Long

Long Time Coming:

This past weekend our church participated in day focused on being the church. So often church is the place to talk about the right things to do, but it's not known for going out and helping the people who desperately need an encounter with God's incomparable love. So our church came up with a wide variety activities for our members to participate in and instead of having church we went out and served. This was a project that had been in the works for a while and was very much anticipated. Some of us went to the hospital to talk to people who wanted a visitor, others cleaned up a house on the verge of being condemned. We visited local agencies like the police, fire, and EMT departments and shared our appreciation with gift baskets. Kids went up and down the streets picking up trash and mowing lawns. We also had a group who helped another church by cleaning and organizing their clothes closet. Most everyone in the church participated regardless of age and while it was similar to community service, the purpose was to share God's love and serve with hearts aligned with the heart Jesus has in the Bible. I had the opportunity to go the hospital and meet with a couple of guys. I think the coolest thing about it was that we weren't there as doctors or obligated relatives. We didn't have to feel sorry for the people or advise them of the treatments they should pursue. We were simply there to live life on life with people and be an encouragement. The CEO of the hospital greeted us, we talked with one man who was getting to go home, and another who was probably not going to leave the hospital alive. Regardless of their situation each of the gentleman share that this is what the church was about. In a world where the values of the church seem undermined by the hypocrisy of its followers it was refreshing to be part of something that was faith in action. So if I may climb onto my soapbox, please go and be the church. Don't just go to church to learn about what the right thing to do is, DO IT! Share your faith, fix a broken relationship, seek to align your life to the Bible not the Bible to fit the needs of your life, and seek ways to love because you were first loved. Okay I'm off my box, but seriously...

Long Week:

Despite being Thursday and almost the end of the week I feel like it has been a longer than normal week. Daniel is battling poison ivy from our church work day on Sunday and I'm dealing with a scratchy throat Daniel brought back from his work trip to Dallas last week. Both of us have felt fatigued. Last night I asked Daniel if he had lost his job because he looked so dejected and tired. Luckily the answer was no and some homemade ice cream perked up both of us.

Long Term Sub:

I found out this week I will be finishing the year as the English/Speech teacher at Fredonia. I'm excited to see some of the lessons I've started to the end. I'm basically getting a second student teaching experience but with pay and no portfolio! We're watching Oklahoma! in the advanced drama class. When I asked them if they had ever heard the theme song from it they looked at me like I was nuts. I thought singing a little bit of it would help...nope just more "you're crazy" looks and I felt like I was some out of touch 85-year-old. And just to solidify the fact that I'm a weird adult one of the boys in speech class asked if I was a partier. Another boy responded, "Dude, does she look like she was partier?" I told them I was a big Dr. Pepper fan. Somehow this conversation gave the green light to the boy who had asked the question initially to seek my advice about what would happen if he wore a camelback (see picture below) filled with beer instead of water and wore it under his graduation robe. I recommended getting out of high school in peace and not testing the school's administrators more than he already had. So it's official. I'm an unadventurous teacher who knows about movies, songs, and shows that these kids have never heard of. So this is what it's like to not be mistaken as a middle or high schooler? I like it.

Random Thoughts

I'd like to share a few of the thoughts from the CMA awards.

1. It's crazy that I know every word of some of the songs, but didn't have a clue what the singers looked like until tonight. I wouldn't have guessed that some of them looked the way they do. I wonder what people would think I would look like if they only knew my voice?

2. Are the seats comfortable?

3. How do you go about being one of the people who hands the awards to people? Is there a try out or is it just about who you know? I think I'd be pretty good at it...bucket list item, maybe.....

4. As great as it would be to win an award I think the next best thing is to be the wife of a winner because you a) an "I love you and couldn't do this with you" on national T.V. and b) you get to get all dressed up for a really fun concert.

5. I love country music.

In other news Daniel and I had a very productive weekend. I got the pleasure of mowing the grass and not on a riding mower. I thought it seemed more laborious than I remembered, but figured I was just out of shape. Little did I know the mower was not self propelled like the one from my childhood. Although my hands hurt today, I really feel a sense of accomplishment. Thus begins my love/hate relationship with mowing. Another accomplishment is a potential and probable job. I am waiting for the official okay from Sedan High School to be the Spanish teacher for next year. I know the excitement will wear off and the stress of being a first year teacher will be overwhelming at times, but as I sub I realize even more how much this is what I want to do, how much I care about these kids, and how much I sense the impact I have the opportunity to make. I know there are a lot of things people see in young people and popular culture for that matter that might raise some red flags about the direction we're headed as society. I have the same concerns when I see how cheap relationships and sex have become, how success is equated with money rather than integrity, and so on. Still, I wholeheartedly believe that I have been blessed with the opportunity to be a fork in the road for kids that might just direct them to something bigger than themselves...oh yeah and teach Spanish too.

Have a great week all!

Growing Up

This weekend I went home for my cousin's bridal shower and a much needed visit. I hadn't be home since January and it was nice to drive on the ever familiar roads. It was also a time to organize/reduce the mass of things collecting in my former room. I should have taken a picture of the stacks of boxes, clothes, papers, and blankets that were all over the room. To be fair a summer where one sister has an internship, makes a trip to the ICU, and then is home briefly before going back to K-State combined with another sister who prepares for a wedding, gets married, and makes the biggest move of her life results in a few piles of stuff. Now that I have a house with storage my mom would like to see the mementos I left behind take up residency with me. Unfortunately that means sorting through boxes that hold the most "important" and "valuable" artifacts of my entire childhood as well as all those must haves but will never use again items from a wedding. I've listed a few highlights that will give you a glimpse into the fun, entertaining, and laborious process of sorting.

1. Goodwill goes wedding -- Renting and borrowing as much as possible is a must when it comes to wedding preparation. However, there are those details that are custom made or a collection of lots of little things that you just end up buying. For me this resulted in table jewels, silk flowers, scrapbook paper, picture frames, and the list could go on and on. All of these things are reusable in some decorative function, but I have enough of each of the listed items to decorate thousands of rooms/tables/whatever exactly the same. It's a little too much of a good thing. I have a few friends who have contacted me about borrowing stuff, but I still wish there was a place I could take things that would be open to the public to rent or buy. If nothing else, having a collection of all the things brides used would be a great way to get ideas. Goodwill already has some pretty "special" wedding dresses, but I think they could really step up their game if they could start their own wedding decoration section.

2. Betty Lou -- Most of you probably don't know that I was formerly known as Betty Lou in 6th grade. Three other friends and myself decided it would be cool to come up with new names and make up adult lives. We shared what was going on in our lives through letters. I chose to live in California and from my understanding we were all going to meet at Disneyland to catch up and talk about our friend's recent marriage...how grown up!!! I don't think I've laughed as hard as I did when my mom and I were reading through these old letters (which were carefully decorated) for quite a while. I'm not an advocate for being a pack rat, but I'm really glad I kept those letters so I could have a good laugh.

3. Salad prayer -- This has nothing to do with the weekend, but I was working with a 1st grade student on Friday who ate a salad during science class. The salad was supposed to teach the kids about the different parts of a plant. First of all, he was so grateful for the salad and then he looks at me and says we need to pray. I think he thought it was my job to get everyone at the red table to pray. I told him to go ahead by himself. I looked over and sure enough his eyes were closed and his hands folded. He stayed like this for a while then quietly said amen. He looked at me again and said, "I prayed." It made me so happy and I couldn't help but smile.