Inspiration May: Day 14

Today my inspiration comes from 2 churches that have impacted my life throughout my college career till now.

Slackland Baptist Church has been my home church since 2004 when my dad took on the role of becoming the Director of Missions for Cherokee Baptist Association when I was in 7th grade. It took me a while to get used to a bigger church from what I was used to being in. At one time, the youth group had about 20 people for Sunday School. This place has been an inspiration from the good Christian friends my family and I have met here. I was able to first meet my high school best friend here, had an interim pastor who was like a grandpa to me, and made close family friends. One of my best memories was when I was a freshman in college, some of the kids on Wednesday night sent me sweet letters.

Growing up in a Christian home, going to church was always important on Sundays. During my first 3 years, I struggled with this because I just couldn't find a church I could call my home away from home. I am so grateful that my roommates my senior year invited me to church the Sunday before school started back as we all went to Church of the Highlands at Grants Mill. It was an amazing experience! I have never really been a big fan of mega churches, so I was a little unsure at first. But everyone there was so nice and showed their love for Christ in everything. I continued going here during the few months I lived in Hoover. Occasionally, I will watch online Sunday mornings when I am getting ready for church or at night as all of the sermons are awesome! I hope to go back and visit soon! I chose it as an inspiration because it helped me grow spiritually during my senior year of college.

Inspiration May: Day 13

Yesterday I posted about 2 teachers I had that greatly impacted my life. It really got me to thinking about other teachers I have had, and I want to use today's inspiration post to talk about another teacher who played a vital role in my high school years and has truly been an inspiration for me to look to as a teacher.

Mr. Jones was my science teacher throughout high school. Science and Math are my worst subjects and was happy just to make a B in them. Mr. Jones made learning fun in his classes by providing fun experiments/labs and being a friend to all of his students. He had that equal balance of being a teacher, mentor, and friend to each student that walked in his class. Even kids that had a D in Science loved him. He had the funniest stories and always kept his class interesting. I enjoyed having Science with him that I took on the challenge of taking AP Biology. I didn't score good on the AP test, but I did enjoy the class and its difficulty while coming out with a B. My favorite all time Science class was Forensic Science. It was the only one I made an A in. I can't exactly remember how the project assignment went, but my group and I made a CSI episode that was funny. One of the main reasons Mr. Jones inspires me is because he goes outside the role of being just a "teacher" for his students. During my senior year, I struggled with where I was going to go to college. I had a full ride to JSU and had a great offer from Shorter University, but my desire was to go to Samford. At the time, I was short about $3000 of being able to take out a low enough loan that I would be able to pay back. I discussed a lot of my thoughts with Mr. Jones getting his take and opinion on matters. He was in a position similar to me where he could go to Alabama but had really good offers from other colleges. He told me that if I didn't go where I wanted to go then I would regret it. I thank him for his words of wisdom because without him mentoring mad counseling me I may have gone elsewhere.

There are many teachers I have had throughout the years from elementary school through high schools and into college. If I had the time and words to do it, I would write each of them a letter and personally thank them for all they did for me (even the ones I may not have liked). So if you are one of my former teachers, THANK YOU!!!!!

Inspiration May: Day 12

I guess you can say that I am a week late in posting this inspiration given that Teacher Appreciation Week was last week. Today, I choose two teachers when I was in elementary/high school: Randy Smith and Yvonne Jacoway.

Mr. Smith was my 6th grade homeroom, language arts, spelling, and reading teacher. Math and History are the subjects he is most experienced in with teaching, but he made learning fun no matter what he taught. He motivated us to do our very best. I remember on a few occasions he would challenge the whole class to make an A on our spelling tests and he would bring us all cream soda and peanut butter nutter bars, but only if the entire class made an A. This really had us work together to encourage each other as a team to reach our reward. He is also a member of the military, so when the Alabama/Auburn football game came around he has us make picks on the winner and score. His only downfall is he is an Auburn fan. ;) Unfortunately that year Alabama lost, so everyone who chose Alabama had to do push ups. He also cared about his students outside the classroom. I remember being upset about not making a team I had worked hard to get on, and he called me up to his desk to check on me and make sure I was okay. One of my most favorite memories was rolling his yard on a Friday night while he was at the football game (assistant coach). I was sick the Monday after, but my friends had already fessed up before I could enjoy the fun of him not knowing (though his wife gave us permission to roll their yard). He is currently now the Assistant Principal at the high school and will be moving to a position in the county office after the school year. Because of him, I learned that being a teacher is more than just making sure students learn everything they are supposed to for the year. And I thank him for that!

Mrs. Jacoway was my Home Ec/FACS teacher in high school along with being the FCCLA sponsor. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of her that I know of. I was in one of Mrs. Jacoway's classes every year from 7th grade through 12th grade. I'll be honest, I was scared of her my 7th grade year. But when I was in 8th grade, I was elected as the class president in her class, so I bore responsibilities of helping organize our class project and taking the time to make sure the room was clean when we left. I thank her for teaching me the little things that many young women and teenagers do not know. When we cooked, we had to make sure our area looked better than it did before we used it. I was typically the last person to leave because if your area was dirty, the whole group would be in trouble. I made a purse and pjs and a wallet, but I honestly couldn't sew anything to save my life. I did learn a few tips and tricks using a needle and a thread, such as sewing on a button, sewing up a whole, and a few stitching things. She made the greatest impact on my life when I was the FCCLA President of our school's chapter during my last 2 years of high school. She was a mentor to me, and I enjoyed being her teacher's aid. Because of her, I learned to take pride in my work, developed a love for cooking, and grew to become a leader (trust me, I was so quiet and shy until I became FCCLA President). And I thank her for that!

Inspiration May: Day 11

I know that it is about an hour after midnight, which means I am late posting this, but I have spent my day with some amazing mothers today for Mother's Day: my mom, my grandma, and my boyfriend's mom. So, in honor of Mother's Day, my inspiration today is my momma.

Above are just a few snapshots of my mom throughout the years. During my younger years until I was about in 7th grade, my mom was a stay-at-home mom while my dad worked at a hardware type store. It was great having mom at home every day as a young child. During Junior High, she was a sub at the school my brother, sister, and I attended as it was a K-12 school. She was consistently subbing for someone every day, so she was always around. Once my dad was called full-time into the ministry, a couple of years later my mom became his full-time assistant, and they are working those jobs today. I come from a very large family as both of my parents are 1 of 6 kids. (Bless my grandmas' hearts!) My mom is a twin, so we are very close to her twin sister and many family members on her side (and a few on my dad's side as well).

During my teen years, like most teenagers, we would fight and of course I always thought I was right and knew everything. Now that I have tasted a little bit of the real world by living away from home for college and getting a job and searching for one all while balancing my personal life, spiritual life, and finances, I can see the things she taught me earlier in life were true and that I probably should have paid more attention to what she was saying.

I have been blessed to have grown up in a Christian home where I was taught at an early age about God and shown His love through my parents. They taught me right from wrong and helped to lead me to Christ at the age of 7. I had just gotten out of the bathtub after taking a bath with my mom when she helped in leading me to Jesus in November of 1997. My mom has a great sense of humor and loving, compassionate, and forgiving heart to others.

I know I am far from perfect, but I am grateful that God picked me to be be Wendell and Marcille's daughter. I love you mom, and I hope you had a great Mother's Day!!!

Inspiration May: Day 10

Today, I am going to be posting quite a few pictures from college. A year ago today I graduated cum laude, and I am blessed to be an alum from Samford University. I was able to make friends, be apart of a great group of girls, participate in many leadership positions, and grow closer to God. It inspires me to be a better person and to further myself not only educationally, but also spiritually. Hopefully below you will see a glimpse of how this place has greatly impacted me.

This is the view of most of the campus from the President's house. As you can see, it is a beautiful campus all year long.

Here I am with the infamous Mr. Beeson statue. Mr. Beeson was one of the university presidents and donated a good bit of money to the college. He was a petite little man (the actual size of the statue). And the shoes on the statue were actually Mr. Beeson's that they bronzed.

This is Reid Chapel on campus. It is where we had our convocations and chapels. A tradition for many people before they graduate is to climb to the top of the steeple.

Centennial Walkway. These are the steps that freshman walk up on the day before classes start and the same steps they walk down the day before graduation. Right behind the steps is our library where I spent many hours studying. At the top are bells that are played every 15 minutes. During the Christmas season, the man plying them will do Christmas songs.

This is the infamous fountain. It is located between the library and and caf/food court. If you are caught jumping in it, you get in trouble with the university and receive a Values Violation. It's usually on every senior's bucket list of things to do before they graduate.

Christmas is so beautiful on campus. Lights are lit and everything is magical revolving around our Savior's birth. It is tradition to have your picture made with the huge tree on Centennial Walkway. Another bucket list tie is to crawl under and get into the tree.

Freshman year. This is the group of girls that I shared a hall, bathroom, and memories with. This picture was taken during Connections, a 3 day event for freshman to help people mingle and learn their way around campus. During Connections I made friends with our group leader, Molly Jones, and she has become a mentor to me throughout the years. I had a great group of girls around me freshman year. Trash buddies, dinner friends, soccer gals.

Here are a few pictures of the dorm I lived in my freshman year.

For my remainer 3 years, I spent them in the same room in Wesley Hall in Beeson Woods apartments on campus. Above are just a few pictures of my decor.

During my time at Samford, I was blessed to a part of a wonderful sorority: Gamma Sigma Sigma. The pictures above show a few of the good times I shared with my sisters (and later on brothers who joined lol). The first is the night of my big and little reveal where my big is behind me. The next 2 are of one if the formats we had. The last is a picture of me, my little, and my grand little.

I was equally blessed to have made great friends who I shared rooms with and even brought back to good ole rural Alabama. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture to capture every happy moment with every friend, but God was great in providing me with wonderful friendships. (Note: The picture above this is a picture of some of my friends who went through the good and bad with me in teacher education lol.)

One of my favorite memories occurred during the summer between sophomore and junior year. I was able to participate, along with 2 other sweet Samford girls, in a women's college program called the Leading Edge Institute, LEI for short. We visited poverty stricken areas, such as Selma and Marion, along with meeting state leaders in Montgomery. I was in a fantastic group of girls that I love to death! We bonded like no other group. (We secretly heard other groups were jealous of our bond!) we laughed, worked, cried, and came together to overcome obstacles. I know we have lost touch since we last saw each other in Winter of 2012, but these girls hold a very special place in my heart.

I give kudos to Samford for providing awesome opportunities to meet famous people and providing great entertainment. Above are the Hanson brothers and Dierks Bentley. (Note: Dierks Bentley hands down is the best concert I have been to, plus it was free!) Others not pictured include Joe Nichols, NeedToBreathe, Ben Rector, Avatt Brothers, and many more.

To top it all off, we have the best president. HANDS DOWN! He is a mentor to not only myself, but to all Samford students. He really gets to know us students on a personal level. It is truly because of him, and our gorgeous campus, that I chose Samford. Actually, scratch that. I didn't choose Samford. god chose Samford for me.

Inspiration May: Day 9

On day 9, I have decided to share my favorite Bible verse that inspires me.

This verse has been helpful to me over the past year as I have hit highs and lows since I have graduated college. After graduating, I was afraid of the real world and finding a job. After getting a job, I was nervous about moving away from home and living by myself on my own. Now, I am back to looking for a job again and am grateful for this verse as a reminder that God has prepared my paths before me and will be with me always. Why should I be afraid or discouraged? God is in control. Always has been and always will be. And in that, I take comfort in this verse as an inspiration in my life.

Inspiration May: Day 8

Today in Day 8 of inspiration May. I find my inspiration today no further than my backyard.

I have been blessed to grow up and live in rural Alabama most of my life. For four years, I did move off to college but still used this as a refuge to come to when I needed to relieve stress from living in the city (Birmingham) and for a few months when I had a teaching job away from home. I love calling this place home. All my worries disappear once I take a deep country air breath. I love to sit on the porch reading a good book, laying in the backyard soaking up some sun, or sitting out under the carport at night listening to the crickets chirp and lightning bugs flicker. It inspires me by having me let go of my problems and struggles and take in the beauty God has created before me.