Scarf Time!

A project in process.





















A project completed.

Prayer Request

Please be in prayer for my grandmother as she is scheduled for surgery tomorrow morning at 8:00 for a compression fracture. She was originally supposed to have the surgery Tuesday, but couldn't due to a fever. Please also pray for encouragement for my mom and aunt as they will be at the hospital with her. The majority of my family doesn't know the Lord yet, but I pray that someday soon they will.

Thank you!

Blessed

The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.

Isaiah 40:7-8

How easy it is for me to forget this and run to the world for an answer.

Yay for a week off! Wish it wasn't half over. It is such a blessing when the Lord answers a prayer in a highly visible way (at least visible to me). He certainly knows when we need a bit of encouragement.

Pondering.....

Have you ever wondered why the Lord has hooked you up with certain people that are in your life? Sometimes I really wonder--there are people from church whom the Lord has put me together with--helping them out with their kids and such. It is definitely ordained by the Lord, but sometimes I just question as to why. Tonight as i was driving home a scripture was brought to mind, the one where Jesus says that "They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Mark 2:17).

I may not know why the Lord has put me in a place to minister to certain folks, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised when the ministering isn't always easy, or when I realize that the people I'm ministering to are sinners saved by grace (just like the rest of us). But what I am more convinced of is that perhaps even more important than the actual ministering is the praying for them. I believe the Lord puts each of us in unique positions to pray for certain people with a knowledge and depth that others may not have. That He opens our eyes to certain issues when He wants us to pray for them. Lord help us to minister as You would have us to. I know that I need mercy and grace in order to do that. I do pray that we would be open to the "divine appointments" that You give us and that You would give us wisdom for each person You desire us to minister to.

More Snow on the Homefront

"Well the weather outside is frightful,
and my furnace is delightful, (when it works)
and since they canceled the church service tonight,
let it snow, let it snow, let it snow."

Had to go in and teach today, but it turned out to be a low-key day, so that was nice. I have a couple of prayer requests for whoever feels led to pray:

1) (More Urgent) My grandmother is back in the hospital with a second compression fracture. She was doing well healing from her broken leg until about 3 weeks ago when she got pneumonia. Then she started going downhill. Please pray for healing, but also that she would come to know the Lord.

2) (Less Urgent) My principal wants me to be in the building full time next year. While this would be good on many fronts (and probably make my life a bit easier), it would mean that I would have to give up teaching my church kids on Fridays. I'm not sure that the Lord is moving me out of that role yet, or if he wants to move me out of it for a season. Over the five years I've been working towards building some sort of a music program there and I don't want to be out of it unless it is truly the Lord's will. Teaching music in a Christian setting is also the subject of my Master's project for Eastman...so...I'm torn. Thankfully though the situation is completely out of my hands. Before I am officially offered the position it has to go through the board of education and probably a couple other factors will come into play. So I'm praying that if being full time in the public school system is not His will for me, that the whole thing just wouldn't come to pass. If it were offered to me then it would probably be offered in a way where I would not be able to refuse it.

So now you have it folks! The two biggest updates on what is going on in my life right now. God bless and have a great night!

Snow!

The time is 5:58 a.m., two more minutes until the alarm goes off, and the phone rings. A groggy voice on the other end tells me there is no school today. I ask them to hold on, I can't hear without my glasses on, and the conversation continues after I successfully navigate to where my glasses are.

Thus begins the second snow day we've had in two weeks. An unprecedented record for the school district where I work. I have to confess that I spent the majority of the day in bed. I haven't been well since Sunday and it was nice to have the day to lay low. It looks like our area has received somewhere around the 16" mark and more snow is predicted to fall overnight tonight, so it will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings!

Mercy & Grace

“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you;
not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid.”

John 14:27

Amen! How easy I seem to forget this verse and start stressing over things. But the Lord has proven himself faithful so many times to bring things to pass that I have no excuse for forgetting this. When I went into school this morning I felt so awful that I thought I would have to leave after my orchestra rehearsal, but by the end of the rehearsal the Lord had given me whatever it was I needed to get through the day. And on top of that He gave me the grace to stay late and get something done that needed to be done.

On a completely different topic, we are supposed to get walupped with snow tonight. It would be absolutely wonderful to have a snow day tomorrow, even one where the teachers had to go it. I need a day to get caught up on things.

Miracles Still Happen

Well folks, we had a momentous occasion at the Russo family house this evening. For the first time in the twenty seven years that I've been around, my parents hung up a family photograph on the living room wall. Yes folks, the walls are not completely white and bare anymore! I realize this is a shock on two fronts (for those of you who know my parents, and for the others who think this is absolutely ridiculous), but I think we will survive. So praise the Lord, miracles do still happen!

Silence & Solitude

Was so blessed to come home today after school and enjoy just how quiet our apartment was. I guess this may sound a bit strange coming from a music teacher, but if you know me well, it is not strange at all. The Lord taught me just how wonderful silence can be the two summers I worked at the monastery. Just to be still and open to hear the Lord's still, small voice.

When Elijah spoke with the Lord after his showdown with the false prophets, the Lord was not to be found in the hustle, bustle, and noise, but in the stillness:

(1 Kings 19:11-13) And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: (12) And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. (13) And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?

How do you explain the fellowship and worship that takes place in the quiet? The refreshing, restoring, and renewing that takes place when we are still before the Lord? How awesome that we have a Creator who knows the depths of our beings and longs to be intimately connected and in fellowship with each one of us. How could we ever pass up an offer to know the One who made us, fashioned us in the secret place?

"In the quiet, of my soul
In the stillness, I hear your voice call
And I am overwhelmed,
And I am lost for words,
To describe You.

Jesus you're more than a friend
Jesus You’re more than my heart could ever express
Your love and Your grace never fail me
Your merciful touch always heals me
You bring joy to my soul"
-Jeremy Riddle

Snow Day Part 2

It truly was a blessing to have the day off yesterday. Our district has been very stingy with snow days the past few years, so this is the first one we've had in what seems like forever. I got to sleep in, relax, and yes, work on grad work. Sometimes I just have to wonder at why the Lord allows certain things to happen at a certain time. Of all days we could've had off, it was the day I was supposed to be observed! I'm sure I'll never know, but it's fun to think about.

Snow Day!

As I write this I am in absolute shock over the fact that we have a snow day tomorrow. We have not had a snow day in at least a year, and now that we are having one, it is "just happening" to fall on the day that I am supposed to be observed. Can you believe it? But it will be a blessing--to be able to sleep in, get grad work done, and finish things I wasn't able to do today. More updates tomorrow. It's 10pm and I am needing to go to bed. Goodnight!