life beyond the well…

Author Archives: erin.almond


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Friday Favorites- Texts from My Students

I don’t think it’s a secret that I love my students and my alma mater dearly.  Both of them have a special place in my heart and receive a lot of my love and attention.

When God allows those two things to merge together, I feel even more blessed.  Especially when it comes in the form of receiving text messages like this:

Student 1: “I received my acceptance letter from UNC!”

Student 2: “I was just accepted to the University of North Carolin at Chapel Hill :-)”

I’m relatively emotional ANYWAY (another post for another time), but when you have the opportunity to work with students, share your love and passions with them, and then watch them pursue that on their own- and the result is successful- the feeling is overwhelming.

I’ve known many of these students since I’ve been at this school, so I’ve watched them grow over the past few years.  It is always my desire to see them excel; to have a life of choice, one full of “want-to” not “have-to”.  

I was in tears after receiving their text messages (and a few phone calls) because I’m so excited about the things to come in their lives. Every day these students trust me and other teachers at our word- that the hard work will pay off, that the struggles they’re facing are common AND that they will overcome them. And then there are days like this where they really, truly believe you.

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to serve them.


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There’s No Future in Frontin…

One of my life goals is to be a wife.  I desire to be happily married to a man who loves God, loves people, loves me; and desires to fulfill God’s purpose for his life. I know that I’m not alone.  In fact, I can name at least 5 women who desire the same thing.

Yet, while I’ve noticed that there are women who desire to be married, I’ve also noticed these same women downplaying that desire.  I’ve been in a few situations where I’ve watched women who I KNOW can’t wait to find the one they will be with forever, act as if it’s not a big deal.  In one situation, I heard one woman who has spoken with me about how she can’t wait to go to Kleinfeld’s in New York (of  “Say Yes to the Dress” fame) to find her wedding dress (when the time comes), loudly proclaim that she wasn’t trying to be married.

This confuses me.  Perhaps I missed something.

If marriage is something that you desire, what’s the harm in admitting that?  What’s wrong with saying that you foresee marriage in your future?

Am I crazy?  Doesn’t it make sense to actually admit that there’s something you want?  How else can you get it if you aren’t willing to admit that you want it?

Or maybe it’s just me.

I’ve thought about this and it’s effects in a couple of different ways.  If women aren’t able to admit that they desire marriage to their close friends and to themselves, how will they be able to articulate that desire within a relationship?

I’m not saying that women should voice their desire for marriage on date one. However, when the conversation comes up, if marriage is something they want, they need to speak up. It’ll be hard to do that if you have yet to admit to yourself that you actually want that.

It’s kind of like this: the more we say something, the more we believe it to be true. There’s power in what we say. So, if we’re speaking lies, there’s a point where we eventually start to view them as truth. That’s not just in relationships, but in life as well.

Just be honest about it- about yourself, about where you are, about where you’re going. There’s no future in frontin’…
 
Until next time…