A Lot to Think About

Yesterday was the first service day in the Mission Camp that I planned for my Youth Group. I took seven 3rd-5th graders to Eastside Community Ministry where they got a tour of the facility and then helped stock the shelves in the food pantry. I was so moved by this experience. Eastside Community Ministry is a wonderful organization that operates a clothing bank, food pantry,youth program, offers emergency relief support, as well as does other special outreach.

"I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me. -Jesus, Matthew 25:35-36

In sum, they do all of the above, and with such grace.

The kids did great work volunteering. I was proud of how well they worked together and how efficiently they got their work done. I think it was an eye opening experience for them to see first hand the kind of help some people need. They are still young enough that I'm sure they still saw it as something "other people" need.

I'm old enough now to know that in the blink of an eye, something could change and I could be that "other person". While Larry and I are able to support ourselves and have a full life, I couldn't help feeling cared for as I was there. The people who work there spend their days preparing to help in an emergency that has not yet happened for some families. They are stocking up, organizing, and preparing for someone else's job less, or unexpected illness, or death that leaves a once functioning family dysfunctional. While I don't expect to ever need to go there....I could, and isn't it a blessing to know that if I did need to go they would be ready and waiting?

Of course that is just part of the emergency relief support. The youth program, which is a more proactive program is seriously amazing. I could write several paragraphs just about all the outstanding things I learned about the youth program. The bottom line is this...I want to be a part of this ministry. I want to be a part of a ministry that so lovingly and compassionately recognizes each of the people that walks through their doors as one of God's children and treats them with love and dignity. I will be calling this week to see how I can become involved.

I've gotten a bit off subject. This post was supposed to be about the youth's experience, but as it turned out it was a great experience for me too! Anywho, the kids did great work, hopefully learned a fraction of what I did, and then we enjoyed a picnic lunch together in the shelter house. Afterwards, we went and played putt-putt and bowling together. Not a bad way to spend a summer day, not a bad way at all. In two weeks we will have another service day which will include a bike ride by the river and then visiting a troop support ministry where we will help pack packages to send to soldiers.

Switching subjects entirely, my teaching license is about to expire and I'm on a deadline to finish up hours in order to renew. My deadline is so tight that I would actually have to register tomorrow to take two classes starting next week. (Each class would be one week.) With Larry's dad being in the hospital, Larry prefers I not add any complications to our life, and just let the license expire. That means I would have to take 9 semester hours (rather than the current 6) to renew, but would have a little more time to do so. Trying to figure all of this out also leads me to the following questions, to which I do not have answers.

When I am going back to work?

Am I going to go back as a classroom teacher?

If so, should I invest in getting a Master's degree?

I am a really passionate teacher. And I still feel that passion. The problem is that when I am teaching the passion overwhelms me, and leaves me unable to balance life. Teaching is one of those jobs that can totally take over your life even if you aren't passionate. If you are passionate like me, forget about it! But I'm a wife and a mother and a daughter, etc, etc, and I want a life that allows me to be fully present in all of those roles.

So while part of me can't imagine not teaching (understand I have always know I was going to be a teacher, and teaching has always been a part of my identity), another part of me wonders what other possibilities are out there. What else could I do that would be rewarding and purposeful that might not consume as much of my time and energy as teaching did? I actually really like the idea of returning as a teacher's aide, where I could still work with students, but not have the added responsibilities of lesson planning, etc. I would even love to work somewhere like Eastside Ministry if such an opportunity arose. But I'm really not all the comfortable with not having a set plan. I'm a planner. So, I guess I'll need to be doing more praying and researching. Any good ideas?

In the meantime, I've got to renew this license, because who knows, I could be answering to the small cries of "Mrs. Paul" again in the near future. Anyone do any graduate, correspondence, or online courses that they really loved that they want to recommend?

One more switch of gears before I head off to bed. Larry's dad had his open heart surgery yesterday. What was supposed to be a valve replacement and a double bypass, turned into a valve replacement and a quadruple bypass. They (being Larry, his mom, brothers and sisters) only got to see him for 10 minutes yesterday. His mom went back up today, but he said he didn't want visitors, he just wanted to rest, so she went home. From what we can tell he seems to be doing ok so far. Please keep him in your prayers as he continues to recover.

With all this in mind, I have been searching for this verse for comfort before I sleep, "That he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Phillipians 1:6.

While looking I also found this one, "May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to who be glory for ever and ever. Amen." Hebrews 13:20-21