Reminder

A Year in Review

Well folks, its graduation Sunday at my alma mater (Hope College) and several other colleges and universities in the country.  It's really cliché, but I truly can't believe it has already been a year since I left the comforts of Holland, Michigan and all of my friends to go out into the real world.  To recap:

On May 6, 2012, I graduated from Hope College with a Bachelor of Arts in Learning Disabilities.

The day after I graduated, I drove to Illinois with my mom to do a second interview at a Christian school in the area.  I left the day after feeling confident, with a guarantee from the principal that he would let me know in a few days about their decision.

Three days later, my family left for vacation in Marco Island.  It wasn't so easy to relax while waiting to hear about a job I really wanted!

On Mothers' Day, the principal called me to offer me the job!  I immediately sent out a joyous email to all of the wonderful professors who helped me get to this point.  The coveted yellow "placed" sticker that I had dreamed about since I started at Hope was put on my picture in the education department hallway!

Fast forward to August.  I packed a U-Haul full of furniture, books, clothes, kitchen supplies, and 22 years worth of memories and headed off to Chicagoland.

At the end of the month, I started the whirlwind that is known as my first year of teaching!

In November, I flew back to Ohio for the first time since I made the big move for family weekend at my brother's college.

 At last, it was Christmas break!  I spent a week in Ohio and a week in Michigan.

In March, I used one of my personal days to spend 4 days in Scottsdale, Arizona -- one of my favorite places in the world!

Over spring break, I went to Washington, D.C. with my parents to visit my brother, who spent his semester interning there with a congressman.

And now we're back to May, a year later.  I was talking to my mom on the phone a couple of days ago and she mentioned the fact that I was almost a one year alum, a thought that I have had frequently over the past couple of weeks.  "I just keep thinking of how one year ago, none of your students or your coworkers were in the picture." A year later and now these people are an incredibly important part of my life.  This conversation, of course, led me to reflect on the past year.  There's a quote that says, "If you want to make God laugh, show Him your plans." When I was younger, My plan included being married soon after graduating from college, living back in Ohio, and teaching special education at a public school.  I'm currently living 6 hours away from my family, teaching special education at a private, Christian school, and my dearest friends from college (and high school) are spread out throughout the country (from Alaska to North Carolina!).  I know God certainly has gotten quite a chuckle out of my plans in comparison to His.  Yet again, I'm reminded of God's grace and provision in my life.  While His plans did not match up with my own, I can look back and see that His plans for me were marvelous and beyond anything I could have ever imagined on my own.  This in turn allows me to believe that His plans for my future will continue to be amazing!

Francesca Battistelli has a song called "Strangely Dim", a great prompt for me to stop worrying about the unknown.  The bridge and chorus has quickly become important to me and something that I deeply desire in my walk.

I don't know, I don't know

What tomorrow may hold

But I know, but I know

That you're holding it all

So no matter what may come

I'm gonna fix my eyes on all that You are

'Til every doubt I feel

Deep in my heart

Grows strangely dim

Let all my worries fade

And fall to the ground

I'm gonna seek your face

And not look around

Til the place I'm in

Grows strangely, strangely, strangely dim.

So today, on the one year "anniversary" of my college graduation, I'm going to take these words to heart.  I'm gonna fix my eyes on all that He is because His plans for me have been good and will continue to be good (Jeremiah 29:11).  I can't wait to see what He has in store for this next year!

Go shawty, it's yo' birfday

Seriously, who doesn't love birthdays?!

Actually, I know quite a few people who don't enjoy their birthday at all.  From the time I was born, my mom (and dad) have instilled in me and my brother a rather large love for all birthdays, especially our own.  Your birthday is the day that the good Lord decided to bless this world with your presence -- why not celebrate?  My mom always decorates the entire house with personalized birthday posters, streamers in my favorite colors, and a delicious (and beautiful) cake/cheesecake.

My own birthday was this past Tuesday.  It was my first birthday out in the real world, which honestly made me feel a bit anxious.  I was blessed to be able to spend the weekend before in Ohio with my parents, partly to celebrate my birthday early.  While I was there, I opened my presents, ate as much delicious cheesecake as I could handle, and ate my favorite foods.

On Sunday, I woke up to my entire house decorated with red, white, and blue streamers (because I'm a Patriot :)) and several personalized posters.  Please keep in mind that I was leaving to head back to Chicago in the early afternoon.

                

                                                         
As if this wasn't enough, my mom also put together a little "birthday kit" to take back to Chicago to use on Tuesday.  It included:

A pajama shirt to wear on the eve of my birth.

A birthday crown and some chocolate chips
to add to my eggo waffles in the morning.

A cupcake and candle to put in my lunch.

Streamers to hang outside of my room.

 Needless to say, I used the entire kit and documented it via instagram.
                                              

Basically, my parents are the greatest.  I am beyond thankful for them every day.  They are the best earthly, physical representation of God's unconditional love, or agape, that I know.  They willfully love me without ever really expecting anything in return. My birthday is just one day a year that this love is super apparent, but their support and love is available to me (and others) every day.  They have been nothing but encouraging and giving my entire life and I have no doubt that this will continue throughout my adult life.  Everyone deserves to have an earthly representation of God's love and it is my prayer that we continually recognize those people in our lives and to never take their presence for granted.  When you figure out who those people are for you, let them know and thank them!

classroom encouragement

My students are busy taking the Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) this week.  I had planned all last week to make something cute to encourage my students to do their best.  Unfortunately, my scatterbrained mind totally forgot about that idea until Sunday night around 9:15 when I was talking to my mom on the phone.  A quick Pinterest search led me to this:

I, of course, wanted to make it my own.  45 minutes later, I was printing these bad boys out (and adding the extra gum):

Classic Katelyn -- having brilliant flashes late (for me!) at night.

Believe it or not, I really think it helped my students to keep up their positive attitude throughout the week.  The snow day on Tuesday probably helped them out too. :)

strive to be happy.

One of my favorite authors, Shauna Niequist, posted this on her blog last summer.  Sidebar, if you have never read her two [soon to be three!] books, I highly recommend that you head to Amazon and pick up a copy of each.  Here: I'll even give you the links: Cold Tangerines and Bittersweet.  Her newest book, Bread and Wine, comes out April 9, and though I have not read it, I can guarantee it will be amazing.  Her musings and wisdom about life are incredibly relatable; I am sure this will not be the only time I reference her work on this blog.  I often feel like her words describe my soul, which is comforting to know that there is someone else in this world who feels the same about a myriad of topics.  

Back to the poem.  After I read it, I immediately copied the poem onto a "sticky" on my computer home screen.  There is so much truth in this poem, and different parts of it have been an encouragement to me over the past year.  I am now sharing it here so that it can encourage you!

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender

be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others,

even the dull and the ignorant;

they too have their story. 

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,

they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain and bitter;

for always there will be greater and lesser

persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. 

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;

it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs;

for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;

many persons strive for high ideals;

and everywhere life is full of heroism. 

Be yourself.

Especially, do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love;

for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment

it is as perennial as the grass. 

Take kindly the counsel of the years,

gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,

be gentle with yourself. 

You are a child of the universe,

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. 

Therefore be at peace with God,

whatever you conceive Him to be,

and whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. 

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy. 

Max Ehrmann, 1927.

Introductions

There's me!  Picture taken by my lovely RA sophomore year of college.

By way of introductions, I’m Katelyn. I am a special education teacher to some of the funniest and sweetest kids on the planet in the Chicago area. I’ve dreamed of being a teacher since I first attended school in kindergarten and even after 7 months on the job, it still feels surreal that I am living out a lifelong dream. Another lifelong dream was to become a mermaid, fueled by The Little Mermaid when I was younger. Obviously that dream didn’t pan out, but I did recently take the redhead plunge with a little help from my mama and the nice ladies from Sally Beauty Supply. Speaking of my mom, I inherited the birthday gene from her, which means I absolutely LOVE birthdays – anyone’s birthday, but especially my own. There is a whole day that can be devoted to celebrating the fact that God decided to place you on this earth! My family means the world to me and I feel so blessed that they are a part of my life. My brother and I enjoy becoming obsessed with different TV series – it’s the way we bond. My two favorite colors are blue and pink – very cliché. To be more specific, I love the colors light cornflower blue and hot pink. My favorite animals are monkeys, dolphins, and owls. A dear friend visited my apartment and declared that instead of becoming a crazy cat lady, I might become a crazy owl lady. Owls are all OVER my apartment and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I can find a quote/Bible verse/song lyric to fit basically any situation a friend or I might face.

I’m still not sure what this blog is going to be about specifically, which, if you know me, you know this goes against every fiber of my being. I’m a planner, (I make at least 3 ‘to-do lists’ daily), I’m an organizer … basically I’m a great combination of perfectionist and control freak. I rarely do anything quickly or sloppily; I take my time to ensure that my work appears “perfect.” Despite all of this supposed control over most everything, I still slip up. I still make mistakes and I still hurt people’s feelings. I am nothing without the grace given by my Lord Jesus. Thus, the title of this blog was born. Grace is my anchor in life; because of grace, I am able to stay close to my God. Because of Jesus and grace, God sees me as I wish everyone could: perfect, blameless, and precious in His sight.

So what will this blog be about? If I had to say right now, I would guess a myriad of things: teaching, faith, crafting, organizing, and the day-to-day life of a twenty-something in the post-graduate portion of her life. This blog will provide me with the opportunity to face my greatest fear: imperfection.