Jingle Bells

My choir is learning this song for performance next Monday....I am wondering if we'll ever get it nearly as tight!

Rick Mercer on Bullying In Schools

Isn't this the truth?!

Good news! We finally heard from the contractor that we can make arrangements to move into our new home!

This may not seem a big deal, but we were at a point where we didn't know whether we'd be in for Christmas. We can move in thew 14th of December! Everything may not be complete, but it will be close enough: water, counters, power, appliances, etc.!

Hurray!

Wow, a lot can happen in a short time!

I was invited to a party with the staff from my last school yesterday. It was to celebrate the appointment of the assistant principal to another school. It was a move she was seeking and it will be another growth opportunity for her and I believe she will enjoy it.

The thing is, that I didn't know half the people there. I am still officially the principal there, but I didn't know half the staff. Amazing. It just reminds me how important it is that I retire from public education. Things change at such a rapid pace that change becomes difficult to manage intelligently and thoughtfully no matter how current one thinks they are. I was certainly impressed by the group. They were all pretty amazing teachers. It was just a little unsettling to see how easily everything continues without one being there.

It was also wonderful to get to see everyone that I DID know. There were a couple of people misisng that I would truly have loved to see, but I enjoyed seeing the others. I realize how much I miss working with them and seeing them every day. I think we had something very special as the group of us who were working there.

A couple of people who had transferred came as well and I was thrilled to see them and to hear their news too. Some have had children since we last saw each other, others have married and moved. What an experience. Now if I could just get over the feeling that I am not of any use anymore.

Susan

Yesterday, after a short meeting that I had with the minister at the church where I work, I came downstairs and there was a woman waiting who was visibly upset. I asked her if I could help her and she asked if I was the minister. I told her that I was the child and youth coordinator and she told me through tears that her daughter was just taken into foster care. She then asked if I would go to the sanctuary and pray with her. I didn't think much about it and agreed to do so.

This is the first time anyone has ever asked me to pray WITH them. It was a new experience and I wondered internally what I would do. It just came naturally.

I didn't pray for some outside force to come and help this woman and her daughter. I prayed, instead, for the God inside us all to come and respond to the needs that were being expressed by the young woman as she sat beside me. I felt so incredibly connected to her as she gave cues about what she needed. I hoped that we would be able to connect with her daughter as she experienced her own pain in this time of tumult in their lives. This wasn't about giving over control or power, but it was about sharing and support. It was about invoking all that might be helpful and supportive.

Afterwards, I invited her to return if she ever wanted to do this again. What an honour to be able to share with someone. Thank you, Susan.

Loving God, I know you are inside me.
I invite you to be a part of everything I am and do.
I want to think with your mind.
I want to love with your heart.
Please show me the truth that I know is inside.

So....

The dry-waller had difficulty with some of his workers when he was doing our walls. So he was a couple of days late. This pushed the cabinets back two days, but they told me they would have no problem finishing in two days. After three days, I asked them about the granite template people coming the next day. "No way we'll be done."

So when I call to let them know and reschedule for two days later, I can't book them for a week and a half. So now we'll be a week and a half late moving in. That's about 9 more drives in from Dead Man's Flats and nine more drives out from Calgary. The sinks can't go in until the granite is there. The plumber doesn't want to come and just connect the shower, washer & dryer, dishwasher and fridge and NOT do the sinks. We CAN'T stay there with no water. So we now have to pay another month's storage fee, have 18 more trips between Calgary and Dead Man's Flats, and I am grumpy.

However, if I want to be more like Bhudda, I need to let this go. I must not be attached to bottom lines and results, but enjoy the journey. I need to learn whatever it is that this is teaching me. Think it might be something about patience? Acceptance? Might I just need to see 9 more sunrises and 9 more sunsets over the rockies?

This will give Mocha and Latte 9 more days to be in a familiar place before their lives are, yet again, disrupted. OK. I have let it go and am doing my best to heal my karma and join the sutra.

So I think this blog is going to be the one where I share thoughts about life, but not necessarily about my faith. My "Ditties" blog will be where I share some of the humour I come across or just the various strange, but funny, incidents that happen in life.

I am finding the transition out of my identity as "teacher or principal" to that of "lay minister" is going along without TOO many attacks of guilt or remorse. Perhaps this is because I am still finding my way with the lay ministry stuff. It is all so new. I do find that I am more aware of my language than I used to be. I was always careful in front of children, but now I find myself being careful around everyone.

I am also finding that I am less patient with myself. The other day, I was talking with someone and this person was approaching me with very little respect and seemed to want to tell me all about aspects of my work that I feel very competent about. In fact, some of it was stuff with which I think I have great expertise. I was getting irritated. I started reflecting on the several conversations I have had with this individual over the last few months and they all seemed to be lectures about subjects with which I feel very knowledgeable. As my irritation grew, I suddenly felt not very competent in the realm of acceptance. I can't go along and not like this person. I have to find something that I cherish. This is not going to be as easy as I have found it with children in the past.

Kids are easy to see from all sides. Sure, almost all of them have little quirks that can be focussed upon to make one dislike them. However, they also have so many charming aspects upon which one can focus that it is easy to love them. I'm going to have to develop the same skill with adults. I think this is where I am going to have to work hard.

So what do you think? Is it an expectation that I should love and accept everyone with who I come in contact?

A friend sent me this story today. I thought it was worth sharing. What do you think?

Rain Washed
Author Unknown

A little girl had been shopping with her Mom in Target. She must have been 6 years old, this beautiful red haired, freckle faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Target.

We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.

The little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in, "Mom, let's run through the rain," she said.

"What?" Mom asked.

"Let's run through the rain!" She repeated.

"No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit," Mom replied.

This young child waited about another minute and repeated, "Mom, let's run through the rain."

"We'll get soaked if we do," Mom said.

"No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning," the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.

"This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?"

"Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!'"

The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes.

Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say. Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.

"Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If God let's us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing," Mom said.

Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads just in case. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars.

And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.

Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But no one can ever take away your precious memories... So, don't forget to make time and take opportunities to make memories everyday. To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.

I hope you still take the time to run through the rain.

Ok, so now I have two of my blogs joined together. This is good news. So I will try to figure out how to connect this one with the one at work.