Snow and Ice, Go Away

I don't mind winter weather. In general, it doesn't bother me. No, I am not a huge fan of driving in the ice or snow, but I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and went to college in Michigan. I can handle it. However, no matter how often it snows down here, people claim that it doesn't snow and they don't know how to drive in it. (This is our first winter in this immediate area, but, as we are not terribly far from the seminary, this is our fourth winter in the general area. It has snowed every year we've been around.)
Because no one knows how to handle the snow and the district my school is in is rural, we close school at even the hint of snow. Last week, we finally had a full week of school. That was our first full week of school since the first week of January. While school has not been cancelled for tomorrow yet (and I am REALLY hoping that it won't be), I would not be at all surprised if school were cancelled both Tuesday and Wednesday.
I really feel for my students. It is hard to develop any sense of consistancy when school is constantly being closed. I also know thar for some of my students, school is the best part of their day. My students have told me that they are sick of snow days, and I can't blame them. I am hoping that maybe the current weather system will hold off a bit, or, at least, be not as dramatic as they are predicting. (It's not a good sign when the National Weather Service is already telling people to not travel on Tuesday morning, though.)

Adopt My Classroom

I have added my classroom to the Adopt-a Classroom website. For those of you who don't know, I teach a a small, rural Christian school. Our goal is to:
SHARE Christ with the families of our congregation and community
CARE about each other as Christ cares about us
PREPARE children not only for productive living, but also for eternity

However, being a small school does have challenges. We don't receive the same kind of funding from the state that public schools do. Tuition alone does not cover all of our expenses. This means that buying "extras" is often difficult and would not be possible without various fundraising opportunities. So, while I don't plan to make a habit of posting this sort of thing on here, I just wanted to increase awareness. I encourage you to help out your own local Christian school as well, if it is by donations of items, money, or time. I am a product of a Lutheran preschool and grade school education, and I highly value it as being formative in who I am today.

(If you are interested in helping out my specific classroom or know someone who is, there is a link on the side of my blog.)

Oh, and why am I typing this in the middle of the day? It's a snow day, of course! (Number 5 this year.)

Taking Zinc

Flu season must be in full swing. I have 11 wonderful first and second grade students in my class. Well, I usually have 11 wonderful first and second grade students. Today I had 5. Yes, only 5! Needless to say, I threw out all of my lesson plans for the day and winged it a bit. The students I did have loved the day, though, as they felt that they didn't have any real work to do. I hope we have school tomorrow, but they are predicting snow, and the district my school is in closes school for practically nothing, so I'm not holding my breath. It's hard to get into any schedule after the break if I don't have any students or if we don't have school.

Merry Christmas!

I wish everyone a blessed Christmas as we celebrate the Savior's birth! I hope that your Christmases are wonderful and Christ-filled.

The Advent of our King

The season of Advent is nearing its end and the season of Christmas will be here soon. But, it's ot Christmas yet. While some people seem to think that Christmas starts right after Halloween and others consider the day after Thanksgiving the start of Christmas, I do not. While I am perfectly content to consider the day after Thanksiving the beginning of the holiday season (and a perfect time to start decorating the housee), I don't want to lose the wonder, marvel, and reflection of Advent.

Advent is a time in which I focus on my sin and the need for a Savior. Yes, I said it. I am a sinner. Those words sting and are not easy for my often perfectionistic self to say. After all, who wants to admit that they are not perfect? Certainly not me. But that is what the season of Advent is about. It is a time for me to reflect on my sinful nature and the fact that I do not deserve anything and cannot achieve anything on my own. I need a Savior. I need someone to take my sins and bear the punishment for them. I need Christ.

After all, isn't that what Christmas is all about? If we didn't need a Savior, what reason would the Father have to send his Son to have a human birth? Christmas is meaningless without the realization that it is only necessary due to our fallen nature. Christmas is meaningless if I am not a sinner in need of a Savior. As you prepare to celebrate Christmas, don't lose the importance of Advent. As John the Baptist said, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" (Matthew 3:2, ESV)

The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

While I don't plan on usually posting book or movie reviews, I am going to post a little about The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. This is a spoiler alert. If you haven't seen the movie and don't want to find out anything about it, STOP READING NOW! With that warning...

I really was disappointed with the movie version of VDT. While more pieces of the plot line existed in this movie than in Prince Caspian, the most major theme was distorted. The movie looked at a theme of temptation and the inability to resist temptation due to the green mist (which is NOT in the book). While temptation certainly exists in the book, the book is not as much about temptation as it is about the depravity of humans and the redeeming power of Christ (Aslan) through baptism (Eustace's de-dragoning) and Word (the appearances of Aslan to the various characters). In the movie, the characters are not totally responsible for their actions, as the evil mist caused them to act certain ways. However, in the book, each character is held responsible for his or her actions. Only Aslan can save. In the movie, however, the characters defeat the mist on their own with their quest. This seems to be so anti-Lewis and his ideas for the themes of the books.
I strongly debated whether to even see this movie after being so disappointed by Prince Caspian, but I decided to see it anyway because of the change of both the director and distributer. However, I am pretty sure I will not be seeing any more (if they are made). I simply can't take the intense pain while sitting in the theater anymore. (And my fellow patrons probably don't want me sitting there either, as I tend to madly flail my arms in disgust when I am frustrated.)

Happy New Year!

Yes, I do mean my title. No, I realize that it is not January 1st, but today is the beginning of the season of Advent, and, therefore, the beginning of a new church year. I know that it has been awhile since I have updated, but I thought the beginning of a new church year would be a great time to do so. I was hoping that at some point life would calm down a little, but, that simply isn't the case. While I would love to say that when my Master's degree is over in June I will have some time again, but, everytime I say that, something else happens. However, it is time for me to write again. And, frankly, I've been so busy that I don't even know where to start. So, instead of writing a bunch about myself, I would like to use this entry as a tribute to C.S. Lewis.
Those of you who know me know that I am a little obsessed. I participate in a Lewis forum (even when it closed and moved to Facebook), and I am a proud member of the 2467317 Club. (If you don't know what that is, I'll leave it to you to figure out. Here's a clue - it deals with the Chronicles of Narnia.) Lewis has so many fantastic quotes, but here is one of my favorites from Mere Christianity (and is an appropriate one for the Advent season):

"Enemy-occupied territory - that is what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful kind has landed, you might say landed in disguise, and is calling us all to take part in a great campaign of sabotage."

Happy Advent!

I am enjoying the long weekend. Yay for Columbus Day! We didn't have kids at school on Friday, so it was a short day with only CPR and First Aid training. I also enjoy having Mondays off, because it means that the next week is only a four day week. This week will be extra short, because we are taking the whole school (when your school only has 40 kids, it is not that big of a feat) on a field trip to a "zoo" and a nature center for the whole day. Then, next Friday, Pete and I are going to take a much needed mini vacation. We have season passes to Six Flags but have barely been this year because it is further away now that we have moved. So, we are going to go on Friday, spend the night, and go on back to the park Saturday. I am very much looking forward to our mini getaway!

Popeye, Shrek, and the Rep

Things have been quite busy since my last post. The weekend of September 10-12 was the Popeye Picnic in town. I don't think we will ever spend that much time at this particular festival ever again. (I wound up spending almost 15 hours there over the weekend, and Pete pulled in a good 17.) One of the highlights of the weekend was the 5K run/competitive walk. We didn't think we were quite in shape enought to do the run, so we did the walk. We both ended up coming in second in our age group (although I had more people in my age group to compete against than Pete did). It was good exercise and a good motivation to be ready to do the run next year. (Oh, and we got trophies, too! My students thought it was great.)
Last Friday we went up to St. Louis to go see Shrek the Musical. They changed it quite a bit from the Broadway show, and it was abit of a disappointment. But, it was nice to be able to eat dinner at a Bread Co. (Panera) and do a little shoe shopping in a place that actually has multiple good eateries and stores to shop in. (Boy, I never thought that I would consider St. Louis the fun place to be!) This Friday we will be back in St. Louis to go to the St. Louis Repratory Theater's production of You Can't Take It With You. We plan on getting sushi for dinner (something you definately cannot get here), and hopefully spending time with some friends.
As a side note, the senior pastor at our church declined the call he had received, so there are no major changes there for now.

Moving at Light Speed

Life has been running a million miles an hour, and I'm not quite sure when it will stop. School has started, which means I am busy teaching 1st and 2nd graders all day long, while trying to meet the often very diverse needs I am finding in my classroom. For Pete, the start of school means the start of confirmation class every morning, on top of everything else. Oh, and should I mention that the senior pastor received and is considering a call to another congregation? The boxes still aren't unpacked, although we do have a workable guest bedroom. (Now we just need to get the boxes from the guest bedroom unpacked instead of simply moved to another room.) I've already gotten a little more of the cabinet harware for our kitchen cabinets installed today, and hope to get that at least close to finished. Oh, did I mention we will have company coming into town both next weekend and the weekend after? So, there is some pressure to get the house looking more presentable.
In the midst of all of this chaos, my confirmation verse has been sticking out in my head - "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." (Psalm 23:1) I need to trust in God and his guidance, even when life is crazy.