Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work

Aristotle

Nice quote to exercise my thinking about what step is next. Wherever it is, there should be pleasure in it. Still considering…

I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox

and which you were probably saving for breakfast

forgive me

they were delicious

so sweet and so cold

William Carlos Williams

I teetered and tottered and mulled over in my mind just how I should start this entry to you, my lovely bride of almost 18 years. “How shall I express to her how thankful and blessed I feel to have and to hold such a Life-filled girl/lady/mom/love-of-my-life…,” I asked myself. I wanted to say in a beautiful way how much I have enjoyed the last twenty years, and how much I look forward to 20 more as the LORD gives.

We talked just today about how significant words have been to us in our life together, and I gave that some thought.

FIRST, we were given life each one through the Living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. Even the world could not contain the books that could be written about all his loveliness, but how fulfilling it is to dwell upon Him, and try to exhaust the inexhaustable WORD. For these TWENTY years, He has led us with His sweet and powerful WORD.

Secondly, our relationship grew and was nurtured by many letters written back and forth when nearness was impossible. How much like the sweet smell of a rose were those letters received when distance was an obstacle.

Thirdly, I remember a time when your love of corniness and word play was not a love I shared. And now…I think I’ve been led captive.

Fourthly, how many t-shirts have we penned in our minds in those late-night weird-mooded laughing fests? I hoped that those nights/mornings would never end. We may never actually make a penny on any of those ideas, but it’s been so fun thinking up the next great shirt!

Fifthly, our poetry to one another has been sweet. HOWEVER…I think you owe me one. A really long, juicy, poem, that brings a single tear to my eye – “if that’s possible,” I hear you saying it now.

And what about this new version of our card ceremony – now electronic?

I know I could go on and on, but I should get to the punch line.

I chose a poem – this poem – because of how much I love you, and of how much I love William Carlos Williams’ poetry, and of how much it communicates a secret we have held together in these many years. The secret is forgiveness. This is not the only secret, I know, but how amazingly important this secret has been to us!

There have been times when we accidentally hurt one another. And there have been times when we (I’m sorry to say) have purposely hurt one another. Now, here we stand together, because of God’s grace and forgiveness. I publicly confess – apart from salvation through Jesus Christ, I rifle through my mind and memories to find only you as the single-most significant thing that has ever overtaken me.

And you have overtaken me with your kindness, and with your love, and with your selflessness, and with your forgiveness. What shall I say, other than, “Thank you!” Thank you for twenty love-filled years and your promise to stand by me no matter what may come. You have blessed me, and I thank you.

Your husband – bc

There is none like Me
I carry the wounds of death
And behold, I live

The man is aging
He cannot hold his own now
Reality laughs

Tonight I discovered something. Either I am getting older and weaker, or my sons are getting stronger. Or maybe it’s both.

I was wrestling with them on the floor, and at a certain point, I grasped both of them and asked them to try to escape. After much struggling, one, and then two, were able to release themselves from my clutches.

I have made this challenge before, and they were not able to accomplish this feat. This is family history!

It’s been a great first week back at school. It’s amazing how smooth everything has gone. I guess I should not be so startled, because I have covered each day with prayer. God is faithful.

Well…it is the end of the second day of school, and I can honestly say that I do enjoy my job. I have not enjoyed the administrative tasks associated with these first few days–teaching 31 eleven-year-olds how to open a locker, collecting tissues, map pencils, etc., and making sure papers get signed and returned.

However, I do enjoy former students stopping by to say hello and that they miss me. And I enjoy teaching siblings of former students, and I REALLY enjoy thinking that Summer is just 185 business days away. Just kidding.

Seriously. I take pleasure in trying to ease the mind (and high blood pressure) of sixth graders who frantically run through the halls and say, “Do you know where Mr. So-and-so’s class is?” Or, “How do I get to the gym?” It’s neat seeing these students progress from terrified little ones to the confident (maybe too confident) hall-dwellers that they will become.

If you sit back and try to find the little perks that come with teaching, it makes for an enjoyable time.

Should I remind the reader that compared to “the program” anything is better? It’s all about perspective!

I’m not sure how a madman blogs, but I bet it’s fun to watch.

bc

I am eager to get going on my teacher blog, but I discovered today that the free blog site puts a limit on upload space. I will probably resort to choosing a new domain name like spunkyoldteacher.org, or youhadbetterdoyourhomework.org, or something of that nature. Then I will be able to upload video of labs we do in class without limits.

I really am enjoying blogdom more and more. I find it to be a sort of therapy. And it’s cheap therapy.

Incidentally, this is post number 30 for me.

You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.

Dale Carnegie

I don’t know why we worry about reunions. But I have been nervous about this one. I suppose it’s because my physique has changed drastically in 20 years, and there are circles under my eyes due to allergies, and my back hurts because of a bulging disc, and all this signals to me that I have aged.

While this all bothers me, I think my largest concern is my change in philosophy. My change to a new creature. The very year I graduated, while away in college, I gained new life through Jesus Christ.

There in my dorm room, all alone, I grabbed the Bible my mom had packed. I can’t even remember what passage I was reading, but I changed overnight. It was like a wagon rode over a dirt road, and when the dust settled, the road was paved.

And so this is how I return to see the people with whom I graduated from high school. This is how I perceive that they will perceive me. A new creation. An anomaly.

I have no regrets about my new birth. It is without question the best decision I have ever made. The decision to follow Christ.

I am a bit nervous about the breaking of the ice. I think the quote at the head of the page is a great guide. I just need to be interested in them. Genuinely interested. I think this will make the most memorable impact in the lives of the people I see tomorrow.

After all, after tomorrow, life goes on. I will return home, back into my microcosm, and forget about what happened at the reunion. What will last is how I treated the people I greeted. With this said – I hope to enjoy myself by finding interest in others tomorrow. So here goes.

I cannot believe that it is finally over! My experience over the past 4 weeks has been grueling, and I am breathing easier now that it is final. I can honestly and without wavering say that I will never sign myself up for that “program” again. In so many ways, it was an unequal fit for me.

I was in disagreement with so many of the “program’s” basics, but I did not know that until I was in the thick of it all. Shame on me for not thinking through this one a bit more.

Nevertheless…here I am with 2 more weeks of Summer, and I plan to enjoy it with rest and family time.