A Good Way to Spend a Saturday

Weeks ago I wrote about how God has blessed us with a couple of missionaries that our family supports on a regular basis.  I wrote here just a bit about one of our missionaries, a beautiful young lady named Beka, who left for the Philippines back in January to work alongside local churches to be a resource in preventing human trafficking there.  (By the way, she is making great strides in settling in and learning the language and plugging in to the churches and I am sure she would covet your continuing prayers.)

I had always meant to circle back around and tell you a bit about a missionary family we support as well. Having relocated from Pennsylvania in 2012, James and Loni are serving at OMS headquarters in Greenwood, Indiana - about 45 minutes from us.  James is Mr. Techie (but I'm not allowed to call him that) - he is a self taught guru on all things web and computer related and is serving the organization currently in an IT and web programming capacity.  And there is PLENTY of work to keep him busy.  Loni stays home with their three beautiful children - Emma (6?), Luke (4) and Titus (7 months). And so there is obviously PLENTY of work to keep her busy, too. 

We have pledged monthly support, but recently it occurred to us that there might be additional ways we could support James and Loni - especially in the midst of so much busyness.  It has not been too many years since we had a child in diapers and we have known the experience of living far from family (and will again soon), so we are empathetic. 

So yesterday we went to Greenwood to give James and Loni some uninterrupted date time.  They had not been out together without at least the baby along since Titus was born.  We arrived at 2:00 pm and they bolted out the door at 2:03!  ;-)

While Titus finished up his afternoon nap, I took our kids and Emma and Luke to the open grassy area around OMS headquarters, right across the street from their house for a bit of Frisbee and fat bat.

Luke playing with the fat bat.

Luke and I playing Frisbee.

Emma and The Princess made "soup" out of a puddle nestled in the root of a tree.  This soup contained grass, pine cones and flowers and it required constant stirring.

Around 4:00 we came in for make-your-own pizzas for dinner.

 

Then Titus woke up.  If he was put off by being greeted by a house full of strangers, he kept it to himself.  Though he had to be wondering who these extra kids were who all wanted a turn in holding or feeding him.

Still wondering...

Later, Melissa made cupcakes and The Princess demonstrated proper cupcake-eating techniques.

About the time James and Loni were returning home from their date, Dats decided to show all the kids how a "ripe" cattail from the pond next to the house will explode with a twist of the hands, sending seed fluff everywhere.

Pretty soon, they were bringing cattails by the armloads.  Ida collected a big pile of the fluff and tried to blow it, but it didn't move much on the ground.

So then the wise guy picks up a handful and says, "Daddy, get a picture of this - you can tell everyone it's snow!"

Then he gave it a good blow right into my face and ...

...laughed his head off as he ran away.

 

Only about half of the fluff went up my nose.

Things quickly deteriorated from there as the kids all chased each other around with handfuls of the stuff, lobbing it at each other amid all the laughter and screams.

Both Emma and Luke ended up in tears as they spat great globs of mushy cattail fluff from their mouths and tried in vain to rub seeds out of their stinging eyes.


That's when we ushered our kids into the van and hurriedly drove away.

But seriously, James and Loni seemed very thankful for the quiet time together.  (I hope they remember that as they spend the next several months ridding their carpets and laundry of cattail seeds.)  And I know their kids had a great time - up until the crying.

But I think each and every member of our family enjoyed the day as much as anybody else.  As we drove away, one of the kids asked when we could do it again. 

Soon! Our kids were excited to hear that we will have plenty of opportunities to spend time with James and Loni and the kids come July when we'll be spending three weeks at OMS headquarters for training in cross-cultural ministry - which will be another key step on the path to putting our family in Haiti.  More about that to come ...

P.S. You can see some of James' programming handiwork at the official One Mission Society website HERE.  He's also the one who helped us out by creating our special "50 for 50" website  Coincidentally, both are easy pathways for anybody considering joining our financial support team ... have you checked them out??

Neighbors

Melissa and I have been walking the neighborhood for exercise this past week or so - ever since spring decided to finally arrive. And, often as we walk, we pray.  It's only natural, therefore, that I have found myself praying a few times for my neighbors lately. 

It will be two years ago this coming August that we moved in with Melissa's mother after renting out our own house in order to pay down some debts before entering the mission field full time.  We never thought we would be here this long, but you know how time flies.  Trudy has been more than gracious to us and we have all we need here.

Still, we miss our old neighborhood.  It had a different feel to it than any other place we had ever lived.  People KNEW each other.  And I always suspected that was due in no small part to a couple from our church who took it upon themselves to host occasional ice cream socials for all the neighbors. 

Yesterday was our first gorgeous Saturday of the year around here and the list of outside chores was so long that I had the luxury of picking a handful that I actually didn't mind doing.  First up was the birdhouse we gave Trudy for Christmas.  I put it together a few weeks ago, but didn't have a ladder tall enough to get it to the top of the pole beside her house. 

Now I am not the most assertive person (to say the least).  So yesterday I briefly considered buying a new ladder, but I kept coming back to the thought that there were probably a dozen tall ladders in our neighborhood and it would only make sense to find one close by to borrow - it just meant that I would have to approach a complete stranger to ask for a favor.  God's been working with me on assertiveness (fundraising for Haiti has been one long lesson in assertiveness) and I had a hunch this thought was from Him.

So I gathered all my tools and the birdhouse around the base of the pole, and when there was nothing more I could do without an actual ladder, I walked over to the house next door.  It turns out my neighbor's name is Ron and he owns a 20 foot extension ladder.  Perfect!  He was super friendly and told me just to put the ladder back beside his house when I was done with it.

Upon completing the birdhouse project, I started looking around for other jobs that needed a ladder.  The most obvious was a giant branch that had been broken by a storm in one of the big maples out front.  The branch had been lodged horizontally 15 feet up in the tree for a year.  It looked terrible, but we had all gotten used to it. 

So I went after it with my borrowed ladder and my saws-all ... which is not as useful as a chainsaw.  Melissa came out to watch and she didn't say a word, but she gave the distinct impression she was waiting for an accident and readying a response consisting of "I told you so" or dialing 911, or both, depending on the severity.

Thankfully, the guy who lives across the street came outside, introduced himself (Virgil!) and offered the use of his chainsaw.  (I don't know why it had not occurred to me that there were probably just as many chainsaws in the neighborhood as there are extension ladders.)

So after a year and a half of meeting nobody around here, in one day I met Ron and Virgil.  The day left me pondering something I had noticed about Jesus' Good Samaritan parable in Luke 10 the last time I looked at it: The teacher of the law prompts the parable by asking, "Who is my neighbor?" and Jesus finishes his story with the flip-side question of "Who acted as a neighbor to the man?"  In essence, Jesus is saying that there's no litmus test for what constitutes a neighbor in regards to "Love your neighbor as you love yourself". 

But our literal neighbors would be an excellent and logical starting point.  Melissa and I are hoping that we will be moving from this neighborhood in a few months, but until we do, I want to find tangible ways to love our literal neighbors. If we are called to be salt and light, shouldn't that start in our own neighborhoods?  And doesn't going into "all the world" with the gospel necessarily (and perhaps especially) begin with the families and individuals on our block?

I'm feeling convicted.  It feels like another of those basic lessons God is teaching me during this period of waiting.

Especially after today.  Yesterday I met Ron and Virgil for the first time.  Today, an ambulance and several police cars showed up at the house on the other side of Ron's house.  Apparently someone there committed suicide.  I know nothing of the circumstances.  I don't even know the name of the deceased or anyone who lives in the house.

I wish I did. 

And I'm sure I should.

I'm starting to think an ice cream social might be a good starting point.

Supplemental Prayers

I am between books right now and haven't found anything that has caught my interest, so today I found myself picking up the old Kindle and browsing selections there.  I ended up rereading a section of David Platt's "Radical Together".  I often find that it's dangerous to read what Platt writes!

Here's what I came across:
"Over the last couple of years, I have been convicted that prayer has been supplemental, not fundamental, in my life and in the church I lead.I began to ask myself, If someone were looking from the outside at the Church at Brook Hills, would they see a people desperate for the Spirit of God?"

A bit later, he quotes a passage from Isaiah: "I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night.  You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth."

He calls special attention to the phrase "give him no rest till."  But my eye was caught by "give yourselves no rest."  It made me think of the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane and how Jesus was so disappointed that they couldn't stay awake to pray with him. 

Daily prayer and Bible reading was one of my New Year's resolutions and, at least on the surface, I have kept that resolution with few exceptions.  But how deep is my prayer life?  I confess that praying makes me sleepy.  VERY sleepy at times.  And I have a nagging fear that my sleepiness means I am not doing it correctly!  Too often my mind wanders. Too often my prayers are lacking in conviction and focus and passion.  And that is why Platt's supplemental/fundamental dichotomy caught my eye - and my heart - today.  Too many supplemental prayers.  Too few fundamental prayers. 

Today was Easter.  And that means we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus.  But it also means I consumed untold deviled eggs, too many helpings of ham, and - worst of all - PEEPS.  (I fell off the diet in a big way today!)  So around 8:00, I decide I was going to run off a few of those extra calories.  I managed to do 2.5 miles around our neighborhood and, as I often do when I run, I prayed for much of that time.  (It's hard to fall asleep when you are running!)

David Platt's words came back to me towards the end of my run and I felt like God was saying, "Prayer is the next chapter in 'Things Steve Needs to Learn before Leaving for Haiti'". (The last chapter was "Overcoming Fear" ... and I haven't even finished that one yet!) 

I was circling past the house with about a third of a mile left to go and Melissa popped her head out the door and yelled, "When you're ready for your cool down walk, let me know and I will walk with you!" 

So as we walked along together a few minutes later, I told her that I was feeling convicted about the lack of consistency and fervor in my prayer life and she said she had been growing in consciousness about prayer lately too. 

So it turned into a prayer walk!  And for over a mile, we walked and prayed.  We prayed for our small group, for our kids, for our funding, for James and Loni (our missionaries in Greenwood) and for Beka and Lauren (missionary friends in the Philippines), and many other people and situations.  It was, hands down, the highlight of my Resurrection Day.  What an awesome time of trusting in the Lord! 

Would you be willing to join with us and pray that this would be the start of something great, the turning of supplemental prayers into fundamental prayers? I would gladly pray the same for you!  You may already be on my prayer list, but if you are not, I would feel privileged to add you - just let me know.  (sgross@onemissionsociety.org or message me on Facebook or leave a comment here!)

Florida Trip in Pictures - Part 1

We left for Florida early Tuesday morning.  The Drama Queen already had her sunglasses ready.  We had to rent a van for the trip - our van isn't up for any long trips.  It's old and tired.  We are simply praying that it will not give up the ghost before August!
 
This was the fourth time we had attempted a trip to Pensacola - and even this time, we had all but given up.  The sticking point was finding an affordable place to stay while there.  (It's a bit much to expect any family to take in Melissa and I and 4 kids for a week!)  But this time, a friend at OMS headquarters put us in contact with an OMS board member who lives in Niceville and she, in turn, put us in contact with Evans and Susan, a beautiful couple who own a home in Shalimar - just an hour or so from Pensacola.  AND they were heading down to Tampa Wednesday through Sunday evening and were graciously willing to offer their house to us (complete strangers!) during that time!  Being on the receiving end of that sort of hospitality is so humbling and so beautiful. 
 
Their gracious offer reached us just the previous Friday, so as we were wrapping up the last day of school, all of a sudden we had a trip to Florida to look forward to!

So Tuesday was spent in the van.  And, I must note, our kids are better than ever about travelling.  (Just a few years ago, we made our first potty stop literally 20 miles down the road.  THAT was a long day.)  This picture was taken at a rest stop in Alabama.  Dats was determined to wear his sleeveless shirt, even though it was not much warmer than Indiana.
 
We arrived in Shalimar just after dark.  And Melissa and I praised God we made it without incident - during the last hour or so, we saw three or four dozen deer standing alongside the road! It seemed miraculous that none of them darted in front of our van.
 
We had the chance to visit just a bit with Evans and get a tour of the house before everyone was ready to crash for the night.

It had not even occurred to me in our "planning" of the trip that Wednesday would be an excellent day to find people at the First United Methodist Church of Pensacola, but it certainly worked out that way.  We arrived just in time for their weekly lunch - some delicious chicken pot pie.  It has been nearly 11 years since we left Pensacola, and yet, many of the faces greeting us in the church office and fellowship hall were just as we remembered them.

The girls in front of a blooming azalea bush on the church grounds.  The Drama Queen was only a month old when we moved from Pensacola back to Indiana.  The Princess, of course, was non-existent at the time.  Time flies!

We did some driving around in the afternoon and then came back to the church for dinner and a Lenten worship service.  A great day to visit some dear people - with opportunities to catch up on life events and to share a bit about Haiti in the process.

We didn't mind the drive to get back to Shalimar each evening - and it didn't take long for us to make ourselves at home!

Of course the kids could hardly wait to get some sand between their toes, so we took lunch to a nearby beach on Thursday.  It was quite chilly, especially with the wind sweeping down the coast, but our kids were determined to make the most of the water and sand.

I was struck time and again on this trip that our kids are each other's best friends.  They squabble sometimes, of course, but by and large they are super close.  Makes a dad's heart very happy!

At least the beach wasn't overcrowded! Plus, no chance of a terrible sunburn.  Ideal!

Just as much as they had bugged us about the beach - or more! - the kids wondered again and again, "When are we going to Jeff and Sheila's house?"  Thursday evening, we got to spend with Jeff and Sheila.  Here the kids are squeezing some oranges off the tree beside the house after Mr. Jeff used his pocket knife to cut a hole in the top of each.

We had a wonderful seafood dinner and had some time to catch up with each other and with another friend, Jimmy, who joined us all for dinner.

The last time we saw Jeff and Sheila was almost two years ago when we were headed down to Miami in anticipation of taking our kids to Haiti for the first time.  That trip was our way of confirming God's call on our lives to serve him in Haiti.  Now we finally got to share some of the pictures from that trip with Jeff and Sheila in person. 

The kids love to climb on Mr. Jeff!

More pictures to come...

No More Slushies

When I was a kid, my parents owned a "Five and Dime" department store in Shelbyville, Indiana.  My brothers and I had many jobs around the store from an early age: stocking shelves, straightening greeting cards, watching for shoplifters, etc.  There was one job that only the older boys got to do: mixing the sugar water for the Slushy machine.  For some reason, I always thought it was super cool to watch that bag of sugar getting dumped into the five-gallon bucket of water and watch it dissolve away as we stirred it up.  In my eyes, that Slushy machine was right up there with the mechanical horse (that cost ten cents to ride) as the highlight of the store.  We didn't get Slushies every day - when we did, it was a special treat.

Thus, I've got a soft spot for Slushies.  So it is a bit heartbreaking for me to relate the following story of why my own kids will never EVER again drink a Slushy.

At one of our midday stops on the way home from Florida this past Monday we found ourselves in a really clean "upscale" gas station.  Melissa had paid for a coffee at the previous gas station (which was definitely "downscale") and had found it undrinkable.  So now she was on a mission and this place held promise.  When I decided to join her in buying coffee, we felt a bit guilty about our kids having nothing.  After three weeks of denying them dairy, it seemed terrible to deny them a treat of some sort while we enjoyed coffee.  The solution presented itself on our way to the cash register in the form of brightly colored gallons of swirling ice mixture above a massive Slushy machine. Four flavors - something for everyone!  The kids were VERY excited.

By the time we got back into the van, we were all happily slurping away on something.  Most of the kids had mixed several flavors of Slushy together into their cups.

Out of curiosity, I took a swig of The Drama Queen's Slushy: Wow. Sugary!

I thought maybe I had just become unaccustomed to the taste of sugar since I had joined Melissa in giving it up three weeks ago, but within an hour Dats and Ida were in the back seat complaining that their stomachs were hurting.  I noticed the girls, who weren't complaining of any pain, had taken only a few sips each of their drinks.  The boys had all but finished theirs off.  A few emergency spoonfuls of peanut butter were enough to restore some balance to the boys' bellies.

But now I was very curious about what exactly Melissa and I had provided to our children as a treat.  When we got home at midnight, I knew I wouldn't be able to hit the bed immediately after a day-long drive, so I decided to do a little late-night experiment: I took what was left of the girls' now-melted Slushies and combined them to fill one cup full again.  Then I took that amount and put it in a saucepan over heat to evaporate the water. 

When I started to smell burning sugar, I took the mixture off the flame and poured it back into the Slushy cup to see how much had been sugar.  Here's the answer:

And to be perfectly clear, that is NOT just some thick syrup at the bottom of the cup; once it cooled, it could stand on its own, without any help:

The next morning, the kids were appropriately disgusted at this sight.  Not surprisingly, none of the kids asked to consume this blob of sugar and food coloring!  It went into the trash where it belonged.

Feel free to draw your own spiritual lessons from this - I'm sure I could come up with one or two if I were a bit more awake.

But MY only point is this: The part of the parents' job description that says we are to vigilantly guard our kids' well being... that's hard. 

How many of the things offered by this world look so appealing and so very innocent and yet are fundamentally, and sometimes even grossly, unhealthy?  And how do we go about "boiling them down to their essence" in order to see the gunk?


P.S. I can hardly wait to share about our trip to Florida, but I had to get this out of my system first!     

The Food which Perishes

I am paying the price for mentioning a new diet book to my wife.  I saw Dr. J.J. Virgin touting her book on Rachel Ray's TV show one day in December when I was visiting my mom after her fall.  At the time, Melissa was trying to avoid gluten.  She had experienced a phantom pain in her side for a couple of years and, more recently, mysterious swelling in her leg and foot and we suspected gluten could be the culprit.

The "Virgin Diet" takes what Melissa was testing with gluten and expands it to 7 different types of food - and eliminates them all at once!  The author maintains that even beyond the easy-to-spot food allergies that many Americans develop, there are many more food "intolerances" that are more subtle and long-term and, therefore, more difficult to link to the offending food.  The solution?  A grand experiment where one eliminates wheat, soy, dairy, sugar, corn, peanuts, and eggs from the diet for three weeks and then slowly and methodically reintroduces those foods one at a time.  With the system clear of any offending foods, when the those foods are reintroduced, the symptoms of any intolerances should be more pronounced and then easily tied back to the trigger ingredient. 

I say I am "paying" for introducing this book because, like the good husband I am, I agreed to do the diet with Melissa for moral support.  I didn't start with any glaring physical symptoms which might be food related, but after almost two weeks of this diet, I have to note that I am feeling generally more alert and awake.  (I also have to note that I HAVE cheated in tiny, tiny ways ... now and then.)

So once you eliminate wheat, soy, dairy, corn, sugar, peanuts and eggs, what's left??

Spinach. Blackberries. Salmon. Sweet potatoes. Grass. Acorns. Twigs.

Actually, there are a lot of good foods left over - the main hassle is that so much of what we absentmindedly pop into our mouths or into our recipes is processed with one or more of those ingredients.  So substitutions get made and cooking gets simplified.

Out: Milk.            In: Almond milk or coconut milk.

Out: Butter.           In: Butter ghee.

Out: Chocolate candy of all sorts.          In: ?? (C'mon, there's no substitute for chocolate! Thus, the occasional cheating!)

Out: Breakfast foods of all types.         In: "Green" shakes.

The green shakes start with water, coconut milk, green pea protein (because whey and soy proteins are off limit), a banana and a big handful of spinach.  And they look like this:

But only at first.  Then they get a big handful of frozen blueberries or blackberries and they end up looking more like this:

And they actually taste pretty good.  You can't really see or taste the spinach if it's blended well.

And beyond breakfast, we've been eating pretty well too.  Melissa is such a good cook that it didn't take her long to figure out how to compensate for a rather limited list of possible ingredients.  It's a challenge when every menu item that is cheese-based, bread-based, egg-based or corn-based is out!  But here's a typical meal from a few days ago:

That's a beautiful piece of grilled salmon which was marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, thyme, rosemary and onion.  Fresh guacamole.  And grilled asparagus.  My fish was all sad and lonely without it's usual partners (either soy-based teriyaki sauce or dairy-based tartar sauce), so it was happy to find the guacamole ... which was mourning the loss of its corn chips!  It turned into a lovely new relationship. 

Our kids have tolerated the changes in diet pretty well.  We do still serve them some items that are off limit to us: chips and biscuits and brownies and such.  BUT after reading about the link between dairy and complexion issues, Melissa decided to experiment a little on the kids as well.  They have been completely off dairy for two weeks now.  No ice cream, no breakfast cereal, no mac and cheese, no Parmesan on the spaghetti. 

It's slowly killing them.

BUT the Drama Queen's face is now as smooth as a china doll's!  Until we eliminated it, we had no idea how much dairy we were consuming.  We plan to add some back in after another week or so, but at greatly reduced quantities.

So this blog (according to the heading on the page) is supposed to be about us making progress toward the mission field ... What's this diet stuff have to do with ministry in Haiti?

Well, a couple of things.  For one, with all the stresses we anticipate once we hit the field, we want to make sure we are physically fit.  In two weeks time, I have lost 7 pounds and Melissa has lost 10.  And we're feeling great.  AND the mystery inflammation and swelling has disappeared from Melissa's leg.  (The verdict is still out on her side pain.)

Furthermore, the kind of cooking we are doing now is good practice for cooking in Haiti.  Even if we could get all the processed foods we are used to here, they'd be priced way beyond our budget.  And the kids better get used to not having an abundance of dairy products to consume.  Ice cream is a rare and special treat in Haiti.  And the price of cheese is astronomical. 

And finally, this diet is reminding me of what I normally experience during a Lenten fast - and so it's reteaching me some of the same spiritual lessons:  That we are blessed with an abundance of food while so many people around this world would rejoice over a bowl of oatmeal mush.  That our bodies are temples and we are to be good stewards of the temple God has given us.  "You have been bought for a price, therefore glorify God in your body." And finally, that there are parallels between the body and the soul.  When we feed the body junk when it's craving protein and vitamins, we end up lethargic.  And doesn't the same thing happen when we feed junk to our souls? 

John 6:27 - "Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal."
John 6:35 - Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.

Back to Work

I've got a new job and thus far it is proving to be a real blessing.  I became aware of the open teaching position weeks ago, applied early in February, then interviewed, and finally received a phone call with the offer as Dats and I were in the Miami airport on our way back from Haiti last month. I started two weeks ago and, as of today, get my first vacation: a week and a half off for spring break.

It's a temporary, part-time teaching position at a local "New Tech" high school - a place that avoids many of the traditional school elements (like bells and lockers) and emphasizes technology, collaboration, and project-based learning.  I have just three classes: two 12th grade English classes and a Creative Writing class.  The former teacher left unexpectedly mid-year and the school filled the gap with a substitute teacher while looking for a replacement to finish the semester. 

So far, it's been a win/win/win/win situation.

Win: The extra income is a definite answer to prayer.  I quit my full-time teaching job over last summer so that I could focus on making contacts to raise the funds necessary to get us to Haiti.  We never regretted that move or the opportunities it opened up, but Melissa's salary has been spread pretty thin over the last few months.  There have been times when it was imperative that the gas tank not empty before pay day.  (Sidenote: the money we have pledged to the missionaries we support on a monthly basis has always been available for us to pass along, even during the lean times.  Praise the Lord.)  I thank God for the lean times this past year because He has used them to teach me not to put my trust in money or to build my identity around a job.  Still, a second income, even at half-time, will undoubtedly come in handy as we make preparations to move.

Win: This new job gets me moving in the morning and puts a positive squeeze on my time.  7:30 to 11:20 AM is now spoken for.  I must confess to struggling more than a bit with self-management some days over the past few months.  When the schedule is wide open, it's too easy to put off important tasks until tomorrow ... or the day after ... or next week.  This new job adds structure to my work week and reminds me each day that time is short and today is the day for me to get my part done if God is going to put us on the mission field soon. 

Win:  I am being exposed to new approaches to education.  I enjoy learning new things and in sharpening my effectiveness as a teacher.  This school is intentionally different and I'm liking their approach to education.  Here, each student carries a laptop.  None of the teachers has his or her own room - all space is shared.  The teachers have their desks in a large central room which also contains conference tables for ease of collaboration.  (The space still retains some of the elements of a traditional teachers' lounge: there are always donuts, cupcakes or cookies on that table!)  Daily agendas for each class are posted online and homework is submitted electronically.  I love the fact that in my Creative Writing class, I can post a warm-up exercise, open a Google Doc and everyone can paste his or her writing there.  Then I plug my school-issued laptop into the video projector and we can instantly see and enjoy each other's efforts.  I am also getting firsthand experience in developing real-world projects for students - which is a great approach to education (within reason).

Win:  New relationships (and thus, new ministry opportunities) abound.  I see about fifty students each morning. As I am getting to know them, I am impressed with the strong personalities represented in my classes ... and saddened by some of the struggles I am already aware of.  With just over two months to graduation, a handful of my new students are failing.  Several are single moms.  One young lady is homeless at the moment - crashing on various friends' sofas each night.  The Lord is providing opportunities for me to offer words of encouragement and guidance. 

So I am thanking God for this new (and temporary) chapter in my life.  It's all good!

Well, ALMOST all good.  I do have 30 essays on Shakespeare's "The Tempest" to grade over spring break!