Creating Margin in my Life

This has been the most overwhelming & stressful school year yet! I just can't seem to get a grip on my work & feel "caught up." There's more paperwork & more meetings than ever before and I've just had a hard time getting orgainzed...this isn't like me. I'm always "on top" of my job and I always have a plan...nope, not this year.

I am always stressed...which is not good for me. The picture above says it all...:) Matt & I have been trying to figure out how to create more margin in my life...I just haven't had time to do anything that is not school related lately, with the exception of going to watch my brother play football on a Friday night in Kannapolis. Obviously, I can't quit my job & I can't quit the meetings...so I've got some praying to do. Please pray with me for some relief, some margin, & some stinkin organization. I would really like to feel "on top of things" and not like I am drowning in work.

Something to Look Forward to...

It has become our family tradition that we go see some kind of play around Christmas. I love any musical or ballet and love to go see a show anytime I get the chance. I'm not really sure how Matt feels about it, but he always seems to want to go. If he doesn't like it, he puts on a good face anyway. We've seen South Pacific, the Nutcracker, & A Christmas Carol. This year, we're going to forgo our traditional December performance for...

THE LION KING!!!

Matt was able to get tickets for us yesterday afternoon to see The Lion King at the DPAC in January. I have wanted to see this show since it came out probably 10 years ago. It was my dream to see it on Broadway in NYC...maybe one day I'll be able to check NYC off my list, but for now I'll settle for seeing it at the DPAC.

Fall!!!

It's been almost another month of NO blog posts...really Magan? Geez...I've just had a hard time adjusting back to school life & we've had a lot going on. No one at school feels organized OR on top of things...we're all just taking it 1 day at a time. Anyway...I did not intend on talking about school in this post.

The weather has been atrocious! 95 at the end of September...and miserable. BUT the weatherman says the temperature will be dropping soon, at least it will be in the 70s, lower 80s. Not quite fall sweater weather...but at least it's a start. I'm longing for some pumpkin spice, apple fritter, & cute fall sweater days.

This picture makes me think of my ASU days & how beautiful Boone is in the fall. This morning I'll settle for this...
and pumpkin spice candles. I can't wait for fall mums, pumpkins on the front porch & cooler weather!

Whoa! A Month?

It's been a month since I blogged last, but it has been a whirlwind of a month. Since then...
I've started back to school

We've moved into our new space at church

Been to Kannapolis for a few football games

Spent time with both sides of our family

Decorated my house for fall

Celebrated 3 friends engagements

and

SO

MUCH

MORE!

Needless to say, I haven't had time for blogging on this site, nor have we had time to update our Matt & Magan site. (It hasn't been updated since June...)

God's been teaching me about simplifying my life recently. Focusing more on him & his will than on material things & my life. I spend so much time on facebook and things that don't really matter than I do reflecting, reading & worshiping. This fall I want to shift my focus a little bit. Pray for me, hopefully I'll spend more time reflecting on the things that matter than wasting my time on things that really don't matter. I look forward to taking more time to rest & reflect on his work, my family, and building relationships. I'm not good at goal setting, because I'm a creature of habit...this is going to be a HUGE challenge for me, but I really feel led to make this change.

Summer is Almost Over

Can you believe it!? Summer is almost over, well for teachers & students that is. I go back to work on Tuesday and students come back the next week. There is a lot to be done to get my classroom ready for kids, but I'm putting that work on hold for a few more days...

I'm about to take advantage of summer over the next few days...Kannapolis, beach, and spending as much time as I can with Matt. We have an exciting weekend ahead at Journey with the opening of our new space as well.

I promise I'll be posting some pictures of the fun to be had between today and Monday...and an NCCAT post in there as well!

Just Thinking This Morning...

Tonight I was getting some things ready for a presentation I have to do tomorrow on a successful lesson I use. I didn't get a chance to use the lesson I'm presenting tomorrow last year because of certain circumstances. When watching over the example I'm going to share, I thought of this original post from last August....I thought I would share again. These kids are now sophomores in high school, but I still miss them and they hold a special place in my heart!

8.08.2009

Just Thinking This Morning...

We have a lot going on today...Matt is at a men's breakfast at church, I'm cleaning the house, got to go to the grocery store, and then head to Sanford this afternoon for Matt's cousin, Brandi's, wedding. While I was cleaning this morning I was thinking about my students from last year. It was a challenging year because I taught Language Arts and Social Studies, but I had the best group of kids. Yesterday I found out that the students (at the school that I was at last year) scored the 4th highest EOG scores of 30 middle schools in the county, with 90%! We were an honor school of excellence and we met our growth. Now to a lot of you, this means nothing, but to me it means a lot. I am so proud of the achievement of the students I worked with last year. I will miss them tremendously and they will always be a special group.

Below is a video of a Social Studies project they did the last week of school about the 1950s-2000s.

My "Kids" and Their Music Videos from Magan Seagroves Keith on Vimeo.

Posted by Magan Keith at 9:27 AM

NCCAT

So...I'm here. I've made it to NCCAT, the week I've been waiting for since March. For those of you that don't have a clue what I'm talking about...I was accepted to attend a teaching "academy" at Ocracoke Island for a week. This is an all expense paid trip...food, lodging, materials, you name it. I'm super excited to be here and my first day was amazing! I am so excited to meet other teachers from North Carolina and share experiences.

I decided this evening that I'm going to make this trip more than just a time of renewal and preparation for the school year...academically. I want to allow the Lord to work on me this week as well. We have a lot of down time and of course I want to network with other teachers and explore the island...but I really want to spend a lot of time with the Lord as well. I have my own room and I brought my bible, journal and book along with me. I really want to allow God to prepare me for this mission I'm about to embark on...a new school year. If you know the situation of last year, you know that I was super close to quitting teaching all together. The Lord has really worked on me and completely changed my outlook on my job. I really believe that I am at Wendell Middle School to be used by him.

Please pray for me this week. Pray for a few things...first of all, and this is huge to me...I'm not scared to admit. I'm away from Matt with no cell phone signal. The devil could really use this as a distraction for me. I can't just text or call whenever I want. We have to plan to talk at certain times and it has to be limited. Pray that this is not a distraction and that when Matt and I do get to talk it's fruitful. Pray that I can learn a lot to take back to my classroom and also that the Lord will renew me and continue to give me the mindset and strength that he has for me. Pray that I do not miss opportunities this week to learn and grow in him. Also pray that I can share his love with the teachers here.

Pray for Matt. He is working hard this week to prepare the new space for our church so that we can begin services there on August 15th. Pray that he and the team can safely get the new space set up and with no major problems. Also pray for their energy. (They have A LOT TO DO)

I can't wait to share lots of pictures, stories, and probably even future posts very soon. Love you all!