Ignorant Historian

Thankful for people cutting me slack

I thank God He’s given me food on my table in abundance.

I thank God that He’s given me family and friends who love me and show me more grace than I deserve.

I thank God for giving us quick travel that I may visit my family who’s over 1,000 miles away on this day.

I thank God for giving me not only a well-paying job in these times, but a job that I like.

I thank God for allowing me to be part of a church who, though not perfect, is seeking to grow together towards christlikeness.

Most of all, I thank God for giving His Son to save a wretch like me.

So happy Thanksgiving, and remember to thank God for the many blessings he’s given you…no matter how many or how few, they’re more than we deserve.

Photos by CarbonNYC, Julie McLeod,  aka Kath, me, Phillie Casablanca, and DrGBB

Thanksgiving meal with people I love

(though I could say the same thing when I have Thanksgiving with my family later this week!)

Here’s an excerpt of my Q&A session with the kindergarten Sunday school class about my upcoming trip to Turkey:

Child: When are you going?

After Party on the Block (our Halloween alternative…helps the kids know that it’s still in the future).

Child: Are you coming back?

Yes, I’ll be coming back.

Child: How long will you be gone?

I’ll be gone for one Sunday (I’ll be gone Friday, November 6th until Saturday, November 15th).

Child: Will you go to jail?

If they put me in jail, they will get in a lot of trouble.

Child: How will you get there?

By three planes…one of which will take from now (it was about 10 AM) until dinnertime.

Child: What time of day will it be when you come back?

In the evening, I think.

That’s what the children wanted to know about my trip, what do you want to know?

Today’s the day of our work move…I’m excited!  Tomorrow morning I’ll get to wake up to a short commute!

I never ask my readers for anything (well, but to think!), but today I’m going to make an exception.

My ABF (Adult Bible Fellowship) class is starting a fundraiser for the Food Bank of Central and Eastern Carolina, where we volunteer.  We’ve put together a virtual food drive to help in our efforts.  I’d love to invite you to consider donating to the Food Bank through our drive, or if you’d rather, donate to a food bank in your area or to the nationwide network of foodbanks, Feeding America.

When we visited the Food Bank for the first time a few months ago, I was amazed at how much food they had.  And then we were told that most of that food would be gone within the week…that’s how much food they deliver out to the local food bank centers throughout most of North Carolina.  Feeding the poor and downtrodden…people that Jesus loves and wants His people to care for.  I’m glad to be a small part of that.

I do love to teach, but it can be very convicting at times.  Actually, as a teacher/leader I find myself more often convicted than I do as a student/learner.

Sunday at an AWANA leaders’ meeting we were discussing how we wanted the students to not merely memorize the verses, but to really take them in and apply them.  That’s when it hit me: how often do I do that?

I’m a student, always will be.  I do like to study and learn.  Yet I know I don’t spend as much time in the Bible as I should.  Probably spend more time in God’s Word than many, but what does that matter?

But even if I knew the Bible backwards and forward, it means nothing if I don’t apply it.  Once again, I’m not the worst at this, but I’m certainly not doing the best that I can and should, especially when you consider the resources I have available to me, the biggest two being the Holy Spirit and the Bible itself.

So, as we get ready to start a new year in Sunday school and AWANA, I’m committing myself to digging deeper into the word and seeking to apply it more and more.  I suppose what’s really made this hit home to me is I’ve been reminded in a few different ways that this life is not about me.  I’m a part of something bigger, yet why do I spend so much time playing around?

“No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.” – 2 Timothy 2:4 (NAS)

Photo by Army.mil

Last night was the easiest night of camp or any camp-like activity that I’ve ever had.

I’m not sure if it’s just the calm before the storm, or maybe just that the younger kids really are easier.  Probably, it’s the fact that we only had 9 kiddies in our group and there were 2 other helpers.  Yeah, that’s probably it.

While I only had 9 in my group, my friend Jen (her group of kindergarteners rotates through the sports with mine) had 18.  Yeah, slightly unfair.  We’ve been told that’ll be fixed for tomorrow so she can stop pulling out her hair and I can start.  At least we’ll be a balding pair, right?

Really, though, I enjoy my group.  While we were waiting for all the kids to get signed in, we were shooting baskets.  After a while, I decided to go ahead and gather them up and sit down.  And they just sat there, not making a peep, not poking one another, not crawling around on the floor, for about 5 minutes.  That’s when I realized that I had to get them moving as the assembly portion hadn’t even started yet.  I know 5yos have a low tolerance for immobile activities.  So, I did what any other fun-loving children worker would do, and I “turned” the kids into frogs.  They had a blast hopping around while I tried to turn them back into boys and girls.  Definitely broke the ice, too!

Some kiddie-ism highlights:

Me: “What is your purpose?”
Child: “To obey Mom and Dad.” (haha, not bad, eh?)

Me: “What did we learn today?”
Child: “How to play basket-berry!”

I wish I could share with you video of the kids learning how to play basketball (each night we do a different sport, tonight is baseball…if it doesn’t rain) as it was adorable.  I only had one or two kids that had any clue how to play, so there were a lot of verbal reminders on what to do(“Dribble!” “Pass to a teammate!” “No, he’s not on your team!”  ”The basket is this way!”  ”Dribble!”).  More importantly, though, the kids had a lot of fun while learning not only about sports, but about the Lord.  I’m excited to see how the rest of the week goes!

Photo by e453753

I had to look up this morning how to fold a simple airplane.  I’m such a girl.  (It’s part of my lesson at Power Camp tonight.)

Is it normal to always have adventurous dreams?  It always seems like me dreams involve some kind of adventure: trying to escape from burglars (or being the burglar myself), going on a trip, or trying to figure out a mystery or crime.

I actually cooked for the first time in months this weekend.  Being single, it’s not really worth the effort to do more than throw something together.  I think I’m really going to try to make it a weekly thing like I used to, if only to have leftovers to take to work.

Tonight starts Power Camp.  I received the names of the children in my huddle yesterday,  or at least the ones that have already registered.  Thirteen so far, and I only know who 2 of the children are, so most are unaffiliated with our church.  Only 3 are girls, too, which I’ve grown accustomed to as that was about the gender breakdown of our Sunday school class this year.  I’m excited!

Okay so that day I asked for in order to spin a yarn?  Yeah, it’s going to definitely be 2.  I’m going to TRY to have the story written to post on Monday.  Really, I am.

Nextly, I realize that what I’m about to say to you may end the blissful boredom on my part.

When I look at my schedule for next week, it contains a lot of purple.  We started using Google Calendars at work almost 3 years ago now, but only yesterday did I realize I could seemlessly include my personal calendar without sharing it with my co-workers.  So now, my work things are pink (the guys’ stuff are blue and green) and my personal things are purple.  I feel so much more on top of things now that I can keep up with things visually (I had previously primarily been using the calendar in my head).

So, that gets me back to my purple-filled week next week.  There’s two major things going on: a friends’ wedding (which I’ve volunteered to help decorate and make/serve food for) and Power Camp.

Ahhh, Power Camp.  Power Camp is a sports and

performing arts camp put on by my church for kids in our community.  Two years ago was our first time, and it brought me to my knees.  I have never felt more inadequate while working for children, and I’m usually the type to say, “The more the merrier.”  I had been thrown in to a leader’s role, and only found out that I’d be helping out about 24 hours ahead of time.

Last year, I knew that I would be helping out, but I t

hought that I would be in a helper role, not a teaching role.  Turned out not to be the case, so I got thrown in to teaching about 30 minutes before the first lesson.

This year, I told them they couldn’t shock me.  I knew I was going to teach, so there was nothing they could do to surprise

me.  I’ve already been told what group I’m working with and have talked to my co-leader, and we’ve split up the duties, and everything seems to be in order.   Though I prefer the older kids (and our children’s minister knows it), he put me with the rising kindergarteners because I told him I’d be flexible and that was where the need was.  That’s not a big deal though as I’m familiar with that age, as several of the kids in my group will be in my Sunday School class in a month.

That said, I’ve yet to find out what surprises might be in store for me, so stay tuned on that one.  So basically, I’m telling you all this because I KNOW I’ll need prayer.  Camp is in the evenings Monday through Friday of this coming week, so if you think about it, can you pray for me, but especially to the children that will be there?  For many of them, this will be the first time they’ve ever heard the Gospel.

I hope you all have a great weekend.  You know what I’ll be doing…charging up all my batteries to prepare for the long week!

Photo by Emrank

I have now lived in North Carolina for 4 years.

Note to stalkers - I no longer have a KS tag

For the life of me, I can’t exactly remember what day I moved here, or the timeline of that move.  My parents and brother helped drive me and my belongings out here: my dad and mom in the Budget truck, Riley in my parents’ Explorer, and I in my week-old Toyota Camry.  We took 3 days to get here, stopping by Mammoth Cave and generally enjoying the miles and miles of construction zones…without a single construction worker.  We never quite figured out why there was no one working in any of these places, when it was not a normal weekday during normal hours.

Unlike my first blind move (to go to school in Oklahoma), I knew this time that I had hard times ahead of me.  I had an apartment (with roommates I had never met) and a school that I would be attending in the fall, but that was all I knew about my future life.  Sure, I had already applied for the job that would soon be mind, but I had no idea at the time that that would be the case.

I moved to North Carolina in order to attend seminary.  My thought at the time was to get a seminary education, and then head up a women’s or children’s ministry somewhere in the West (my top choices were Phoenix, Salt Lake, and Portland). Instead, I’m happily staying in North Carolina, working with the children at church as a layman, and working a secular, non-profit job in a field I had no prior experience in.

Little did I know that day 4 years ago that God was bringing me home.  Sure, my real home is in heaven, but that heaven-on-earth, my church family, was right here.