God is in CONTROL

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Celebrations, Transitions and Reunions


It was a week of celebrations, transitions and reunions.

On Sunday we ordained Tom and Linda as our newest Shepherding Couple at LifePark and celebrated at our house with 12 people for Sunday dinner. -- We had to stretch the meat loaf pretty far -- but we all had such a great time with five rowdy young singles, one of whom was a bar bouncer and had been shot in the foot the night before.

Tuesday we celebrated in class with one young gal who was going to get out of foster care to live with family. My prayer for her is that now life her will be loving and accepting of her. (She asked for a party and got a cookie cake baked just for her. She was so excited and couldn't believe it was her's that she wanted to take all our pictures.)

Several young ladies in my classes celebrated all day Tuesday because they were going to the Brittney Spears concert at the BOK ...one even paid $400 for her ticket. The air was electric in class that day -- they were anticipating so much and evidentally got a great performance. (Incidentally, on Wednesday they were all "unplugged" in their souvenir T-shirts.) This fit in well with our lesson on role models, so I asked what role information Brittney Spears transmitted. They explained that they see her as an overcomer! My hope is she will be that as she faces struggles of stardom and notoriety.

Thursday we celebrated in another class with a young woman who has been cancer-free for six years! Leukemia is gone! (This called for my super duper cookie cake.)
-- all the kids rejoiced with her marking this joyous anniversary.

Friday, one young woman was transitioning from the shelter of a safe group home back to family . . she wasn't sure how well this would work . . .seems there's not a lot of room for her there. I felt saddness to see her leave our school.

We have had out-of-town guests this week and have thoroughly enjoyed the time to relax with friends and family.

It was great to spend time with our sister-in-law who was traveling through to Texas with a new puppy on Thursday night. We welcomed old friends from Lubbock on Friday and Sat. morn. It's been fifteen years since we'd been together. Our friendship goes back to the late 60's when the guys were college buddies and traveled to India together in the summer of '69. During our early parenting days we shared so much. Where did the time go?

In those fifteen years. . .

Our kids have graduated high school and college,

Our firstborns have both gotten married and all four kids began their careers,

and we have taken care of aging parents and seen them Home.

. . . That must be where those months and years went. . . Sociologists would refer to that time as the Pre-Empty Nesters of the Sandwich Generation, in the Launching (and loving) Stage of the Family Life Cycle.

Terry and I had a great time catching up and renewing our friendship. They left with all of us promising to meet again soon.

Yesterday was one of those golden Fall days as the first day of Autumn. . . No, the colors haven't started changing -- it just felt GOLDEN. The weather was great -- a perfect time for transplanting and pruning. . . and playing with two precious little boys, one of which decided outdoors was the best place to potty and proceeded to "water" my mint plant and his brother quickly attempted to strip off his diaper to follow suit. Though their memaw was horrified, I couldn't stop giggling. The rest of their visit, I was fascinated at the way the youngest would set up the older to get exactly what he wanted. I kept pulling out more toys just to watch them interact. Hmmmm . . . How much of life we see in children's play.

This was week of encounters with wonderful people, all very different from each other, and it brought to my mind that Life is really all about PEOPLE. . .They are the reason we're put here and they are the reason we have joy. PEOPLE come into our lives and leave their footprints all over our hearts! Sometimes PEOPLE leave us and make such a gaping hole. . . Sometimes the PEOPLE HE sends make us wonder why in the world our paths crossed with THEM. God weaves folks in and out of the history of our lives and creates a completed tapestry of significant relationships that have their meaning in HIS purposeful plan.

Friday, September 11, 2009

This Week


20 Pizzas will feed 76 kids lunch, I learned yesterday. . . if nobody eats more than two pieces!

I saw how well my officers could adapt when our speaker had to cancel at the last minute for the Youth Alive free pizza lunch we had promoted all week. Two of them stepped up to "the plate" and did an outstanding job giving their testimonies.

It's fun watching them lead their organization -- reminding each other to pray before eating, taking prayer requests and sharing their faith to a packed classroom. I think God was smiling as he watched all 76 gobble down pizza and guzzle pop.

Friday, September 4, 2009

THINGS I LEARNED THIS WEEK . . .

High school students still do like to play with toys -- REAllY! The activity I planned for them to analyze toys to determine the lessons in leadership they teach us in our early years made for a fun Friday discussion.

One guy after cutting paper dolls in a peer leadership activity yesterday decided to put them on his rear view mirror. . . hmmm wonder what he's heard from his buddies on that one.

The play dough statue of their friend with the spikey hair really does look like him. They all decided to immortalize it and save for graduation.

Don't cross a student who is growling, squatting on the counter and calling members of his discussion group parasites and imbeciles.

When a student calls another student "THE THING", he really DOES NOT like the person.

Kids don't always look like their name -- I was sure her name was __________. How many days have I been calling her that? Better bone up on my seating chart this weekend.

Students, given the chance, can organize and run a great Youth Alive! I am so amazed at what I've been hearing from them, with their requests to be able to have prayer groups before and after school. What awesome sessions they had at both lunches on Thursday - with two juniors speaking -- it was so personally uplifting!

The weekend does go better when the papers are all graded! (Why do I give quizzes at the end of the week to 110 kids?)

By the time they are 18, there are kids who have had a deeply hurtful home life and are still SURVIVORS.

It's already Friday night and these are my thoughts and I'm sticking to 'em.

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