Mrs. Evans Blog

Today I did a kick boxing workout. Like I always do, I took a bunch of timer selfies so I could keep track of my form and hold myself accountable. I don't really care if anyone even looks at my pictures, but posting them somewhere is a mental thing that helps me stay on track. I know that when I do a lot of punching and kicking, the pictures often manage to capture some pretty unflattering lower tummy fat. My first plan was to pick one of those unflattering photos and share it with some inspirational message about not being self conscious on instagram. That would have been great except I was immediately self conscious about those pictures : ) So much so that I actually deleted them immediately. This is crazy because I know I'm not fat. I know there are women who would love to have me right now as their absolutely perfect goal body. This just highlights the impossibility of reaching the elusive perfect body. There will always be something you would alter slightly... This is ...

"Some people feel the rain. Others just get get wet." I don't know who originally said this, but my high school best friend, Karen, spoke about it at her graduation speech, and it's one of the ways I'll always remember her. The rain can make us wet and cranky. The rain can also make us clean. The rain gives life to everything that grows from the earth. The Bible says God's words are like the rain. They do not go back up to the clouds without first watering what God intends. Some people experience bad thing after bad thing after bad thing, and they still look for moments to be thankful for. Some people go through the worst possible scenarios like childhood cancer or the loss of a child and grieve, cry, can't always handle it, but look for good, look for ways to grow, and look for ways to serve others through it all. Karen lost her life on earth, but saved quite a few others and gained even more time with Jesus. Job lost everything, but nev...

Taken from their website: Conscious Discipline  is an innovative social-emotional learning and classroom management program with a proven track record of sustainable results. Romans 12 showed up in my devotional on the exact same day as my Conscious Discipline seminar, and I wasn't really surprised that, through God's divine power, Paul said most of this stuff first : ) Paul didn't get into the detailed names for connections in the brain, but check out some of these similarities! - "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2 Conscious discipline is all about noticing the state of our mind and our mental voice, and creating a pause for self-regulation. We learned about changing our responses to student behavior to help students actually learn executive functioning skills instead of pushing students to a "Survival State" through our use of fear and punishment. I also know that it's always wise to seek guidance from the Holy Spiri...

There's a message in my brain that needs to be organized. Hopefully writing will help me to accomplish that. 29 people are dead this morning because two men took it upon themselves to open fire in public places. I believe at least 3 more are dead after a car accident in which a truck driver took it upon himself to speed and ignore red lights. This comes exactly one week before the date when my best childhood friend Karen Linder died in a car accident. When something doesn't make sense, what is your response? The guys in Psalms asked God about things that didn't make sense all the time. They would ask how long they would have to endure such pain and hardship. They would ask why he was allowing so many bad things to happen to them. They often asked why those who were full of pride, sin, selfishness, idolatry, and who did not fear or love or respect God seemed to have all the success and comfort. So here is my prayer to God. God, I know in my mind and believe ...

God tells us not to be discouraged and not to be afraid over and over in the Bible. Isaiah 41:10 Philippians 4:6 John 14:27 Isaiah 43:1 Joshua 1:9 Isaiah 35:4 Mark 6:50 Deuteronomy 31:6 Isaiah 41:13-14 Mark 4:39-40 Revelation 1:17 This last few weeks, the phrase, "Faith over fear" has popped up all over the place. My friend, Sarah Hann talked about it a few weeks ago at small group, my sister posted a few friends and that phrase was on all of their shirts, random students in the hallway have that phrase on their shirts, and God's words to be strong and courageous and to not be afraid have been continuously on my mind. This idea applies to everything we do. In the midst of uncertainty, focus on the revealed will of God. Pray with his promises for protection and a plan full of hope for your life in your heart and mind and in your words. In the midst of threats, take heart because God has already conquered sin and death which is bigger than any threat we ...

If I were a function, I would choose to be Here's what I would look like on the surface: This function looks like a straight line. It may not look particularly interesting, but it has a few pretty important features. 1) First, it has a positive slope. As time passes, the value of the function increases. As time passes in my life, I want my experiences, wisdom, knowledge, love, and closeness to Jesus to increase, as well. "All things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 2) This graph has a hole at 2. That is, in fact, a fancy mathematical term-- hole . This occurs because the top function can be rewritten as (x - 2)(x + 2). Since there is an (x - 2) factor in the bottom of the function, those (x - 2) factors cancel each other out. This means the first function (the one I would choose to be) is identical to f(x) = x + 2 at every single point except at x = 2. Just like my function, I ...

We all know studies show that we spend way too much time on our phones. If someone dies, their online persona can live on for a while on the internet. If someone's social media presence were to suddenly disappear,  it could feel like a piece of that person is actually missing. There are people I only know through social media.  It feels a little bit like our internet identity is a horcrux. Does that mean we are all falling victim to some evil piece of dark magic that splits our soul into pieces? Hopefully not, but it made me think just a bit about the time I spend on my phone.  I want to make the most of our generations ability to be connected, but I pray that my soul stays whole and my priority stays in line with God's purpose for my life.