Monique's Testimonies

April showers bring May flowers.   May. It's a month referred to as the sunshine after the April showers. For me, a high school educator, it's the month I begin counting down until summer. Excitement flows through my blood, electricity filling my veins. Until I realize... the end of May is when I also say farewell to my precious senior students.  These students started high school with social distancing, face masks, walking in one direction, and hand sanitizer—lots of hand sanitizer. They were resilient, fighting through the unknown, with a teacher filled with the same worry and dread, who had stayed a whole year at home, starting her career, with a baby, wondering if she was going to be good enough for her students. We marched on, my students and I. With each year passing, they grew a little taller, and I grew a little wiser. These seniors saw me at my worst and at my best. They saw me handle the rockiness of a marriage while pursuing my own interests. They saw me lose my coo...

 Long time, no speak! I hope that all is well in your world as you're reading this. For me, I'm nearing the end of my 5th year of teaching. It's truly remarkable to know that I'm in the career I worked 5 long years in college for.  I have to give that praise to God for where I'm at today. Without Him and His strength, I wouldn't be where I am, and I wouldn't be who I am. It's scary to picture who I would be if I didn't devote my life to being a disciple of Christ, a good wife and mom, and an overall decent human being.  My childhood had me on the path to becoming an alcoholic and on drugs. To be angry and force my family to walk on eggshells. To fight and scream and yell and shout. To ensure that it's my way or the highway. I COULD have become that person. Rather... I found my way back to God after blaming him for so long about the predicaments in my life. It was always his fault in my eyes, and not the fault of the evil that's rampant in the...