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In my home, there was hardly any excuse for missing church. If I had ever missed a single day of Sunday school, it was because I felt like I was on my death bed and my parents recognized that. Sufficed to say, I hated going and I learned how to fake sick early on in my childhood. I never really paid attention and I always felt like it was a different, even stricter school day where I had to put a bow in my hair, wear a dress, and try to ignore the blisters forming on my heels from my shoes. But as I got older and began to engage in discussions with my parents and peers, I realized how important it was to go to church, and how much I actually enjoyed the lessons. I learned that I love worship music and the feeling of being in community and singing (even though my own voice sounds like a screeching cat whose tail was just stomped on).

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Throughout my life, I have had a lot of "friends", but not many friends. By that I simply mean that I was never alone in school. I always had someone to sit with in classes or at lunch. I always had partners for group projects and a group to study with. What I did not have many of were people to talk to when my grandma had a stroke while I was in class. I had no one to vent to when I got into fights with my parents and I had no one to console me when I laid my childhood dog to rest and I couldn't stop crying for days and days. The reason for that was simply because I never tried. I had my family and that was enough— until it wasn't. Before, I always hid in my room with my video games and books and basked in the comfort of the lack of eyes watching me. When I became a senior in high school, I looked back on my short life and instantly regretted the lack of non-familial relationships I had and began to make some. Now I have the greatest friends I could ever ask for and I truly understand what people mean when they say, "The blood of the covenant [can be] thicker than the water of the womb." There is hardly anything I wouldn't do for the marvelous men and women that I have met at this college and those that I went to high school with. They truly are what keep the fractured pieces of my brain glued together. Just by looking at my spending habits and my own calendar, one can see that I spend far too much money on random gifts and I have multiple meals with different people scheduled for weeks in advance.

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"Those who trouble their family will inherit the wind. The fool will be servant to the wise" Proverbs 11:29.
Growing up, I was the trouble maker in my family. People would even make jokes about how I was the devil child and my sister (who happens to be eight years older than me) was the angel. I have gotten into countless fights with each and every member of my family. When I had heard/read similar verses to the one written above, I ignored them. In my mind, my problems and issues with my family were so horrible and my parents were so awful that they deserved my outbursts. In reality, the worst my parents ever did was spank me for blatantly lying to their faces (I know, how dare they). Today, I can happily say that I have learned that my family are some of the only people that I can truly count on to always be there when I really need them. God calls on us to love our family, to cherish them. How can we ever dream to represent God, the one who loves unconditionally, in our own lives if our households are full of hatred? It can be so easy to hold onto grudges for past grievances and to foster anger in our hearts, but that is not what God wants for us and our families.

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As I have said before, I used to put my studies before every single thing in my life. As a teacher, I hope to emphasize to my students that their lives are worth living and that while their education is important, there is a way to have a fulfilling and healthy social life while maintaining a decent grade. I think it is very important for teachers to understand that there are circumstances that can impact  a student outside of school. I also think it is important for teachers to help their students understand how to balance life inside school with their lives outside school by helping them to create tools for themselves to help them decide when they should put their responsibilities to school above other things and vice versa.

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From preschool to sixth grade, I never cared about school. Homework did not really exist for me. I only ever did math (which I thoroughly enjoyed at that level) or whatever crafting project I didn't have time to finish earlier. The only thing I studied for were spelling tests and only when I was forced to by my parents. Going into seventh grade was a rude awakening for me. It was the first time I ever had to try in school. From the moment my parents saw my dwindling grades, school became my number one priority. I would get home at 3:15pm and would work and study until 10:00pm almost every night. Don't get me wrong, my parents were not constantly over my shoulder telling me that my studies were the most important thing in my life and that I would be punished if I didn't have a certain grade level, but they did make sure to emphasize that if my grades ever lowered to a C, they would have to go "out of their way" to force me to get them back up. So I never let that happen.

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Something I was always told as a child was that my family would always be there for me, even when everyone else had turned their backs. I have had that proven to me time and time again through the actions of my parents and sister. Their love is unconditional and always within reach no matter how much pain I cause them. In my life, I try to build on my relationships with each of my family members and to make sure that they know that my love for them is just as strong as their love is for me. They will always be my number one priority. The hard part is not following through with that statement, but making sure that they understand that.

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"And let us consider together how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another - and all the more as you see the Day approaching." Hebrews 10:24-25
As I have previously mentioned, church was a very prominent part of my life. As the verse above explains, it is in everyone's best interest to be in fellowship with one another. In having a personal relationship with God, we must share his grace and message with other people in order to help them grow in their relationships with Him as well.

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When I was in high school, I had huge anxiety in terms of my grades. My school had an honors list that they made public and I would guess that 80% of my class was always on that list. It was embarrassing not to be. I had teachers who would blatantly shame kids for having a C+ in their class and would "encourage" kids with a B- to 'get their crap together'. However, there was one class I took (coincidentally it was the class I had the worst grade in) where the teacher never did that. In fact, she preached daily that a C was an average score and that there was nothing to be ashamed of if you had one. She would always pair this statement with an offer of assistance and even tutoring  and made herself available for anyone that needed her. I believe that as teachers, people should encourage their students to do the best that they can and accept what it is that they are given from their students. In reality, sometimes the best a student can do is a C. As the class saw in the TedTalk shown on our first day, telling a student that they got two questions correct instead of eighteen wrong can sometimes be enough to encourage them to do better and to try again and again until they get the outcome they are looking for.

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I was never allowed to have social media. Or at least, I wasn't allowed to have it until I paid for my own cellular device. I have had the danger of social media preached to me over and over again by my parents. To this day, I still get links from my mother that provide "recommendations" on how to stay safe while posting on Instagram. In my mind, social media is simply a tool to see what is going on in the lives of the people I care about, not something for me to share my life with other people. At this point, I'm pretty sure the only pictures I ever post are of my friends when it is their birthdays and the occasional nature scene or my dog.

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In my senior year of high school, I looked back at all the time I spent focusing so much on school and realized that I wasn't really living, just existing. In the period of time that my parents had frequently referenced as being "the best time of their lives", I was missing everything. I had no real friends, I hardly ever went to football games, I had gone to one homecoming dance out of six, but what I did have was a 3.8 GPA. At that point, I made a mental shift and began to focus more on the people around me and I became okay with choosing to not study and go to the movies instead. Yes, my GPA dropped to a 3.4, but I was significantly happier. Now, I am much more likely to really think about whether or not I should choose to stay in and study or go on a spontaneous trip with my friends instead of just saying no and staying at home.

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"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the  coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life." 1 Timothy 6:17-19
From the very moment my parents gave me permission to start managing my own money when I was around seven years old, I have been taught about the importance of giving. My father even made me a note card that had a list of percentages and to which things my money should go towards. According to that note card, 20% of my earnings should always go to whatever church, person, foundation, or nonprofit of my choice. As the Bible explains, having money is not sin, but keeping a cold, selfish grip on what you do have is. God wants us to have enough wealth to care for ourselves and our family, but any more than that should be open to being shared with those that truly need it.