In the Army...

Today I joined the army. OK...I didn't actually join the U.S. Army. I joined the Army of Women to help eradicate breast cancer. Here's a little bit about it. Read it and then join with me!!

The Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation and the Avon Foundation for Women, a global leader in breast cancer research, joined forces to launch the Love/Avon Army of Women.

Our revolutionary initiative has two key goals:

• To recruit one million healthy women of every age and ethnicity, including breast cancer survivors and women at high-risk for the disease, to partner with breast cancer researchers and directly participate in the research that will eradicate breast cancer once and for all.
• To challenge the scientific community to expand its current focus to include breast cancer prevention research conducted on healthy women.

Join us in this movement that will take us beyond a cure by creating new opportunities to study what causes breast cancer—and how to prevent it.

Join the Army of Women and make a difference with me!!

www.armyofwomen.org

I'm not dead yet!

There is a scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the dead-collectors go through the streets chanting, "Bring out ye dead! Bring out ye dead!" as they collect dead people off the streets. One old man is given to the collector and fights him saying, "I'm not dead yet!" (He is then knocked over the head and killed...but that's not the point of this...)
In the last week and a half, I have realized something huge: I'm not dead yet! I am 25 and am just starting to LIVE!!! I have been given a new hope and realized a lot about my dreams. I can't wait to see them realized...
I staffed the STARS National Conference during the last week of June. Every year I have taken part in this conference has been impacting to me to some degree. This year was a little bit different. God worked in me in the most unexpected ways. I'm not sure how else to describe it all besides listing a few highlights (from the conference and since it has ended)...So bear with me as I try to process and describe what has been happening in me...
1) I have a dream. I want to be a high school teacher. I am so over teaching in an white-majority, Christian-bubble environment. My heart is in teaching. And this last week, thanks to the amazing kids who made up my family group, I realized who I want to teach. I have a feeling that this new realization and dream will take me away from my little home town and will probably take me even away from Colorado. But interestingly enough, this makes me so excited!! I realize this won't happen overnight. In fact, I have to look into what it will take for me to get my secondary ed. certification. Then I have to get it. And don't forget about finding that job... Yet I am so encouraged. This is the first time in a long time that I have had a dream and haven't been afraid to let myself follow it.
2) I almost have a job. Yes, it's true. I interviewed at a preschool a few weeks ago and have since then been told that they are very interested in hiring me to teach in their 4-6 year old room. At first I was apprehensive about this. After all, last year I was sure that first grade was as low in age as I would ever go. Plus, this isn't a "real" classroom/teaching job! Add my new goal of being a high school teacher in the mix, and I was sure this wasn't the job for me... Until yesterday. I was able to talk to the lady in charge of hiring me and voiced some of my concerns with her. I needed her to know that I had to be paid more than they were offering and that I would not be able to commit more than a year to them at this point. Instead of shooting me down, she was even more encouraging to me! She let me know that she would pursue upping my pay and that she appreciated my honesty and integrity in letting them know what my ultimate goals are. We are going to meet next week to talk about details. I'm pretty sure I'll be making a paycheck by the beginning of August! God is so good.
3) I think I'm going back to school. After talking to the preschool lady yesterday, I got a phone call from a guy at Jones International University. Months ago I clicked on something online expressing interest in learning more about a master's degree from JIU. Then I realized I had no idea of what I actually wanted to do with my life... When the JIU guy called me yesterday, he was just calling to check up on me and see if I had any new thoughts or questions. I guess yesterday was his lucky day because I did have new thoughts and questions! I asked what their secondary ed program was like, and it turns out that is one of their specialty masters programs! Most of their courses are online courses, too, which means I can work and do coursework at the same time. This is why the preschool seems like a good place for me to be for the next year. I think I might be able to balance work and school with a job like that.
4) My Joy List is growing. Last blog I wrote about my Joy List and said I would keep adding to it. Over these past two weeks my list has expanded exponentially. I finally feel alive for the first time in a long time. I think my next blog will be more dedicated to the specifics of my Joy List.

And thus you have the latest update on my life. I'm not dead yet. I'm just starting to live. I have been revived yet again. Thank you, Jesus.