I can't say that I have anything profound or life-changing to say this week. It has been a good week. I turned 22 on Tuesday, and I had a wonderful birthday. My parents got to come up last weekend to celebrate with me, and I also celebrated with Andrew's parents later in the week. On my actual birthday, Andrew and I went out to dinner and then met up with some friends later in the evening. Every year on my birthday, someone (usually my brother, if no one else) inevitably asks me, "So how does it feel to be ___ (years old) now?" And every year, my answer is the same: "No different than it felt to be ___ (years old)."
On Friday, I went to the Oklahoma City Zoo with one of the autism classes at Roosevelt Elementary, where I will be teaching. I will not have any of the students that went on the field trip because I will be getting all new students in the fall, but I did get to meet the other teacher who will be working with me, as well as some of the parents with whom I will be interacting. I am getting more excited about the job with every opportunity I get to spend with Roosevelt. I do worry sometimes that parents will not take me seriously- after all, if I was a parent of a student with autism, I probably would be skeptical of entrusting my child to the care of a 22-year-old girl straight out of college. But all in all, I am SO thankful to have a job for next year. I do not think I fully realized the state of the economy until after I had already taken this job. Lately, though, I have been hearing of more and more teachers losing their jobs, and I know that most of the education majors in my graduation class have not found jobs yet. Yikes. Even if I end up hating my job (and I feel sure that that will not be the case), I will be so thankful that I have one because I realize that many people have not been so blessed. You know the economy is in bad shape when TEACHERS are having trouble finding jobs.
Other highlights of the week:
-Andrew got a raise! His bosses were very appreciate of his hard work, and his review came a couple of months early, which was a pleasant surprise. More than the money, it is just a blessing to have a husband who puts everything into his work, even though he doesn't always enjoy the job.
-Our friends, Ashley and Josh, got married yesterday. The wedding was lovely, and we got to travel to Tulsa for it with Katherine and Mitchell. Ashley and Josh will be in the OKC area in the future, so we are looking forward to spending more time with them. Also, all of my old roommates were at the wedding, so it was great to see them.
-Sundays are the best. Today, we went to church, had lunch with some friends, took a long nap, went to bible study, went for a run, and are now sitting down blogging and reading. God definitely knew that we needed a day of rest when he created the world!
I thought I would also make you all aware of an awesome website which we have found recently. For those who love to read, Paperback Swap is worth your time. After you are finished reading a book (it can be hardback or paperback), just post it on the website. When someone wants your book, you ship it to them and receive one credit when they receive it. You can then find a book you want and get it with your credit. All you pay for is shipping the book to the other person- they pay for shipping the book you want to you. (And the shipping is Media Mail, so it's really inexpensive anyway.) I have actually been shocked (in a good way) by the honesty of people who participate in the trade. I have gotten credits for all of the books I have mailed to people. Anyway, check it out if you're a reader.
That's about it from the Fenrick house for now.
In Christ alone,
Mary Rachel
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
After the Storm
I love the calm after a storm. It's tornado season here in Oklahoma, and there is no time of year when I am reminded more often of the words in our state song, "And the wind comes sweeping down the plain..." Last night, we experienced several tornadoes in our area. Thankfully, all is well with us and those we love, but in the midst of the raging wind and pouring rain, I wasn't sure that it would be. Mostly, I hate storms. But there is a brief period of a few hours afterward that reminds me why they are necessary. After the 60+ mph winds have dissipated and the sideways rains and hail have ceased, there is quiet. Stillness. Calm. Things which, in Norman, can only take place after the most brutal display of the forces of nature. In Norman, the wind always blows (at least a little), except after a storm, so it is only in the aftermath of such an event that I am truly able to recognize the peace and stillness. I think life is like that. There would be no real joy or understanding without the storms. I used to dread such trials, but sometimes now I almost look forward to them, resting in the knowledge that my vision will be clearer and my heart more rested when they have passed. The hospital incident was the latest storm, but since then, I have felt an overwhelming sense of peace about life in general. The sun always shines brighter after the rain.
I was thinking about Peru yesterday. When we first came back to the States, all I wanted to do was be in Peru. I hated everything about being back here. My love for Peru has not lessened, but my attitude has definitely changed over the past few weeks. I know we will go back when God calls us to go back, and I am really excited for that day. But, I am also really excited to think that I have a purpose here. Now. In Norman. Andrew and I have been talking a lot about why we are staying here, and I think we feel better about our decision every day. We are both realizing how much we care about the campus which will be less than 2 miles from our new home, the many college students who are hurting and need the gospel, and the beautiful children with autism who will be in my classroom next year. In all honesty, I usually make decisions based on how they will affect me, which is really no way to live. God has changed our hearts in so many ways over the past few weeks. When we decided to stay here, it was because we want to serve our church, because Andrew can meet with college students, and because we can stay involved with RUF. When we decided to buy a house, it was because we can practice hospitality by hosting events there and really knowing people. When I decided to take a job in Norman instead of Moore, it is because I am understanding the value of knowing and loving community. To Christ alone be the glory for all of these things.
Two awesome and one sad event happened this week. The sad one is that our cat, Gato, moved away. For those who are confused, Gato was not really our cat, but she might as well have been because she came into our house so often. I wouldn't really call myself a cat person, but Gato was the coolest cat ever. Her owners (our neighbors) moved out, and so Gato is gone. We will miss her. One of the awesome things is that we are officially members of University Fellowship Church now, as we had our covenant signing last week after church. UFC also has a website (with podcasts!), or at least it did last week, but now that I am about to post the link I can't find it. Oops. The other awesome thing is that I got to go to Bart Conner Gymnastics today with one of the autism classes in Norman. Some of you might not think this is great, but let me explain why it is. I did gymnastics for about 10 years. I love gymnastics and miss it a lot. But more importantly, I will get to take MY OWN CLASS there next year, once a week! After watching the students today, I know this will be such a good thing for them and can't wait to start doing it.
I realized I never posted a picture of our new home. Here is one of the outside, although the inside is even more beautiful! We had the inspection this week, and the only thing needing to be addressed is replacing the hot water heater. Can't wait to move in!
In Christ alone,
Mary Rachel
I was thinking about Peru yesterday. When we first came back to the States, all I wanted to do was be in Peru. I hated everything about being back here. My love for Peru has not lessened, but my attitude has definitely changed over the past few weeks. I know we will go back when God calls us to go back, and I am really excited for that day. But, I am also really excited to think that I have a purpose here. Now. In Norman. Andrew and I have been talking a lot about why we are staying here, and I think we feel better about our decision every day. We are both realizing how much we care about the campus which will be less than 2 miles from our new home, the many college students who are hurting and need the gospel, and the beautiful children with autism who will be in my classroom next year. In all honesty, I usually make decisions based on how they will affect me, which is really no way to live. God has changed our hearts in so many ways over the past few weeks. When we decided to stay here, it was because we want to serve our church, because Andrew can meet with college students, and because we can stay involved with RUF. When we decided to buy a house, it was because we can practice hospitality by hosting events there and really knowing people. When I decided to take a job in Norman instead of Moore, it is because I am understanding the value of knowing and loving community. To Christ alone be the glory for all of these things.
Two awesome and one sad event happened this week. The sad one is that our cat, Gato, moved away. For those who are confused, Gato was not really our cat, but she might as well have been because she came into our house so often. I wouldn't really call myself a cat person, but Gato was the coolest cat ever. Her owners (our neighbors) moved out, and so Gato is gone. We will miss her. One of the awesome things is that we are officially members of University Fellowship Church now, as we had our covenant signing last week after church. UFC also has a website (with podcasts!), or at least it did last week, but now that I am about to post the link I can't find it. Oops. The other awesome thing is that I got to go to Bart Conner Gymnastics today with one of the autism classes in Norman. Some of you might not think this is great, but let me explain why it is. I did gymnastics for about 10 years. I love gymnastics and miss it a lot. But more importantly, I will get to take MY OWN CLASS there next year, once a week! After watching the students today, I know this will be such a good thing for them and can't wait to start doing it.
I realized I never posted a picture of our new home. Here is one of the outside, although the inside is even more beautiful! We had the inspection this week, and the only thing needing to be addressed is replacing the hot water heater. Can't wait to move in!
In Christ alone,
Mary Rachel
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Grace Abounding
Before I update on the big events in our life, I would like to say a few words about running. I hate running. I used to love it. In fact, I can pinpoint the exact point in time when I started hating it, and that is when I began training for the Fort Worth Cowtown Marathon. Is it an accomplishment to finish a marathon? Yes. Is it worth it? For me, absolutely not (although I realize that it is for some). For about a week after I ran the race, I probably would have said that the experience was totally worth everything I had endured during the previous weeks of training, and as far as muscle aches and pains go, it probably was. However, I am still recovering from the emotional toll the training and the race itself took on me. I do not enjoy running anymore because it is something I feel like I have to do instead of something I do because I want to. While I was training for the marathon, I would run for hours at a time by myself because, well, that's what all of the training guides told me to do. Pretty quickly, my almost daily runs were becoming obligations, and the monotony of them was almost unbearable. Without even realizing it, I had become consumed by the compulsion to run. I thought that after running a marathon, all of this would go away and I could go back to doing average runs and regain my desire to run, but this just hasn't happened. After running 26 miles, I feel like I have to keep running absurdly long distances or I am just not doing enough. And so, I wake up early in the mornings or run late after a long day, not because I enjoy it but because this silly marathon has made me think that doing anything less is unacceptable. I want to love running again.
Aside from all of that, I accepted a job at Roosevelt Elementary on Thursday. I really could not be more excited about this opportunity. For the sake of being in community and doing ministry in Norman, I had really been hoping to obtain a job with Norman Public Schools. There are other great districts around, but I am very thankful to be teaching so close to home(!) and our church. The funny thing about this job is that I did NOT want it when the school called me for an interview (I had been looking for middle school positions). With every other job I had applied for, I had had to make phone calls or somehow follow up on my application. Roosevelt saw my application online and called me out of the blue. I almost declined the interview, but for some reason (God's direction) I decided to just go and get some interview experience. The night before I went in, Andrew figured out that he and his family know the principal there. He spoke very highly of her and made me feel much more relaxed about the upcoming interview. When I went in the school, I immediately felt welcome, and the questioning process went unbelievably well. As I heard more about the job, met many great people who work at Roosevelt, and looked around the school, I began to think that I really would love working there. So, when the principal called me this week to offer me the job, I accepted. I'll be teaching an autism classroom and probably only have 4-5 students to begin, although the program is expected to expand as the year continues. I feel that this is the perfect way to ease into my first year of teaching (if there is a way to do such a thing!) and am so excited about the school, my students, and the people with whom I will be working. All of that being said, if anyone wants to donate resources/toys which you aren't using to me or look for useful classroom items at garage sales, I wouldn't turn away the help. :-)
Also, we bought a house yesterday! If you had asked me about a week and a half ago if we were thinking of buying a house any time soon, I probably would have told you "not for awhile". However, we suddenly realized that the $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers would be the perfect way to pay back the $8,000 of student loans remaining in our account. And as we also realized, the tax credit ended April 30th. So, we did what any crazy couple would do and looked at ten houses on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week and made an offer on Wednesday night. We signed the papers to get the tax credit on Friday with about seven hours to spare. Looking back on the past week, I am still amazed at how God orchestrated it all. We have a friend at church who is a realtor who helped us with everything. She was so patient with our many questions, and I do not think we would have been able to find another realtor considering the time crunch we were facing. Also, the sellers were very gracious. They gave us our asking price, agreed to pay closing costs, and are leaving the refrigerator (which we requested in the contract). I'll try to post pictures when I can- I am not going to make a link to the real estate website because I'm sure the posting will be gone in a few days. Anyway, our home is in a quiet neighborhood in Norman. It has 3 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms, which is definitely more than what we need now, but we are excited to have people over often and to hopefully raise kids in this house one day. The house was built in the 1970's but the exterior has been well-maintained, and nearly everything on the interior was completely redone in 2008. We close June 1st. Despite the time restraints we faced, I do not feel like we just "settled" because we want a house. We knew that this might not work out, and we were okay with that. But, we absolutely love this house, and obviously the whole situation was meant to be!
As if that isn't enough for a week, Andrew sold his car this morning (finally). His 2002 Grand Am had been sitting idly in our driveway for months now, so Andrew decided to relist it on Craig's List and got over 30 hits on it since yesterday! Anyway, some guy came by this morning and paid cash for it, so we are very relieved to have it off our hands. I guess the timing just wasn't right for selling it before. Andrew had posted it on Craig's List awhile back, and no one was interested. Now, I am so glad that we sold it when we did because we would have spent that money to pay off student loans and now we can use it for a down payment on our house AND have our loans paid off.
There have been so many times this week when I have felt like I am just living in a dream. God has been so gracious, and I have been constantly humbled by this grace because I am so undeserving of any of the amazing blessings He has given us. I always like to control things, and this week God just caused everything to fall into place exactly as He had planned, which is far better than any plan I could have imagined or tried to take control of myself. To Him be the glory forever!
Aside from all of that, I accepted a job at Roosevelt Elementary on Thursday. I really could not be more excited about this opportunity. For the sake of being in community and doing ministry in Norman, I had really been hoping to obtain a job with Norman Public Schools. There are other great districts around, but I am very thankful to be teaching so close to home(!) and our church. The funny thing about this job is that I did NOT want it when the school called me for an interview (I had been looking for middle school positions). With every other job I had applied for, I had had to make phone calls or somehow follow up on my application. Roosevelt saw my application online and called me out of the blue. I almost declined the interview, but for some reason (God's direction) I decided to just go and get some interview experience. The night before I went in, Andrew figured out that he and his family know the principal there. He spoke very highly of her and made me feel much more relaxed about the upcoming interview. When I went in the school, I immediately felt welcome, and the questioning process went unbelievably well. As I heard more about the job, met many great people who work at Roosevelt, and looked around the school, I began to think that I really would love working there. So, when the principal called me this week to offer me the job, I accepted. I'll be teaching an autism classroom and probably only have 4-5 students to begin, although the program is expected to expand as the year continues. I feel that this is the perfect way to ease into my first year of teaching (if there is a way to do such a thing!) and am so excited about the school, my students, and the people with whom I will be working. All of that being said, if anyone wants to donate resources/toys which you aren't using to me or look for useful classroom items at garage sales, I wouldn't turn away the help. :-)
Also, we bought a house yesterday! If you had asked me about a week and a half ago if we were thinking of buying a house any time soon, I probably would have told you "not for awhile". However, we suddenly realized that the $8,000 tax credit for first time homebuyers would be the perfect way to pay back the $8,000 of student loans remaining in our account. And as we also realized, the tax credit ended April 30th. So, we did what any crazy couple would do and looked at ten houses on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week and made an offer on Wednesday night. We signed the papers to get the tax credit on Friday with about seven hours to spare. Looking back on the past week, I am still amazed at how God orchestrated it all. We have a friend at church who is a realtor who helped us with everything. She was so patient with our many questions, and I do not think we would have been able to find another realtor considering the time crunch we were facing. Also, the sellers were very gracious. They gave us our asking price, agreed to pay closing costs, and are leaving the refrigerator (which we requested in the contract). I'll try to post pictures when I can- I am not going to make a link to the real estate website because I'm sure the posting will be gone in a few days. Anyway, our home is in a quiet neighborhood in Norman. It has 3 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms, which is definitely more than what we need now, but we are excited to have people over often and to hopefully raise kids in this house one day. The house was built in the 1970's but the exterior has been well-maintained, and nearly everything on the interior was completely redone in 2008. We close June 1st. Despite the time restraints we faced, I do not feel like we just "settled" because we want a house. We knew that this might not work out, and we were okay with that. But, we absolutely love this house, and obviously the whole situation was meant to be!
As if that isn't enough for a week, Andrew sold his car this morning (finally). His 2002 Grand Am had been sitting idly in our driveway for months now, so Andrew decided to relist it on Craig's List and got over 30 hits on it since yesterday! Anyway, some guy came by this morning and paid cash for it, so we are very relieved to have it off our hands. I guess the timing just wasn't right for selling it before. Andrew had posted it on Craig's List awhile back, and no one was interested. Now, I am so glad that we sold it when we did because we would have spent that money to pay off student loans and now we can use it for a down payment on our house AND have our loans paid off.
There have been so many times this week when I have felt like I am just living in a dream. God has been so gracious, and I have been constantly humbled by this grace because I am so undeserving of any of the amazing blessings He has given us. I always like to control things, and this week God just caused everything to fall into place exactly as He had planned, which is far better than any plan I could have imagined or tried to take control of myself. To Him be the glory forever!
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