Graupel in Yoder

I was hoping for a snow day today. Unfortunately, I chose to work in the school district that hasn't closed once in the last two years. Fantastic! My time spent watching the news in anticipation of our winter weather closure was not completely in vain, however. I learned a new word. It seems that this late spring snow isn't just any run of the mill precipitation. What we are experiencing here is "graupel". Graupel is a wet snow. I usually refer to it as slush, but I'm from the south. What do I know?

After a treacherous drive through the graupel this morning, I arrived to work armed with my new word and my bad attitude. I should, after all, have been curled up on my sofa watching the gentle graupel-fall out my living room window. Instead, I was forced to educate the handful of students who braved the weather and showed up at school. I probably could have accepted our graupel day fate if it hadn't been for the fact that even Yoder had a two hour delay.

Disclaimer: I honestly don't know much about Yoder except that it is on the plains halfway to Kansas and that the mere mention of its name somehow takes me to my happy place among the Amish.

Quite frankly, I had a hard time understanding how a commute through Yoder could justify a delay while I was expected to forge ahead through snow pellets and other threatening weather conditions. My only traffic advantage was the fact that the rest of the city was shut down leaving all of the District Two employees to navigate the roads alone...much like rush hour traffic in Yoder. Despite the circumstances, I arrived to school safely and determined to put my new vocabulary word to use. Unfortunately, it became evident throughout the day that "graupel" is a term known only to weathermen. And perhaps the Amish.

I'm Dreaming of a White Easter

I am cuddled up in front of a fire looking out my window at a snow covered hill as I write this entry. It doesn't feel much like Easter, but I sure am enjoying these last few days of wintry weather. This was the scene outside my door this morning...


Before church, my small group went to brunch at a friend's house in Monument. This is the view from the back porch...



**Note to self - Don't take the Corolla to Monument on a snowy morning. It could be a tough ride. By the way, I would like to give a shout out here to every guy who pushed my car up a hill today. High fives all around.


To be honest, I haven't always celebrated the Easter season with the passion that it deserves. It seems to be the holiday that slips past me before I really take the time to appreciate its meaning and purpose. Somehow, this year was different though. Last weekend, I had the opportunity to go to my church's production of The Thorn (www.thethorn.net). The Thorn is a wonderful portrayal of the fall of man and the redemption of our sins through the death and resurrection of Christ. I have seen the show in years past, but something resonated with me this year as if I was seeing if for the very first time.

One of the scenes depicts the story told in John 8 where the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery before Christ. As the character portraying Jesus reached out to rescue the woman from the grip of those who were ready to stone her, something broke inside of me. I recognize that my sin sent Jesus to the cross just like the sin of an adulterer or a murderer or anyone else. And while that is a profound truth, it isn't what affected me so deeply.

What I saw in that woman was a picture of discouragement and guilt and hopelessness. And what I saw in Christ was an image of the One who came to rescue us and to bring hope and life and confidence. I so desperately needed to be reminded of that.

I have loved living in Colorado Springs, and I have absolutely no doubt that the Lord brought me here for this season of my life. But to be honest, I have fought against a spirit of discouragement since my arrival. It has come from every conceivable place, and I am ashamed to say that it has gotten the best of me over the past few months. I have been discouraged, and what better way for the enemy to cripple us than to discourage us?

Last night, I was thinking of how the followers of Christ must have felt in the days before the resurrection. Several words came to mind...hopeless, confused, anxious, desperate, afraid, angry, unsure...and discouraged. Then I realized, all of these things can only exist when our focus is on the grave...when we don't live in the power of the resurrection.

I am so thankful that Sunday came, and that with it came hope and fulfillment. I am thankful that the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead is the same Spirit that lives inside of me. I serve an Overcomer, and I am grateful that I don't have to live in discouragement or defeat. Because of Sunday, I can live in the victory of knowing that "greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world." Because of Sunday, I am encouraged.

Camera Download

It would be impossible to sum up the crazy adventures I have experienced over the past few weeks, so I'll let my camera do the talking...

These pictures are really from January, but I neglected to download them until now. A few people from my small group took an overnight retreat to a cabin called Praise Mountain just outside of Divide, Colorado....





A couple of weeks later, I celebrated Black Saturday (aka Valentine's Day) at Winter Park with a few friends from church. I wore a red hat in honor of this most festive occasion. Not really, I actually just noticed it while looking at this picture.




Then, my good friend Laurie came for a weekend visit. We spent one day in Vail and the rest of the weekend enjoying Colorado Springs. Laurie tore her meniscus on a mogul run, and being the compassionate friend that I am...I made her continue to ski. Perhaps this is why my red hat and I spent Black Saturday with my single friends.



*BONUS* - My good First Baptist friend, Todd, just happened to have a trip planned to Vail on the same day. So, he spent the day skiing with us too.


Just to make sure Laurie wasn't faking the injury, I made her hold up rocks while I took pictures at Garden of the Gods. She was such a trooper.



THEN, I went home for Spring Break and spent some time with three of my favorite guys (and my VERY favorite niece who isn't pictured here)...





I ended my Spring Break suffering in the mountains of Colorado. My small group spent the weekend at Young Life's Crooked Creek Ranch where we did a little skiing and relaxing.








This little guy was outside our door one morning, so we stared at him for a long time and took pictures...and then took a different route to breakfast.




The next weekend, my friends from Houston's First Baptist came in town for their ski trip. So, I joined them....






On the first run of the day, I attempted to demonstrate my skills by gracefully flailing down the mountain and jamming my boot (or pole...not sure which) into my inner thigh. While I tend to neglect the injuries of others, I enjoy a little attention for my own aches and pains. Since it is still cold here, these legs won't see the light of day for at least a few more weeks. So, I feel the need to post my injury on the internet for all the world to see.



Kari, Brian (the photographer), and I thought it would be a good idea to sit outside in a blizzard for an hour and a half beginning at 7:30am on a Saturday morning to wait in line for the REI Garage Sale. We're smiling in this picture, but it isn't because we were enjoying ourselves. It was COLD! Oh, and I came home with nothing. I'm bitter....and I'm not going to pretend that I'm not.



To top off my weeks of fun, a friend from college came in town yesterday. So, another college friend used her visit as an excuse to have a mini sorority reunion. There are seven of us here in the Denver/Colorado Spring area. We had such a blast reconnecting!

CSAP and Sears

I finally have a spare minute to write a little something, but the things that have kept me busy lately are far from newsworthy. Today marked the end of CSAP testing (Colorado's version of the TAKS test). Simply recounting the memories makes me want to poke needles in my eyes. I literally walked around my classroom for hours as students found creative ways to bubble in answers and pass gas. To say it was thrilling simply wouldn't do it justice.

As if CSAP wasn't enough to keep me on my Rocky Mountain high, I had before and after school duty this week. Yesterday, I caught a 7th grader making a bold attempt to celebrate the end of CSAP testing with a bottle of Bud Light. I asked him for a sip and then escorted him to the front office. Kidding. We went 50/50.

To reward myself for surviving the week, I have a trip to Sears Automotive planned for tomorrow. I can hardly wait to wake up in the morning. I actually went to have my oil changed and tires rotated last week which is when they called to tell me that my brakes needed to be replaced or serviced or whatever....something about metal on metal. But, I had already taught Saturday School earlier that morning, and I try to make it a point to limit myself to only two or three indulgences per day.

With all of the magic in my life, one might wonder why I am anxiously awaiting Spring Break '09...which just so happens to be exactly one week away. I'll be packing up and heading to the great state of Texas for a few days and then spending some time on the slopes in Winter Park. Sadly, I'm not sure if there is a Sears Automotive in Winter Park, but I think it will be fun nonetheless.

Blind Skier

One of my favorite pastimes in Colorado is skiing. Last weekend, the snow was so intense in the morning that I could hardly see more than a few feet ahead of me. At one point the powder completely covered my boots. Fortunately, the sky cleared that afternoon and gave us a beautiful and perfect ending to the day.

During a quick trip to the lodge before lunch, I saw a blind skier and her instructor preparing to hit the slopes. I am always in awe of anyone who perseveres beyond his or her disabilities, but there is something about a blind skier that completely humbles me. That day, my heart was captured by the determination of a young skier who was willing to put her absolute trust in another. It is a picture I still can't seem to get out of my mind.

The truth is, our relationship with Christ is much like that of a blind skier and her instructor. Only God knows what lies down the hill or around the bend. He sees the trees and the bumps and the obstacles that we might face . He knows when it is appropriate to go around them or over them or through them. He knows when to push us and when to slow us down, and He times His commands just perfectly...never giving us more instruction than we need. Our job is simply to listen and to trust His voice, and to rest in the fact that He is right beside us.

I'll be honest and tell you that the past few weeks have been challenging for me. I not only feel like a blind skier, I feel like a blind skier who is on skis for the first time in the middle of a snowstorm. I am straining to hear the voice of the Lord and praying that I am making the right turns at the right time. I am trusting that He will redirect me if I am off course, and I am resting in the fact that I have an instructor who loves me and knows my limitations. He is a good God, and I am believing Him to guide me through an adventure that is abundantly more than I could ever even begin to imagine.

Duty

When I taught in Cy-Fair, I had the luxury of monitoring the stairwell during one five minute passing period each day. Never again in my lifetime will I complain about stairwell duty. Okay, never...unless I actually have to do it again. I say this because "duty" takes on an entirely new meaning when teaching in my current school district. Here, I have lunch duty once a week as well as morning and after school duty for one week each month.

Lunch duty involves one other teacher and myself monitoring our entire sixth grade population. This would be doable if we had weapons, but we don't. Instead, we have a microphone...in the event that we need to make an announcement or sing a Sunday morning solo. It's a very effective tool.

Yesterday, my lunch duty partner thought it might be a good idea to sing "Happy Birthday" to one of our sixth grade students. I'm not sure when this became part of the routine, but let's just say it was a short-lived tradition.

I was standing near the lunch line when, without warning, her plan echoed through the aforementioned microphone. Immediately, the world around me began to move in slow motion. I don't think the words ever left my mouth, but every ounce of my being began to lunge forward in a frantic and dramatic, "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Of course, my instincts were right because just as she burst forth in song, the kids burst forth in an aerial food raid.

Chaos ensued, and I was nearly pummeled by a nugget as I attempted to put a stop to the madness. The microphone was out of my reach leaving me completely unarmed, and I could do little more than head to the front lines in an effort to gain control of the situation. I still don't know why...no one can really explain sixth graders, but the fighting stopped almost as quickly as it began. Fortunately our school only serves food that holds fast to its form, so the damage to the cafeteria was minimal. I also managed to escape unscathed...which is really all that matters.

My morning and afternoon duty stations also tend to provide me with a great deal of entertainment...and frostbite. Because my administrators like to punish the foreigners (that would be me), I was assigned to parking lot /baseball field duty...sort of like an initiation. For fifteen minutes before school and fifteen minutes after school, I get to stand outside in temperatures as low as forty-seven below zero. In case you think I'm kidding, this is my duty station...


And yes, that is fresh snow on the ground. You can see the high volume of foot traffic and the obvious need for my presence. Indeed, I offer a valuable service to our school community. Actually, yesterday did present an opportunity for me to flex my baseball field monitor muscles. Just as I was wrapping up a phone conversation with my mom (I use my time on duty to make others aware of my miserable condition), a "fight" erupted. Apparently, yesterday was Rocky Theme Day at my school.

I watched as one of my former students shoved another kid from behind. It is hardly unusual to see two middle school boys assaulting one another, so I didn't think much of it at first. When the backpack came off though and a second punch was thrown, I knew it was the real deal. I ran down the hill and was already on the scene before I realized that I didn't have my microphone. Nevertheless, my presence alone was enough to end the scuffle, and another grueling day of duty came to an end.

Lest you think the fight was without cause, I learned as I escorted the young Caucasian offender back to the school...His punch was justified because the other skinny white boy had called him the "n" word. I'm still not sure what to do with that.

Costco

I recently gave into peer pressure by abandoning my Sam's card and jumping head first into the Costco craze. I tend to by a loyalist and usually do my best to stick with an original, but this is a decision I do not regret. I have to give a shout out here to my good friend Tiffany H. for pushing me over the edge on my membership purchase. High five, Tiff. I am in food warehouse heaven.

Aside from a sizable selection of organic and healthy food options, Costco of Colorado Springs offers an impressive variety of delicious sample treats. Now, I know samples, but the display I witnessed last week was a thing of rare beauty. In all honesty, I am struggling to find reasons why I should ever buy food again. The way I see it, I just bought a fifty dollar meal ticket. The next time I visit, I'm coming armed with my own plate and an after-dinner mint.

I don't know about you, but I love me some samples. Of course, half of the fun is pretending as though I have randomly stumbled upon each delectable food station...as if I am so intent on my shopping that I unwittingly happened upon the bite-sized portions of pork ribs in barbecue sauce or natural turkey jerky. Truth be told, I typically run over three or four less aggressive customers in my race to the sample buffet. Of course, I slow my pace to a respectable trot somewhere between the outdoor fountains and patio furniture because I value discretion and see no reason to alert the sample staff of my arrival.

I also go to great lengths to consume my samples in the appropriate meal order...appetizers first, main course second, dessert last. This almost never happens though. Quite frankly, skipping a sample station in the hopes that supplies are unlimited is a risk that I'm just not willing to take.

Needless to say, my first official member trip to Costco far exceeded my expectations. My warehouse club loyalty has forever been changed, and I'm not looking back.