the.turley.family

The title of this post may be slightly misleading. It evokes a certain curiosity in anyone who may be reading. They may think they're going to get some riveting story about some major event in my life, but alas I may disappoint. I decided to title this one "what has happened to me?!" because I feel like I'm changing SO much! Change is good.  Some things don't change though. I'd still like to present this mostly with pictures. Yesterday, I bought some Gerber Daisies from Warren East High School's horticulture class for $1. I figure this is an investment I can make with some confidence because if I kill it I've only lost a few dollars in what it took to get me started. One of said investments was a Disney Princess gardening tool. It made the experience of planting my first flower that much better. The finished product at least until the flowers bud.  Not only am I trying my hand at planting flowers, I also tried my first loaf of ho...

Wednesday, April 24, 2013 Tonight has been one of the most draining nights I can recall having in a long time if ever I have even had a night more taxing than this. I will not share too many details because they're not all my details to share, but I do have a few things to say about my gratitude and the sovereignty of God and the fact that those two things are so intricately tied together that it causes me to be speechless.  Typical day. Matt and I both went to work, talked after work before I taught my class at WKU, had a very good, typical conversation and went about our afternoon routines - or so I thought. I came home around 5:30 pm and knew that I would likely not see Matt until I got to church this evening because when we had spoken on the phone earlier he had said he may need to go straight to church because he had a meeting with a few guys about an upcoming camping trip. So, I took my time at home because I was exhausted, headed toward church around 6:45 and when I arr...

It's April 3, 2013 and I was skimming through the blog when I came across my post titled ' 13 things for 2013 '. Ouch. A little convicting and/or guilt provoking, ha! Makes me ask myself, what have I actually kept to in terms of these commitments? Let's see.... Read.  It was my intention to read through the Bible chronologically. As of month 4, I cannot say that is going well. Actually, that is not going at all. Like I said, ouch . Pray.  I do feel that I've been more intentional about my prayers, when I pray. I do hope to grow in my prayer life by praying more Scripture instead of praying for circumstantial things. This desire has come from the Lord using different Godly men and women in my life to discuss this with. It's been a great lesson. Slow down.  Um, can you say  double ouch ? Ugh.  Invest.  I think investing in the lives of students in a one-on-one way is happening, but not nearly as often as I'd like. Different opportunities to spend time ...

I'm currently reading through a book called "What Did You Expect?" by Paul David Tripp, which is all about marriage - our expectations versus the realities of this beautiful thing God has given us. The book is kicking my butt (and I love it!). The Lord is working on me. The other aspect to reading this book that I'm absolutely loving is that each Wednesday night I get to join with a handful of other women who are each in different stages of life, but who are all seeking to seek the Lord in their marriages. We've come together each week to discuss what we've read and it has been most beneficial. These ladies are rockstars! I love listening to their opinions, their triumphs, their struggles, and the consistent theme of their heart wanting to love the Lord and love their husbands (or husbands to-be or even future husband currently unknown) well. The book is broken up into several different commitments, which read as follows: We will give ourselves to a reg...

In 2011 I read a book by Beth Moore called So Long Insecurity and through it God transformed the way I view myself and the amount of insecurity present in my life. Don't get me wrong, insecurity rears its ugly head often (just ask my husband!), but much less often than before I read the book and allowed God to get ahold of me. This post is about His faithfulness to remind me where my worth is found and more specifically where my beauty is found. Please don't read this and feel the need to feel sorry for me or to feel the need to admonish my looks. God is taking care of that in His own way :) Earlier this week a student at the middle school I work in said something quite rude about me...my physical appearance to be more specific. I'm sad to say that I let it cut a little deeper than I would have ever thought or ever wanted. This little 7th grader had just straight up hurt my feelings and made me question myself. I felt my face get warm and I knew if I didn't watch it ...

This morning I returned to work after a long weekend and it was also the first day of my earlier schedule (only 15 minutes earlier, but still!). So while I did get up on time and made it out the door on time it was not the smoothest of mornings. The alarm buzzed probably 10 times before either me or Matt got out of bed, I couldn't find anything to wear, and then I ran out the door with Matt's lunch! I pack lunch for us both every morning and this morning even after pointing out that his was on the table and mine was on the counter I grabbed his lunch on accident as I was rushing to the door. I didn't even realize it until in my transition from one school to another I saw I had a text from my husband that just said 'lunch stealer!'. Sure enough, when I got back in my car I quickly saw that he was correct in his accusation and that I had left with his lunch this morning instead of my own. So, why do I even find this blog worthy (as if anything really is or isn'...

Since I finally finished the post I wanted to write about what happened in the year 2012 I decided I also wanted to think ahead to 2013. We're a few days in and so far so good on some of the things I'd like to do, but I think having it written down (or typed) somewhere will be a useful reminder.  Obviously, some these things listed below are more important than others, but in no particular order these are the things I hope to accomplish during 2013... Read. It is my goal (and plan) to read through the Bible (I'm currently using a chronological plan provided by our church. If you're interested in a reading plan please comment on this post and I'd be happy to pass along some options. Our church provided several this year.) Pray. Be more intentional in my prayer life. I want to be consistent and another goal is that when I say to someone I will pray for something that I will follow through and devote time in prayer to that situation on their behalf. (Just afte...