HAHA  Here's another video I thought you'd appreciate.  It's a campaign ad for Mike Huckabee.  I just think it's really intelligently made (humor-wise) and adds some flava' to an already dull presidential primary race.  Gov. Huckabee's star seems to be rising here in Iowa.  Looks like the 'Hawkeye Caucii' is going to be quite interesting!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDUQW8LUMs8

Hello all!

All is well here in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa.  I'm really enjoying substitute teaching.  Last week, I worked everyday, four days sub'ing at the high school level.  I even got to sub in my content area, Social Studies, on Friday and loved it.  Something that perplexes me, though, is the difference in student behavior at different schools.  Would you expect behavior to be worse at a larger school and better at a smaller school?  Well, before I student taught in college, I definitely expected that.  However, during my student teaching experience and sub'ing, the opposite has been confirmed.  Now, I know each school is different...you can't generalize, but I'm going to anyway. ;o)

My first placement at Siloam Springs Middle School was, well, a nightmare.  (Siloam Springs is a town of about 11,000.)  It probably had a lot to do with the fact that I never had field experience at the middle school level and never even stepped foot into the building until I met my teacher, and I've definitely learned a lot more about teaching and behavior management since then.  Anyway, a good number of the students just had this attitude, like, "You better entertain me or I'm gonna give you problems."  (I also had, like, two diagnosed behavior disordered students in each class; not an easy task.)  However, when I student taught at Springdale High School (not sure of the population of the town, but it's a pretty big school), the students were a dream.  I had probably one behavior problem the entire placement.  Well, I could've attributed it to the age difference.

But, since I've been sub'ing in this area, I've had assignments in both Mt. Pleasant (pop. 10,000) and Burlington (pop. 30,000).  I've sub'd in both elementary and high school.  I was amazed at the difference - at both levels.  The students in Burlington are so respectful, the students in Mt. Pleasant, uhhh, not so respectful.  Strange, eh?  A Burlington teacher and I talked about this on Friday, and I think we came to a pretty accurate conclusion.  I won't write about it right now, though.  What do you think?  Any other teachers out there have the same experience??

Well, I also began a new job helping to clean a local car dealership.  It's only two hours a night, five days a week, but it helps to pay for the gas for my occasional road trips down to J-Town.  The Lord has really been blessing me financially, as well as professionally!!!

This morning, I traveled to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to visit Cedar Rapids Family Church.  My former youth pastor, Brad Gillis, whom I love dearly, and his wife go to this church, and I haven't seen them for a couple of years.  This church was started around four years ago by Pastor Brad's brother-in-law.  It was so good to see them!  Man, the church was rockin'! :o)  Very culturally diverse, so loving, and a good, solid message. 

Pastor Daniel spoke about peace, how this was a gift that Jesus left us (John 14:27).  He gave four points about peace:

1. Allow peace to act as the umpire/referee in your life.  This should be a non-negotiable in any decision you make, in everything you do.  It should be the red-light/green-light of your life.
2. Peace brings confidence in conflict and change. 
3. Look for the 'sweet spot' that peace gives.  Peace, many times, will make things seem 'just right' - even in the midst of a storm.
4. Peace will always agree with God's Word.  This is an absolute.
5. Let peace guard you from the entry points of the enemy in your life: worry, strife, fear, doubt.  These are so easy to slip into when you don't have the peace of God in your life.

As Pastor Daniel was preaching, I thought of how many times Paul spoke of peace in his letters.  Many times he blessed those in the various churches with peace.  It's apparently a very important part of a believer's life.  I thought of how often, though, that their is not peace in our lives.  Whether we're restless because of worry or fear or conflict, many of us seem peace-less, heavy-laden with the entry points of the enemy (see point 5 above).  Sometimes I even find myself prone to confrontation and conflict with others, definitely stealing peace in my heart; for some reason, (uhhh, probably my old sin nature) I feel drawn to it.  I know there are others that experience the same thing.  But, this is not God's desire and design for us...for me.

OH!!  Also, I'm pretty excited about the fact that I ran my first 5 miles today!  Previously, I had been running 3.5 miles regularly, but this evening I just felt like I could keep going.  It felt great! 

Have a great week all!

This morning while I was walking to warm up to run, I came across a couple of squirrels.  They were frantically searching for nuts, as if the end of days was coming! 

Surprisingly, as I walked by one of the squirrels, he stopped about 4 feet away from me.  He stood up on his two back legs with a nut in his hands, nibbling on the shell.  He just looked at me, then took a couple steps toward me with his big floppy feet, nibbling on his shell.  It kind of freaked me out!  He looked like a little man walking toward me without fear.  We just stood there, looking at each other wondering what each other was thinking.  As I turned around and walked by him again, he repeated the routine.  So strange, but so cute!

Oh!  My parents' cat has been leaving gifts for us the past couple of mornings.  Yesterday morning, I walked out to find a little dead mouse on the front porch.  This morning, there were two.  I heard somewhere that cats do this for people they think are helpless.  Hmmmm...