Sample Post from School

Well!! This is a sample post from my school computer to see if I can upload pics from it. I've had a problem getting my home computer to upload pics for some time now. I have HTML on the work screen, but the pictures come out fine on the post. Maybe I can post some things from school instead of from home now.

Robert Lesslie's books

 

Robert Lesslie was an emergency room physician who practiced in Rock Hill, SC, about two hours from where I live.  He also grew up in the town near our farm, as his father was a professor there.  After his death in a senseless and brutal murder a few months ago (along with his wife, two grandchildren, and two workers outside his home), I somehow came across the fact that he was an author.  I found several of his books on Hoopla through our local library, and have been reading them ever since.

Lesslie told good stories.  I've always been a medical person wannabe, and have thoroughly enjoyed both the substance and style of his writing.  He was also a dedicated Christian.  Though his books were not overtly Christian through and through - they were mostly inspirational stories - he still got the Gospel message into them at some point in each book.

A couple of days ago, I finished Angels In the ER, Book 2 (released less than a month ago).  This was in the final chapter and was very touching what with the news to come about his tragic death after this was written.

One day, when I depart this body and find myself in the presence of the Lord, my time—however it will be measured—will be filled with the praises and the wonder of Jesus. I know that I will once again be able to hug my mother and walk and talk with my father. There are a lot of people I want to see as well: family and friends, grandparents—some of whom I never met on this side. And I will seek out Peter and John and the apostle Paul, as well as other giants of the faith—men and women whose words and deeds have guided and molded my journey and my heart. We have no idea what heaven will look like—only that it will be perfect. And because of that, I know that one day, when I’ve experienced the presence and joy of that surrounding host of saints, I will find myself walking . . . in a field of lush, green grass, surrounded by gently rising, conifer-cloaked hills. The words of Jesus will echo through that glade: “Behold, I make all things new.”

Friday's Fave Five, 9-3-2021

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1. Starting up with our blanket project at school again.  I'm always amazed at how the students love to make blankets, which are given to underprivileged children at Christmas time.  We have such a good time, and students often take them home to work on there as well.

2. Great dinner with some of our family members this week.

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3. Trying to get this made into a poster for a bulletin board.  Isn't it perfect for that!!

4. Partial day off of school today.  As a teacher, I have a half-day workday and am going to substitute in a fifth-grade class for a couple of hours.  But our junior high and high school students are out today.  We had almost half of them absent on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week - several with Covid, and an outbreak of strep and flu as well.  So our administrator called off school today for grades 7-12 so that, coupled with Labor Day, they can have a really good break to rest up and hopefully get well.  Even if I have to go in, it's nice to have an extra-long break from the classroom.

5. A secret trip to the Farmers' Market.  Yesterday I told my boss I was leaving for a few minutes to go to the bank.  Which was true.  And then I realized I was going right by the Farmers' Market and had the opportunity to get some fresh vegetables on a Thursday morning, without having to go through the Saturday rush.  So I did!  Got tomatoes, okra, peaches, squash, and a beautiful cantaloupe.  It was a treat for a school morning!

Say the Right Words at the Right Time

 I've been reading 25 Ways to Win With People by John Maxwell and Less Parrott.  While it's a good book overall, and I will review it on Goodreads when done, this part really stood out to remember.  It's from the chapter "Say the Right Words at the Right Time."

• The wrong words said at the wrong time discourage me.
• The wrong words said at the right time frustrate me.
• The right words said at the wrong time confuse me.
• The right words said at the right time encourage me.

Another good thing I read was in the chapter on "Remember A Person's Story."  It encourages the reader to ask about other people to find out where they've come from.  This is the part I liked:

• Requesting a person's story says, "You could be special."
• Remembering a person's story says "You are special."
• Reminding a person of his or her story says, "You are special to me."
• Repeating a person's story to others says, "You should be special to them."

Friday's Fave Five, 7/30/2021

 

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1. Visit yesterday with a precious lady who means a lot to me.  I only get to go visit about once, maybe twice, a year, and with school starting soon it will be awhile.  

2. My room is almost finished.  I went on Monday, put up another bulletin board, and put this assortment of pictures up on my side wall.  Just decided to share the wealth of my bird infatuation with the students this year!!  Maybe one of them will take up the interest.  These are all my photos.

3. We had a mortgage burning at church last Sunday night!!  It took 16 years, but it is paid off.  Mike, as head of the deacons, got to do the honors.  He's in the white shirt.  But the pastor said that Mike is doing it because there's no risk of his hair getting burned in the process.  :-)

4. Our favorite restaurant is open again. We were invited to the "soft" opening recently, and haven't been back since because it's reservation only right now (they are short on staff), and they are mobbed with people wanting to get there again.  They were closed for 15 months due to the moratorium on restaurants imposed in April 2020 due to Covid.  In the interim, they did a lot of refurbishing the tables, chairs, and floors.  We really enjoyed getting their delicious food again.

As you can see, it's right on the lake.  When Mike was working a M-Th job for awhile at the nuclear station, he would get off and meet me there at 7:00 on Thursday.  The restaurant usually wasn't too busy on Thursdays, so we'd get a window booth and just decompress, looking out at the restful lake setting.  So we do like that place.

5. Good summer eating.  We've enjoyed a lot of summer squash, corn, cucumbers, okra, and tomatoes the last few weeks.  Mike will grill some kind of meat on Sunday and we'll eat off it all week, surrounded by good vegetables. If we have to endure these impossibly hot temperatures, at least we can eat well.  :-)

Thoughts on Teaching Music and on the Gospel

This was written by a college acquaintance/friend who has taught music for many years now.  She has great thoughts particularly about the place of the Gospel in our lives.  Thanks to Amanda for permission to reprint it.

Another long post....more thoughts on teaching, and living as a Christian.

Earlier in my teaching career I often heard the phrase "show-window material" with the admonition that one of our goals as teachers is to develop students to stand out, to excel in their fields, to be truly fit for a show case. I've been thinking of this a lot in recent days, and while, of course, developing excellence is a very worthy goal, if the end result I'm aiming for is "show-window material" (either in my students or in myself), I must take very great care that the end product is not a mannequin.

 

One of my goals in teaching is to challenge the student to understand the structure of the piece they are working on, whether it be a programmable work or a "mere" etude. Great artists are great because not only have they perfected their technique, but because they study and come to understand the piece from the foundation up. As a teacher, my most rewarding moments are when I see the light come on in a student's eyes--whether they are a first-year student who comes to understand that the hard-looking run in their little song is just a five-note pattern they have already learned, or an advanced student who discovers that the difficult technical passage becomes so very much easier when they understand (and hear) the harmonic progression. So the bottom line...an understanding and application of music theory and history are of very great help and utmost importance in the development of the musician, and when a student realizes this foundational importance, I have been successful as their teacher. A well-developed technique is not enough....they need real musical blood and sinew and bone.

 

In my life as a Christian, I look back on many times when I was taught (usually only implicitly, though I can remember a couple of explicit examples) that the gospel was the milk of the Christian life, and once we are saved, we need to go on to meatier things. I thought that my salvation was based on my decision--asking Christ to save me--and growth in the Lord is by going on to understand the principles of Christian living and coming to a set of standards by which to live. Many years ago I was challenged, both in conversation and through the ministry of a local pastor, with the thought that the gospel truly is the meat, and feasting on that meat is the means by which I could grow to understand what it means to live as a Christian. I've learned that I can practice the "technique" of living by standards, but if I don't grow in my understanding of the gospel--of Christ's finished work, of imputed righteousness, of the offices of Christ, of His satisfaction of the law's demands, and so much more--there is a sense in which I am just a mannequin, looking good on the outside but lacking the muscle and sinew and bone that supports us through all of life's good and bad times. And the wonderful thing about learning of Christ--it will never get old! I will never comprehend all of the riches of the gospel this side of heaven, and by His grace, I will come to love Him more and more until the day I see His face.

 

Friday's Fave Five, 7/16/2021

 

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1. We finally got the brush cut down to make a pathway for our UTV to get my folks (and others) down to see the creek on our property.  You should have seen me helping on Wednesday.  Brush cutting and stacking will never be my career, and I couldn't do too much because of back and knee issues, but I could help some.

2. We took them yesterday to see the creek and they both enjoyed it very much.

3. No more pressure to go pick blueberries.  :-)  That's a shame in a way, because we got fewer than two gallons this year (compared to almost 40 last year), but I'm also glad to be rid of the feeling of "I need to go check the blueberry bushes."  I attempted to pick on Wednesday and got a total of 17 berries.  I'd say that that means the season is done.  :-)

4. I had more time to read this week, and finished two good books - Speaking for Myself by Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which I've heard of for years, and never read.  People were right - it is a good read.  I love having the time to read a really good book that is hard to put down.

5. Two more weeks of freedom before the inevitable.  I go back to work on August 3, but I plan to enjoy these next two weeks as much as possible!!

Friday's Fave Five 7-9-2021

 

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1. Blackberries!!  We have them by the boatload in a patch at our farm.  However, they're in such a wild, inaccessible bramble that I am not going to be able to pick many of them.  An hour and a half yielded enough for a sauce for a cheesecake, and that was all.  Every movement takes special care.  But even if I'm not picking them, I still like knowing that they are there.

2. Blueberries!!  Last year we got almost 40 gallons from the patch of cultivated blueberries that was there when we bought the farm.  This year, we lost most of them due to a late freeze.  I think I'll get maybe two gallons at most.  But any are better than none.

3. A new screen door at the farm.  Mike had looked and looked for one, so that we can keep the garage/shop door open in the hot weather without letting flies in.  But we didn't want a nice new one because it doesn't fit the "mood."  He found one at a thrift shop for $20, got the hardware, and now we have a screen door.

4. Got to meet the new husband of a niece as the two of them passed through here on their way to their new home.  We only met briefly at a Cracker Barrel, but it was a nice and good connection.

5. Wildlife at our farm.  I rode out to the road and there was a red fox in the driveway.  I also watched a raccoon run across the field that was unaware of my presence.  And two fawns watch us most of the time as we drive in or out.  It's very nice to experience some of these things.  Last night we drove down and ate supper there - just plain ol' beanie weenie with some cheese on top that I baked while we were down there.  But it sure tasted good out there in the fresh air!!

Friday's Fave Five, 6-25-2021

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1.  An arrowhead.  Mike found this beautiful arrowhead while walking at our farm yesterday.  It's beautiful white quartz, and is a first for our finds there. 

2. This view from our farm (not our horses - they belong to the neighbor) makes my heart happy.

3. A morning spent helping Mike cut brush!!  We have a vehicle for getting down in the woods but the brush needed to be trimmed first.  So yours truly turned into a brush cutter.  Not in my usual playbook but I tried to help!

4. A new recipe.  I've made this several times and love it.  It's low carb/good carb and is delicious.  The prosciutto does not need to be added, and I used shredded parmesan from a bag, instead of the "pecorino romano" which is a bit too sophisticated for me!  But it was very good and nice to add to the repertoire.

5. A good report yesterday at the doctor's office - blood pressure in normal ranges and an A1C of 6.4!  That was a surprise because I have been a little more "generous" in carb choices in the last few months.  But I suspect that swearing completely off sugared drinks/juices, potatoes, pasta, rice, and any bread except rye is keeping things in check.

Happy summer weekend!!

She Knows How to Use a Computer!!

So this sweet little seven-month-old got up from her nap during our book club meeting this morning and sat on my lap.  She loved that I was using my computer with the e-book on it, and she started banging on the keyboard - opening up several programs and hopefully not deleting anything!  (She knew what she was doing!)  So when this ended up on the screen, I had to take a screenshot.