This is the first time I have had to sit down and write. This last thursday my Papa Jack (My mother's father) passed away. I am down in Texas right now with family. The funeral is on Tuesday. My parents are not able to make the funeral due living around the world. During the service I will be reading a letter for my momma. I just want to thank you for all your prayers!

Praying Always,
Shasta

PS My move to Missouri went well. It is neat being able to reconnect with people from highschool.

"...let us run with perseverance the race marked before us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector or our faith, who for the joy before Him endured the cros, scorning the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1b-2

Jeff Foxworthy on teaching

YOU might be a school employee if....
you believe the playground should be equipped with Ritalin salt lick

...you want to slap the next person who says, 'Must be nice to work 8 to 3:30 and have summers off

...it is difficult to name your own child because there's no name you can come up with that doesn't bring high blood pressure as it is uttered

...you can tell it's a full moon or if it going to rain, snow, hail... anything!!! Without ever looking outside

...you believe, 'shallow gene pool' should have its own box on a report card

...you believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says, 'Boy, the kids sure are mellow today.'

...when out in public, you feel the urge to snap your fingers at children you do not know and correct their behavior

...you have no social life between August and June

...you think people should have a government permit before being allowed to reproduce

...you wonder how some parents MANAGED to reproduce

...you laugh uncontrollably when people refer to the staff room as the 'lounge.'

...you encourage an obnoxious parent to check into charter schools or home schooling and are willing to donate the UHAUL boxes should they decided to move out of district

...you think caffeine should be available in intravenous form

...you can't imaging how the ACLU could think that covering your students chair with Velcro and then requiring uniforms made out of the corresponding Velcro could ever be misunderstood by the public

...meeting a child's parent instantly answers the question, 'Why is this kid like this?'

...you would choose a mammogram over a parent conference

...you think someone should invent antibacterial pencils and crayons...and desks and chairs for that matter!!!

...the words 'I have college debt for this?' has ever come out of your mouth

Here

I am now here in Missouri. It took me a while to sit down and write a new blog. Strangely enough, I have discovered something that can make me an emotional female and really whiney! Take my car away or make it break down and then you see a really whiney girl! I can not stand to have no wheels especially when I start a new job but well God is good and now it is fixed.
I start work tomorrow at a daycare in Osage Beach. I am a little excited and scared. I will be working with school age children which will be helpful with teaching down the road. I guess being around people that knew me while I was going through highschool has been a big blessing. I still do not know where the Lord will be leading me but I am taking it one step at a time. I know that God will continue to be faithful,

Boxes, no more Boxes! Please!

As most of you know, I am leaving poor cold, snowy Wisconsin and moving to Missouri. I have spent the better half, well actually the last 2 days packing everything! And I am so ready not to be packing and to be settled down at the other end. I have discovered I get really messy when I pack. The most annoying thing in the world, but well I can honestly say that I do it to myself! Well, I just thought that I would drop a quick note! Back to the boxes!

Opps! Yes, I will be doing some job hunting this next week in Missouri, craziness. So please pray! Thank you so much!

El Roi

El Roi is Hebrew for "You are the God who sees." (Genesis 16:13). I was reading in my devos today about how God sees everything. HE never leaves us or abandons us. I feel that prayer is very important and is a necessity for life. But I still struggle with life and at times I feel as if I am going to drown in my circumstances. I feel as if I am going to fall apart. But EL ROI sees it all. When we go to the Lord in prayer things change our attitudes become different, there is a peace that wasn't there before. A quote that really stood out to me as I pondered:

When turmoil seems to hold full sway
And be the ruler of the day,
I'll open up my heart and find
That God with peace can ease my mind. -Hess

Prayer tunes us in with God's heart. We become more open to hearing about what God has for us and seeing things through His eyes. So when life gets all jumbled up and twisted, remember to go to the Lord in prayer. HE really does care. HE sees all and wants to help you!

College Bound!

So yesterday, I got home from work and saw a big white envelope. I noticed that the return address was the one school I applied for next fall. I had to pump myself to open it, I just kept repeating that they don't send rejection letters in packets. Or did they? So i opened the letter and was speechless. Now a day letter I am really excited! But i need to sit down and fill out some paperwork, prepare my Sunday School lesson, figure out what songs my little kids will be singing since our song leader for Sunday School is gone, pay the bills, clean my house and prepare to move. So needless to say yup I am like going into overdrive trying to figure out where to start so I am going to go take a shower. Crazy I know but it is what I need for the moment. But God is amazing in His timing even if I think it should be faster! So needless so to say I am at a cross roads in life! And God will be there for me to lean on no matter what happens!

Shasta's Song

Hey Everybody!

This is my update. It was supposed to be my Christmas newsletter but it is now March. So either it is really super late or really super early. So, here is the recap of last year. Last Spring found me looking around for my first apartment and moving into it with roommates. Learning to pay bills and be solely responsible for my finances wound up being a hard experience. I found out many things about myself. Things like I tend to shop to clear my mind or to avoid dealing with life; when I see something on sale I gravitate towards it like bees to honey; I like to eat chocolate or ice cream for dinner after a long day at work, and it is easy to go buy new clothing when all the laundry is dirty. But those were just small things. I found the more I was on my own the more I realized that God was there by my side all the way. He was providing for me in practical ways all the time as I was getting grounded in life as a responsible adult. I even found that responsibilities calm and mature a person.

This summer my father and sister lived with me. It is not exactly the easiest thing to help get a high school graduate adjusted back to America. But I found that through that experience I grew closer to my baby sister as a person. This fall I finished up the last few classes I had at Bible School and became an official graduate of New Tribes Bible Institute in December. I also decided that it would be best to follow God’s leading and apply to College of the Ozarks in Missouri. I was originally trying to go and get a degree in Communications here in snow filled Wisconsin. I figured that it would be best to go do something I was good at, talking! But through some wise words from a dear lady, “Why are you wasting something God has given you and blessed you with!?!” She was referring to teaching. I had thought that question was odd since we were looking at a photo album, but it was something I had already been struggling with in my life. So I took it to the Lord in prayer and well, I decided that I should go get a teaching degree.

Today I received an acceptance letter today from College of the Ozarks. I will be entering this Fall. I am excited yet nervous! The Lord has totally caused me to have to trust Him in every area of life. Currently, I have been filling in for a Sunday School teacher at church and enjoying ever minute of it! Did you know that colorful stars work for giving a visual for leprosy??? I walked out of class with some still on my forehead and arms. It totally helped to add to the adult image. Hehehe But seriously, I have been getting more and more involved in my church and loving every minute of it. In two months I will be moving down to Camdenton, MO and living with a dear friend until school starts in the fall.

Well I should end this letter and head to bed. I gotta get up early to drive the school bus. I have a website shastahofer.blogspot.com that you can see and check up on me. I tend to update it more frequently then I send my newsletters.

Praying Always,

Shasta

PRAISE

God has allowed me to be stretched and shaped more and more like Him.

I got into school!!!!! Hurray! I am going to go get my teaching degree! (Children of course!)

God always provides in His timing.

PRAYER REQUESTS

That all my up coming decisions in the next 2 months will go well.

I can get my debt paid off so I can start saving for school.

The Lord would provide the required finances for school and the move. He always does so it is amazing to see how it happens!

That He would continue teaching and stretching me.

THANK YOU all so much for your prayers! They are such blessings! Words can never express what they mean to me as I grow and learn.