Is that smoke coming out of my ears??

The wheels are turning and the thoughts are flying, that's for sure. I am preparing to give my first ever, all in Spanish mind you, Thursday night ladies' Bible study. That's tomorrow night, in case you forgot what day it is. Yikes!!

The good news is that I do not have to write my own lesson and try to speak freely in Spanish {this time}. Our pastor and pastor's wife are out of town teaching at an institute this week, giving Matt and I the opportunity to step in and practice/teach. Hubby has done this before and has the much harder job of doing it all "from scratch". You really do feel like smoke comes out of your ears then!

Thankfully, for me our pastor's wife has been using a book (Lies Women Believe: And the Truth that Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss) and going through chapter by chapter with a fill in the blank work sheet. I just have to study the notes and read through them with the ladies, making sure to give them the words to fill in and adding my own examples and thoughts as we go. Wheeewww!! That's intimidating enough for me, especially for my first time!

By the way, this is an excellent book, and I highly recommend it. No matter what stage of your life that you are at, you are sure to be "caught" believing one (or probably many) of these lies that Satan has so skillfully incorporated into "normal" thinking. Thank the Lord, we have the wonderful Truths found in His Word to set us free and transform and renew our minds! It is good, convicting stuff and something I will most likely need to hit the reset button on by reading it over again and again, lest I fall back into the devil's sneaky traps!

**Note: I do not own the book myself at this point, therefore I am not sure if the verses are KJV only nor if I agree with everything in the book. I am not saying that I am in complete and total agreement with the findings in the book or the beliefs of the author. However, I can say that it has definitely been a helpful tool in pointing out some areas in my life that need some work. Everything that I have heard in our Bible study is very Biblically sound and thought provoking!

So, between studying for class tomorrow {your prayers are MUCH appreciated!}, trying to put some thoughts together about a very interesting book I just read (more coming soon on this), reading up on Abraham Lincoln quotes (really good stuff!) I have had/ still have a few other things on my agenda, too.

Such as:

Wipe 2 kids non-stop runny noses

Attempt to make meals--1 epic fail {frown}, 1 yummy pot of chili {smile and tummy full of warm goodness}

Homeschool planning {scary} --reading, searching the 'net for info., curriculum, ideas, etc.
Thinking--"My kid can't really be old enough to start school!?!" and "Once I start down this homeschooling path I will be on it for the next 20 years {at least!} !!!" followed by "I am so not ready for this!" {And the kicker is I went to college for teaching elementary ed.--ha! Still a scary feeling to know that your kids' education rests solely in your hands, although it really does for every parent, whether you teach them yourself or not!!)

Making invitations for our monthly ladies' mtg.

Bulletin boards (those always seem to need to be changed again, don't they?!)

Sunday School Lesson--What am I teaching about again?

Planning for Clara's 4th birthday next month--actually I am still in denial! {j/k, sort of}

Oh yeah, and to top it off, we are starting up classes again soon, possibly next week. It will only be for 3 hours a week, but still....ugh! Aren't I supposed to be teaching school, not in school?

Time to rearrange our schedule again and see if we can make this work...hmmm....

Just to name a few...

As missionaries we always have to be looking down the road, not just a few weeks or months, but to the next year or two. Planning for furlough, saving for plane tickets, deciding where to start our own church, what funds/supplies we will need to get started, what things we need to bring back from the states, when to go to the states and for how long, writing prayer letters, scheduling meetings...

So, yep, that's definitely some smoke I see coming out of my ears... I guess I have a good reason for it, or 2 {3, 14, 79} ha! Don't misunderstand, I am not stressing out or complaining, just sayin' that there's a lot going on in the old noggin', and sometimes it overheats a bit. Do you ever feel like this? What wife and mom doesn't.

I'll be back soon to let you know how Bible study, among other things on my list, are going...