Jesus is everywhere!

So I have been having problems with my brakes on my car for over 6 months now. I took my car to Brake Check, this brake place in Houston, near my school in December to get new pads and whatever else they felt like I needed. Apparently I needed a system overhaul because I ended up dropping $450 on new brake stuff. Well one month into my new brakes I began to get this different screeching sound from my back brakes. I eventually had enough time to go take them back in because they give you a lifetime warranty on all parts they install. I was basically told that the reason they screeched was my fault and that I needed to be more careful in how I braked. Nonetheless, they "fixed" my brakes and changed my oil and sent me on my way with $70 more dollars of mine. Well of course the exact same noise came back even though I did what they told me to do to make sure it does not happen again. As you can imagine I was not very happy about this. I do not really like, nor do I think many people do, taking my car in to get it fixed because I practically know nothing about cars. So today I decided that I had the time to take my car back in to Brake Check for a third time. I made sure I went to a very different location because I did not feel like the guys at the first location were being very honest. So I went to the location near my place right next to Ella on 610. Lately I have been trying to remember to pray before I go into any situation because I have been proven time and time again that prayers are answered. I prayed in my car on the way to this Brake Check that I would get an honest person and that things would work out smoothly. WELL! GUESS WHAT!?! Of course God answered that prayer pretty quickly. I went into the front office and noticed that the guy was a Christian by a ring he had on and a couple of things he had on the back wall. I was silently excited! I had just bought the book "Jesus for President" by Shane Claiborne and also had a Bible commentary with me because I was expecting to leave my car there and be brought home. Well after starting my story about my car and what has happened to it the guy noticed my books and we lightly talked about how it was nice to be dealing with like minded individuals. Ends up that he just bought his wife the same ring I got Danielle for our 1 year anniversary from the same place too! It was neat. Anyways I feel like he is going to take real good care of me and my business at this Brake Check location. Very excited that God answers our prayers all the time. I am blessed to have recognized it and recorded it for future reference. Jesus really is everywhere, even in your local car shop.

Peace,
Michael

First Day Back

I got a lot accomplished this weekend after coming back from Ohio. I cleaned up my place, went to the doctor, unpacked, read some, got my passport photos and application filled out, got groceries, a haircut, and I even went to school on Saturday and cleaned up my classroom so I would be ready for the students to come back. The one thing that I really didn't do was plan my lessons for today. For some reason whenever I try and plan the way I am going to teach I rack my brain about how there is something wrong with each and every one of my ideas and that I won't be able to accomplish it. I am pretty good at psyching myself out. I really need to listen to that saying that goes "Let go and let God". I'm am trying to do this. Hopefully the stubbornness in me will be broken down so that I can fully trust God to guide me. I know he is guiding me because I definitely would not have ended up here if I were after my own desires. What the problem is, is that I am resisting by thinking that I can control everything with my perfectionism. Anyways today was pretty good and I still have to plan for tomorrow but I am going to another teacher's place to watch Ohio State kick some LSU butt. Or so I hope so.

Peace,
Michael

Back to School

It is time to go back to school and begin teaching Algebra and Geometry again. Both classes are still new to me because they are just a continuation of the material I have already taught. I feel like I did the whole first semester. I ask myself "How am I going to do this?" Whenever I begin to think about the material I have to teach I get anxious about it all and in a way just fall apart and want to escape the worry by doing something easier and definitely more fun. I am looking forward to the day where I can think about how I taught something before and alter my lesson based on what I learned. Nonetheless, I will get through today and have something for my students to learn or more likely review tomorrow. God has to be my strength and my provider in my life. I know I must trust Him for all comfort, peace, and guidance.

On a somewhat happier note I had a fantastic 2 week break away from school. I went back to Ohio and visited friends and family. It was extremely good to see everyone and also good to see that I can still interact fine with my college friends even though we have been separated for about 6 months. That was the longest I have been away from Ohio in one shot. When I came to Houston for co-op during college I was actually only gone for closer to 5 months.

In Ohio, I was able to balance my time with family, friends, and Danielle. What was really nice is that most of the time when I was hanging out with my family and friends, Danielle was with me too so I was happy to have them get to know Danielle better and vice-versa. I came home on Saturday the 22nd and enjoyed time with my family for 5 days. During that time Danielle was able to meet my extended family on Christmas Eve and I was able to meet one side of hers on Christmas. Both went really well. At Danielle's family's get together we were introduced to the game "Rock Band". This was a really fun game where you get to play the guitar, drums, sing, and bass all at one time. The only thing we were missing was the bass but we had 3 people rocking out to each song. Once we finally got the microphone to work Danielle's family urged me on to be the VERY first one to sing. It was the song by Weezer called "Say it ain't so". It was fun and I think I really impressed them by having the courage to do it in front of a bunch of people I just met, especially since they were Danielle's family. Well Danielle and I decided that we should get this so that we could play with others in Houston when she comes and have something else social to do other than going out to eat and watching a movie. Last night I ordered a used XBox 360 with many extras on Ebay and the Rock Band game on Amazon. Everywhere else I looked it was sold out but for some reason Amazon had quite a few in stock and were selling many used ones too. I just hope and pray that both the XBox and game work without a hitch.

Overall I had a GREAT break and am really glad I got to see everyone back home. I look forward to coming back from March 14 - 24. Pray for me that I will be able to give my best to my students and give them all the opportunities I can possibly give.

I love you all and I truly mean that!

Peace,
Michael