100th post!

Raise your glasses! Cheers my friends.  I have reached 100 posts today!

In celebration, I have decided to move my bloggy blog over to Wordpress.  Eek, sorry blogspot.  You have been a great beginner blog, but it is just time to move on.  I am a huge fan of google products: Google Chrome, Gmail, Blogspot... but the formating tools of blogspot are driving me nuts.  So, to Wordpress we go!

the address for my new blog is: http://kfboden.wordpress.com/

bookmark it, save it, love it, cherish it, etc.

I'll leave you with some last pictures before we make the big move!

my favorite mama

my favorite little girlies!

my new favorite place to buy coffee and other treats :)

my favorite memories from this summer

bye!! See you all over at Wordpress

Letting Go of My Elijah

"And Elisha saw him no more." 2 Kings 2:12

In my Utmost this morning I read about the idea of "letting go of your Elijah."  A Theme from 2 Kings when Elisha must separate from Elijah.  It was okay to depend on him for as long as God gave him, but there came a time that Elijah had to go.  Several times Elisha says "I cannot go on without Elijah."  But God says that we must go on.

God gives us things for a season.  Sometimes for a long season, sometimes for just a short time.  Today's Utmost  certainly hit me this morning as certain seasons are coming to an end.  The biggest security for me has been Crusade and my Crusade family.  This has, in a sense, been my Elijah.  It has been my guide, my leader, my security blanket.  But now after 6 years of growing up in the Crusade family, I'm quickly learning that I must "go on!" I am so grateful for all that I have learned over the past six years through all the Crusade conferences, Bible studies, discipleship appointments, weekly meetings, etc.

Chambers writes, "No one can take the responsibility for you.  You have to put to the test now what you learned when you were with your Elijah.  You are now up against it alone.  It is no use saying you cannot go on; this experience has come, and you must go.   


No one can take the responsibility for you.

I like how Michael Frey, my OCMD director, put it.  He calls summer project a launching pad to the rest of your life and walk with Jesus.  I see my time with Crusade as my launching pad.   It has set me up for a "life long adventure." (yeah Crusade!) Not only am I ready to be launched, but I am being forced to launch:  to walk with God closely or not.  Ultimately it's up to me.

My prayer is not only for me, but also for all the other graduates of college/campus crusade.  There is so  much growth that happens in the 4-5 years in college.  I have seen way too many people fall away from their faith after college because of the world beckoning and enticing with nice things.   May we all learn to let go of our Elijahs and become self-feeders on the Word of God!

Cait loves Danish

This weekend I had the honor to see one of my great friends from high school get married to the love of her life, Danish!  The ceremony was held in a beautiful little white church with a steeple.  The intimacy of the church was perfect and the ceremony was exactly how I'd imagined it would be for them.  Cait looked beautiful and Danish teared up as he read his vows.  Both had a great mixture of seriousness AND humor... I couldn't imagine it any other way.

The reception was held at a hotel on the Navasink River, so the ballroom had great big windows that over looked the water.  Great food, a live band, and dancing filled the night!  

Congratulations Danish & Caitlin!

I am so happy for you both.

99 things

99 things

Saw this over at my friend Chelsy's blog, and thought it looked fun! So here it goes! 

BOLD are the things I have done, italics are the things I would love to do someday!

1. start your own blog
2. slept under the stars
3. played in a band
4. visited Hawaii
5. watched a meteor shower
6. given more to charity than you could afford to
7. been to Disney
8. climbed a mountain
9. held a praying mantis
10. sung a solo (eek. 4th grade?)
11. bungee jumped
12. visited Paris
13. watched a thunder and lightning storm
14. taught yourself an art from scratch
15. adopted a child
16. had food poisoning
17. walked to the top of the statue of liberty
18. grown your own vegetables
19. seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. slept on an overnight train
21. had a pillow fight
22. hitch hiked
23. taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. built a snow fort
25. held a lamb
26. gone skinny dipping
27. run a marathon
28. ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. seen a total eclipse
30. watched a sunrise or sunset
31. hit a home run
32. been on a cruise
33. seen Niagara falls in person
34. visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. seen an Amish community
36. taught yourself a new language
37. had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. seen the leaning tower of Pisa in person
39. gone rock climbing 
40. seen Michelangelo’s David in person
41. sung karaoke
42. seen old faithful erupt
43. bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. visited Africa
45. walked on a beach by moonlight
46. been transported in an ambulance
47. had your portrait painted (drawn..does that count?)
48. gone deep sea fishing
49. seen the Sistine chapel in person
50. been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. kissed in the rain
53. played in the mud
54. gone to a drive-in theater
55. been in a movie
56. visited the great wall of china
57. started a business
58. taken a martial arts class
59. visited Russia
60. served at a soup kitchen
61. sold girl scout cookies
62. gone whale watching
63. gotten flowers for no reason
64. donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. been sky diving
66. visited a concentration camp
67. bounced a check
68. flown in a helicopter
69. saved a favorite childhood toy
70. visited the Lincoln memorial
71. eaten caviar
72. pieced a quilt
73. stood in times square
74. toured the everglades
75. been fired from a job
76. seen the changing of the guard in London
77. broken a bone
78. been a passenger on a motorcycle
79. seen the grand canyon in person
80. published (in) a book
81. visited the Vatican
82. bought a brand new car
83. walked in Jerusalem
84. had your picture in the newspaper
85. kissed a stranger at midnight on new year’s eve
86. visited the white house
87. killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. had chickenpox
89. saved someone’s life
90. sat on a jury
91. met someone famous
92. joined a book club
93. gotten a tattoo
94. had a baby
95. seen the Alamo in person
96. swam in the great salt lake
97. been involved in a law suit
98. owned a cell phone
99. been stung by a bee

Good servers know their menu...

...and that is what I am trying to do.  Ruby's has tons of menu items and I am trying so hard to keep them all straight.  Here are my attempts to organize the menu... if I can organize it.. maybe I'll be easier to remember.

Appetizers, quesadillas, combinations, salads...

all burgers and sandwiches come with endless friends..

must remember...must remember..

when in doubt... refer to little cheat sheet.. ;)

It has been a good first week or so.  I am done training!! Hurray! Tonight I had 2 tables of my own at a time. Really feeling more confident by the end of today.  I only screwed up one order today: the woman ordered buffalo shrimp quesadilla... not just buffallo shrimp.. woops!  Still learning the buttons while I input orders. :)

reunited!

I got a special visit to today from a few really special girls.  My Hampton Beach girls!  I spent the summer with these girls in 2008 and it was so great to have 3 of the 4 of them here in Hampton Roads :)

We relaxed, and chatted, ate, and chatted, took a few pictures, and chatted some more.  :)

They also came to my new classroom with me and helped me laminate and punch out letters for a bulletin board that I was dreading to do on my own. Many hands make light work!

here is OUR masterpiece :)

and some frames for the faces. 

Sara, me, Lindsay, and Kristin

we missed sweet Bethany who is in Florida!

I just love these girls and hearing where life has taken then over the past year and how they've learned about God's faithfulness and goodness. That road of life is messy and bumpy but that Christ is the ultimate anchor of our souls.  Oh, sisterhood in Christ...there is nothing like it!

Gospel Centered...bible

That last post reminded me of my new favorite purchase: The Jesus Storybook Bible.

I love the subtitle:  

Every story whispers His name

Seriously, every story in here, Old Testament and New, ends with with a gospel-centered approach.  Each story points to Christ and God's ultimate plan.  For example in the story of Jonah, the last few sentences say:

The people of Nineveh listen to Jonah, and they started loving God.  They learned to do what God said and to stop running away from him -- just like Jonah.  

Many years later, God was going to send another Messenger with the same wonderful message.  Like Jonah, he would spend three nights in utter darkness.  

But this Messenger would be God's own Son.  He would be called "The Word" because he himself would be God's Message.  God's Message translated into their own language.  Everything God wanted to say to the whole world -- in a Person.

Buy this for your current or future children! :)

Gospel Centered...life.

A sweet friend sent me an article entitled "Gospel-Centered Children's Curriculum" by Yancy Arrington.  It takes a look at moral-based teaching vs. Gospel-Centered Teaching.  This is a great article for anyone who teaches the Word of God (at any level) and wants to get to the heart of the scripture and into the heart of the student. 

Here are a few of my favorite excerpts: 

"What does gospel-centered curriculum look like? Simply put, gospel-centered curriculum is material which demonstrates how the entire Scripture ultimately highlights the beauty, worth, centrality and supremacy of God’s saving action in Jesus’ Person and Work. It reveals how Jesus is the ultimate end of every story, every book and every letter of Scripture. Gospel-centered curriculum takes seriously the approach Jesus took to the Bible when he demonstrated to his disciples in Luke 24:14, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” In Jesus’ mind, the Bible was about him. Gospel-centered curriculum capitalizes on this idea by responsibly demonstrating how everything in the Scriptures points to Jesus, promises Jesus, parallels Jesus, prefigures Jesus, proclaims Jesus, etc. Hopefully, as the listener/learner witnesses the glory of the gospel, his affections will be deeply and profoundly moved for Christ. Put another way, the individual’s heart will  grow for Jesus!"

I love this:

"Are you morality-based or gospel-centered? It’s a question you must ask honestly. Look at the curriculum you teach, the songs you sing, the banners you hang. Question: how much of what you teach, sing and display on Sunday could be taken over by someone from another faith? Could a Muslim step right in and pick up where you left off on nine Sundays out of ten? What about a cult? Could a Mormon or Jehovah’s Witness use your curriculum without batting an eye because it is so overly moralistic that it has basically squeezed out the gospel? Don’t take the morality based road. It’s easier for a reason. As sinners, we like the Law. It appeals to our desire to feel in control. It’s more “practical”, right? It is also less difficult to

teach. It’s easier to put lessons together when we focus only on “how to’s” for morality. But the real question is, is it better?"

This figure shows the difference of depth with moral-based teaching and gospel-centered teaching: "How to's" affect their behavior for a short time but the Gospel affects their heart.

Check out the actual article here: http://sojournkids.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Gospelcntrcurrarticle.pdf  
it's so worth the 10 minute read!

Rascal Flatts

What a fun evening at the Virginia Beach Amphitheater!  It was my first concert at the amphitheater and me and this sweet friend saw Rascal Flatts.  Thanks to Wendy for the last minute tickets, we had a great time!

me and Trish!

It was a sweet show.  Gotta love lawn seats on a cool summer night!

May I continually say "Great is the LORD!"

I've been chewing on this lately:

Blessed is the man who makes

   the LORD his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
   to those who go astray after a lie!
You have multiplied, O LORD my God,
   your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us;
   none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
   yet they are more than can be told. vv. 4-5

As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain
your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me! v. 11

But may all who seek you
   rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
   say continually, "Great is the LORD!" v. 16

from Psalm 40

driving lessons

Do you remember what it was like to drive for the very first time?  How awkward it was to only use one foot and to learn how sensitive the brake and gas peddles are... never mind learning to park and use a blinker.  

This evening my chinese friend, Fiona, and I had some driving lessons.  

Fiona came here to the US exactly a year ago to work towards her PhD in Chemistry (no big deal...).  I met her through an English Partners program at ODU and I meet with her to help her learn English and American slang.  But also to help her get acquainted in to the American culture.  One of the big differences between the Chinese culture and ours is how we all have cars here!  Fiona is planning on being here for 5 years or more, so she decided to start the process of getting her drivers licence.  She has already studied and passed the written test.  Now she just needed to get behind the wheel!

I must say she did a great job for her first time EVER being in the drivers seat. It was really fun for me too, to take driving back to the basics.  Oh how I have forgotten what it is like to learn to drive!  It is such a natural thing now!  She did great and we are going to continue to practice so she can pass her driving test!  I love this girl, she is so determined!  Against so much adversity, she works so hard to understand our culture...while she works towards her PhD and on research that may be the cure to some disease.  ;) 

thumbs up! 

my sweet friend!

we took a little break to watch the beautiful sunset over the river by ODU.

best mug. best friend.

the best part of my morning...

in my best mug...

made by my best friend.

it makes me feel like we're having coffee together every morning.

well you would have hot chocolate

I would have coffee.

but I like that about you. :)

Happy Birthday, Mem.

Today I've been celebrating my Memere's birthday.  

Dear Mem,

I miss you a lot.

I miss your sweet phone calls. 

 I miss your eagerness to keep up with the times on Facebook and text messaging to keep in touch with us grandkids. 

I miss the regular cards I used to get in the mail from you.

I love the beautiful story of how our family was made.  

I am grateful for the memories we have together and I know you are smiling down from heaven.

Happy Birthday!  I wish we could have some chocolate cake together. :)

Ruby's

I got a part time job at Ruby Tuesdays on S. Independence!! 

Come visit me :)  I start next Tuesday.

fifteen

I went out to my classroom again today and chatted with my principal and some others that were around.  I found out that I will have 15 students!  I was thinking more like 10-12.  But 15 is great!  Here's the other kicker...9 boys and 6 girls.  Lots of boys.

I also found out that we are getting white boards to replace those BLUE chalkboards...praise Jesus!  Those were really going to cramp my style.

Here are a few more pics.  Thanks to my sweet mama who helped clean, disinfect, and reorganize my room on Sunday!

I worked on hanging this alphabet strip today

It's getting there!

hung these today

Parts of Speech 

new place!

It feels great to be all moved into my new apartment.  I am so thankful for all the people that helped on Saturday.  What an efficient day.  Here's a tour!

pic from the front door.. stairs upstairs

living room, dining area and into the kitchen

wood burning fireplace! lots of windows

closet under stairs.

fenced in patio... for Lucy, our pup, to play!

kitchen, around the corner is the washer/dryer and 1/2 bathroom

view from the kitchen (camera is having some issues)

kitchen

my room

stairs back downstairs

my classroom

Here are a few images from my classroom in progress....

It's a work in progress... but its coming along slowly!