this time last year.

This time last year I was frantically trying to find a summer job/teaching job in Northwest Arkansas. I thought I might be moving to Fayetteville for the summer. I had semi-moved home, knowing that it was only a temporary thing. This time last year I was refusing to apply to teach at any schools in Pine Bluff. I wanted to teach in Northwest Arkansas, live close to all my friends, and work at Gap part-time during the summer so I could get a discount (yes, this was a legitimate part of my life dream). 

Today, I taught a room full of juvenile delinquents about whales. They freaked out when they found out that a blue whale's mouth is as big across as our ceilings are high. "Daaaaaaaang, that's a big ass whale." I watched 2 girls get into a fight and I breathed in some pepper spray. The kids found out my middle name and now think it's real funny to call me "Miss Elizabeth". I had a 14 year old kid call me Mama and come and lean his head on my shoulder. I fed my class fish and laughed with my kids. 

A year ago, in my wildest dreams I could not have imagined that this would be my life. And today I would have it absolutely no other way. 

singing into the storm.

And this  is why I love Jon Foreman.


"For me, the song has always helped to restore sanity. The melody can help to string broken things together, bringing me back from the ledge of from depression. Sometimes, the music says it better than the words do; the melody brings the tension and release into a dance rather than a struggle. This isn't to say that music stops the pain. Rather, music contextualizes the pain within the larger human experience and thus brings a certain timeless meaning and depth to the temporary despair and hopelessness I feel. And to this end, I love music. I love to find myself there in the songs of others. I love to find joy writing my own songs. Yes, even songs about the madness: trying to push through despair towards hope, singing into the storm."

-Jon Foreman-

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