"tackling the fields" by janet w. ferguson

Audrey and Cole, two supporting characters from the first two Southern Hearts novels, take center stage in Tackling the Fields.

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Cole Sanders is a changed man. The university quarterback questions his direction in life after serving on a mission trip in Honduras. Things that used to fill Cole’s ego seem empty after witnessing the developing country’s extreme poverty and the death of a precious child. The one glimmer of hope through his confusion is the fresh perspective he now has about his tutor, Audrey. She possesses something beautiful inside and out—something that might help him become the person he wants to be.

University senior Audrey Vaughn tutored Cole Sanders for an entire year and never imagined the popular quarterback would see her as anything more than a friend. After partnering with him on the mission trip, they are drawn together. And he appears to have changed for the better. To let Cole into her life, Audrey will have to overcome not only her brother’s distrust, but also the paralyzing fear still lingering from a past she’s tried to leave behind.

Cole can’t walk away from Audrey now that they’re back in Oxford. He’ll have to figure out how to keep her giant of a brother, a lineman on his football team, from killing him when the coach has his back turned. But can Audrey trust her heart to a player so similar to the one who stole so much from her in the past?

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As I've read Janet W. Ferguson's Southern Hearts novels, I've been impressed by how realistic they seem, even though they feature characters who live extraordinary lives (at least extraordinary compared to the lives lived in my little corner of the world)—college football coaches, movie stars, football players with major draft prospects.

Tackling the Fields centers on college quarterback Cole Sanders and Audrey Vaughn, his tutor-turned-crush. Following a life-changing mission trip to Honduras (which takes place in the previous book, Going Up South), Cole feels pulled toward Christ and toward Audrey. As he grapples with his faith and his feelings, Audrey deals with her own scars that keep her from fully trusting Cole.

Overall, I enjoyed Tackling the Fields. It deals with weighty topics like date rape, human trafficking, and addiction, but it also provides a compelling love story. While I did feel like maybe a few too many things were packed into the novel, so not everything was paid off (such as the oft mentioned but never seen Harrison), I really enjoyed Cole and Audrey's story. 4 stars.

Up next is Blown Together, which will feature Sam Conrad (friend of Cole's coach, Jess McCoy) and Elinor Bosarge (sister of Cassie from Going Up South). I'm definitely looking forward to continuing this series!

Note: Tackling the Fields is the third book in Ferguson's Southern Hearts series. Though it can function as a stand alone novel, Cole and Audrey will make much more sense if you've at least read Going Up South first.

Buy the book.

Follow the blog tour to see what others are saying:
August 15: Quiet Quilter
August 16: A Baker’s Perspective
August 17: Blogging With Carol
August 18: The Power of Words (Spotlight)
August 19: inklings and notions
August 20: Christian Chick’s Thoughts
August 21: Karen’s Krayons
August 22: Bigreadersite
August 23: A Greater Yes
August 24: Chas Ray’s Book Nerd Corner
August 25: A Reader’s Brain
August 26: Mary Hake
August 27: His Grace is Sufficient
August 28: Cassandra M’s Place
August 29: Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations

Read my reviews of Leaving Oxford (4 stars) and Going Up South (4-1/2 stars). 

To celebrate her tour, Janet is giving away a $75 Amazon gift card Click here to enter.

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Janet W. Ferguson grew up in Mississippi and received a degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Mississippi. She has served her church as a children’s minister and a youth volunteer. An avid reader, she worked as a librarian at a large public high school. Janet and her husband have two grown children, one really smart dog, and a few cats that allow them to share the space.

From Janet: Hi, I’m Janet W. Ferguson, and I’m so excited to be back again and meet more readers through Celebrate Lit!

This is a story I didn’t want to write, but felt called to tackle. The loss of the dream, the loss of innocence, and life’s other unfair struggles can challenge our faith—can make us captive to fear and disappointment.

In the South, we love football. In writing this book, I’m not trying to make a statement for or against the sport. My husband and son loved playing the game. After my son suffered a torn ACL, torn shoulder labrum, and four surgeries, he could no longer participate in the game he loved. He mourned the loss of the brotherhood of his team. I saw the popular pastime differently from his eyes. For young men, I believe it is a bond between friends for a common goal. Though the character in this book is totally fictional, I’m dedicating this book to my son, Luke.

The other sensitive topics in this story seemed particularly sad, but relevant in our society. Trust me, I didn’t prefer to research acquaintance/date rape or human trafficking, but both are going on all too often in communities both small and large. There are a number of organizations set up to help victims of these crimes if you feel a calling to help.

Someone reading this may have had something terrible that happened in their past or may know someone who has. God is able to set free the captives, set you free from the bonds that hold you. My prayer is that you find comfort in that truth.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free through Celebrate Lit. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase an item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

"going up south" by janet w. ferguson

A world-famous actor's life is turned upside-down when he learns he fathered a son in Going Up South, the second installment in Janet Ferguson's Southern Hearts series.

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No one told him he had a son.

Actor Dylan Conner is furious. Not only has he been left out of his child’s life, the baby boy has been given another man’s last name. Determined to be a better father than the sorry guy who’d left him and his mother, Dylan fights to ensure a significant place in his son’s life. Unfortunately, his bad-boy reputation overshadows his good intentions. Only one woman in this small town sees beyond his Hollywood image. And he’s falling for her. Too bad she’s the custody mediator.

After her scandalous divorce in the small town of Oxford, Mississippi, attorney Cassie Brooks has no intentions of practicing law again. The humiliating experience left a bitter taste for love, marriage, and her profession.

Now friends need Cassie’s help in a custody negotiation, and her role demands she remain objective. She never expected to be drawn to Dylan Conner—the actor who everyone warns is bad news. Not only is the mediation at stake, but so is her heart.

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I recently read Leaving Oxford, the first book in Janet Ferguson's Southern Hearts series, and I really enjoyed it. It felt realistic and featured memorable main and supporting characters, and when I finished it, I couldn't wait to continue the series with Going Up South. What I didn't anticipate was how much I would absolutely love Going Up South.

Going Up South is the story of Hollywood star Dylan Conner and recent divorcee Cassie Brooks. Both make appearances in Leaving Oxford—Dylan in a fairly sizeable role, and Cassie in a couple quick scenes. I do think it's pretty important to read Leaving Oxford prior to Going Up South, simply because it gives a good look into Dylan's past and sets up the battle for his son.

In Leaving Oxford, Dylan is a self-absorbed womanizer. He seems like a nice guy, but he clearly has problems. So I was surprised at just how much I grew to like him as Going Up South went on. I could understand his hurt and anger when he learned that Jill (best friend to Sarah Beth, Leaving Oxford's main character) had kept his son from him. I couldn't stand how poorly Sarah Beth's and Jill's husbands treated him. (Had these events taken place in Leaving Oxford, I totally would have been in the husbands' camp.) Basically, I went from seeing Dylan as an annoying bad boy in Leaving Oxford to really, really liking him—and much of that had to do with how he interacted with Cassie.

Cassie Brooks has to be one of my favorite fictional characters in recent memory. A strong woman who learned to fend for herself following her husband's betrayal, Cassie gets involved in Dylan and Jill's custody mediation because she wants to help save Jill from a custody battle that Dylan would have a good shot at winning, due to his fame and fortune. She's surprised when she finds herself falling for Dylan, and I greatly enjoyed watching their relationship develop. Cassie has a very strong faith, and it's largely due to her influence that Dylan finds his way back to the God of his childhood.

One thing I really appreciated about Going Up South was the focus on the book of James in the Bible. Reading so much about it in this book caused me to want to read it again, and I'm amazed at all the practical wisdom it contains—about taming the tongue, caring for the poor, and many other things. (I shouldn't be surprised; it is God's Word, after all. But I tend to get stuck in a rut of studying my certain favorite books and skipping others—so I'm glad that Ferguson's book prompted me to read James again!)

I loved practically everything about Going Up South! While I do wish that Cassie's ex had factored into it just a bit more so that I could have really understood the pain Cassie and her son went through, which was referenced a few times but not really explained, I can't complain too much. Going Up South is a great novel, featuring a solid plot and a sigh-inducing romance. I can't wait to continue the series with Tackling the Fields! 4-1/2 stars.

Follow the tour stops to see what others are saying:
July 7: A Reader’s Brain
July 7: Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations
July 8: Bigreadersite
July 8: inklings and notions
July 9: A Greater Yes
July 9: Reviewing Novels Online
July 10: Chas Ray’s Book Nerd Corner
July 11: Pause for Tales
July 12: Cindy’s Book Reviews
July 13: Daysong Reflections
July 14: Blogging With Carol
July 15: His Grace is Sufficient
July 16: Karen’s Krayons
July 17: Christian Chick’s Thoughts
July 17: Quiet Quilter
July 18: Cassandra M’s Place
July 18: A Bakers Perspective
July 19: Texas Book-aholic
July 20: Book Bites, Bee Stings, and Butterfly Kisses

Buy the book.

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Janet W. Ferguson grew up in Mississippi and received a degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Mississippi. She has served her church as a children’s minister and a youth volunteer. An avid reader, she worked as a librarian at a large public high school. Janet and her husband have two grown children, one really smart dog, and a few cats that allow them to share the space.

To celebrate her tour, Janet is giving away some fantastic prizes including a $50 Amazon gift card! Click here to enter: https://promosimple.com/ps/9e33

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free through Celebrate Lit. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase an item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Review: "The Printed Letter Bookshop" by Katherine Reay

A novel set in a bookstore? What could be better? (Owning said bookstore myself—that's what could be better 😉)

Review: "The Art of Rivers" by Janet Ferguson

I've read several of Janet Ferguson's books, and they're always captivating stories with enjoyable romances. But her latest novel, The Art of Rivers, is even better than I was expecting!

visitor from the windy city

A few weeks ago, I was Facebook messaging Janet, one of my former students. (I've mentioned her on the blog a few times.) She graduated from Nebraska Christian two years ago and now attends the University of Illinois at Chicago. Anyway, she was telling me about how stressful things were, and I mentioned that, if she ever needed to get away, she could always stay with me.

The next day, she sent me a possible flight itinerary. Last Saturday, she arrived! It was so great to reconnect with her again and hear about how God is orchestrating things in her life. Her visit was short—she flew in Saturday morning and left Tuesday morning (super, super early!)—but we enjoyed every minute that she was here!

Besides talking a lot (and it was so cool to hear her talk openly about her relationship with God!), we spent time doing one of our favorite things: watching movies! We first watched part of The List, which is based on a Robert Whitlow novel (I named his novel The Choice #6 on my Top 10 Books of 2012 list), and I think that I will like the movie ... but we were both falling asleep within the first 30 minutes, so we went to bed! After church on Sunday, we went to Divergent, and we both loved it. I have had the book on my Kindle for well over a year and haven't gotten around to reading it yet (no wonder, with all my book reviews!). So I went into the film knowing very little about it but enjoying it immensely. And Theo James? No longer will I think of him as Mr. Pamuk, that's for sure! I did think the romance came a bit out of the blue, but one of my students assured me it's much more clearly set up in the book. Then we rented Ender's Game, another movie based on a YA novel that I hadn't read. Honestly, I was kind of bored. The story was fine, but it wasn't gripping.

We didn't only watch movies, though. Here's a look at our weekend through pictures:

She's here!!!

We tried to have lunch at Honest Abe's, but it was full, so we ended up at Five Guys, instead.
It was Janet's first time!

Janet quickly made friends with my cats. Here she is with Skaara...

...and Hammond, who was her favorite. (Take that, Blendy!)

Later on, all three cats curled up on her legs.

Between church & Divergent, we had lunch with my friends
Tricia and Kari at Napoli's, a local Italian restaurant. So good!

We had supper with another NC grad, Mia, on Monday night. I look like a goober,
but the girls look good, so I guess I'll post the pic. Also, fun fact: Facebook keeps
asking me if I want to tag Blendy in this pic. Our faces must look very similar
to Facebook's facial recognition software when I'm wearing my glasses!

What a fun weekend! Come again anytime, Janet—the cats would love another opportunity to keep you warm!

"leaving oxford" by janet w. ferguson

Janet Ferguson's endearing Southern Hearts series kicks off with Leaving Oxford.

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Escaping home to Oxford, Mississippi, seemed like a good idea. Until it wasn’t. 

A year after a tragic accident in Los Angeles flipped her world upside down, advertising guru Sarah Beth LeClair is still hiding away in her charming hometown of Oxford, Mississippi. And she may well be stuck there forever. Suffering from panic attacks, she prays for healing. Instead, her answer comes in the form of an arrogant football coach and an ugly puppy. 

Former celebrity college quarterback Jess McCoy dreamed of playing pro football. One freak hit destroyed his chances. Although he enjoys his work as the university’s offensive coordinator, his aspirations have shifted to coaching at the highest level. His plans of moving up are finally coming together—until he falls for a woman who won’t leave town. 

As the deadline for Jess’s decision on his dream career looms, the bars around Sarah Beth’s heart only grow stronger. But it's time to make a decision about leaving Oxford. 

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When I began reading Leaving Oxford, I wasn't sure if I'd like it. I didn't embrace the characters right away, and the plot seemed to move a little slowly. At one point, I looked down at my Kindle and saw that I'd only read 11% of the book, and I nearly gave up. I'm so glad I didn't!

Yes, the book moves slowly at the beginning, and I wish that more of Sarah Beth's past had been revealed sooner—I think knowing more about her would have made me like her better initially. But once things really got moving (at about 20% in), I couldn't stop reading!

There's a realness to Leaving Oxford that's not present in much of what's available in the inspirational market today. The characters have messy lives before coming to Christ, and becoming a believer doesn't magically fix those problems, though the characters' focus does shift from living for themselves to living for Christ. Basically, Ferguson portrays the Christian life as messy and difficult, yet fulfilling. Also, Sarah Beth struggles with anxiety, and I appreciated that she sought out many avenues—including counseling and medication—in her quest to get better.

A highlight of this novel is the romance between Sarah Beth and Jess. Theirs is a slow burn romance that gradually builds—and left me dying for them to just kiss already! There's also a secondary romance between Sarah Beth's assistant and Jess's best friend, and I'm looking forward to reading more about them; they look to factor heavily into the second book in the series.

Once I got into the novel, I didn't want it to end, so I'm glad there are two more books in the series. I look forward to more from Ferguson! 4 stars.

Buy the book.

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Janet W. Ferguson grew up in Mississippi and received a degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Mississippi. She has served her church as a children’s minister and a youth volunteer. An avid reader, she worked as a librarian at a large public high school. Janet and her husband have two grown children, one really smart dog, and a few cats that allow them to share the space.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Also, some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

Review: "Star Rising" by Janet W. Ferguson

Ever since COVID-19 overtook our collective consciousness, I've struggled to read. I just couldn't focus. But one day last week I decided to give Star Rising a try ... and I kept reading it until I'd finished it!

Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite "Back in the Day" Romances

Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic, in honor of Valentine's Day, is Love Freebie. I thought for about 2.5 seconds before deciding to go old school: "back in the day" romance novels. Basically, this is anything I read in my junior high and high school years. So here's a list of ten romance novels that 1993-1999 Becky would have called her favorites. And yes, you'll see one author over and over and over again. I was a huge Lori Wick fan back in the day 😁.

christmas in nebraska

My family always spends Christmas with my grandma in Kansas. Always. I can't remember ever spending Christmas Day at home, though we may have when I was very young. This year, though, we had no choice but to stay in Nebraska, due to a blizzard. That's right, a blizzard. I can't remember seeing snow this bad before.

My brother and sister-in-law came for our family Christmas on the 23rd. They left early in the morning on Christmas Eve because they had plans with her family for Christmas. We planned to leave for Kansas by 11 a.m., but because of the bitter cold conditions and the threat of more snow, my dad decided we should stay home and plan to go to Kansas on Saturday. We spent a fun day at my parents' house on Christmas Eve--playing Dutch Blitz, baking cookies, making pizza, and watching And Then There Were None. Then Janet (the international student who is staying with me over break) and I returned to my apartment, where we played with my new paraffin wax bath. (Thanks to Blendy and Val for giving it to me--now I can finally stop "hinting" about wanting one!)

This morning, we woke to lots of wind ... and lots of snow drifts! After looking outside, I decided we could probably make it to my parents' house. And we did--I just got stuck as I tried to pull in at their house! Dad came to the rescue and got my car pulled in--I got stuck with half my car still in the road!

We spent the day eating like kings, playing Dutch Blitz (and Blendy totally cheated--albeit accidentally!), waching my favorite movie ever, attempting to put together an insanely difficult puzzle, and playing a riotous game of Swap!

Dad drove me and Janet home around 10:30--and let me tell you, it really is a blizzard out there! We almost got stuck a couple of times, and we saw some insane drifts! 

This is the view from my front door--I know you can't see too much, but it was the best I could do tonight!

Now that we're home, I'll probably work on Christmas cards while we watch a movie. Janet wants to watch a thriller--I don't have many scary movies, so we'll see what we come up with!

All in all, this was one of the most fun Christmases I've spent. I guess it just goes to show that it's not where you are but who you're with that matters!

Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Liked More/Less Than Expected

When I saw today's topic, Books I Liked More/Less Than I Expected, on The Broke & The Bookish, I thought, "Hey, I can do that!" I've read enough books and I'm opinionated enough about them that the only problem was limiting myself to ten books! I decided to go halfsies—first I'll talk about the books I liked less than expected, then I'll gush about the ones that surprised me in a good way.

thoughts from the couch

We're a week into the new year, and I haven't posted anything but book reviews for about two weeks. I have another book review finished, but I thought I'd give you a different kind of post first!

We are headed into our third snow day in a row. While we still call them "snow days," these days have been more like "wind and extreme cold days." I am so excited to be able to sleep in again tomorrow, and I'm hoping for Saturday's speech meet to be canceled, too!

Other things that have happened recently:

• I hosted a Holiday Bowl party where we watched the Huskers obliterate the Arizona Wildcats 33-0.

Janet shows off the easy chocolate cookies we made. She said she never bakes because it's too hard, and she was quite fascinated by my cake mix cook book.

Scott & Levi "throw the bones" ... or something like that! I believe it had to do with the defense.

• We finally made it to Kansas (minus Dad, who had to stay behind to make sure sidewalks were cleared for the beginning of school on Monday). We celebrated Christmas with Grandma, and she was feeling well and was in a great mood. 

Grandma inspects the family calendar we made for her. She loved looking at the pictures of her kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids.

We had a great dinner and then watched a dvd of an interview done with my great-grandparents in the '90s.

Grandma & I pose with the yule log my uncle buys every year to go with our Christmas dinner. Because of our Christmas blizzard, he had to return to California before we could get to Kansas, so we had to eat the dessert without him.

In the evening, we went to Wichita--to Target (yay!), Panera (double yay!), and the Warren (triple yay!). We'd planned to see Avatar in 3-D, but it was sold out, so we saw Sherlock Holmes instead. It was okay, but I would have appreciated knowing that magic played so heavily into the plot before we went.

Mom savors her broccoli cheese soup. Why don't we have a Panera around here???

• Engagements abound! My cousin Jon just announced his engagement to Lauren. Not that he needs or wants my approval, but I give it completely :-) Lauren will be a great addition to our family!!! Also, dear friend and college roomie Jen just got engaged, and she's giving me the honor of being part of her special day! I couldn't be happier for her!

Jen and I were last together in October--I can't wait to see her again!

• I've done a lot of reading recently, and I've started reading my first Blogging for Books selection--Dug Down Deep by Joshua Harris!!! You may recall that a few months ago I mentioned how excited I was about this book. I got so excited when I saw it was available through Blogging for Books! I started reading it in earnest today, and so far, it's excellent. I'm looking forward to reading more; look for the review the week of Jan. 18.
  

best of the bunch: august 2016

Recently, I've been looking for ways to spice up the blog a little. It's easy to only publish book reviews, but is it fun? Not so much. I've been kind of stuck in a rut (which explains my measly six posts in August). I came across "Best of the Bunch," hosted by A Cocoon of Books, which highlights the best book you read in the previous month, and I've decided to join in the fun! Because I sometimes read books well in advance of posting a review, I'm going to include books I reviewed in a given month, regardless of when I read them.

The books I reviewed in August are If Ever I Would Leave You by Susan May Warren (4 stars), Tackling the Fields by Janet W. Ferguson (4 stars), Courageous by Dina L. Sleiman (4 stars), Until Then by Krista Noorman (4 stars), and Without Warning by Lynette Eason (4 stars).

It's pretty rare for me to have a month without a 4-1/2 or 5 star read, but I'm sure part of it is that I just didn't read very much in August! Obviously, I had pretty similar feelings about the quality of all of the books, but if I had to choose one as the best, I'd pick ...

If Ever I Would Leave You is a prequel to Susan May Warren's new Montana Rescue series, and it's free to her newsletter subscribers! I absolutely loved this story, and the only thing that kept it from getting a higher rating is the very abrupt ending. I understand why it ended the way it did, but I did find it to be a bit unsatisfying. Still, it's a great lead-in to Wild Montana Skies, a book I devoured in a day! (That review will be coming soon.)

What was your favorite book of August? Let's discuss in the comments, or write up your own post and join the linkup here.

things that made me smile

I had a great weekend. Seriously, I can't remember when I last had so much fun in one weekend (probably because most of my recent weekends have been consumed by speech ... but we won't go there!). So here's what made me smile:

• Saw my words in print--in a place other than my blogs, the NC Advance, or Amazon! On Friday, I got author Denise Hunter's newest e-newsletter, and in it ... she quoted my review of A Cowboy's Touch! Granted, she didn't say it was me, so no one else knows, but oh, the thrill of seeing my words in her newsletter! I work hard on my reviews, so to have an author say she liked it, well, that pretty much made my day!
• Spent Saturday "babysitting" in the girls' dorm. I was there from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and while I will get paid for my time, it didn't even feel like work. (Isn't that the best kind of job?) While there, I ...

• Finished reading Heart of Ice. It's a good one--check out my review (which probably won't get quoted by the author ...)

•  Watched My Fake Fiance with some of the girls. I'm probably too old for it, but can you go wrong with Blossom's Joey and Sabrina the Teenage Witch? I don't think so!

• Went on an Easter Egg hunt! I'm pretty sure the last time I hunted eggs was eight (?) years ago when cousins Kate and Beth and sister Val came out to visit me at Grace. By the way, my team "won" by collecting the least amount of eggs, and we got all the leftover candy! I ate far too many Starburst jelly beans and then left the rest of my share at the dorm.

The winning (or losing, depending on how you look at it) team: Lindsey, Jessica, and me. We collected a whopping TEN eggs (out of 200)!

• Found a movie music station on the dorm parents' DirecTV. I love movie music, and it provided the perfect accompaniment to my reading!

• Played DDR ... and possibly became addicted! I bought the game from Amazon because I thought I would enjoy it (plus, it was over 50% off), but after playing it once decided it really wasn't for me. I'm not incredibly coordinated ... Then Janet (the girl who spent the last two Christmases with me) asked me to bring it Saturday. She played for hours, and she finally convinced me to try it. It's so fun! I've played four times in the last three days :-)

• Chatted on the phone with college roomie Jen. It had been far too long since we'd spoken, and it was great to catch up! (Note to self: Do a better job of keeping in touch with friends.)
• Took a nice ... windy ... walk with Blendy. We need to do that more often! (Dear Blendy--I'm linking to your blog, so you should probably update it!)
• Went to the dentist this morning. (I can see those questions now: Yes, Monday is still sort-of the weekend because we don't usually have school on Mondays. No, dentist appointments don't usually make me smile.) No new cavities is exactly what I wanted to hear! (Plus, I didn't get the flossing lecture. So either my mouth looks better than it should, or my dentist is giving up ... )
• Had lunch with Jo, a girl I've known basically since she was born nearly 18 years ago. We're going to be starting a Bible study if we can ever get our schedules to mesh ... but for now, it was nice just to spend a 30-minute lunch with her!

i'm not a momma, but i sure love my kids

This post is mainly a reminder to myself—I think everyone is more than ready for school to get out for the summer, and I've sensed it in myself more this year than ever before. At times, I hear my tone of voice when speaking to a student and inwardly cringe. So this look back at the kids I love will hopefully help me remember again why I do what I do!

I know I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again: The reason I continue to work at NC, year after year, is because I've fallen in love ... with a bunch of Asian kids. I distinctly remember the first time I realized just how much I cared about these kids who came from across the globe to learn English. It was in the spring of my second year working full time at NC. I was walking across the lawn from my office in the boys' dorm to the administration building. I don't know what exactly was on my mind, but suddenly the realization that I loved "my" internationals hit me like a ton of bricks. I even teared up, which is unusual for me. In all the years since that day, as students come and go, there's always a special place in my heart for our international students.

Here are a few of this year's special students:

Part of my Reading II class with The Light Across the River, our first book of the year. It's the sequel to Across the Wide River, which I reviewed for Kregel last summer. I have so much fun with this class! Left to right: Hannah, Mia, Rae, Natalie, Kyle. Poor Kyle was the only boy in the class for the first semester!

One of the advantages of being assistant speech coach this year (as opposed to head coach, which I was for the previous seven years) was that I had more time to work with the international students on the team. This was a good thing, as we had 30 kids on the team, and 10 of them were internationals! I can't help but admire the students who will go out for speech—daunting for any student—when they'll be speaking in a language they're just learning! One of my favorite moments of the speech season was when Yena (front row, center, red dress and black shoes) won serious prose at our conference meet. I was so proud! Above are the junior and senior speech team members at Honor, the spring formal.

Some of my favorite times of the year are when the kids need to find homestays (American families to stay with over breaks). I love opening my home to one or two girls. This Easter, I had two girls stay with me: Mina and Lindsey. We had so much fun together, and we talked about some serious stuff, too. Here we are at the Advance Dessert the week after Easter: Mina, me, Lindsey.

These aren't the only students special to me. I could talk about Janet, a girl I'd been praying for ever since I met her, who called me one Saturday morning with exciting news: "Miss Becky, you'll never believe it, but I am a Christian now!" Or Joey, the boy who fell in love with speech and qualified for state each of his three years on the team. Or Elaine, the girl who learned she really could get good grades and who went from F's to B's in my class in less than a semester. Or Wai, or Jay, or Ency, or any of the other 35 international students we have this year. 

They have my heart.

my day, facebook style

Becky

• can't believe it's morning.
• wishes she didn't have to scrape her car.
• remembers more US history than she expected and probably would have gotten at least an 80% on the juniors' final!
• is thankful for friends she can vent to.
• hates the computer in her classroom.
• wishes the yearbook deadline wasn't on Wednesday.
• hopes the predicted blizzard doesn't come!
• really could use a latte.
• doesn't enjoy tomato chunks in her tomato sauce :-(
  
• 's brain feels like mush.
• is shocked. Steph K doesn't know who Harrison Ford is! 
  
• wishes her students had turned in their spreads on time.
• can't believe how much the gift of a latte brightened her day!
• loves laughing with the Dockweiler boys.
• is taking home a lot of work tonight.
• opened her apartment door and was shocked at the sight of her living room--Stubes did a great job cleaning it!
• is trying (rather unsuccessfully) to edit spreads while Chrissy plays country videos on YouTube.
• had supper with the fam.
• is editing. Still.
• loves Landrigan cookies!
  
• just discovered SNC's Ryan Ahlwardt's solo music. Some of it is pretty good.
• will be up very, very late tonight.
• hopes tomorrow's Stuco event is a success.
• has listened to Ryan Ahlwardt's "My Strength to Jesus" repeatedly. He sounds a bit like Chris Rice here--in other songs, he sounds like John Mayer or Jason Mraz.
• :: James 1:19-20 "Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God."
• just made Janae the best birthday present ever!
• isn't accomplishing much yearbook-wise.
• is getting frustrated and has to constantly remind herself of James 1:19-20.
• has complied quite the mental list of issues to cover in yearbook after Christmas break. Perhaps it's time to write them down!
• is glad that Janet is coming to spend Christmas vacation with her!
• still hasn't heard her most hated Christmas song! Here's hoping she makes it through the next four days without hearing it!
  
• :: Why is caption writing so difficult?
  
• decided not to put up her new curtain rod--the neighbors probably wouldn't appreciate the sound of the power drill at 11:30 p.m.!
• just remembered that she still needs to make copies of the final she's giving in the morning.
• should stop blogging and start focusing on yearbook!