happy new year

ask anyone, I'm not a blogger. i have no idea what this is gonna look like or what all it'll entail but here it goes. ill probably ramble and talk in circles but whatever. y'all will probably read a lot about my kids (students i don't have any of my own blood) and teaching endeavors, and a lot about my family. maybe you'll laugh or be inspired or fall asleep i don't know.  

my name is sara tarpley and i am originally from hendersonville, tennessee. I'm 21 and a senior elementary education major at samford university in birmingham, alabama. excuse my grammar and lack of correct punctuation and capitalization.  i love kids (obviously), am passionate about urban education, and i can't wait to see where i end up after graduation--which i get really anxious about and am not gonna talk about at this moment. 

as you know, today is new years day. i went to church this morning and brother bruce introduced part 1 of a 5 week series on being "intentional".  "intentional" is a word i became very familiar with when i came to college. being "intentional" with friends--new friends in school and staying in touch with friends from high school (which i kinda suck at I'm really sorry y'all but i promise I'm working on it), having "intentional" relationships, asking "intentional" questions. his sermon today was from Romans 12:9-13. verse 9 says that "love must be sincere"...that directly translated means "love without hypocrisy" (hence where i got the name for the blog). this is a crazy year for me and most of my friends.  its a time of change and a lot of "lasts" and a lot of uneasiness about where I'm supposed to be and leaving my friends to go wherever I'm called to go. blah blah blah to you who can't relate but you just wait.

so this year i've decided to love. my goal isn't to fall in love but to love people with a real, sincere love it talks about in Romans.  a love without pretending, acting, faking, without hypocrisy. instead of focusing on how to get over the imperfections of difficult people, i will try to "cling to what is good" (vs.9) and dwell on what makes those people special. 

"rejoice always". this year...and by year i really mean day-by-day...i will celebrate the little victories. ill rejoice always for the LORD is good and the LORD is perfect.

no doubt this will be difficult and some days i will fail but practice makes perfect so practice i will and ill so creatively write about it. if i can do it you can do it. 

love y'all. mean it.