What Was I Thinking?

I just nearly did myself an injury. I walked into the teacher's lounge and saw Mr. Colby in a sky blue, short-sleeved, collared, cable knit sweater buttoned all the way to the top, and I bent over laughing and ran right hip first into the counter. It is Ugly Christmas Sweater Day here in grades 8-12, and we are awarding prizes to the student in each of those grades who shows up wearing the ugliest sweater. The prize will be free ice skating on our traditional Wednesday morning before Christmas trip to Ice World, and amazing $10 value! I am wearing an ugly sweater from the Cosby Show era that I bought last week for an elementary chapel skit. In the course of that skit, the sweater was doused with chocolate milk, but it all came out in the wash so that I could sport its ugliness today in school. Unfortunately, I am ineligible to win won of the prizes. Yesterday  baked cookies for the staff. My Grammie Manzo's Ginger Crinkles and a recipe I got from America's Test Kitchen ...

Christmas can be a stressful time of year for a child, especially at school. I remember being really nervous about Secret Santa or Secret Angel gift exchanges. What if I draw the name of a girl? Argh! How do I know what a girl wants? And what if the girl likes the presents and thinks I like her for some reason? Double argh! What if I get the name of someone who doesn't like me? Do I have to get that person good presents? And what if my name is picked by someone who doesn't like me? Will I get anything? What if my name is picked by a girl who likes me? Maybe I'll get good presents, but how embarrassing is that, huh? Maybe I will be lucky and draw the teacher's name and my best friend will pick my name. Yes! Oh, please, God, make it so. As you can see, Secret Santa or Angel time produced a lot of anxiety in my schoolboy soul. Added to this stress was the keen despair that occurred when (unknown to me) my Secret Santa was absent or broke and I did not get a gift on the fir...

I'm a bit confined to my desk today, because I am suddenly overcome with dizziness and altered vision. I was trying to read a portion from a book and found that I had little spots before my eyes like you get when you are out too long in the sun on a white, snowy day. Those of you who have been to my office know that it is not brightly lit, so this phenomenon confused me, and when the dizziness began, nausea was right on its heels. I went to the GGCA prayer room and lay down for a while and felt a mild headache build behind my right eye. I feel as though I have a migraine headache without the pain. Whatever it is, I am taking it easy here in my office and taking some time to write to you. The weather has been unseasonably warm for December, but that has not stopped the younger students from asking almost daily, "Is it Christmas yet?" and singing songs like Jingle Bells as they trail along in their teacher's wake each morning from the Family Center to their classro...

And so it begins... By my count, there are sixteen and one-half days of school before the Christmas break if I include today. These are some of the most challenging days to teach for any teacher, the stretch from Thanksgiving break to Christmas break, because the peppermint and evergreen scent of the next big holiday grows stronger and stronger as the day draws nearer, and that aroma energizes children and can cloud their minds. May God help us if the skies should open and bestow upon us a blanket of snow, no matter how thin or temporary. The elementary students are in rehearsals for the Christmas musical. This year's production will be something called, "Aaron, the Allergic Shepherd" and it should be amusing since Aaron is allergic to wool. We have some wonderful singers and actors in the elementary grades, so I anticipate a great performance which will usher in the presence of God as only the youngest among us can do. This season also means it is time to onc...

Bless me, Readers, for I have procrastinated. It has been two weeks since my last posting. Forgive me for the confessional allusion. The weather has turned cold again today. My hands are still cold from the time I spent out on sidewalk duty this morning before school. Perhaps some typing will warm them up a bit. I am really looking forward to the Thanksgiving break. One of the perqs of working in schools is the break time you get around certain holidays. Believe me, school folks need those breaks and I think the students need a break from their teachers too. We all need to come away and rest a while, renew our strength, and get over colds and other winter maladies.   I remember being in school and learning about the pilgrims and their first Thanksgiving with the Native Americans. I remember tracing the outline of my hand, making the thumb look like a turkey's head and coloring the four fingers different colors to look like the turkey's feathers, making something that looke...

Please pray for our staff and students now that cold and flu season has come upon us. Paula Lange is out sick for the second day, and others of us are sniffling, sneezing, coughing, and wheezing, held together by cold medication, perseverance, and prayer. I woke up this morning with the sore throat and wobbly legs that usually presages a bout with a virus, but I decided that I had to come to school if only to be part of our elementary chapel skit this afternoon. I missed being in the Encouragement skit I wrote for last week's chapel, so I especially want to be here for the one on Forgiveness today. Forgiveness was the topic of a message spoken by Pastor Schaller a few Sundays ago, and it seems as though I have been learning it ever since. My blithe statement that I forgive others easily was put to the test later that week as I stewed over something someone had done that really bothered me; I kept my hurt to myself and couldn't seem to let it go. Eventually I did, and all is...

Today Pastor Love was delayed arriving to the grades 6-12 chapel, so I took the opportunity to address the students and tell what was on my heart. I told them that when asked by Pastor Schaller before the school year began what I desired for our school, I said one word: Revival. I explained to the students that every one of them can have a ministry and reveal Christ if they seek God's face, like Psalm 27:8 says: "When you said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, Lord, will I seek."  I am counting on God to raise up the next generation of Christian leaders, because, if Christ tarries, we are going to need them to replace those of us who are getting a bit long in the tooth. More than that, though, I believe that our young people can be leaders and have a ministry right NOW. Pastor Brian told our seniors on the senior retreat that if they were dropped as a group in a foreign country, they could turn that country upside-down for Christ becaus...