What Was I Thinking?

I just finished emailing a reply to a letter from one of the referees who officiated at tonight's middle school league championship games. This is the second time he has written to express that he enjoys officiating at games in our gymnasium because he appreciates Coach Pat Lynch and Pastor John Love's professionalism and the sportsmanship of our players.  I told him that I enjoyed watching our young men and women playing their hearts out, and that I admired the character they displayed even in defeat.  As I sat on the sidelines watching our players and our fans, a little smile curled up the corners of my face as I thought, "These are my people. These are my students, my parents, my teachers, my fellow members of the body of Christ here in this gymnasium, and I love them and I am going to miss them when I go away." As I watched the boys running their warm-up drills, I wondered if at some point I would be sitting in a gym on the other side of the world watching a tea...

I am amazed that God can speak to me even when my mind is preoccupied with other thoughts. Tonight in church my mind was triggered onto tangents by so many of the things being said in the message that I found myself wondering, "What did he just say? What did I just miss? What is this message about?" I was getting down on myself for my wandering mind, when the Spirit touched my heart for seemingly no reason at all but to bless me, and the simple thought of the message penetrated me: Delight in Me. It was as if two strong arms had embraced me in a back hug to help me settle and focus on those three words, because I felt loved and held, and all the self-condemning thoughts disappeared in that moment to be replaced by grace and peace. I have begun to think about wrapping up my life here in Baltimore over the next few months. Yes, there are quite a few days of school remaining and much to accomplish in the time remaining, but somehow I have to manage to sell my house and move ou...

Deciding to agree with God to go out on the mission field has had an unexpected side effect. Not like the frightfully dire side effects that one hears when watching prescription drug commercials. You know - the ones where the beautiful images of lives made wonderful by medication dance across the screen as an announcer calmly warns you that people with such and such conditions should not take the drug and that if something horrible starts happening, contact your doctor immediately. No, the side effects that I am experiencing do not require a trip to the emergency room or the cemetery. The side effects I'm talking about are bittersweet words of edification. Fortunately, I enjoy the bittersweet taste of dark chocolate, so I can swallow people's expressions of mixed joy and sorrow and digest their rich, heartfelt words of appreciation. Sometimes I stand in wonder as people tell me who I have been as a teacher and a principal thinking, "Is this me they are talking about?...