Some like it Hot...But I Sure Don't

I am an adult, married woman, in the business of growing children into young adults, and I am agitated. And here's the deal...

Kids' camp starts tomorrow morning. While I am excited (maybe overly so!) about being with 8- to-12-year-old children for the next week, my to-do list is not getting any shorter before school starts, my masters is not getting any easier, and our house, cute as it may be, is not getting any cooler.

No joke---it is 11:00, in the P stinkin' M, and our house is 84 degrees.

And I am so cranky!

I have one of those 'isms' which makes it virtually impossible for my body temperature to regulate itself, which makes very hot and very cold temperatures an annoying centerpiece of my mind. My body is all-consumed with hatred for heat in this valley right now, and let me tell you, box fans just don't cut it.

See, I told you. Cranky, right?

Also, as I continue to upload assignments for the week for my masters, one certain classmate is driving me a bit nutty, and I've never even met the man.

Walt, a 40-something year old who has a bachelors in computer technology, has joined the Masters of Art in Teaching program, in hopes of earning alternative certification to teach math. The guy's only subbed for two months in his whole life, and he's convinced he knows everything about the world of teaching high school students.

Now honestly, I mostly have to laugh at Walt, because he is sexist and rather clueless when it comes to Differentiated Instruction and Classroom Management, which is usually SO funny to me. But tonight...oh, tonight...the heat has gone to my brain so much that I'm even blogging about Mr. I-know-everything-in-the-realm-of-teaching-and-you-don't Walt.

The guy has said that only male teachers can truly enforce classroom management. He's said that all female students flirt with male students, which, in turn, should penalize all female students in virtually all classrooms. He's even said the best way to discipline problematic students is to make them stand in front of the class while he continues to lecture.

This I can deal with.

But tonight I have very little tolerance for him, and really, he's just being Walt. He made yet another off-the-wall comment, but this time, on one of my posts. I usually try not to read Walt's posts, but tonight he took me unaware, and if I could see the guy face to face, I might be tempted to smack him.

Oh well, I suppose. I have my moments, too. And tomorrow I'll probably be laughing about this.

I'll be the first to say it...my mood fluctuates with the temperature. I'm woman enough to admit it. Just don't remind me of that when I'm too hot or too cold.

Teeth Are Made For Chewing, Hands Are Made For Catching

I grew up working construction with my three brothers: Tom, Andrew, and Austin. Our Dad always had some side project going to supplement his pastor's salary, or a rental house that needed some fixing up. No matter what we worked on, though, we always enjoyed doing it together.

This summer, all of my brothers are at home with my parents, and Ashley and I live less than an hour away. For the past week, I've been making the commute to do a siding job with the three of them. We've been having fun...

Until Wednesday...

A vital tool in the field of vinyl siding is the tin snip. We had three of them and four of us. We were playing "musical snips," tossing them back and forth to each other all day as needed.

I was working around the front of the house, and everyone else was in the back. As I was walking around the house, I heard Austin yell "HEADS UP! HEADS UP! HEADS UP!" When I rounded the corner, I saw Andrew and Austin looking very concerned, and Tom kneeling in the yard with a tooth in his hand, spitting blood on the grass.

Here's what happened. Tom needed to borrow the tin snips from Austin, who was working on the deck above the yard, about 10-12 feet high. Austin grabbed the tool, looked up, thought Tom saw him, and tossed the tool to the perfect spot for Tom to catch. But as you've probably guessed, Tom wasn't looking...

When Austin yelled "Heads up!", Tom looked up just in time to catch the snips right in the mouth. He busted his lip wide open, and broke his canine right in half.

He took the rest of the day off.

Four stitches, and one temporary tooth cap later, he's still feeling pretty smoked. Hopefully as the days go on he'll feel better.

Just goes to show that you never know what each day will bring... Especially when people are throwing tin snips around all day.

New Words

Note: This post is by Josh.

I just finished reading "The Time Machine" by H.G. Wells. It is a science fiction classic, and I was obtained a free copy of it, so I read it.

No matter what your opinion of science fiction in general, or of Mr. Wells, one fact is certain.

He knew more words than me.

I started keeping track.

Before you turn on your thinking caps, don't. This is not a deep or serious post. I only wish to give you a list of words from this book that I did not know and had to look up. Are you ready? (Keep in mind that this is not a complete list.)

"cupola"
"ameliorate"
"etoilated"
"cicerone"
"halitus"
"rill"
"deliquesced"
"desiccated"
"hermetically"
"steatite"
"tumulus"
"fecundity"

At the mention of some of these, you may incredulously exclaim "I can't believe you didn't know that word." To others, you must admit vocabularial defeat. And now, you fall victim to your curiosity to look up the words for yourself. I will take pleasure in this fact... bwa ha ha.

A Sour Sense of Humor

Josh has officially earned 'pay-back points.' And I am genuinely worried.

But I'm still laughing as I type this.

This morning, we woke up and took care of our morning routines and readied ourselves to embrace the day.

This really wasn't an abnormal day by any means, but I'm afraid Josh may never forgive me for the interruption during our breakfast preparation.

I was making coffee, and Josh went in search of a non-coffee, non-dairy breakfast drink....and he's trying to stop drinking pop.

He hates milk...hates coffee...hates tea...hates water...he loves pop, but can't have any more this week...

But we did have some apple juice.

Here's the kicker. Yesterday, I had some apple juice. And it was rancid. We left for a week of camp, so it just sat in the fridge with no one to drink it for a whole week.

I really did have the best of intentions to throw it out yesterday but got busy and it completely slipped my mind.

So there it sat. Inviting, cold apple juice. And Josh poured himself a huge glass.

And I watched it all happen.

Josh took a huge gulp, then bulged out his eyes, ran to the sink, and spat out the juice. Then he screamed, "It's rotten!"

I erupted in laughter, and was therefore discovered for the knowledge I had of the apple juice but did not share.

Josh, without the comical expressions I was donning, said, "You let me taste the fermented drink!!!!"

I know, right? Further cause for laughter.

So now, I'm watching my back. And my drinks. Pay-backs are never as funny as initiation acts, are they?

Youth Camp Isn't Just for the Young

Josh and I just made it home from the Northwest District Youth Camp. It seems like only yesterday we were traveling for OWU together, going from camp to camp all summer long, living out of suitcases and spending most of the summer in a minivan.

So it should come as no surprise three years later that neither of us has the gusto we once had. We were out-jumped, out-slept, and out-lasted, but camp was so good.

Our dear friend from OWU was the camp speaker, and several friends from college were on a traveling team and music team that stayed for the week, and not only were our hearts, souls, and minds renewed spiritually, they were renewed relationally, as well.

For the first time since my traveling excursions in college, though, I felt a bit out of whack at camp. I'm working on my Masters, so trying to balance school-work on top of campers and team time was a bit more of a challenge than anticipated.

I had to hole up for nearly 24 hours to focus on school deadlines and missed the first full day of camp. Instead of being part of a team for the rest of the week, I wandered from team to team and simply watched campers and their interactions with peers and leaders. You can learn so much from merely wandering.

I was able to be in the cabins with the girl campers from our church every evening, which was wonderful. The female leader from another church had the two girls we took to camp in her cabin. That cabin was also full of students I taught this last semester substitute teaching for Josh's hometown high school.

There were a few girls in that cabin who caused both Josh and I much grief as subs. They were loud talkers, drama makers, and boy gawkers. I was nervous about their influence on other campers for the week, and curious to see what God had in store.

One girl in particular was a pure joy, but rough. Rough, rough, rough. During school, she never smiled, took pleasure from harassing and bullying other students, and had the mouth of a sailor. She was probably the most shocking face to see on the bus Monday morning as we headed off for camp. While subbing, Josh always said, "Every time I see her face, I just want to smack her!"

And Josh is one of the most gentle people I know.

But God was working overtime in this girl's heart.

Wednesday night of camp, during cabin devotions, "Mandy" leaned over to her neighbor and whispered, "Hey, what's Mrs. Blain's name?" The neighbor whispered back, and Mandy said, "I really like how Ashley said that teachers notice students. It made me think, 'Man, she must think I'm a jerk!'"

We all laughed a bit, and I said, "Yep, you're probably all very glad I don't have detention slips this week."

Several girls said, "You never gave me detention!" to which Mandy said, "Me eit.....oh, uh, never mind."

Mandy DID receive detention from me. Several times. And one or two from Josh.

The last night of camp, Mandy found me after the message and poured out her heart. She shared her joy of receiving Christ for the first time during camp, but the gut wrenching fear of what awaited her at home.

Mandy has a rough life. And she knows it.

She and I prayed together, and just before she stood up and walked away, she looked at me and said, "I want to be like you."

I was a little confused, then she added, "You walk into the classroom, and everybody's face lights up. I know you watch people, but people watch you, too, and you're always smiling. It makes everyone else smile, too."

Then she left.

I bowed my head, and wept. And that's how Josh found me. On my knees, weeping with joy, absolutely humbled by the continued promise that God is good.

Teaching isn't just a job to me. It's a ministry. And even as a substitute, some days wondering if God would ever give me a classroom of my own, students noticed my heart. This is amazing to me, because many days I just felt cranky----at the drive, the pay, the dysfunction. Somehow, a seed was planted, and I am awed.

I was also very proud of my husband this week. Some people are called to be teachers, some doctors, others laborers, and still others business owners. Josh is called to be a preacher.

He led what this camp calls a break-out session, which basically means campers are split into three groups and each group hears a different small-group speaker each day. Josh spoke about risk, and spoke with authority and love. He may not believe it himself, but he is remarkable, and campers listened to what he shared. Several girls shared how his message affected them during cabin devotions throughout the week.

I am so blessed and honored to be married to this man. We don't have a perfect marriage, and some days are more difficult than others to go to bed saying "I choose Josh," but every day is worth the commitment we made a year ago. I'm married to a man who helps craft me into a better woman. He loves me, even on my worst days, and holds me when I miss my family the most.

If any risk can make me aware and minutely understandable of the risk Christ took in laying down his life so we could choose to accept Him or not, it's the risk of marriage. It's vulnerable, and there's no guarantee love will be reciprocated, especially not for an entire lifetime, but nothing else in life quite compares to the joy of this partnership.

Camp may be for the young physically, but this tired heart has been renewed, and it's ready for the next round this life has to offer.