goodbye and good luck

So, I've been a pretty crappy blogger as of late.

I would like to say it will get better, but I know it won't.

I'm about to start a pretty intense grad class that will occupy most of my waking hours between now and Christmas. I'm not sure when, if ever I'll get back to posting. So, I think I'm signing off the world of blogging.

If this terribly upsets anyone, let me know. Otherwise...see you all in the realm of e-mail and...what was that other one? Oh yeah, reality.

Peter

loving church

It's been about 3 years since I've really looked forward to going to church. I know for some it has been much longer and I sound really whiny trying to compare my 3 years of ecclesiastical dryness to some who are stuck in church. However, this is my blog so I'm going to talk about me.
When I moved to Maryland I visited so many churches looking for the church that would replace my college church. Not unsurprisingly, I didn't find it. For a while I got really frustrated with church and stopped going. I was frustrated with the church language and how if you weren't "in" then you just didn't get it. I was frustrated with how very unfriendly some churches are. I was frustrated with bad music and boring preaching and churches that wanted to put me in their single-young-professionals box. Sometimes I wanted to pretend I wasn't a believer...but that was hard when I would inevitable be asked where I worked and would have to say a Christian school. I suppose I could have lied...but being new to the area it was hard to lie about things I generally lacked knowledge about (like the names of the local public schools).
So I stopped going and walked around battlefields instead. (Probably not something I could do everywhere...but in Maryland I had a few to chose from) Eventually, I realized I was being silly because it was as if I was saying that I was better than all the local churches and there wasn't a one that was worth my presence. A bit arrogant you might say.
Eventually, I found a church that was what I needed at that time. But my needs changed and the church didn't and it wasn't a great fit any more. Last summer Char and I looked around for a new church and in the process visited churches we wouldn't consider going to but really wanted to experience. A Catholic church, a Greek Orthodox Church, a Mega church outside D.C., a cultish split from that Mega church, an Episcopal church, a Unitarian Universalist church (wow...just...wow), among others.
Now in small town Warsaw, Indiana we have found a church that we can honestly say we love. We look forward to getting up on Sunday morning. I get excited on Saturday night thinking that in the morning I get to go to church. I love the people I've met, the sermon's, the sermon discussions, the structure (or lack there of) of the church, the pastor, the music, the goals and mission of the church, the challenges put out to live in community and make an impact in the community at large, and the opportunity for further ministry.
Are some of those selfish reasons? Yeah. But some of the reason I love my wife is for selfish reasons too. Let's face it, some of the reason we all love God is for selfish reasons. (I'm not sure if I'm justifying or just explaining...)
I'm just so very thankful to love church again. And I really hope in the season while we are here with this particular body of believers that I learn what it means to be part of the Church. Part of the Body of Christ. To love the other members, and to serve the world around us.

it's a small car after all

So, I now have an hour drive to and from work. The introvert in me LOVES this. Though the impatient part of me doesn't always like it at the time.
Somedays however, I'm feeling more extroverted and...random. Like today.
I was recalling a song my friends (shout out to the Grants) and I came up with once about my old car. It went to the tune of "It's a small world after all". I thankfully no longer have that car. But I thought, while driving, I should make up a new song for this car. So, with out further adoo...the new and improved, "It's a small Car after all".

Pete has just one car and it's small and green
and the man who sold it was kind of mean
And the previous owner hardly drove it at all
It's a small car after all!

It's a small car after all,
It's a small car after all,
It's a small car after all,
It's a small, small car.

Pete has just one car with a radio
But the sounds not great, it's not stereo
And the nob for the air fell right off the consol
It's a small car after all!

Refrain

Pete has just one car, it's a Pontiac
I'll bet it's to late to get his money back
Oh the transmission died and some circuts are fried
It's a small car after all!


Thanks you, thank you, thank you!

one week in

So, we survived our first week of real work for the first time in months. It went well.

I'm still not sure about middle school kids. I told Charlanne I need to start writing down some of the things they say so I can remember the stories...because they say the most random things.

Charlanne's job is off to a great start. She is really enjoying the people with whom she works and is looking forward to meeting the grad students on Monday.

My grad classes were just orientation stuff this week. That was good, because I wasn't at all sure how to use the on-line program they have. Also read a really good article on time management. Helpful, when starting grad classes and a new job and I tend toward perfectionism.

Also started more in depth reading for some assignments due on Monday. That Henri Nouwen guy had lots of wisdom. Reading Out of Solitude right now. Important reminder that in order to survive in this world we need to be centered in Christ. We need him in center of who we are. We need him to be the aim of who we are becoming.

I'm sure I'll have more class-related thoughts in the future.

on the brink...

So, tommorrow starts a very new chapter in life. I start grad school and I start teaching middle school part time. Never done either. Really looking forward to one, more or less curious about the other. I know both will be hard work. I know I will learn through both.
I don't mind work and I like learning.
All day today Charlanne has been asking what I need in preparation for tomorrow. All day I've strangly felt no anxiety about tomorrow so I'm not quite sure what to say. Perhaps ignorance is bliss, but I'd like to think it is something more than ignorance that has me feeling okay and looking forward without hesitation. I think that, despite unknowns, both new events are what I should be doing and where I should be. Not what I thought a few months ago. But God has away of changing minds...and thankfully hearts.


I'll try to keep the two of you that follow this blog posted on what's going on.

a new (but familiar) job

So, when I left my teaching gig in Maryland, I was pretty sure I wasn't ever going to teach again. However, upon arrival to the great mid-west and finding the state of the economy and knowing my upcoming grad school schedule the idea of teaching re-entered this brain of mind.
Thankfully, the school I am now hooked up with seems to be, in every way that is important, different from my previous place of employment. I'm really hoping this is a redemptive experience for my teaching career.

So, details of the job:
-Teaching middle school social studies...yeah never saw that one coming
-Teaching high school world history
-They also asked me to teach a leadership class! However, whereas before I taught a full year course to high school seniors, now I have to teach a 1 semester class to middle school kids. Hmmm.
-Still only working 7:30-12:30
- So basically, five different classes but only 3 different subjects all of which to some degree or another I have taught before. (YEAH for recycled lesson plans!)

It's my hope that with planning it will end up to be about 35 hours a week, leaving plenty of time for grad school and life. That's my hope.

After a summer of really doing nothing it will all start at once. Both teaching and grad school start the same day! Plus Charlanne starts her job about the same time. So much for a gradual transition to craziness...bring it on!

beach trip

Yesterday for Char's birthday we went to Lake Michigan. It was the first time I had been since early college.
I like to go to Warren Dunes State Park because aside from the water it has really high dunes, decent bathrooms, and a concession stand. Best of all, though are the clay pits. If you follow a stream from the beach into the woods you will eventually get to a place that has this thick gray clay. For some reason as teens my friends and I would love to smear ourselves with it. Or make simple pieces of pottery. I forgot, however how long tat trek was until yesterday with Charlanne. And I also forgot how hot the sand feels when you've had your feet in nice cool water and you have to walk across what feels to be an endless stretch of burning hot sand before you get back to the beach.
However, it was fun to be there and remember good times with friends. So, if any of my TBBC youth group friends read this, here's a shout out to you.