Ok, it's back to school time. What does that mean for you? What do you feel about the start of a school year, even if you are not on that schedule (cause you have another kind of job or don't have kids affected by school schedules)?

I want to tell you that I feel incredibly excited for school to start. The countdown to the last day of school is BANNED on our campus (at least where I can hear it or see it!) - it sends the strong message that the start of summer is MORE important than the work of school. And if that message is true, the teacher counting down should be counseled toward a career that can't directly influence children. And, more importantly, if the student is counting down, then the teacher should be counseled to be better at his/her job OR be counseled toward a career that can't directly influence children! If you can't WAIT for the end of something, then the "something" must not be giving you what you need! If you can't wait for it to start, then it must be worth doing, right?!

Teachers, I want you to think about this...why do you teach? Why did you start teaching in the first place? If you can HONESTLY (even after drinking some truth serum) say that you started teaching or you still teach because you Love Learning and helping others do that is more intrinsically rewarding than any other career for you, then I challenge you to start this year with a new and improved way of thinking....am I doing ALL I can do for this kid? What about this kid? And this one?

Here are the key questions - only three! Ask these every day about every kid...and then answer them for yourself:
What do my students know?
What are they missing?
What am I going to do about it?

The kids walk through our schools on the first day of school with a bag...not just a backpack, but BAGGAGE. We can't always recognize it, we can't do much about the fact they have it, and we can't be there at home to prevent them from every getting it. But we CAN do something about mitigating for the baggage. We can make sure that every child is LOVED at school - by us. We can believe in each child, and communicate that powerful belief that anything is possible to each and every one of them every day. We can create engaging and meaningful learning opportunities for a diverse group of kids and then keep them so engaged that the last day of school brings them sadness to think about being away from the learning, and brings their hopes and dreams alive in their hearts and minds. We can leave our own baggage in the car in the parking lot....don't worry, it will be there when we come back to the car at night! But we owe every kid on our watch the very best work of our careers.

So team....our students are waiting to have the best year of learning ever. Who will give them that - will you?

Home from Chicago

After many delays and ground stoppages, I finally arrived home a little before midnight last night from a trip to Chicago. David and I were there to attend the Alpha Americas Conference held in Naperville, in preparation for kicking off our first Alpha course at St. Peter's, McKinney in September.

Alpha - a course to bring people to faith, started in London at Holy Trinity Brompton. The keynote and recurring speaker was Nicky Gumbel, pastor at HTB and current leader of Alpha International. What an amazing and engaging man! I learned a few things...let's think about these:
1. How many churches are there in McKinney? Texas? The United States? The World? That's right - just one church. Oh, there are many different denominations (packaging if you will), but all with the same head of the church. I saw it with my own eyes. We were sitting behind a church group from Wisconsin who are part of the Pentacostal movement, as they listened to an Anglican priest from stuffy old England talk about how to successfully share the Alpha course. That is just one church in the flesh!
2. I love liturgy and traditional hymns. Apparently, I am also internally moved by ANY praise and worship music where a group of people sing, even if it is in the more hip and modern vein. Uncontrollable tears throughout all the songs...for no apparent reason. Inexplicable really, yet I experience this time and again in a variety of settings. Music sings from and to my soul I guess, which is kind of weird considering my favorite radio station is Public Radio.
3. There was a part of the first day where, quite unexpectedly, an announcement for prayer was made. Nicky Gumbel was speaking about Alpha and the weekend away one minute, then with little transition provided, called anyone interested in receiving prayer to come forward. We were all talking about the Holy Spirit coming into our lives and I know that was happening in that room. Those aformentioned tears were flowing like mad....don't even know why since the songs weren't even playing! I was really filled with anxiety as a lady pretty far away from us in the auditorium began speaking loudly in tongues. I heard this for the first time on Tuesday, but the anxiety gradually ebbed as I just stood there and took it all in. I was rooted and time passed without my understanding. My mind went to a vision of myself in a new way. I am not ready to talk about that vision yet...but hope to keep getting a clearer understanding as time and experiences come.

I know that in my job at school, I am charged to lead a group of teachers to help students become equipped for new challenges and a promising future. I think the same charge exists in my call to lead Alpha. Our church will grow new leaders, create new followers of Christ and see ourselves as the church itself. It is time to really get to the business of Kingdom Work.

So, our precious daughter is heading off to church camp tomorrow. Church camp for me is a tremendous part of who I am today. I learned all kinds of lessons that serve me well.

1. Making friends from other places makes you think that where they live MUST be more glamorous than wherever I lived. My house was boring, my school was dull, our church was lame...but everyone else had such a cool life. Then, I grew up and lived in some of those places and guess what...no magic at all there! Just a regular place like all the other regular places.
2. Being with a group of people who are all focused on the same things is very helpful to keep me centered. I still need this today and am grateful that I had that experience from 5th grade through college.
3. The memories full of details may fade, but the emotions are just dormant inside me, rising to the surface as soon as I turn on the camp road. I feel just like I used to feel on the first day of camp every year; every session! I cannot wait to see my friends again!

Our family is heading back to Camp Weed in Live Oak, FL over Labor Day weekend for a camp reunion. We'll rent a cabin for all of us, and most of us will fly a long distance to sweat and play Izzy Dizzy til we run sideways. I literally cannot wait!

I can only hope my dearest daughter has half of the wonderful experiences I had....but if not, I know that sending her to camp is one of the best mom and dad decisions to help prepare her for a life ahead.

New Adventure

Never blogged, but like reading other blogs. But I was thinking...I have things to say too! So, words from work, from parenting a teenager and working on my Walk...stay tuned!