A Taste of Summer

Summer Vacation is now over, but I thought I would share a few of my indoor summer traditions - in addition to the outdoor ones of biking to the lake, going for walks, kayaking, getting soaked at Twin Falls, and hiking the mountain.

There are the variety of card games and other games to be played.  Pictured above is nerts with cousins while below is Hand and Foot with different relatives.  In addition I played numerous rounds of 99, crib, and backgammon with dad.  He usually won the crib so we would play 99 afterwards so that I could redeem myself.

Puzzles are also an important part of any vacation or extra bit of time off.  Doing one with other people makes it better.  (Maybe that is what I should do with my time off school)

And of course there is always time for a good novel - or several - over the course of vacation.  They are also excellent ways to pass the time while traveling from one destination to another.

Hurricane Party

This evening I was invited to eat dinner downstairs with the Sonbuchners and Rydbecks.  Susan had invited Dean and Lynne over Sunday evening, not really knowing what the weather would be like on Tuesday.  Before dinner I helped moved plants and all sorts of random objects that could easily fly around into the garage in preparation for the winds expected from Hurricane Isaac.

After the near fiasco of almost burning dinner while we were taking care of things outside, we settled down to a lovely meal.  After supper and some yummy dessert (compliments of Abby) we had devotions and played some games.  Devotions consisted of reading and reflecting on part of Proverbs 28 and then singing some hymns.  It was very nice.  At some point during our multiple games of Sequence our time together was dubbed a 'hurricane party'.    The weather outside is still fine, but the fact that there is no school or work tomorrow allowed us to play games and hang out longer than would be typical on a school night.

We had an enjoyable evening and decided we should do it again sometime; and we might not even wait for another hurricane.

Prayer for Today

God, as I go into my day, my week, my year, and the rest of my life; show me moment by moment how to live in relationship with you and your people, how to love, how to serve, and how to make my life all and only about Christ.

Discipline

One temptation I struggle with in teaching is having the wrong motivation for disciplining students.  I know that I am supposed to be more concerned about the childrens' hearts and their heart motivations which drive their actions, but sometimes I simply want to fix their actions without doing the hard work of addressing their hearts.  It may seem simpler at the time, but this makes the solution more difficult in the long term.  

Perspective

This was supposed to be my first blog post, but I didn't really have the words to say it right.  I still haven't figured it out after trying to write it multiple times in my head.  Despite that fact I have decided to write it anyway and try to explain a situation that could only be fully understood by being there.

I am incredibly thankful for my Christian heritage.

The date was June 17th.  Sitting in Uncle Derick and Aunt Nola's dining room were Grandpa Schaap, 7 aunts (including mom), 5 uncles, and more cousins than I counted.  After sharing a delicious Sunday dinner someone suggested we sing some songs.  We sang a variety of hymns, including some of Grandpa's favorites.

There were a variety of impressions left during that time:
Beautiful harmonies as everyone sang (and sang well) together.
Enthusiasm in singing even when we as cousins only knew some of the lines of the songs.
Cousin Brandon saying that we should make a recording it sounded so good.
Grandpa, some uncles and aunts, and some cousins in tears as we worshipped God together.

Upon seeing Grandpa's tears I mentally stepped back from the scene and tried to view it from his perspective.  Sitting in a room with all his children, their spouses, his grandchildren and some of their spouses, praising God together.  Two of my uncle's are pastors, others among the group are leaders in their workplaces and in churches.  Each individual is actively involved in their own church.  I had to believe that this was an answer to his prayers for many years, seeing his children and grandchildren following God and living in relationship with Him.  What a great blessing!

Later I was talking with my cousin Ana about our Christian heritage.  As relatives we had gathered for the celebration of multiple cousins' weddings.  Ana and I talked about what a wonderful witness it is that there has not been a marriage break-up on that entire side of the family - not among the aunts and uncles, or among the cousins.  To our knowledge our cousins are believers like their parents and grandparents before them.  To be gathered for the celebration of weddings and to have such a strong set of examples for marriage was an amazing testimony to God's blessings.

The evening of June 18th the relatives were all gathered around another set of tables at Uncle Darren and Aunt Ardene's house.  After a day full of fun and fellowship we shared supper together.  After supper Uncle Stan was led to start a time of sharing what God has been teaching us recently.  It was another wonderful testimony to how God is at work in our extended family.  Once again it was a blessing.

Too many times I have taken my Christian heritage for granted.  Sometimes I think that I grew up sheltered in the Christian community.  At times I didn't like it, but looking back now I am increasingly recognizing how incredibly blessed I have been throughout my life.  We don't get to choose our families or life situations, but I thank God for blessing me with a wonderful family and the influence and and guidance of a strong Christian community, both in my family and in the broader community.

Blessings

I am extremely blessed!  Today was the first day of school and these are some of the blessings I experienced already this school year:

• 17 precious children in my class - all made in God's image.
• 17 precious children came into my class, survived the first day, and happily went home - there were no major upsets, injuries, tears, or discipline issues.
• A student and his mom brought me a glass jar of mints with Isaiah 41:10 on it this morning.
• Greetings and hugs from lots of previous students.
• One student came to see me on Open House day (Monday) before school even started.  His mom said that as they drove onto campus this boy said "good memories".  This is a child I took to the office more than 10 times last year.  God is working, even when I don't always see it.
• Greater perspective on last year and how God uses struggles to his glory.
• Greetings, encouragement, prayer, and hugs from administrators, other teachers, and people working at school.
• Cupcakes for a student's birthday.
• Conversations with teachers to discuss the first day.
• Overwhelming joy and peace from God at the beginning of a new school year.

Thank you God for blessing me with the privilege of teaching children Truth through my words and example, loving them, and helping them grow.

Weekend at the Lake

My return to Louisiana would not have been complete without a trip to the Place's Lake House (which is actually a condo) on False River.  So, on Friday afternoon I packed an overnight bag and headed out to the lake.  I had a special delivery with me from my trip home this summer, I hope you are able to figure out what it was by the end of this post.  We enjoyed a lovely dinner, followed up with frozen yogurt for dessert.  We watched a little bit of Olympics, played bumper pool, and enjoyed the evening on the deck beside the lake.

The view from the main floor deck.

On Saturday my time was short because I needed to head back to Opelousas at 12:30pm.  Despite limited time, we still managed to enjoy a few activities.  We went down to the Pelican Yacht Club where Doug taught me how to fly the spinnaker, which is a sail that we had not used in the past.  The wind was limited so we didn't actually put the sailboat in the water; instead we rigged only the spinnaker while on land and then practiced using it that way.  After that we took out the motor boat.  First it needed a trip to the gas station down the road for gas, oil, and one other engine fluid.  Then we got on the water and took it up to the house.  Having attempted water skiing in May, without full success, I took advantage of the opportunity to try again.  Through many attempts, I did finally get up.  After that I thought about taking a break and trying again another day, but I kept going for a few more tries.  I actually managed to get up all the way and ski for a little while before stopping because I was tired.  The timing was perfect, because we got back to the Lake House with enough time for me to change, eat a quick lunch, and head back to Opelousas.  Sadly I did not have my camera with me on the boat for a picture of water skiing, maybe next time. I had a great time and it was a wonderful way to spend my last weekend of summer vacation.

I met my baby cousin

Saturday evening I got to meet my baby cousin.

Uncle Henry, Aunt Ardie, James, mom, dad, and I went over to Uncle Dave and Aunt Margaret's house for supper.  Earlier that afternoon they got to bring Martin home for the first time.  He had a longer stay in the hospital while he fought an infection, but was released on Saturday.  As part of Martin's welcome home we got together and ordered pizza for dinner - he didn't eat any first hand preferring to sleep through supper.  When we weren't eating, Martin got passed around between the aunts and cousins.  He is really cute, and I was so glad to get to see him, Uncle Dave, and Aunt Margaret before returning to Louisiana.

Heat and Humidity

This afternoon I was sweating more than I have in a very long time, and I wasn't even working out.  After going outside for a little while I decided to clean the inside of my car.  I wiped down everything, washed the windows, and then vacuumed out the floor and seats.  I had debated about waiting until it was cooler outside, but that would be a few months so I figured I would take care of it before school starts.  After being up in the Northwest, the heat and humidity were definitely a change.  It was 32 C (90 F) outside with a 63% humidity, but I am not sure how much warmer it was inside my car.  I was dripping sweat before I was finished, but I am happy that my car is now clean.

Welcome Home

Bible Study and fellowship with members of my church family - what a great way to spend my first evening back in Louisiana! (even if I forgot about it until 30mins beforehand)