Two Pink Lines

Two years ago today, it started out like any other day. I woke up at 5:30 am to read my Bible and have my coffee before getting ready for work. At this point, I was already 5 days late, but I kept telling myself just to wait a little longer before taking a test. I was just psyching myself out anyway. Plus, I was afraid of taking the test and seeing only one pink line.... again. As I sat waiting for my coffee to finish brewing, I kept trying to convince myself not to get my hopes up. I just needed to wait a few more days. This was what happened every other month before this one, and it would probably be the same outcome again, only one pink line. 

But there was also this hope. This hope that, maybe this time it would be different. This hope that, I knew God had been hearing my prayers and maybe it was my time. I finally gave in and took the test. Waiting for two minutes to read the results, was really the longest two minutes ever. I didn't want to look too soon, because what if that little stick hadn't fully processed my results yet. And then, I was just too afraid to look at all, because even though I had that hope, I really didn't think I was pregnant.

But I looked... and there it was, two pink lines. Pregnant! Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for remembering me. Thank you for hearing my prayers and recording my tears all this time, while I was waiting for this moment.

My precious little boy on his first birthday.

I am sure that there are so many of you who are feeling this way right now, and you are still waiting. Trying not to give up hope. The hope that it will be your time soon. The hope that God hears your prayers and will remember you.  

And I am hear to tell you, don't give up hope! God DOES here your prayers. He hasn't forgotten about you. His timing is perfect and He has a plan for you! We have to remember, His ways are higher than our ways, and so you aren't supposed to understand why it might not be your time just yet, even if you feel like you have been waiting forever. 

Yesterday, when I was doing my Bible reading, I came across this story in Genesis chapter 17, where God speaks to Abram and tells him in verse 2: 

 " I will make My covenant (solemn pledge)

 between Me and you and will multiply you exceedingly" 

Then, if you read on further in their conversation (verse 17) , God tells Abram, now Abraham, that his wife is going to have a son. At ninety years old!!! Ninety!!! And what does Abraham do? He laughs.

"Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed

and said in his heart, shall a child be born to man 

who is a hundred years old? And shall Sarah, 

who is ninety years old, bear a son?"

Do you want to know why Abraham laughed? I think he laughed because, he had hoped so long for a son and was probably starting to lose some of that hope, that when God told him this, Abraham didn't know what to think. He had to laugh! He could't believe that at his age, and his wife's age, that they were actually going to have a son. 

This is so encouraging to me, because it seems like the exact same reaction that I would have, and I am sure it's the same reaction you might have too. What is even more encouraging, is the fact that God fulfilled His covenant promise to Abraham when Isaac was born, and He continued to fulfill that covenant promise to Abraham through Isaac and his descendants. And....,

He is going to fulfill His promise to you!

So if you are waiting and it feels like you have been waiting for so long, I pray and hope that this brings you some encouragement today!

Many Blessings,

A Teacher's Best Friend

Teachers Pay Teachers may be one of the best things ever created for educators. I am a speech language pathologist in a middle school and this website has quickly become my new best friend. There are millions of resources and materials that educators have created to share with other educators for a small fee. Most sellers offer free items too... BONUS!! I love it. I have found so many creative and useful materials/activities to use with my students. The people on TpT are so talented. I get so excited now, when doing my lesson plans, because it means that I get to look for new materials!

Up until a few months ago, I had only purchased items on TpT. I started to realize that a lot of the materials and activities I used with my students, I had created myself, and that other teachers and SLPs could probably use them too. So.... I decided to create my own Teachers Pay Teachers store, Kessler's Creative Corner.

Now, because I am still fairly new to the seller side of things, I don't have a whole of materials in my store just yet. I do have a lot of ideas in mind though! I have themed activities planned for March, April, and May. I just need to find the time to create them. Isn't that the problem for all of us though??   There is never enough time. Having a toddler, consumes a lot of my time when I am at home and when I am at work, I am usually seeing students for therapy or attending meetings. I blocked off some time in my schedule each week, specifically devoted to creating new materials, because this is very important to me and it is also something I enjoy. 

If I had to suggest one item, from my store, that I think would be great to use with any middle school students on your caseload, it would have to be, 'Inferencing with Images'. I love this activity and so do my students. It is a lot fun and it really engages the students while teaching them how to infer meaning from what they see.

On February 25th, Teachers Pay Teachers is running a 'Teachers are Heroes' sale. All you have to do is enter the code: HEROES, at check out, to receive 28% off your entire order!! I am so excited for this, because I have a lot of items on my 'Wish List' from other sellers that I follow. 

Come check out my store and if you like what you see, you can follow me and receive updates whenever I post something new to my store. 

Take minute to check out some of these other great sellers on Teachers Pay Teachers that are being hosted over at The Speech Room New's, What's in your Cart? Link Party. 

Many Blessings,

Making Your Life a Little Easier

I love to organize and plan. Everything. I make a lot of lists and write tons of stuff down in my planner. I go through things and re-organize them probably once a month, if not more. I love to try and figure out ways to make my busy life a little easier and more time efficient, so that I can spend more time with this guy.

This idea started because I needed to figure out the best routine for my mornings so I could make it to work on time. My son wakes up very early and requires most of my attention until my husband gets up, and then I get ready. I figured out, that in order for me to get ready in the quickest amount of time and get out the door, I had to plan my weeks ahead of time. I needed to have my lunch ready the night before and my outfits already selected. I can't tell you how much time I have wasted trying to pick out what to wear every morning. 

Now maybe, for some of you this is not such a big deal, but for me it was. It was actually the reason I started arriving late to work. I had to figure out a solution, so I came up with these days of the week outfit tags. The idea is simple. You go through your closet every Sunday night and pick out your outfits for the week. Then you take the corresponding tag and hang it on the hanger with your outfit that you want to wear on that day. And that's it! One less step you have to tackle in the morning that will hopefully save you a few extra minutes. 

download

Just print the tags, cut them out,  punch a whole at the top for the string, and start planning your outfits!

Many Blessings,

The Greatest Gift: Love

I can't even begin to tell you how much we are all loved. I could try to put it into words just how great God's love is for us, but I would not even come close. Maybe that's why it's so hard for people to accept His love sometimes, because they can't even imagine it. I know for me, it's hard to truly grasp just how much God loves me, especially because I can't see him face to face.

On Valentine's Day we celebrate love. Love for a spouse, a child, a friend, a parent, even a pet. It's all about love. But friends, I want you to know that our Father God, has given us the greatest love imaginable. Not just for today, but for eternity. There is nothing you have to do to earn it. His love is far greater than anything else in this world. He is there always reaching for you. No matter how far you think you are, no matter what you think you have done, God's love for you will never end. 

NEVER.

I took sometime putting these words on paper, and as I did, I just let them sink in. I'd love for you to do the same. Click here to download and frame this art print somewhere in your home or maybe put it on your fridge as a reminder this Valentine's Day. It's my gift to you! 

God provides many gifts to us all, and the greatest of these is love.

I also got a lot of love from this little guy over the past few days. He just loves to cuddle. Any time there is music playing, he loves for me to hold him and we slow dance together. 

I thought I would do something festive for Valentine's Day and decorate my nails with nail beads. It was fun until it wasn't. Insert long sigh.... I only ended up doing one nail with a heart and just painted the rest pink. I don't know why I thought I would have the time or the patience to do all of them. They turned out ok though, I think...

And finally, I had to think of something creative to give to all my loved ones for Valentine's day. I originally wanted to do cake pops, the easy version that is (just use donut holes!!). I can hear your jaw drop because you realized how much time this will save you the next time you want to make them. I wish I would have known about this trick a few years ago! 

I decided to do something a little different though. Here is what I came up with.

The tag reads, "Having you in my life makes me hole, Happy Valentine's Day". I decorated the donut holes with a little icing heart and wrapped each one of them up with a bow. 

I hope you all have a Valentine's Day filled with lots of love.

Many Blessings,

30 Day Challenge Recap

I finished up my K-love 30 day challenge on Sunday. I had to listen to nothing but christian music for 30 days! It was A.MAZ.ING! Honestly, it has been such an encouragement to me whenever I am in my car, especially in the morning, on my way to work. Listening to such uplifting music has set the tone for my days. I feel that, since listening everyday, I have a more positive outlook on things and I even feel a little less stressed out about stuff. I may go back and listen to some of my other music here and there, but from now on, my number one station for music will be K-love!

I made a list of my top 10 songs that really encouraged me over the past month and I want to share them with you. They are in no particular order....

More of You

by Colton Dixon

Multiplied

by Needtobreathe

Lift My Life Up

by Unspoken

Overcomer

by Mandisa

He Knows My Name

by Francesca Battistelli

Broken Together

by Casting Crowns

Blessings

by Laura Story

Oceans

by Hillsong United

How Can It Be

by Lauren Daigle

Made New

by Licoln Brewster

Enjoy!

Many Blessings,

erin

Slow Down Sunday

This has been great week for me. I had off from school on Tuesday because of the snow. I know, we got so much, didn't we? I was very productive at work on days that I did go in. My husband and I created a plan/timeline for selling our house (praying it all works out). I know I can make a plan, but the Lord determines my steps, so hopefully it's in His will for us to sell our house soon! Found three great deals on items that I have been looking for, for awhile, and I get to end this week at a Superbowl party with all our friends! I can't wait.


Here are a few other great things from my week that I thought I would share!

Song I'm loving~ Needtobreathe: Multiplied

New Podcast~ Grace Talks by Edie Wadsworth

Blog post that speaks so much~ Holley Gerth on Living Intentionally

Words from the heart~ This is why I love my job

Life verse ~ "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength"        Philippians 4:13

Rest in His grace this week!!

Many Blessings,

erin