their story is written

James and I have just finished the membership process at Watermark church here in Dallas. We feel very blessed to have found a church that we feel very connected to and one that we are very excited to be part of the community. As part of the membership class one of the pastors stood up and talked about some of the different ministries they work through. He began to talk about a specific ministry opportunity where you can mentor a 4th grade student in West Dallas. He proceeded to talk about why this ministry was so important by sharing that most of the community believes that if a child is not changed or shown potential for success before 4th grade

"their story is written."

I was really touched by this. As a 4th grade teacher I really thought about how there is so much more to teaching them than writing, math, reading, and so on. These kids need life. They need to be shown potential and true life. It is hard to reach out to my students in the same way considering I work for a public school but it is refreshing to know they are still impressionable and that I can still show them that they are completely capable of success. It is a daily challenge to love each of your 20 some odd kids, but great are the rewards for our future (and theirs)!

Moral of the story....
Even though my job may get the best of me at times....I truly feel that when my feet hit the floor in the morning I am using my gifts and working in a job that the Lord has truly called me to.

He never said his calling would be easy....

on that note...off to Central Market we go to get our weekly groceries (and with a $10 off coupon!)

two.

so apparently not capitalizing anything is very trendy right now according to Lau... excuse me lauren. look how trendy i am!

after taking more pictures than i could ever imagine in europe and in maui... i've been going through them and finding my favorites... i've posted some germany landscapes on my picasa page which you can find here! i'm looking for a way to use them, so if you have any genius ideas let me know!

special shout out to jackie our favorite (and most likely only) reader!

one.

as i was trying to keep up with my new aspiration to be a good "blogger" james suggested we have a joint blog. with his love for photography, my love for baking and sharing what i am learning, and our love for jesus and cooking yummy food we hope our blog shares some of that joy with you. we will switch off making posts (but trust me...you will know who is posting!)

hard to believe it is january 19th and we have been married for ONE MONTH!!! i feel like we spent forever counting down the months until the wedding that it is so hard to believe we are counting up the time we have been married. it has been so wonderful and such a blessing. we are learning so much about each other and what it looks like to be a godly husband, wife, and couple. i will even try to share some of the funny things we are learning about each other as we go along.

with that being said....this teacher is exhausted and going to relax and get to bed early tonight!

love,
the unthanks