Rejoice Always?

We are told to "rejoice in the Lord always." It doesn't take a brilliant mind to realize that's not easy. Jen and Jeff had a sleepover last night for Jolie's 9th birthday, and there were 13 9-year-olds there plus 5-year old Jeslyn. I suspect the rejoicing took place this morning when they returned to a household of 4. We did our part by taking Jeslyn for lunch and a 3-hour nap (grandma's house is so relaxing!) so that Jen could get ready. I wound up making 3 trips over there and each time the household was in an increasingly frenzied state. The first trip was to take Jeslyn home, assuring her that her long nap had not caused her to miss any of the party. The second was because I forgot to drop off her dance clothes and the inflatable mattress the kids were borrowing. A this point the 9-year-olds were seeing if they could get into the book of world records for "longest time jumping up and down without stopping." The third trip was because Jen couldn't get the mattress to inflate. I jiggled and wiggled and got it to blow up. By this time all 14 girls had their sleeping bags out on the living room floor getting ready to watch a movie. Jen and Jeff's facebook posts the last 24-hours have talked about survival, not joy. It's a little easier for grampa to find points for rejoicing.

I rejoice that we live close enough to our grandchildren that I can make 3 trips over there that totaled resulted in being away from the house for about 15 minutes total.

I rejoice that Jeslyn loves her big sister so much that she had me wait in the car while she added the finishing touches on the drawing she was giving her for her birthday.

I rejoice that Jolie is the kind of little girl that sends out 13 birthday invitations and winds up with 13 acceptances--including Girl "C" who said she wouldn't come if Girl "J" were invited, but came anyway when Jolie explained that she was inviting ALL her friends.

I rejoice that Jennifer married a man for whom fatherhood is a calling he takes seriously--during trip #2, the girls were getting ready to have "dirty Q-tips", and Jeff was doing the cooking.

I rejoice that Jolie and Jeslyn, no matter how involved they were in the mayhem, took time to give grampa a hug during all 3 trips.

Finally, I rejoice that Jolie has thus far been granted a life that allows her to pursue all of her dreams and joys without the spectre of major illness.



This brings me to Jack. Jack is 2. Jack probably doesn't even know my name, as I've only spoken to him a couple of times when his parents brought him into the sanctuary after church. Jen and Jeff would heartily agree that Heidi and Kurt, Jack's parents, have endured a much more stressful weekend than they. Jack developed a rash on Wednesday that has turned into fever, swelling all over his body, trips to the ER, and no definitive diagnosis as yet. Obviously, finding joy in that situation is a little more of a stretch. I think of when Jen was two and stepped on a hot waffle iron, burning layers of skin off and not understanding her pain at all. That was not a situation spilling over with joy and I would suspect for this family the pain outweighs the joy right now.

For me, as someone who loves this family but cannot really help them with this burden,
I can rejoice that Jack's parents have learned to turn to God and his church for hope in times like these.

I rejoice that Bruce's sermon this week "coincidentally" was about God's sustaining grace, that is enough for any situation that life brings us.

Most of all, I was blinking back tears of joy reading the words sent to Heidi and Kurt on their public blogs and facebook pages. Countless examples of the Church being the Church when it needs to be. If you know Kurt and Heidi and want to offer help and encouragement, you are not alone. If you don't know them, then please add your prayers for little Jack to those that have already been offered. That's really why I decided to write about this, so that people who read this can join in.

A Night at the Ballet

Decided to take in the ballet tonight, being the highly cultured person that I am. Went to a performance of "A Bug's Adventure," which you've probably not heard of unless you are as informed about ballet as I am. The ballet starred my granddaughters (see above), but there were many other dancers who filled in the time while my darlings were resting. Since only the parents, grandparents and godmother Teresa were there, I'll kind of fill you in on what you missed.

First the ants came out and danced in circles. Then Jolie, as a blueberry, came out, ran around in a circle for about 5 seconds and left the stage--a performance calculated to whet our appetite for her next appearance. Then the grasshoppers (b00) came out and fought with the ants, while being distracted by the centipede. Then my versatile Jolie came out and wowed the audience with her impersonation of a dandelion, complete with fluffy little white stuff on her head. (Sorry if this is too technical for you. When you've seen as much ballet as I have, you'll understand. And I know at least as much about ballet as the guy who sits behind me at the Angel games knows about baseball, as he tries to explain it to his girlfriend). Then two very tall green bugs (forest green, I think) come and stand on their tiptoes for about 5 minutes.

Then Jeslyn the bumblebee mesmerizes the audience with her virtuoso performance, accompanied by some lesser bumblebees and some bugs in mauve tights that I don't recognize.

Then comes the climactice scene where Jolie comes back and is entertained by another ant-grasshopper fight. Finally, she (in dance language, of course), says, "Can't we all just get along?" and the grasshoppers and ants make friends. It was very moving. The end.

In December I'll explain "The Nutcracker."

40 Days On Purpose

Our pastor (among others) likes to point out the significance of the number 40 in the Bible, so I thought I would post SOMETHING to highlight my countdown to retirement that has reached 40 working days. Only problem is that I can't think of anything else to connect to the number 40 at this point, so I'm going to play with some other numbers--I like to play with numbers almost as much as my friend Heidi likes to shop for office supplies.
The numbers 3, 7 and 12 are also considered to be sacred numbers in Biblical culture.
So I'll start with 12, and thinking about that made me realize something I hadn't though of before. In my 36-year teaching career, I spent 12 years as an English teacher at Tustin High, 12 years as a math teacher at Tustin High, and 12 years as a math teacher at Foothill. That's 3 sets of 12, a Biblical daily double!! I also spent 12 years coaching boys basketball at THS and 12 years coaching girls basketball at the same school. My 12 years at Foothill have included girls basketball, as either the coach or athletic director. I didn't plan it that way, and haven't thought about it until now, but it makes me think Someone had a more than passing interest in my career.
Now about 7. Counting both schools I was part of 7 league championships in baseball, 7 league championships as a basketball coach (boys and girls), and 7 basketball championships as an athletic director. As a head or assistant coach, I had the privilege of coaching in the CIF finals in 7 different sports--Boys and girls track, boys and girls cross country, boys and girls basketball and baseball. Seven is the Biblical number of perfection, and I can't help but think that God led me down a career path that was perfect for my personality.
Three? The most obvious is 3 trips to the CIF finals in basketball as a coach (and 3 losses in the CIF finals as a coach). There are others probably, but the number 40 is coming up--I"ve spent 40 minutes talking about myself!!
So, with 40 days left to retirement--each one passing more slowly at this point--I can say with conviction that I have fought the good fight, kept the faith, and almost finished the course.

The Importance of Literacy

Back To School--Yuck!!

For years I have told anyone ready to listen that high school kids shut down after spring break. Never have I been able to relate to that as much as this year. Spring break this year was just a taste of the perpetual spring break I will be experiencing in a couple of months. I want it to be now!! Kids are great, my colleagues are great, the school is great, and I'd rather be anywhere but here. Actually, I WOULD rather be here than in the best hospital in Orange County. I'm sitting here during "reading period" which my 3rd period felons have turned into "talking period" and I have no desire to change that behavior. I pass the Jeff Foxworthy "You might be an educator..." test in that I know that there are 47 days, or 188 periods, or roughly 10,000 minutes left in my teaching career. My goal for the week is to submit my letter of resignation and begin my STRS retirement packet. Of course, I'll also give my all to combinations and permutations, simplifying radicals, factoring polynomials and all those other things that make us excited to be here.