Precious Piggies!

1.) 12 and 13 year olds don’t bring a change of clothes and YES, they will ruin their school uniforms instead.
2.) Softballs hurt when caught with the cheekbone.
3.) Beta Club has meetings after school that last for 2 hours!
4.) Out of 11 players that were NOT at the 2 hour Beta meeting, only 4 claimed to have played before.
5.) Of those 4 that have played, 3 quit their previous team.
6.) Temperatures in the 60′s make me sweat on the field, yet these kids are “Freezing Coach!”
7.) “Coach, you have your own glove!? I’m gonna bring mine tomorrow!”
8.) No one has pitched in a game before.
9.) Player: “Coach, I wanna try out for soccer.” Me:”We don’t have soccer, have you ever played it before?” Player: “Nu-uh.”
10.) We need some divine intervention….quick!

     It all began the day before we were to leave.  We head out to run some last minute errands and when we parked the car and shifted into park – the car stayed in reverse.  The gear shift cable snapped.  So under the car we go to shift the transmission manually.  We take it straight to the dealership’s service station and they can’t take it for five more days.  So we buy the needed part and head somewhere else.  Fixed, problem solved, and we’re off the next day!

     Five hours into the ten hour drive, we stop for gas and a bathroom break.  We pull up to the pump and shift the car to park and ……. YES, you’ve got it, the car stays in drive!  The cable snapped again!  Anger with the mechanics that fixed it flare!  But there is nothing that can be done at that moment and with me in the car are 3 dogs, an 11 year old and a 4 year old!  Must maintain control right!  So we determine to keep going and never switch the car off. 

    Within 5 minutes of getting back on the road, one of the dogs begins getting car sick (I assume from all the excitement from the car trouble).   For the next 3 hours, the dog continues to be sick!  Hold it together – there are kids in the car!  So we make it to our family’s house and think the worst is over!  The next day, the car goes to “the car doctor” as the four year old calls it and is repaired.  Time to relax and have fun!  Plans for the next day – waterpark!

      But,…………………………mother nature had another idea!  We wake up early the next morning to a terrible storm.  Panels from the fence are flying away, trampolines are in the streets, trees are disappearing out of front yards!  It’s a tornado – a small one but that’s enough for someone terrified of storms!  Waterpark cancelled, man contacted to repair the fence and another called to repair the A/C that also went out during the storm!  Hold it together – there are kids in the house!

     So finally, we get a few consecutive days of fun and enjoyment!  We made it to the waterpark and I lathered the kids in sunscreen and had a blast on the slides and in the wavepool.  Unfortunately, I totally forgot the sunscreen for myself and by 4:00 that afternoon, I was PURPLE!  Stupid me, right?!  At least it wasn’t the kids!  We wrap up the end of the vacation pleased with the fun we have all had despite the rocky start.  And are soon to start packing up for the long drive home.  The night before we pull out for that drive, we get a phone call from the friend checking our mail.  She had walked into our house only to find it a blistering 95 degrees!  Our A/C is broken!  Hold it together – there are kids around!  After spending many frantic hours on the phone to make sure the A/C will be repaired the next day, we load up and head home. 

       Whew!  It’d been a rough one, but all is well, right?!  WRONG!  Remember I said I’m terrified of storms?  Oh yea, there’s another one on the way home.  The emergency signal cut into the radio station – flash flood warning – we’re headed straight for it.  I’m sorta freakin out on the inside but have to hold it together – kids are in the car!  Water washes across the road and we can’t see anything.  There is no shoulder to pull off on, no town, no nothing.  Just a water filled road and trees!  Hold it together……..

………………kids are in the car!

Today, I think back over this and laugh.  I know in many years, the kids will only remember the waterslides, petting the stingrays, and riding the rollercoaster.  But I will never forget the craziness that this particular vacation brought with it and can only hope that next year’s is much calmer!

       The barn is built of tin nailed to a wooden frame.  The second floor of the barn was once used to store hay for the cows, but on this day it’s empty and serves as a great club house for me and my brother.  There are two huge doors on either end and we have one of them open to let the light in.  After playing for some stretch of time, we sit in the door looking down at the dirt below.  All of a sudden Brian jumps – and as big brothers do – immediately looks at me and dares me to jump too.  Put simply, I’m terrified.  I obviously can’t  let him know since he will tease me mercilessly, but I am not thrilled at all about the prospect of pushing myself off that ledge. 

     My life today is not too much different than this memory.  I feel as though I am sitting on the brink of a huge jump except I don’t really know what I am jumping toward.  (At least then I knew I was going to land on the hard earth!)  I have worked for 9 years as a teacher and now I sit on the brink of whether to push forward in this career or venture in a new direction.  My unhappiness has been building for a couple of years and school closures, reassignments, unmotivated students, and fatigue are making every day harder than the last.   Don’t let me sound too negative…there are good days and good kids and good classes - but there seem to be more bad days than good.  So I sit on the ledge, dangle my feet and wonder and worry about my upcoming leap.  Do I try a lateral movement and attempt to find a position in a new school or a new district?  Do I head back into the classroom and try to move ‘up the ladder’ into administration?  Or do I really take a leap of faith out into a brand new career? 

     If I listen to others I will stay in the classroom because ”You’re good at it,” and “The kids need teachers like you.”  And I have put a lot of time and effort into my work.  I have written curriculums, lead teacher in-services and gone to training.  I can work a smartboard and document camera better than I can my DVR and iTunes!  On the flip side, I have gained more satisfaction and happiness from planning one sunday school lesson for my church kids than an entire year of planning math lessons at school.  I am healthier mentally and physically when I’m not at work.  And I can not dream of remaining in a position that  instructs teachers to document when students spew profanities and disrespect each other and adults, but do not expect anything to change.  This career has somehow become degrading, compromising and just plain sad.  I think my questions for myself have become two-fold. First, am I supposed to continue in a career simply because I am good at it and have put in years of hard work; and second, is it selfish to want personal fulfillment from my career?  As a teenager, my answer to these would have been simple, but now….things like retirement, benefits, and how to pay for dog treats come into play.  I don’t know what will happen, what move I will make; but I know I will jump just as I finally did from that barn window.   I have comfort in knowing that in 10 years, this moment won’t seem so scary anymore. 

 That window in the barn is only about 7 feet off the ground.  But to an 8-year-old it felt like a mountain.  This brink won’t seem so high once I am brave enough to let go!

Jamie:  Yea…we got what a 520 milligram one for like $20!

HA!

I have determined that family is comprised of people  God knew you needed in your life but that you may have not chosen to be friends with otherwise!  They have their faults, at times they drive you crazy…but at the end of the day – you love them, you need them, and they keep you balanced.

I am very sad tonight that Christmas is over.  I relish each year in the time that I get with family during these holiday months.  I definitely love the time I have with my family during the rest of the year, but their is something special about having family together during Christmas.  Even though there are moments that one or more of the members of my family drive me nuts, I wouldn’t trade any of them.  

Parents ultimately teach us to stand on our own two feet, yet stand waiting to catch us if we fall.  Even into adulthood, we relish in the support they provide as we push forward to find our own way.  We thrive on their pride and are humbled with their disappointments in us.  Siblings, well they help teach us about the real world starting at very young ages.  They teach us that people don’t let you win at games just because your younger, that the real world hits back, that sometimes when you share your stuff you don’t get it back, that anger escalates quickly if no one stops it, and that life is so much more fun when you have someone to share it with!  Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins….. they all have a part in shaping each of us.

So as your holidays come to a close and the new year approaches…remember all of those that have shaped you into the person you are.  As your in-laws push your limits, remember that they have shaped the person with whom you fell in love.  And remember to thank God for those that He knew you needed.

It is during this time of the year that teachers pray for Christmas break to come soon.  Students are …well crazy.  The change in weather seems to make them irritable.  The approaching holidays spark even more energy and hyperactivity.  Studying for midterm exams is almost out of the question, and the list goes on.  

Stores and malls are not much different.  There is fighting over parking places, pushing and shoving over the best toys, and a constant feeling of pressure to complete all of our tasks before the appointed time.  Craziness really, especially in light of the true meaning of the Christmas season. We so easily forget the awesome gift we have been given and in our haste to check off tasks on our “to do” lists, we have no time to dwell on the many miracles it took to bring us baby Jesus.

First, can we truly imagine being in the position of Mary and Joseph?  Can you even imagine carrying the child of God?  And then to have to explain this to your family and fiance?  How many people must have called Mary crazy….I wonder if she ever thought herself crazy?  And Joseph, trying to  explain to family and friends his visit by an angel must have been so difficult.  And yet, these two trusted their God and pushed on.  Through their belief, faith, and desire to please their Father, the Savior of the world was born.  He is The Gift of Christmas.

I hope that in all the craziness of the season, we take more than a moment to dwell on The Gift of Christmas.