Happy New Year

This year, my hope is that 2007 brings you much happiness, peace, hope, and love.

I can't believe that another year has gone by already. 2006 was a wonderful year. Sharing in one of God's richest blessings- a newborn child, watching all the "firsts" in Hannah's life, and getting to see my family bond with her has been amazing. Our family has seen a lot of death, illness, and sadness in recent years. But 2006 had so much more joy in it because God blessed us with Hannah. It was time for our family to have some LIFE again! God has caused our family to have a season where we have been "showered with blessings" (Ezekiel 34:26). And I think it honors God to be in love with our family. He has given us all that we have, so to Him be all glory!

I feel so blessed because I have the Lord in my life, a husband who is wonderful to me and is an AMAZING "hands on" dad, a family that is truly sent from God, and good friends who are more like family than acquaintances. I praise God for these few close friends and for bringing our small family so much closer than in years past.

2007 will be a different year for the Bodin's. For one, I will not be a leader at a church for the first time in nearly four years. My title goes from 'vocal director' to simply 'wife' and 'mom.' This will take some adjustment, but praise God, He was in the midst of these changes and I know that He will lead me through with humility, dignity, and integrity. Sometimes when we are stripped of our earthly titles, God is more able to work in our hearts. That is our prayer for the new year. I am also looking for another teaching position, somewhere closer to the Broussard area. So by next fall, I might be teaching at a new school! That would be amazing. James is also currently looking for another job, even though he enjoys what he is currently doing. We are praying that God leads us BOTH to the right places this year. We are also trying for "Baby Bodin #2," so if God blesses us, this time next year we'll have another little one to shower with love.

Praying that you and yours have a wonderful 2007.

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you... I will put my spirit within you." ~Ezekiel 36:26-27

What a REAL Christmas looks like!

My Aunt Loretta lives in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, a suburb of Albuquerque. And they got a white Christmas!!! Here are the awesome pictures that my aunt took of her home in the snow.

This is right in front of her house in Rio Rancho.

Whoa!!!! Real Christmas trees!!

Loretta having some fun in the winter wonderland. Wonder if she misses the 80 degree winters, fog, and bad hair days of Louisiana?!

Our friends Matt and David Martinez (Loretta's nephews) and their families all went up into the mountains to cut down their own tree. What MEN!! All we get to do is go down to the local tree farmer's parking lot and pick one out from the side of the road... We live in the wrong state!!

Matt, Cindy, and their family...


David, Robin, and their kids...


"Christmas time is here..."

One of those days...

Ever had "one of those days..." ?

I had one today.
Today the fifth grade chorus class performed a christmas musical for the school. The chorus kids have been working on this music since late October. They memorized six songs, five pages of dialogue, auditioned for speaking roles, gave up recess to learn the stage blocking and choreography, they designed, built, and decorated the sets and staging for the entire play and they worked for nearly two months on building this show from the ground up. I even had one of the fifth graders choreograph an entire dance for a group of dancers. It was no small task, and the clincher is that they had no outside help. We had no parents help us with the sets, no teachers helped us with this show. They didn't have to help. The kids did everything. And I love it that way. It doesn't put anyone out, and it gives the kids an outlet for creativity and it gives them owneship in the show. It's a great process, and considering the obstacles we had to overcome to get this show ready (including getting run out of the cafeteria for teachers to prepare for a christmas party as well as a fire drill in the middle of dress rehearsal...), I was so proud of them for how good it turned out.
Well, we get this show rolling today for the K-2nd graders. And in the middle of the performance, a six year old says, "Oh no, not them again..." and he was referring to the chorus students who were getting back on stage to sing. My heart broke for these kids. And NATURALLY, the little loud mouth was loud enough for a bunch of people to hear. If you could have looked into the eyes of my fifth graders and seen the defeat on their faces, it would have killed you. It nearly ripped my heart out. Personally, I was ripped apart. I thought to myself, why in the WORLD did we work for TWO MONTHS of our lives to put this show on for an ungrateful audience? I had a few co-workers talking in the hall today about how they were upset that music was cancelled... it goes on and on. You just can't win.

I don't know why I felt compelled to share this on my blog. I just felt so broken-hearted for those kids who gave so much for over two months and who did such a great job. It reminded me how powerful words are... even when coming out of the mouth of a six year old.

"Be agreeable, be sympathetic, be loving, be compassionate, be humble. That goes for all of you, no exceptions. No retaliation. No sharp-tongued sarcasm. Instead, bless—that's your job, to bless. You'll be a blessing and also get a blessing. Whoever wants to embrace life and see the day fill up with good, Here's what you do: Say nothing evil or hurtful; Snub evil and cultivate good; run after peace for all you're worth. God looks on all this with approval, listening and responding well to what he's asked; But he turns his back on those who do evil things." 1 Peter 3:8 (message)


Then to top it all off, I think I'm coming down with something.... I think I'll go to bed and start over tomorrow. :)

looking to the future

I made an announcement at the end of choir tonight. I told them that I would be stepping down as choir director at the end of the month. It has been an AWESOME three years and eight months working at East Bayou, and I can say with all honesty that I cherished working with every person in that ministry.

Right now, God is removing me from leading the choir so that I can be home to raise my family and be there for my husband. I know this is going to honor God in the long run, even though right now it's so painful and I get heartbroken over it all. But I praise Him for helping me through this process because it has NOT been easy. I’m going to be clinging to God for comfort and reassurance, as satan will most assuredly try to make me stumble and confuse me with his lies. Focusing on HIM and slowing down my schedule to find who I am in Christ and who my family is to me is going to bring blessings upon blessings.

Look what God showed me today, and I am claiming this for my life as I work to achieve this goal:

“Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure; she rejoices over the future (the latter day or time to come, knowing that she and her family are in readiness for it)!” ~Proverbs 31:25 (amp).

Whoa!! Thank you Lord!!! He always has a word for us if we just seek His counsel.

I'm not going to say that everything is "hunky dory" now and that life is swell and fine. It stings, it hurts, I get mad, I get sad, I feel lost, and I've cried about it. I've cried mad tears, I've cried tears of sadness, and I've cried in grief over what I'm losing by not working at EBBC anymore. But this is the truth. I can do ministry and sing and make songs to the Lord, and that pleases Him. But if my home life is a wreck and my husband is only getting the leftovers, then all the work that I've put into ministry is MEANINGLESS. It doesn't matter. So no matter what happened that led me to this point, the truth remains that I need to be a virtuous wife to my husband FIRST, and once I have balance and peace at home, God will give me the time, ability, and desire to lead in ministry again. Right now, I'm going to get my life in the proper order and start giving my family the time they need and deserve. It's a good place to be.

It's a big number

35!!!

Since I was little, I didn't want to be 35.

I was okay with 20. With 25. Even with 30, 31, 32, 33, and 34!

But something about 35. It's like, half way to 70 you know... SHEEESH!!!

The good thing is that I've met all my benchmarks that I thought I needed to meet by the time I was this age.

Husband, check.

House, check.

Career, check.

Baby, check.

But I guess that's the point. I've met my personal benchmarks, so what's next? DEATH!!

Seriously, though... when I was in kindergarten, I remember VIVIDLY that I thought that I would die when I was 35. I guess I thought 35 was like 1,000 years old or something. I told my kindergarten class that it was my birthday this weekend, and they asked me how old I was going to be. One child said, "Are you gonna be 82?" That was comforting. In the next second, another one said, "Are you turning 7?" Of course, 7 is the age they all WISH they were, since most of them are only 5 or 6, so naturally 7 would be the goal. How precious. When I told them that I was 35, there was a collective GASP from every child. That's when my blood pressure began to rise and the gray hairs commenced to express themselves in my scalp, I'm just sure of it.

40 is the "next big one" for me. That used to scare me a LOT. That is until I started being friends with folks who make 40 look GOOD!!! My pals Cindy and Julie are making 40 look about 25. That rocks!! When I turn 40, I sure hope I look like them!!! Wait, I don't look that good now and I'm 35. Hmmmm...

My man

I want to brag on my husband, because he would never tell anyone about this. But I think it's really great. James was recently awarded an Air Force Acheivement Medal for meritorious service. This is what the certificiate states:

"Staff Sergeant Bodin... distinguished himself by meritorious service while assigned to the 706th Fighter Squadron... Sergeant Bodin provided needed support to the disaster preparedness representative in organizing disaster equipment for daily use and and upcoming inspection resulting in significantly increased efficiency in the distribution and tracking of equipment. A customer-oriented team player, Sergeant Bodin used his organizational and leadership skills to ensure the success of the orderly room team. He demonstrated a high level of integrity and conveyed a favorable image of the organization while volunteering for off-base recruiting activities. During these activities, he used his Air National Guard vs. Reserve experience in testimonials which resulted in new enlistment contracts. His surpassed devotion to duty and vigorous pursuit of excellence were highly lauded by the Air Force recruiters...The distinct accomplishments of Sergeant Bodin reflect credit on himself and the United States Air Force." Awesome. Awesome. Awesome.