Worst Brother Ever=Me

Let's all wish my young brother, Taylor, a happy 20th birthday shall we? I forgot to give him a shout out on the 16th when it actually occurred. Here's to hoping he gives up his desire to be a rapper this year.

Cheers

Fall Break...

Fall break is the simple truth that God really loves me. I woke up at 9 am last Friday!!! Well, it was more like 8:15, but I forced myself to stay in bed till 9. It was a great weekend. My battery needed a nice recharge and I accomplished just that.

In other news, I traveled down to Kansas City wif my wife to see out dear friend Rachel Micheel and also to see Sufjan Stevens in concert. It was a a nice little holiday. Rachel is just as vibrant about little kids as I remember and she is doing very well at her school. If I were a first grader, I would want Ms. Micheel as a teacher. Sufjan was incredible...simply incredible. His new stuff is a bit of a divergence from what we usually expect from him, but Jessica and I both agreed that he pulled off the "new sound". I love the way we crafts a song lyrically. I always find myself wanting to have a piece of paper with the lyrics on it as I listen to him so I can try and figure out what he is saying. Very deep that Sufjan is.

Now I am back at school, commencing the Student Teaching II phase of this experience. I like the nice groove I have discovered and I look forward to doing big things over the next 7 or so weeks. Cheers to those of you have who traveled to other places for your experience. I hope you made it safe and sound...and that some sort of big time adventure takes place while you are there. Health is going to be ever important as we move towards colder temperatures. I am hoping to keep using my bike to get to school at least till the end of the month. We'll see, my wife is urging me to use the car...but I'm much too tough and ignorant to do something like that.

ALSO....Eric Whitacre's new album, Light & Gold, was released today!!! Jessica and I listened to it while enjoying supper this evening. It's stunning. There were many occasions when we both looked at each other and thought...wow, what did we just experience. I aspire to move people with the music that I write. Studying and listening to his work always makes me want to scratch that creative itch which I have had absolutely zero time to scratch. Soon. I promise myself to write something soon. I have a brilliant idea about a choral operetta based on the conversion of Saul. Once I get a chance to put pencil to paper, look out!

Cheers

p.s.- I love you (I wept like a baby during that film)

Don't Wait...

I just got back from having a great conversation with a buddy (Keegan Bloomfield) of mine as I was biking back from the music building. We both are currently applying our trade of teaching at Seward High School and each lunch together everyday. We were reflecting on how much of a blessing it has been to go through this experience together and share stories. We shared how we are both still unsure about teaching as a career. It's so easy to just get stuck in a routine and not actually feel like you are doing something that matters. We both talked about how important it will continue to be to have other like-minded teachers on staff when we get out first gigs teaching. Just having a mentor to keep you focused on WHY you are teaching in the first place would be monumental in terms of our growth in ministry. Because that's what it is right? Isn't teaching a ministry? Didn't we decide to go into this profession because we wanted to impact young lives? So what are we waiting for? How come we look forward to the final bell of the day just like the students? Are we becoming complacent? I think that's part of it. You see, as a student teacher, you are just trying to make it. We don't really know what we are doing half the time and we find ourselves clock-watching the other half. Keegan summed it all up tonight when he said, "The devil feeds off of complacency". It's so true. I found myself becoming complacent. I found myself just filling time instead of actually planning something meaningful. We both recalled out amazing experience meeting the team of teachers from Orange Lutheran and how passionate they were about their ministry. I think I need to be in that type of environment. Don't get me wrong, Seward is a great place...but it's tough when you can't talk about the very reason you got into the job in the first place. Without that daily reminder of WHY, I and many other teachers turn ministry into a 9-5. There is too much work to be done.

I feel better now. Perhaps rejuvenated is the correct word for it. Whatever it is...this is how I want to feel once the school day is over. Is teaching hard? Yes. Is it extremely exhausting? Yes. Do high school kids make me want to bang my head against a cement wall sometimes? Ya you betcha. Is it worth it? That's up to you.

Cheers

p.s.- The mixed chorus kids are making sounds they never thought possible

p.p.s.- I love the fact that they don't even realize it yet