All posts by rad4u37

ABOUT ME Hey! Welcome! Most days you’ll find me substitute teaching or at home with my sweet baby boy. When I am home, I am doing so many things it is a wonder there is enough time in the day! I love to teach, craft, bake (pies are my specialty), play with my babies (animals included), binge-watch all kinds of things, play my guitar, read books and obviously write! My husband doesn’t know how I have so many hobbies and passions. lol If I could choose any career in the world and be the best, I would become a Broadway Star! (Not gonna happen. lol) However, I am very content with my current path, being a high school English tutor/teacher, drama enthusiast, writer, and the greatest wife and mother I can be. I love you dearly, Monique Worrell Thank you again for joining and supporting me and my passions!

A Young Man’s Encouragement

I was met in the hall this morning, subbing for a teacher I barely know, by a young man I had in Freshman English last year. He called out, “Hello Mrs. Worrell!” and waved.

I responded in kind and asked how he was doing and his response blessed my soul and warmed my teacher’s heart.

Good. I miss you and your class a lot Mrs. Worrell.

The sincerity of those words.

As a stay-at-home mom, I miss teaching every day, but more than anything I miss my school babies and all the joy we shared learning together.

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

19 If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
    Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
20 They speak of you with evil intent;
    your adversaries misuse your name.
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
    and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
    I count them my enemies.
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting.

Sometimes we forget that God Knows. He was there in the beginning and He will be there in the end. He designed us long before even our grandparents were born and He has a plan for us farther then our eyes can see. We may try to hide from Him but of course, we cannot. And no matter how long you have been away from God always know that He never left you. He is walking beside you, just waiting for the day when you will turn your eyes on Him and say, “Abba, Father. I want to be yours.”

The Escape Artists that Didn’t Get Away:

So, I was a P.E. teacher at a high school one day and this school had their weight room in a separate building. We were in there the second half of the period and it was getting close to the end.

I was told in the directions that the students were not allowed to be let out more than 3 minutes early for changing because they make some pretty bad choices when they have more time than that.

Well, with two minutes left we start cleaning up and out of the corner of my eye I see 2 boys at the door looking around, and then they bolt like a full-on sprint out the door and across the walkway in an attempt to escape.

If you know me at all you would know that I do not tolerate this kind of behavior and so… I take off!

I run from the other side of the room. I am dodging students and machines as I rush for the door and then I hurdle over a bench and out the door I go. I was about 10ft. behind the boys when I yelled “HEY!” as loud and vicious as possible.

One boy immediately turned around and started coming back before looking behind him to see that the other boy did not stop. He slunk back to where I was standing and said, “I was just going to use the restroom.” I looked him straight in the eyes and replied,

“Yeah right.”

The best part of this whole thing though was when I got back, and all the kids were whispering…

“Did you see the way she jumped over that bench!”

“It was like Parkour!”

“Don’t mess with her…”

“That was so awesome.”

I know for a fact that they were impressed because when I asked the name of the boy that did not turn around, they gave it without a second thought. Most students protect their peers… but not this time. 😊

Aamina’s Eyes

“Then she looked at me with her tear-filled eyes in a way that unsettled me. ‘Why have you come? Who are you?’ It was hard to tell but she almost looked as if she knew the answer to the latter question and was watching to see if I would tell the truth or lie.”

Iesha
Monique Worrell

Shepherd’s Pie

https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/meatball-shepherds-pie

This recipe is a MAJOR family favorite. If you like mashed potatoes, garlic, meatballs, and straight-up deliciousness; this is the dish for you! I will confess that it takes a lot of work and my mother and I usually have to double team this recipe, but it is totally worth it.

The onion gravy with the garlic and parmesan potatoes just melt in your mouth. Not to mention those tasty meatballs. We tend to use the Italian freezer meatballs from Costco but man are they perfect for this recipe!

I hope you give this a try and love it as much as I do.

The Journey Begins

Thanks for stopping by!

This website is a place where I will share my thoughts, stories, life, and even some of my writing. I am so excited to share it with you and am blessed you’ve joined me. Life’s Musings is where you can find all kinds of narrative from my everyday life. This could range from my husband, to my dog, to my faith, to something random I saw or noticed. My Writing Journey, however, will stay strictly to the projects/novels I am working on. This will include characters, scene previews, struggles, tips, and even full chapters for you to read and critique. I am so excited to start this process with you and hope I can meet you all someday if I have not already.

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton