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!

SEEK TO KNOW HIM

"Let us seek to know Him in the Word. It is in the Word we will find the Holy Spirit. Don't read too many other things. Some of you will say, "Look who's talking!" Well, go ahead and say it, I don't mind; but I am reading fewer and fewer things as I get older, not because I'm losing interest in this great, big, old suffering world, but because I'm gaining interest in that other world above. So I say, don't try to know everything. You can't. Find Him in the Word, for the Holy Ghost wrote this book. He inspired it, and He will be revealed in its pages."

--A.W. Tozer