Rainy Day Schedule: What Does The World Need From You?

Hello! I am so glad it's Thursday! I had a four day week, but I already need a weekend! Who's with me? This is the part of the school year that really exhausts teachers and students. I refer to it as the long haul. No breaks till spring break and then no breaks until summer. I watch my students gradually become zombies, while also weirdly honing their critical thinking skills... Critical Thinking Zombies, they should make a movie about that!

Anyways, while preparing for this zombie apocolypse, I've made a commitment to being constantly aware of my surroundings. Not because of potential Zombie attack, but to be intentionally looking for inspiration. 

Today at our teacher's devotion (I know, I work with people who do devotions before work, its like some kind of dream), our head of school told us about a study done on two kinds of people. I could Rachel 1 or Rachel 2 and could choose which one of those I wanted to be. R1 is the type who lets the pursuit of her own fame drive her and everything about her, her bank account is driven by what brings her glory...and ultimately never has enough. R2 is the type of person who asks "What does the world need from me?" "What does the world need? How can I help?" or from a more Christian perspective... "What does the world need, and how can I be in Jesus in that way?" And that's what drives everything they do.

I was so struck by the Holy Spirit in this devotion today. How can I be Jesus and really provide the needs of my students? I sincerely want them to achieve great things on this earth, because I dearly love them, and I want them to love Jesus. They are not mutually exclusive. I've actually completely changed my lesson plan for next week. Bringing the Gospel, SAT prep style! Will someone write a book about me? Probably not. I'm not doing anything glamorous or sexy (weird). But Which Rachel am I going to be? Which Rachel does the Lord want me to be? Who or what will drive everything I do, and how I can leave an impact? Do you think about things? Which version of yourself are you? I really had to think about it, and I would encourage you to do the same!

Not bad for a Thursday morning teacher's devotion! See you soon :)

Faith Is The Assurance of Things Hoped For... And Other Summer Plans

Hello there! 

I have very exciting news. The recording process is over. The mastering process is over. The CD Baby process is over. PARRISH EP is coming out next month, for reals! Nathan's and my labor of love over the past 6-8 months is coming to fruition

Nathan and I have a love for Americana, old country, and the Gospel plain and simple. I feel like our release is a good representation of that.

We got to record half of our EP in Topanga Canyon at Jackknife Lee's studio "The Garage". If you look closely, you can see Jackknife's Grammy for Album of the Year for How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb...yep. U2. My youngest brother works for Jackknife, and it was very kind of him to let us use his beautiful space.

Actually, my brother, Matt (Insta: MathBishop) helped us through the entire process, and for sure without him none of this could have been possible. It was such a great thing to see him truly in his element. He has such a huge talent production-wise, and such a great professional persona about him. 

A lot of love and caffeine went into this project... A lot.

So, what are my summer plans?! This is it. Play music, make music, lead worship, read, read at the beach, drink coffee, drink coffee at the beach... all with Nathan, or the Abina's, or the girls from Life (our college ministry). It's going to be glorious.

and now, I sit here pondering my school year. If you follow me on Instagram (ParrishTheThoughtBlog), you will see that I'm in sentimental mode. The first class I ever taught Bible 10 for is graduating, and they have voted for me to speak at their graduation ceremony. There are so many things I could say about this group of students, but I'll just say this. This is the class that taught me to teach, so I've grown attached. 

It never ceases to amaze and humble me; the goodness of God. His over abundant grace, and how much I do not deserve any of this. This school-year has impacted me in a major way. I had breakthrough many times over, I fasted for the first time, The Lord used me to bring a student to Him, and now I am giving the big speech at graduation. He is good, all the time. All the time, He is good.

See you soon.