning up after them.   It's hall duty and can I go to the clinic to see the nurse?  It's safety, locking my doors, planning for emergencies.  It's just so much - and this is all in the course of one day!!

And then this weekend I found a great video (via Pinterest - Don't you just love it?) that I wish I could share with every aspiring teacher, current teacher, teachers on the verge of retiring, every parent, every student, etc.  Because this video really spoke to me and I could identify with EVERYTHING that this man was saying Taylor Mali is one of the most well-known poets to have emerged from the poetry slam movement and one of the few people in the world to have no job other than that of poet.  Please click on the link below the picture and watch his video, I hope you identify, I hope you are inspired, I hope you share.....

Taylor Mali: What Teachers Make

A Time To....

The past couple of weeks my Facebook news feed has been FILLED to overflowing with prayer requests, praise reports and everything in between.  I have been following a friend of a friend's page "Owen's Fight Club" about a newborn baby fighting for his life and succeeding and I have been following a relative of a friend's page "Team Grant" about a precious 8 month old who did not make it through a tragic bathtub accident and some dear friends of ours who have a nephew undergoing chemo and radiation at St. Jude's hospital and we have been following their page at "Rootin for Regen".  All three incidents have made me pray fervently for the sweet boys in these situations and stop and take a look at my own precious, healthy amazing children.  We are so blessed.  We have a roof over our heads, cars to get us from place to place (although Chad is trading his, I HOPE, as I type for something a little more reliable), food to eat, jobs to pay for our bills, warm blankies, beds and pillows every night that give us rest to face the next day.  WE ARE SO BLESSED!  And sadly enough we forget.  We worry about the never-ending laundry (currently, there are 4 loads at my house to fold and put away and 3 more to wash and dry, fold and put away), what to cook for supper, will my 6 year old pass his spelling test on Wednesday or have to take it again on Friday (Both twins passed this week with a 106 and 104!), will we have enough money to make another car payment, how can I possibly work 5 straight days in a row without pulling my hair out, will my kids have enough money for what they want at the Book Fair?  And so on and so on and so on.  Day in and day out we constantly worry over big things and little things but you know what?  I know a secret.....a couple actually.....

#1: My God shall supply all my needs!  I have never really and truly needed anything in my life or the lives of my children that I could not get in some form or fashion.  If the twins need new tennis shoes - it's taken care of, if Molly wants to take gymnastics once a week - it's taken care of, if we want to eat pizza on a Friday night instead of eating sandwiches - that's take care of too!  If I don't know how I am going to pay the bills, put food in our fridge and put gas in my car for the next month - it's taken care of in some form or fashion.  It always is!  I don't (or at least I shouldn't) worry because My God Shall Supply All My Needs!

#2: There is a time to laugh and a time to cry. A time to grieve and a time to dance!  We are constantly reminded (through Facebook news feeds sometimes) that LIFE GOES ON AROUND US EVERYDAY.  Babies make it through heart surgeries and IVs and tubes just days after they are born and babies make it safely into the arms of Jesus just a few shorts months of life here on Earth.  We are reminded that perfect healthy babies are born, people get married, jobs are lost, jobs are gained, scholarships to college are earned, basketball teams win by 1 and get beat the next game by 1....LIFE GOES ON.  I am reminded that I can laugh for a few minutes (over the Season Premiere of Duck Dynasty) and then cry for 3 hours.  I can grieve over the death of a baby boy that I didn't even know this side of Heaven and rejoice with my children with dancing over aced spelling tests.  

Please, if you are reading this do me a favor:  Hug your loved ones, don't sweat the small, trivial things like basketball games and washing underwear, rejoice in small accomplishments like all that laundry that I need to fold and put away and love each other as Christ loved the church.  Life is just plain and simply too short people.  God will SUPPLY and there is a time for EVERYTHING under the sun!!

Hoping for a repeat

“With luck, it might even snow for us.”

~Haruki Murakami, After Dark

To say that The Cox Clan is hoping for a repeat of the snow (or more importantly the snow days) from last week is a total understatement.  We are not only hoping, we are PRAYING for it!!  What keeps you happy during the long winter months?

Hot Fudge Spoon Cake

Just a little something-something I whipped up tonight and we thoroughly enjoyed!  My facebook friends asked me to share the recipe!  Happy Hot Fudging!!

 

 

Hot Fudge Spoon Cake


Gooseberry Patch Slow-Cooker Cookbook

(If you have never looked at/bought a Gooseberry Patch Cookbook - YOU ARE MISSING OUT!  I buy mine at Cracker Barrell and sometimes you can find them at Sams - Totally worth it!  I cook more recipes out of these cookbooks than any other I own!)

 

1 c. all-purpose flour

1-3/4 c. light brown sugar, packed and divided

1/4 c.  plus 3 T. baking cocoa, divided

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1/2 c. milk

2 T butter, melted

1/2 t. vanilla

1-3/4 c. hot water

Garnish: vanilla ice cream

 

Step 1:  Combine flour, one cup brown sugar, 3 T cocoa, baking powder and salt in a bowl.

Step 2: Whisk in milk, melted butter and vanilla.

Step 3: Spread evenly in a slow cooker.

Step 4: Mix together remaining brown sugar and cocoa; sprinkle evenly over top of batter. 

Step 5: Pour in hot water; do not stir.

Step 6: Cover and cook on high setting for 2 hours, until a toopick inserted one ince deep comes out clean. 

Step 7: Spoon warm cake into bowls, top with vanilla ice cream.

Step 8: ENJOY!!

 

I have this friend...

Hi blog friends and Happy New Year! 

 I hope that 2013 has started out as a blessed time for you and your family!  

I wanted to let you know about a friend of mine with an amazing blog and an fabulous sewing business!  Her name is Meghan Cobble and she is our head football coach's wife at Jefferson County High School.  

She is a stay-at-home mom with major sewing skills, home-school teaching that rocks, and a love for her sons Casey and Eli and Patriot football.  We have grown to be close friends and I always look forward to Friday nights in the stands with Meg and her boys whom my twins ADORE!   Please visit her blog here and business website here for more about my fun-loving friend and her awesome sewing designs!!  Let's boost her business in 2013!