End of the School Year

The craziness has begun...a MAP reward to the bowling alley followed by a picnic at the park..in the rain...with 3rd graders. Then a field trip to the City Museum with the sixth grade and Luke who of course didn't want me to go..but his friends wanted to be in my group, so he allowed me to go with him. Then there was a planned trip to the zoo with Lesley and thank goodness it was cancelled due to thunderstorms and tornado warnings. So guess what...they rescheduled it, and now I have to take a day off work to go. Would it be bad to pray for rain again??? Then the very next day both kids have field day..I have never missed a field day til now...I hate that. Usually I am finished with work and don't have to worry about missing work. But for some reason my work schedule changed this year and I have to miss it...I mean I can't ask off 2 days in a row on my last week of school..It wouldn't be fair to my students. Speaking of my students..we had our Spring Program/Graduation and what a great job they did. It is amazing how much knowledge those little brains can absorb. I have finished my report cards and sent them home and now we just get to have fun. We had field day with another class last week and boy was that fun. The other teacher and I thought we were going to die laughing..we played a game where the kids had to run with a ball between their knees...try that with a 4 or 5 year old and see if you don't laugh. I'm gonna miss them so much. I know your not suppose to have favorites..but it's hard not to. One little guy I have had for 2 years, because I moved up to the next age this year. He is going to be a hard one to say good bye to...when I see him at Wal-Mart now he won't talk to me, he just hides behind his mom or dad. I told him the other day,"Charlie..You are going to have to say hi to me in Wal-Mart when I see you." He said,"No I don't"..I told him I was really going to miss his and I really needed him to say hi when I see him. His mom told me the other night at the program that Charlie said he would say hi but he wasn't going to give me a hug...I told her that's OK I can live with that. I just hate good-byes..last year at least I knew most would be back for at least one more year...but this year only 2 of mine are coming back, they probably will not be in my class, but at least I will get to see them at recess. Then in September it starts all over again. A new class, new personalities, new adventures....and more good-byes.

Overlapping Sports

I knew it was going to happen it always does at least once a year. Lesley has a volleyball tournament in a small town about an hour and fifteen minutes away. This town is out in the middle of nowhere, on a small dark crooked road, and no cell phone reception. My husband really don't want Lesley and I to travel that road alone in the dark, and neither do I. I worry that if we had a flat tire, there really is no place to pull off to change a tire and then you have no way to call for help. Her volleyball games have been lasting until after 10pm so needless to say it would be late when we leave for home. Then of course Luke's baseball game got changed to the same night due to the fact they are calling for rain on the original day. This is his first ball game of the season. I really hate to miss any of his games but especially his first one. Thank goodness Luke's coach offered to take him to the game so Lesley and I don't have to travel alone, but it still don't help me feel less guilty about missing a game. Then in 2 weeks we will have a similar situation, with Lesley in one town, Luke in another, and a wedding shower in another and a 50th wedding anniversary in another. I feel guilty about blowing family off to go to ball games but then again the kids have committed to these teams and they depend on them being there. At least on this particular weekend Robert can go with Luke and I can go with Lesley and I don't feel as bad about that. The kids say that they understand we can't both be in both places. I just hope the other family members will be just as understanding as our children. I guess I will make an apologising phone call to each of the family members and send a gift and hope they will be forgiving. That is the best I can do.

When did he grow up?

Just yesterday or what seemed to be yesterday Luke wanted me there. You know, he wanted me to be the room mother, he wanted me to wave to him at school, and he wanted me to eat lunch with him. Well at some point, I became embarrassing. I volunteered at school last week and Lesley was very excited for me to come and eat lunch with her and her friends on Thursday. I had to ask Luke (just for kicks) if he wanted me to eat with him on Friday. Oh my goodness, his reply was Mom please don't that would be embarrassing. I had to laugh and I was very tempted to just do a walk thru the lunch room just to see his reaction when he thought I was coming to sit with him. But I refrained. It is funny how when we are at a ball game all his friends come and gather around me and want to sit by me, and he wants to move away. I guess he is just growing up. While I was at the school on Friday, I heard some kids talking about Luke and his girl friend and how they have been dating a long time ( I think it is 6 weeks). I was like, WHAT dating? He is not old enough to DATE, they have not gone out any where. Ok they did meet at the "big dance" and at a ball game or two but that is not DATING. The librarian heard the kids talking as well and she looked at me and smiled and told the kids including Luke's girlfriend that I was there working the book fair(just on the other side of the wall). One of the girls looked over the wall and saw me and said to Luke's girlfriend "Kindra his mom is really here working the book fair". Poor Kindra, she was so embarrassed. I walked over and waved at her and she just smile her pretty little smile and waved back red face and all. I don't doubt he loves me because he tell me and often he still climbs up on my lap and want some mommy lovin'. I guess he is just at the age where he don't want his friends making fun on him for liking his mom, and as long as he shows it at home I'm ok with that. I guess he just needs a little room to grow up and I have to trust the job I did the first 12 years, and pray hard.

Look out Florida here we come!

Every year the Assembly of God churches come together and have a talent competition for the youth called Fine Arts. I have heard a lot about it and was very excited when my son signed up to do a Human Video with 3 other kids from his youth group. They decided to do one from a drama they had done earlier in the year to the Jeremy Camp song "Take My Life". The drama itself is about the unseen battle that goes on between good and evil for ones soul. The video is about a boy that is struggling between his relationship with God and peer pressure to drink and do drugs. The pressure gets so strong for him that he is tempted to take his own life. It really is a powerful message and when we did the entire drama at our church we had several teens come forward. Luke plays the angel in this video and I must say he does a very good job especially since he is only 12. He really looks up to some of the kids in the youth group that are older than him and he don't want to disappoint them. I was beginning to think the pressure was about to get to him on Saturday..Like Pastor Derrick said, "I didn't know he was going to get sick or pass out". When the time came and they were on that stage..they nailed it! They really did do a great job and they got invited to Orlando for the National competition in August. I'm so proud of all of our youth..we get to take 8 of them to Florida. They really are a talented group of kids. The best thing about Fine Arts is that it helps the kids to get comfortable on stage and develope a ministry of their own. These are the future leaders of our church, and I for one want to support them and their ministries.

Who is the Teacher?

It takes a four year old to keep things in perspective. I was teaching my class about Jonah and the big fish yesterday, and we were talking about how Jonah was running from God and what God wanted him to do. One of my students looked up at me and said, "Mrs. Shelly, why do people run from God? He only loves us and wants to help us." I replied, I don't know why people would run from God. Then he asked me, "Have you ever ran from God?" I thought for a moment and I said, "Yes, I think I have". He then said, "God always knows where we are, don't he Mrs. Shelly?" I said, "yes Charlie, God does know where we are, he knew where to find Jonah when he ran and he knew where to find me when I ran and he will know where to find you if you run." At times we get scared and we feel like God is giving us to much, but he really does love us and wants to help us. All we have to do is humble ourselves and ask for His help. I think yesterday I was the student and Charlie was the teacher. Have I mentioned that I love my job!

Special People

Have you ever had those special people in your life and then all of a sudden you lose them and you didn't even realize they were not there any more? As I said in my last post I have really been struggling with a lot of different issues, and just when I need friends the most..three very important people from my past have came back into my life. First is a good friend from high school, I always called him my big brother even though we were never actually related. I have been chatting with him online and catching up. Second is my step brother Bobby. Growing up my dad had been married several times, the number doesn't matter, but what does matter is that he married a woman when I was about 11 and was with her for around 7 years. Barb had two sons and they were about the same age as my sister and myself. We would go and spend the summers at my dads house and these two boys were my brothers. Like I said he was only with Barb for 7 years and after that 7 years I lost track of my brothers. I think I may have seen them a time or two within 5 years after the divorce. I know I have not seen nor heard from them for at least 18 to 20 years and I found my brother on Facebook. It's amazing. Just when I needed him the most he is there. The third person left a huge impression on me. I think I have actually known her all my life but we were really only good friends for a few years. When I was 13 we moved in with my grandma and grandpa because of hard times. Mom lost her job due to the fact that the shoe factory she worked at had to shut down. Kim was my first Christian friend..or at least the only one I knew was a Christian. I think she taught me more than she will ever know. After 2 years of living with my grandparents Mom got remarried and we moved and I lost contact with Kim. I still saw her when we would go to visit my grandparents, but she eventually grew up and moved across the country. Today when I was at work my mom shows up at the school with Kim. I found out she had been very sick, but is doing much better now. I just can't believe how good God is...when I am feeling very low, and like no one is there for me, he brings all these people back into my life. I know God is there for me, and my family too, but sometimes you just want to know that others are there also. Friends are very important to me and I want to be a good friend to others, so I hope I can always be there when they need me the way I have needed friends in the past few weeks.

Lifes Struggles

Have you ever felt like your life is caving in around you? That is how I feel today. Every time I turn around I'm crying. My Dad is sick with cancer and that is on my mind a lot. I guess I'm just having myself a good ol' pity party. It seems like nothing is going right for me. Just when it seems like something is getting better, something else falls apart. Tonight at church Pastor Derrick preached about spending more time with God. I know here lately I have not been spending near enough time with him. I have become selfish and stubborn. I want things my way and I have not been wanting to try new things, or in our church's case old things. I asked God tonight to help me to overcome my selfish stubborn ways and to have an open mind. I'm going to try my best to do that. I am however worried about my son and some of our other youth. I don't like seeing them have to choose between their youth service and something else they love, because the adults decided to change nights on them. I think we should have sit down with them and let them have a voice in this decision, after all it is their youth group. I guess the bottom line is for each of us to stop worrying about our own agenda and focus on God. Sis. Judy our former pastors wife use to always say...when thing are right with Him...things are right with others. I want things to be right so that is what I'm working on.

Last Game

Well today we finished up basketball season for Lesley. In some ways it was a relief but in other ways it is kinda sad. She was just really getting into the game. Every game she plays better and better, at first I thought oh my goodness she is such a girl. She was running up and down the court with her tongue hanging out and her arms flapping about. Her tongue is still hanging out but she is really becoming more and more aggressive. I'm so proud of her and I can't wait to see how she does for her first year in volleyball, that's next.

The Dance

So Luke is 12 right, and he has had dances at school before but they have always been right after school until like 5pm. Well tonight was different, this was a big deal for him. He has a girlfriend of 3 weeks, in middle school that is a long term relationship. This dance was a dress up event that started at 5:30 until 8:30. He was so excited, we had to go to the mall and get the perfect shirt, and then there was a fight over the correct pants. Dress up means no jeans...he thinks there are no other pants in the world but blue jeans. I wanted him to wear black twill pants with the very nice white with grey pinstripes American Eagle shirt that he had to have. We argued about the pants for days..I finally told him I would buy him black jeans..even though he really wasn't suppose to wear jeans. Oh my goodness did you know that black jeans means your Gothic??? I said your dad wears black jeans and he's not Gothic. I got the look and oh my gosh MOM!!! Apparently the only thing worse than black jeans is the black twill pants I originally wanted him to wear. So he finally gave in and went with the black jeans, only because they were jeans, and he did look very nice. Of course I don't know if he will ever wear them again, but then again he may have to if he has no clean blue ones. :) Oh and by the way when I went to pick him up at the dance..there were all kinds of kids in blue jeans and t-shirts...but he didn't mention it or throw it in my face. He said his girlfriend looked very nice in her new dress and I think in the long run he was glad he looked nice too. He had a really good time. Oh my he's growing up!

About Me

Hello my name is Shelly. I am 42 years old and I am married to a wonderful man named Robert. I'm a busy mom of two children. Luke is 12 almost 13 and Lesley is 9. Both of the kids are very active in sports. They are also interested in music, Luke is taking guitar lessons and Lesley piano. So needless to say they keep me running, that is where I got the name "Life in the Fast Lane". My husband and I are members of the First Assembly of God Church. He is also a deacon and I teach children's church. I also teach preschool and believe me there is never a dull moment in the classroom. I have an embroidery business in my basement that is very slow at the moment, but I'm not complaining. I love spending time with my family and my church family.