Christmas +1

I loved Christmas eve. I spent the evening with my mom, grandma, and two aunts eating broccoli soup and watching the Nativity. It was a ladies night in (my dad had to stay at home to take care of his pastorly duties). Christmas day evening was relativeful. Seventeen of the roughly forty members of my grandmother's clan gathered at her house to eat "Thanksgiving" food and open presents. Now it is Christmas +1 and this day is almost as good as the last two. This morning my sister, my parents, and I slept in and then we ate breakfast until noon, after our long breakfast we took a walk near my sister's house. After our walk we ate lunch at 3 pm. Now it's time to eat supper. I just told my sister, "This is the best kind of day--we're just sitting around eating leftovers."

Post-Finals

The campus was quiet Monday since most the students were gone. But even with the students gone there was work to do! The school administration hosted a caroling session at lunch. It was something small, but it was nice to be thought of. I had work to do, but I couldn't help joining in. I kept saying, "Just one more song! And then I'll go."



My boss is in the left hand corner of the picture if you were curious.

Names & Places

Yesterday, after our Circle of Faith Bible study, the group of us gathered around and sang Happy Birthday to Kita, one of the nursing students at the school I teach for. As we sang I thought about the simple knowledge of a name. I wouldn't have known this student or her name if I hadn't moved to Orlando. After we sang I had to leave to attend another birthday party in Longwood. As I drove north toward Longwood, I thought about place names: Apopka, Longwood, Maitland, and Altamonte. All cities unfamiliar before, but now a part of my daily geography. There are names too that I didn't know a year ago that have become important to me as well.

A year ago this week I landed in Orlando and checked into a motel. I didn't know anyone in the city except my work contact. The city seemed so large then, foreign and unknown. I felt afraid. In all my travels, arriving in a US city alone seemed more scary than anything I'd ever done. I was overwhelmed. I spent my first couple of days looking for an apartment and getting hopelessly lost. I went to church that week and I got invited to a Christmas party and I went. I met some of my closest friends in Orlando there.

It's hard to believe a year has gone by so quickly. I've been so tremendously blessed. I'm grateful for all the place names I know now. I'm grateful for all the names of friends that I can say. The people in my phonebook who weren't there a year ago.

A Good Prayer

"Father, I thank You for the people in my life who seem to bring more pain than joy, for I believe You have let our paths cross for important reasons....Thank You too that You love these people, and that Your love is adequate to meet their deepest needs and to transform their lives, however willful or unwise they may seem to be. Thank You that You care for them deeply, and that each of them has the potential of being a vast reservoir from which You could receive eternal pleasure" (88). 31 Days of Praise

I was moved by this prayer. While I'm lucky to have very few difficult people in my life, I loved how the author viewed each frusterating person as possibly becoming a "vast reservoir" of God's eternal pleasure. I want to think of each person I see today in that way--even the people who aren't irritating!

English Teacher Cop

People assume that since I'm an English teacher I'm always on the look out for grammatical errors. In fact, an acquaintance recently confessed that he was scared to email me for fear that I would judge his language.

I'm usually amused when I get placed in the role of grammar cop because, as some of you know(yes, you know who you are), I can be a little footloose with grammar and spelling (am I the only teacher that wishes that whiteboards came with a spell check function?).

Today though I finally did it. I succumbed to the stereotype of the English teacher cop and asked a colleague about a phrase I hear him say all the time. Whenever we eat together he invites everyone to "eat some munchkins". I find his invitation to eat munchkins amusing in macabre kind of way as the only thing that comes to my mind is a group of us munching on children (mmmmmmmm...tasty). I asked him if he used the phrase as a joke, and he said he didn't but that in Caribbean English munchkins was a word used for food.

This is why I love English. It's great to speak the same language and have no idea what the other person is saying.

A Promise in the Stars

"He took him outside and said, 'Look up at the heavens and count the stars--if indeed you can count them.' Then he said to him, 'So shall your offspring be" (Gen. 15:5).

I wonder how Abraham felt when he looked at the stars. Did he often sit outside of his tent counting them? Did he look at them with holy awe wondering what plans God had for his descendants? Did he talk to Isaac about them?

The promise God gave Abraham in the stars grew out of his faith. Abraham had trusted God to leave his country and God entrusted him with a blessing so vast it could not be counted.

God has stars for us too. They might not be the promise of a nation. They might not be a covenant, but he has promised to honor our faith. When we look at the stars, we see God's promise to use us; we see God's promise to leave through us a unique spiritual legacy.

"Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established" (Proverbs 16:3). "Those who are wise will shine like like the brightness of heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever" (Daniel 12:3).

If you get a chance some night soon, go outside and look at the stars. Can you count them? Can you count what God will do with your faith?

Out of Nowhere

The perfect place to nap is under my desk. If I'm tired at work, I'll turn off the lights in my office, pull up my floor heater and snooze a little on the floor under my desk. I don't mind confessing this, but I don't want to get caught. Yesterday I was napping when I realized that a student was at my door. After waiting awhile to make sure she was no longer at my door, I got up and went to the lobby to see if she had lingered there. She had. I approached her and said, "B, can I help you?" She looked up at me startled and said, "You came from nowhere." I smiled but didn't give an explanation.