The past three weeks have been long and exhausting....don't misunderstand, I love being with the kids, and helping them with their Paces...I love the tutoring after school and my boys who come to my house for homework and food....and offering my help on the weekends - but the past three weeks we have been working on school 7 days a week....some very late nights with different kids trying to finish up their goals....

This weekend I was asking my friends and family to pray for me as I just felt empty and exhausted and wondering how I could have anything left to give the kids....

This morning I got up to get ready for school and I got on my knees and prayed and cried and all I could say was "God, help me!".....I was wondering how I could survive another day, feeling physically and emotionally exhausted.

I thought of the cards that I have from my sister.....she always gives me cards to open when I need a touch from home....some of them say "open when you are having a hard day"...or "open any day"...."open when you need a laugh".... I love having them for holidays and for days like today!

I picked one and opened it up...it was a card with this verse on the front..."May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him." Romans 15:13

WOW I needed that!  I immediately opened my Bible to read the verse...and read the whole chapter....I felt energized and renewed!  God knew the word I needed....and He knew I would need it back when my sister wrote this card for me, this card for me to open when I was "having a hard day".

I got to school with a smile and skip in my step!  I immediately went and wrote this verse on the whiteboard in the Learning Center.  I was even able to share with some of my students where my energy and excitement was coming from today....from God...from the Joy that He filled me with this morning!

I love my life...I love what I get to do... I love that God knows what I need and provides it exactly when I need it!  Thank you God for filling me up with Joy!!!

I am thankful for my sister who always thinks of me and spends her time preparing these cards for me to have throughout the year.  There have been so many times this year when I have opened a card from someone and the note from them has touched me with the word I have needed right at that moment!  Thank you to everyone who has sent cards for me...Diane, Bonnell, Stacy and Elaine.... and for all you who have been praying for me this year.

The Joy of the Lord is your Strength!  Nehemiah 8:10

That verse has sort of been my theme this year.  Not that I have had joy every day...there are many days that I have let the fatigue and circumstances of the kids and the devil get me down and steal my joy...but thankfully the Lord has reminded me each time where my Joy comes from!  HIM!

Today I decided to get out some of my Christmas decorations.  I know, it isn't Thanksgiving yet, but in Honduras there isn't a Thanksgiving holiday, which means I can decorate early!  WOO HOO!!  I love Christmas and I love the decorations and lights!  

This evening while taking home a couple of my kids who had been at my house doing homework, we saw some Christmas lights on a building, which made me want to come home and get out the tree.  I didn't have the energy for all that, but when I opened my drawer to pull out some Christmas decorations I found this JOY ornament! 

I was so excited when I saw this ornament!  I had bought a few new decorations while in Texas last year, at an after Christmas sale.  God knew last December when I was shopping what this year would hold, and that this verse from Nehemiah would become my life-line this year!  A few decorations are out, and this JOY is sitting on a shelf in my kitchen so I can see it all the time! 

I think it will stay out all year....JOY is something God is ready to give us through every situation all year long!