Interview Results

I got the call this afternoon that Brigham had offered the position I interviewed for to another candidate. The principal was very positive and asked me not to give up on them. I thanked him for letting me know and told him I would continue pursuing them.
I can't lie and say that I wasn't upset. Even as I was writing the first paragraph a few hours ago (I had to go to church for FPU -Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey), I was crying off and on, as I did the entire afternoon and evening. My head KNOWS unequivocally that God is is control, He only kept this job away because He has something better, and I just have to be patient and wait for His timing to provide me with a job. I do KNOW that! But my HEART is sooooo terribly disappointed and cannot comprehend why God could not have given me THIS position, that felt so very right for me in this situation! I was SO SURE that this was "IT!" This is my heart talking. My head knows the only reason God kept this job from me is because there is something that is even better suited to me and the skills He has gifted me with. But the head and the heart are two VERY different entities, am I right????
So please continue praying. I need them now more than ever. Thank you for what prayers have already been lifted to the Heavens to the very ears of God on my behalf. They have to be in the hundreds or perhaps more from just this week (and possibly from just my mom :-)

Post-Interview Update

I got home from my interview a few mins ago and it went really well! I had some trouble finding the main building to get to the office so I was a couple of mins late, but hopefully that won't leave too much of a bad impression. I interviewed with the principal and one of the 2nd grade teachers. Here is one of the most amazing things: Out of almost 30 applicants I was chosen for one of only 5 interviews given! He told me that right away and it made me really excited but put me at ease at the same time! He had a list of 10 question that he put in front of me, which I really appreciated. Here is another cool part - I had derived a list of 5 questions to practice prior to my interview, and I wrote out my answers to them - some I've actually given as answers at real interviews and some I thought of as I was writing them out. The principal's list actually had 2-3 questions that was on my list! So I had my answers ready in my head because I remembered what I practiced! It was so awesome! I felt calm, cool, and collected through most of it, so that was a blessing.
There was one question that was amazing the answer the Lord gave me. Question: Tell me something you have done that you went out of your way to help that person? My mind went to the classroom, but also to a situation of some friends of mine. I asked him if I could give 2 and he said that was fine. I told about the one in the classroom and went on to the non-school related one. Without going into detail I told him about some kids that I watched so that their parents could get some marriage counseling. I never even gave this a second thought when I was doing it, but after I told them, there was a visible change on their faces. The principal said that was probably one of the most important pieces of information I could have shared with him and he said he was really glad I did! I was amazed! Praise God for taking over for my voice and speaking through me!
The principal told me that he would be calling all 5 candidates and letting them know TOMORROW! So I will DEFINITELY let you know the outcome, regardless of what it is.
Thank y'all SO MUCH for praying! It was definitely the reason it went so well!

Interview!

I have an interview on Weds at 4:30 for a 2nd grade (thru the end of the year) position at Brigham Academy. Brigham is a magnet school, which means they are very focused on academics, and they draw students across the traditional school zones for their academic rigors! There are not very many of these schools in Polk County, and only 2 in Winter Haven that I know of. A person has to be selected to attend this school, although it is public. It is about the same size as Eagle Lake, and I believe I'd be one of 5 2nd grade teachers.
Anyway, I'm really pumped about the interview, although I know it'd be a miracle to land a job there! God is in the miracle business, though, right? Right now I'm working on my interviewing skills, like having answers already for questions I know they'll ask. I know I have to blow them out of the water. In fact I'm thinking about asking my friend Pam Cook to do my hair prior to the interview! I know it might seem a bit extreme, but I really want to nail this interview!
I wanted to give you the link to the school so you can see what it looks like!
http://schools.polk-fl.net/BrighamAcademy/default.htm
Please be in prayer!!!!!

The Weekend

When I have a really great weekend I really love to tell about it.
We had a volunteer appreciation brunch at church at 9 on Saturday morning. I know some would be surprised to know that I was up at that hour, but when there is free food involved, I am all about it! So....... I walked in and saw Jill Foster, our keyboardist who is constantly giving me hilarious and helpful tips in order to help me increase my chances of finding true love! Some of her ideas are so funny! Probably the one we talk about most often is the fact that I enjoy wearing bright colors to church. We both agree this does increase my chances of getting noticed by any eligible young bachelors that happen to be visiting the church! The idea is that all the single women in the church should wear brightly colored clothes so as to showcase themselves for the men, but since the married women have already caught their men, they should do their best to stay in the background so as to not detract from the eligible young women. So the suggested colors for the married women are black, brown, and gray in order to "blend in" with the background. So whenever I happen to wear black Jill notices right away and lets me know in no uncertain terms that this will NOT do.
Anyway, I sat with her and her family on Saturday morning. Her newest idea was that Stephen, our church's assistant to the pastor - he also keeps up with the church's website - should make an additional page on the website called "Faith's Finest", which showcases the single people of our church. We mostly worked on the details of that idea the whole time, except when the pastor was talking. It was so fun! It's not really going to happen, but it was fun to discuss!
So I had biscuits and sausage gravy, which was my absolute favorite thing of the morning (that's why I went back for seconds), scrambled eggs, bacon, Sunny D, about 3 cups of coffee, and a glass of water. Now that we know everything I ate........ HEY, IT'S IMPORTANT!
So I came home and piddled around for awhile, then went over to the Hill's after 12 noon. Mark and Kelly have 3 great kids who I really enjoy hanging out with a lot. They make me feel soooo welcome! Like when you've already been there several hours they say I don't have to leave! I like those kinds of people! I want to keep myself welcome there, so I try not to overextend my stay. Momma didn't raise no fool. :-) So I hung out in the afternoon and played with the kids - Kelly's sister Meredith (also her husband and baby), came over to visit since I was there! I like them a lot too. I pretty much love getting to know new people. It's fun!
I left the Hill's at a little after 4 but already had plans to go back for a small groups party they were having over there for the small groups they each have in the youth group. They had some really fun teens over and it was a blast playing Cranium and the Wii! We had pizza and tacos, so the whole evening was fun! Came home around 10:45, so I was with people all day except about 2 stretches of 1-2 hrs in the morning and afternoon. If you know me very well at all, you know that this is ideal for me! Hanging out with people all day makes me so happy! I do not enjoy alone time. I get plenty of it, so it doesn't make me insane or anything, but I would always rather be with people than be alone.
Sunday I helped out in the nursery at church, and that was pretty fun. I was trying to get this one baby to sleep, though, and it wasn't that easy! He was sleepy, but he was also really interested in his surroundings, and wanted to stay awake and smile a lot! He's about 4 months old and Haitian! He's got tons of soft curly black hair and I love it! He also probably weighs as much as my 16 month old niece, so that roly-poly guy wasn't too easy to get to sleep! But he settled down and fell right asleep, then I was able to leave and go to the service.
After church I came home and go on the computer because Sunday afternoons are for Skype! I have been able to use it to talk and SEE my buddy Hannah, who is in S. Africa, working for 6 months at an orphanage for abandoned babies. They have a literal "hole in the wall," where mothers can come and "deposit" their unwanted babies in this door which sends an alert inside to tell the workers that there has been a baby left there. The orphanage names the babies and everything. It's so sad to me! But it's also wonderful that Hannah is there and the other volunteers to hold and love on the babies to make them thrive!
So I talked to Hannah for just a few minutes before she had to go, then I got to talk to Hannah's roommate from S.Africa who is back living in Ireland, where she was originally from. I friended her on facebook and finally got to Skype with her! It was so fun! She has a bubbly personality and an ABSOLUTELY AWESOME ACCENT. You all know the Irish accent is my fave, so you know I was in Heaven. Then I also got to talk to Mandy in Texas. They are buying a house but have plans to pay it off pretty quickly because they got a really great deal. It is really awesome and I'm so excited for them! Imagine only being in your early 30s and having a house totally paid for??!! I think that is totally amazing. Mandy is the one, you'll remember, who set me up on a budget about 3 years ago and put me in a better place financially with just that tool.
So after I got done talking to everyone on Skype, I went to Target with my friend, Amanda, and got a couple of things with the gift cards I got just for using coupons and filling a couple of prescriptions there! I was like, OK! I didn't get anything exciting, though.... :-( Just a couple of inserts for my shoes to see if that will help my ankles not hurt so much when I walk!
Then it was on to evening church and back home after! Something I am really proud of myself for lately is my curbing the frequency in which I am going out to eat. I am really excited that it is not my natural reflex to go somewhere and grab something to eat just because it's so quick and easy, and fun! I used it for entertainment, and that isn't good. Eating at home is better for me anyway!
Sorry this is so horribly long. I promise they will not all be, and believe it or not I didn't put everything in here that I could have! Don't even know if anyone cares, but........My mom will love this, I'm sure!!!!

MY FIRST POST!

Hey everyone! I used to have a xanga account but found it difficult to keep up with once I got a facebook. But I am really excited to have a blog again! A lady at church tonight told me how much she enjoys reading my facebook and I'm not trying to brag or anything, but people are always coming up to me at church and with this great big smile on their face, telling me how fun my comments and statuses are. I know it might make some people not read this just because it's not on facebook, but who knows, maybe some people will! My friend Amy is on here too.....
http://mattandamytenney.blogspot.com
I will try to write at least once a week, definitely more if it's not to hard to keep up with!