The Ninth Inning

School is out--finished teaching about two weeks ago and the blessed reprieve called summer is once again upon us. If I could have seen ahead of time everything that transpired during May and June, I would've locked myself in my room and hid the key. Thankfully the Lord didn't reveal it to me and instead He has been/is teaching me to rely on His grace day by day. Year 9: My best year as far as teaching goes, my worst as far as health goes. This is the year that I can finally say that I love teaching, and the Lord gave me joy in the midst of being sick for a good portion of the school year. The Lord gave me the grace to teach 100 kids playing on 10 different instruments who were a part of 6 different ensembles. Stressful, but I did enjoy most parts of it.

It is also the year I say goodbye to teaching in a Christian school. The particular school where I teach is struggling to make ends meet and my position is one of the casualties. Why a school would decide to cut a teacher who is running a successful program is beyond me, but it is not beyond the Lord. He is the one who allows things to take place and I must trust that this is His will for me right now. So....year 10 will be the 1st year that I will only be teaching in a public school and the Lord has provided me with the opportunity to increase my time there. I will continue in my current string position and in addition teach some middle school band. This whole situation sure has been both stressful, frustrating and exciting. But when all is said and done, it makes me turn to Him whole has the whole world in His hands. Who am I to question His ways?

I was thinking about it one night--over the time that I have been teaching, I have worked with over 1000 kids. It is wild to think about--both amazing and scary. And that is only in nine years. If the Lord keeps me teaching for quite a bit longer......it really puts into perspective the need for me to be a good witness in the workplace.

Some days....

I wish I could complain. Today is one of them. But what good would it do? Probably not much. And besides, it is all in the Lord's hands, and who am I to complain about the circumstances He has me in right now?

Trusting Him

This has surely been one crazy week on my end of the computer. Every night I have had something to do, and by the time I hit Wednesday I did not think I was going to make it through the end of the week. I was dreading yesterday and today because they were both such busy days. Oh, me of little faith. In my head I know that He will provide for all of my needs, but in my heart I don't always follow through and let the head knowledge become heart knowledge.

Wednesday night I felt that the Lord was telling me to go to prayer meeting. I couldn't not obey and was so blessed by the meeting. Yes, I was extremely tired the next day as I greeted my kids in the "wee hours" of the morning, but I had a peace that I hadn't felt in awhile. He not only sustained me through a tiring day yesterday, but also gave me the grace to make it through a 12 hour day at school today. Not only survive, but thrive and be blessed by the evening's activities. For that I am very thankful....and humbled by my own lack of faith. It seems that years after coming to know the Lord as my Saviour trusting Him should be easier. How sad that I still struggle so much with this! But at the same time, the fact that He is testing me in the area means that He is not through with me, so praise the Lord!

Three Things

Yesterday the Lord sent three things to encourage me. It was a huge blessing as I have been rather discouraged lately.

• After my rehearsal one of my kids gave me a large bouquet of very fragrant daffodils. It was great because they kept the classroom smelling great on a very warm day.
• Earlier this year the kids earned bracelets after performing in their first concert. One of my kids asked my why mine still looked so nice and hers didn't. I told her that I didn't wear mine every day and perhaps that was the reason. To which she said, "Oh I wear mine every day."
• At lunch one of the other teachers told me that the previous day one of my former students who is now in 10th grade was looking for me after school. It turns out that she needed to interview a person for a class and she wanted to interview me because she was interested in becoming a teacher! I was told she was rather disappointed that she couldn't find me. I am amazed to think that five years after I was her teacher she wanted to come back and interview me.
  

Thankful

I am thankful that the Lord never leaves or forsakes us and that in the midst of a trial He can give us the grace to persevere. His love is steadfast no matter how I waver and step off of the straight and narrow path. Thankfully His saving grace is not dependent on my actions and I can not be plucked from His hand. In a world full of constant responsibilities and things that are dependent on my action (or inaction), it is good to remember that I don't earn His favor and that it is freely given to all who seek His face and believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Not Much to Say....

Since I don't have much to say this evening, I'll share a picture from my trip to West Virginia this summer.

Who Let the Dog Out?

Third week of back to school: the busiest one yet. But thankfully the Lord kept me going without burning out. I can't even begin to express my appreciation of that! Thursday ended up being a 7-8:30 workday split between the two schools. Not only was I able to get a ton done, but I was still smiling at the end of the day. Knowing me, myself and I, that is something only the Lord can accomplish.

Monday morning I opened the door to the staff room and found two adults and a dog. While I was trying to get my jaw up off of the floor, I apparently never thought to close the door and the dog got out. I should mention that this was taking place as kids were coming in for the day. So the dog took off into the school while various staff members chased it. I, on the other hand, tried to pick up the crumbled pieces of my brain and went back to my room, only to be confronted with numerous 4th graders and parent phone calls.

Found out later that the dog was from the surrounding neighborhood and had followed a kid into school that morning. Upon close examination, the dog appeared to be part pit bull. I'm guessing he was safely returned to his owner. Fun times.

My other fun story so far this year took place at my other school. I was "lecturing" the band kids about being good role models for the younger band kids when one 7th grader got up, rolled on the floor, and then struck a pose. It was priceless!

UNDER SEALED ORDERS

You are leaving port under sealed orders and in a troubled period. You cannot know whither you are going or what you are to do. But why not take the Pilot on board who knows the nature of your sealed orders from the outset, and who will shape your entire voyage accordingly? He knows the shoals and the sand banks, the rocks and the reefs, He will steer you safely into that celestial harbor where your anchor will be cast for eternity. Let His almighty nail-pierced hands hold the wheel, and you will be safe.

--Peter Marshall (1902 - 1949)

Red Fish, Blue Fish

Have I mentioned that I love reading? Always have and hopefully always will. Historical fiction is my favorite, but I do enjoy reading a variety of different genres.

So...apparently my niece loves to read as well. I found this out when I went down for a few days last month to help watch the kid while the rest of the family worked on my sister & bro-in-law's new house.

She was constantly asking to be read to. Thankfully she is not into chapter books yet and has a good collection of board books to keep the reader entertained. As you can see from the photo above, size doesn't matter.


Rumor has it my sister has taken to hiding certain books. Considering she is a teacher and most teachers encourage reading, the situation must be pretty desperate. But I enjoyed it while I was there!

Great Garden Gatherings

As summer is winding down, my food processor and I are gearing up. My teeny, tiny garden has been producing amazing amounts of tomatoes, along with awesome eggplant and new this year: beans! I am so excited. There is nothing quite like the satisfaction of watching tiny plants grow into something that is able to be put on the table as food. It takes work (even in a small garden), but fun because of the visible progress it makes.

I've been freezing stuff from my garden as well as zucchini from my mom's garden. Not only have I had enough to freeze, but also enough to give away. Part of the joy in having a garden is in being able to bless others with the bounty.

Someday, after my garage falls down and I have to rebuild it, I'll move it forward so I can have a bigger garden behind it. My brother suggested building raised beds...so now I'm drooling over it.

So yesterday I made tomato sauce for the first time. Considering my Italian background, it is probably a disgrace to only be making sauce for the first time at my age. But it was sooo easy and tasted so good, I'm sure I'll be making for a long time to come. The fun part is that you can make it different every time, depending on what you have in your fridge. It was pretty exciting.

The Rustling Begins....

At approximately 9:20 for the past couple of nights the rustling has begun as the nightly snacks of potato chips and ice cream appear from their various locations. The clan has gathered at my sister's new house for a week long work-a-thon. Thankfully there is enough space that we are not tripping over each other. It has been quite enjoyable: staining the house, turning a barn into a garage, watching the kid, cooking, cleaning and cleaning out brush and trees. It is very satisfying doing jobs where you can see immediate results.

Grill Fail #2

So grilling is not my greatest skill that I've ever tried to develop. The first time my brother and I broke out the charcoal grill this year, we forgot to pile the charcoal into a pyramid before trying to light the stack. We did not get a roaring fire. In fact, it took forever to cook the meat. Today was try #2. I remembered to stack the bricks and then proceeded to go through almost a whole box of matches trying to start the fire. At which point my brother came out and doused the whole thing with lighter fluid (note: the bricks came with fluid already on them). It burned for awhile, I went inside to prep the meat and veggies. My brother turned away from the fire and it promptly went out. A few more matches later we gave up and went to plan B: fry pans.

I'm sure the little old lady next door got a kick watching us out her window. I'm also thinking there is something wrong with our charcoal and perhaps buying a new bag would be a wise idea. It was from last year...and did sit out in the rotting garage all winter and spring. Maybe it got wet. Very possible since every time I mow I have to pick up pieces of rotting wood that have come off of the garage. But that's for another post...

Change is the Only Constant......

excepting the Lord of course: He never changes. Good thing, I mean, who wants to put their trust in a God who constantly changes? As I was helping friends pack for a cross country move, I couldn't help but think, here we go again--things are changing. Anyone who knows me well knows that I do not greet change with excitement. I can say that the Lord is fully in control and knows exactly what He is doing, even if I can't grasp it. Besides, He knows what is best for each one of us and who would want anything less than that? But is doesn't always make it easier to deal with at first hearing of the change to come. I think it is more comforting after the news has had time to sink in and the Lord has been at work in the receiver's heart. After all, it is exciting to see where the Lord takes people and how He uses them.

On a less spiritual level, I've finally gotten to the point where I am ready to change & reorganize some of Grandma's things. I'm trying to downsize and declutter, as well as finally go through the rest of my stuff from the apartment that hasn't been dealt with. One of those things is the living room. Grandma's dvd player is starting to go, so tonight I finally got out my tv and dvd player to switch it out with Grandma's. Moving forward! Being a person who doesn't even watch tv, it will be nice to have my small tv replacing a rather large one. For your perusing pleasure, the before and after shots:


Before

(The lovely tv stand was made by my brother-in-law.)
















After!


(Big sigh of relief)

Minimalist Camping, Part 3

So I was figuring out what to write tonight and thought I would post my final blog about our camping trip. The whole trip came about due to a Cirque du Solei show my brother wanted to see, so one of our days we spent the day in Hartford.

We went up early in order to visit the Mark Twain house. The house was fascinating with all of its architectural details on both the outside and inside. I am intrigued by Twain's desire to "keep up with the Jones-es"--no expense was spared, and in fact, I guess the house went way over budget when it was built. According to the PBS documentary I watched on him, he really thought that a lavish house and being wealthy could keep his family from harm. What a sad awakening for him it must've been when tragedy struck and he lost all of his money. A good reminder that our hope and trust should not be in earthly possessions.

Built in 1874, Twain let the architect have his way, with the stipulation that it be a red house. We had expected to be able to roam the house at our own pace, but they only did house tours. It was neat hearing the descriptions as we were going through--we certainly learned more than if we had roamed by ourselves.




As we were getting ready to leave and head over for the Cirque show, we started looking at one of the exhibits they had in the museum: the Hartford circus fire that took place during the 40s. This wasn't the most encouraging thing to read about as we were presently headed over to watch a circus show. But thankfully all went well....






The infamous Cirque du Solei tent, an impressive set up which houses an even more impressive show.








The next day we took one more trip down to the beach and then started our trek back home. All in all a great trip, with only a few minor misadventures. :-)

Thankful Thursday

Some days are great, others are...well...better left untold. Today was one of them. As I was driving home from a rehearsal tonight and thinking about what I would blog, Thankful Thursday popped into my head. So here we go:

1) I am thankful that our God is greater than my shortcomings and tendencies toward sin, that His blood covers my sins and that in the midst of my inadequacies He is still at work within me.

2) I am thankful that each day is a brand new start with a clean slate.

3) I am thankful for the friend who randomly gave me a gift today.

4) I am thankful that in the midst of sorrow we can take comfort in the fact that the Lord has a good plan, even if we don't understand it or can't see how it will work out. He holds the universe in the palm on His hand and that includes the circumstances in my life.

5) I am thankful that I can sleep in tomorrow, seeing as I'm staying up late to write this blog.

Minimalist Camping, Part 2

So we arrived Wednesday the 30th and the next day we spent at the state park. That morning we walked the trail that goes along the beach. It was somewhere in the vicinity of 1-2 miles and it was neat to see how the coast changed as we walked.





As we walked even the landscape changed slightly as different sections of the beach boasted different plants. The middle portion of the walk had pines--it was a bit strange to see sand and small pine trees in the same setting. I believe this flower is called a beach rose. It was new to me.










The east end of the beach was very rocky and reminiscent of the Maine coast.

This is one of my favorite photos from the trip. Still on the east end of the beach.

After spending the morning walking along the beach and exploring the hiking trails, we had lunch and then crashed for part of the afternoon. (Insert nap mentioned in the previous post.)

For our minimalist camping dinner, we went to a local place called the Clam Castle. I wish I had taken a picture of the food. It was fantastic! I tried my first lobster roll (awesome!), had clam strips, onion rings and clam chowder. (Disclaimer: I did not eat all of that by myself.) If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend it!

Minimalist Camping

With TomTom leading the way, my brother and I drove to Hammonasset Beach State Park in Connecticut to camp for a few days before the fourth of July. Upon arriving at our campsite we were greeted by a nicely mowed, large campsite right across from the bathrooms. Not exactly roughing it, as the light from the Coke machine shown through our tent each night. Anyways...the one strange thing was that there was no spot for a fire and no remnants of a campfire. Turns out people either bring in their own fire pit or rent one. We were rather surprised as this is quite different from the normal practice in our neck of the woods. Being the flexible sort of folks that we are, we made due with what we had: an electric Coleman lantern, complete with a yellow night light setting. It was perfect--no mess, no smoke, no fighting over who would put out the fire--quite enjoyable in many ways. This wasn't a planned part of our minimalist camping experience, but it worked out well as we weren't planning on cooking. We decided to eat breakfast and lunch out of the cooler and then go out for dinner. I certainly had no intention of working my first week of vacation.

So we settled right down our first night there and were sleeping peacefully until we were both heard squeaking and scratching above our heads at 3:00 in the morning. Thinking it was a pair of squirrels my brother offered to go take a look (good thing because I had no intention of getting up). A moment later I hear, "you better stay there." It was three large skunks scratching at our heads. Not what I wanted to hear. Skunks that didn't smell or spray thankfully, as we would've been in trouble.
They did eventually go away after my brother worried them with the flashlight. Needless to say, the next day I indulged in an afternoon nap.

Summer Vacation!

One of the most blessed events of the year is finally here! It certainly has been quite the school year: busy, busy, busy. Perhaps it is obvious from the number of posts I have successfully completed. It has been a good type of busy and it has been exciting to see how the Lord blessed this year. A great year in many respects, but I am thankful to have a break from the chaos of traveling between two schools. One of my goals this summer is to spend more time planning for the upcoming year. My teaching load will be almost identical this coming year, so I will be able to plan better. So what's on the docket for July and August? A camping trip to Connecticut, a trip to West Virginia, taking flute lessons as well as viola da gamba lessons, playing violin in Berlioz's Requiem, accomplishing projects at home and planning for the upcoming year. Time to refresh and refuel! Perhaps I'll even write another post before October.

Life...Facebook Style

Since I can only handle small bits of info right now, here we go:

Gina...just got powdered sugar all over her keyboard.
Gina's inbox is out of control and apologizes to all who have e-mailed her in the past month (or 2).
Gina is sick of dealing with parents who let their children do anything they want.
Gina is tired of phone conversations with parents that are a complete waste of her time.
Gina wonders why it takes a bag of candy sitting out for middle school students to pay attention.
Gina feels that some things are better left unsaid.
Gina is starting to lose it and looking forward to a day off Monday.

Fickle Society

Thankfully today is a day that I'll never have to redo. His mercies are new every morning. If there is something that frustrates me to no end each year, it is the fact that parents let their children switch instruments or drop after only one year of study. "Whatever will make Johnny happy" is the motto of many parents that I've talked to. "I would like him to continue, but he doesn't want to" is another one I have heard more than once. Who is in charge? The student or the parent? Mind you, I'm talking about 4th & 5th graders!

The parents in my public school building want their kids to be able to try everything. Now there is nothing wrong with trying new things--I like doing it myself. But what are we are we teaching children when we allow them to switch instruments or activities at the drop of a hat? There has to be a balance between trying new things and sticking with something in order to learn about commitment and perseverance. In our fast paced, instant gratification geared society, so many things are geared towards making a child feel good--make them happy and fulfilling their wants. These children grow up thinking that everything should be given to them for nothing, handed to them on a silver platter. What a rude awakening when they get out in the real world!

It amazes me that in the public school (where students can receive instrument lessons for "free,") the parents take advantage of the system, and in the private school where parents must pay for lessons, it is automatically assumed that a student will continue on the same instrument year after year. Fascinating, and a sad commentary in my opinion. But I will now get off of my soapbox and bid you a goodnight!