Sweet Life in the City

It is always hard jumping back into a blog post because there is always so much that has happened since the last time that I posted. We have had a pretty major change in our family in the last month, but there is another sort of change that has inspired this post this morning. I cut my hair yesterday. I know life shattering isn't it? I know it seems so trivial, but the truth is the Lord revealed something to me that I have never really thought about. I love my hair. We have made some memories over my 39 years. It actually started the moment I was being born and the doctor told my mom that I had a full set of black hair. Given the fact that my brother and sister who came before me were both bald headed, I think my mom made a comment to the doctor about if he was sure I was hers. My very first compliment was about my hair! I lived my young life with nice thick hair. Sometimes it was long and sometimes it was cut short.  My Pawpaw used to call me Pete Rose because I had the bowl cut ...

This date always sneaks up on me. I feel like I am always taken off guard every time May 16th comes back around. Maybe because it is a hard day to think about, or maybe because it's hard to believe another year has passed since that night the phone rang and my sister was on the other end telling me that my Grandma was now safely in the arms of Jesus. Thirteen years has passed since that night, but the ache in my heart feels like it could of happened yesterday. I remember after I hung up the phone I crawled back in bed, tears flowing, trying to figure out how to live in a world where my Grandma was no longer living in it. She had been sick for a while. The four years before she passed she had been slowly leaving us. I remember the night I got the phone call and thinking that I had already missed her so much.She had dwindled down to a skeleton of a woman and it was hard to visit her and see how skinny our once plump Grandma had become, but I am so thankful that I continued to go back...

Jeremy stayed home today because he has not been feeling well the last few days. It's sinus stuff that he just cannot get rid of. His alarm usually goes off way before mine and that kind of helps me wake up easier when my goes off an hour or so later. This morning I jumped out of bed with a jolt because it was so bright in my bedroom and I was confident that I had overslept. I looked at my phone and I still had 30 minutes left to sleep. The problem with that scenario is that once I make eye contact with my dog Minnie there is no going back to bed, she is ready to go outside. I get up and go downstairs and Emma is coming out of her room with her uniform in her hands. I told her it was too early to start getting ready, but she decided that she wanted to take a shower. A few minutes later Samuel comes out of his room wide awake. Chloe was up several times in the night. She kept getting up to go to the bathroom. We were not quit sure she was completely awake. She tends to sleep walk . ...

Happy Mother's Day! I hope you all had a great day with your families. I made it through my testimony this morning and I was overwhelmed by so many people praying for peace over me this morning. I woke up this morning with several texts telling me that they were praying for me and received several more as I was getting ready giving me encouragement. I made it through the testimony without crying! I think my voice cracked once, but I kept my emotions in check and I was thankful. I know God wanted me to share my story, but I have to be honest, I am glad this day is over 😌. I have spent a lot of time today being thankful for my mom. I am so thankful for her love for me and my kids. I have thought a lot about my Grandma today who I miss terribly. I am thankful for the legacy she left behind in her granddaughters. One of the best compliments I got today was on my writing of my testimony. I love that I inherited a knack for writing like my Grandma. I have thought about two Korean women ...

Next Sunday is Mother's Day. I have been asked to give my testimony at church this day. I am totally freaking out. I know that many people do not like public speaking, but I feel like I might have a severe fear of it. I don't really understand my deep fear, I stand up every day and talk all day in front of my students. I work with 4 year olds and they are the most judgmental audience I will ever face. You know those kids tell you exactly what they think of you 😊.  I have been giving myself a pep talk since I was asked to do this. I also know that friends are praying for me, but I feel like any moment I could call the Pastor up and tell him I cannot do it. I have given my testimony a few times in front of a larger audience, I have always been nervous but those times I focused more on my spiritual walk or how my testimony led me to be a teacher. I have never told my motherhood journey in front of a crowd before. All the other testimonies I have given I mention cancer and I menti...

I know it's a little late at night for me to be writing a post (and it's not Sunday), but I have been in a little bit of a funk this last week. Lots of little things that have made me a crabby. Things that are not new to my life like kids who refuse to use the dirty clothes hamper in their room or too many people in the kitchen trying to get lunches made in the morning. Just day to day things that I usually take in stride and work around them. I have found myself apologizing much more these past few weeks because my words or actions have been harsh. Before Spring Break my class at school finished up our Bible curriculum so we are now just supplementing and will be teaching different lessons that were not covered in our book. So last week I started teaching the kids about The Fruit of the Spirit. I introduced all nine of them and then have been  talking about each "fruit" individually. I found these cute coloring pages online and printed them off and colored them so I...

Looks like Sunday night will be my night to blog. We had another busy week at the Riggs' house (are you picking up on this theme lately?). I got a text Sunday night asking if I could cover after school on Monday until 5;30. Samuel has play practice almost every night so I would have to go back and get him at 5:30, so I agreed to fill in for the regular teacher who does after school every day. We got home close to 6:00, I made supper, homework, bedtime, and Monday was over. Tuesday was the Open House for the high school. I didn't need to go, but I felt like I needed to go and just give some moral support for Jeremy. It was a great turnout and we are continuing to pray that the families that came Tuesday night will chose to register their children. It was after 9:00 before we got home. Wednesday I had a staff meeting until 5:30, we rushed home and got ready for our real community group. I may have mentioned this, but we are meeting at the church until we break for summer instead ...