I lift my eyes up

Recently I have been reminded of the brokenness that so many people are going through. When we sang this at Common Ground tonight it put into words what I've been feeling about all of these awful, painful, frustrating, sad situations.

Oh how I need you Lord

You are my only hope

You are my only prayer

So I will wait for you

To come and rescue me

Come and give me life

I pray that we would know in the very deepest part of us that we are not alone. God is our hope and he has promised to never leave us. I pray that we would not give up and we would not stop searching for real, abundant life.

10-10-10

10 reasons why 10-10-10 was great

1. I slept in till 11:00. 

2. I played with Molly Henry all afternoon.

3. Lunch at McCallister's- I not only had my favorite salad in the world but I got to sit and talk with two of my favorite people in the world.

4. Getting to laugh with Taylor Porter, tell old stories, drink large Diet Cokes together, and hear about her new adventures and dreams. I miss seeing her as often as we used to but these reunions are the best.

5. Baking chocolate chip cookies with Molls, writing a letter to one of our favorite friends, listening to our favorite new songs, and talking about real life.

6. Dance party with the mat snatchers. Go listen to "I Whip My Hair Back and Forth" if you haven't heard it yet.

7. YL Dinner at Butler and taking Ashlee with us. Timing Kylie as she did skipping laps in the room.

8. Communion and praying at Common Ground.

9. Carving pumpkins with two of the mat snatchers.

Guess which pumpkin is mine. (Hint: Noonway)

10. At 10:10 on 10-10-10 we spit in the fountain 10 times, did 10 jumping jacks, and gave 10 high-5s.

The Ohio State

These are what true Americans look like.

This is Scales, Scales, and Glanders on the Ohio State Field.

This is Beef being a coach.

This is Emily and I loving this afternoon and our courtesy water- 7 rows up from the 50 yard line.

This is Beef watching the game. Look to the right of the open window. He is the third guy over.

These are Ohio State fans that live and breath Ohio State football. O-H-I-O

This is the team right after they beat Indiana 38-10.

The combination of this field and a "council" of camp friends made this a perfect day.

CampT meets HSE

This past week my students went to Camp T for the week. I love that our Fall field trip takes us to my favorite place on Earth. Our program isn't like summer camp so it's strange to some things are different. This is Abnaki cabin--except it no longer looks like the cabin where Shelby blared "Lovesick", Annie laughed hysterically while looking for a pinecone, and Katie told the story of "Ok cool, see you tomorrow."

Instead we transform it into our classroom headquarters with supplies for plankton catching, sticks that measure trees, Manuella's story, stopwatches for the Black Hole, tree identification packets, and so many other fun school things. But one thing stays the same from summer to Outdoor Education-- it's all about the kids. (My, that sounds incredibly cheesy. It's true though.)

 

I LOVE that these kids get to be kids here. I was watching them during square dancing thinking about how great it was that they get to just be goofy and not worry too much about how they look, who they're texting, if they have plans for the weekend, if they're talking to the right people. For two and a half days at camp they get to run around, scream often, laugh with their friends, chew gum (this is a big deal for 7th graders), climb Mt. Wood, canoe around the lake, stay in a cabin in the woods, eat all their meals family style, ride the black hole, and not worry about stuff going on at home.

I love being a teacher and I love being a counselor. I'm thankful that the two got to overlap this week.

Weekend

This is one of the most creative letters I've ever gotten. Yes, it's a letter.

I was pen-pals all summer with one of my old students. We keep writing now even though we're back at school and se each other everyday. Now we can hand deliver the mail. This letter also doubles as a noisemaker. 

Friday night I went to "First Friday" with a group of friends-- a monthly opening of downtown art galleries and studios open to the public. We wandered through different artist's work:

This is part of collection where the artist paints with wax. She has bowls and brushes set up on pancake griddles on her work table. Once it's melted she uses it to paint and adds image transfers, string, buttons, and pictures. We loved that we actually got to talk to her about her whole process.

I really like these pieces:

This isn't "art" but it was my favorite thing we saw:

It made me want to sit down and just start creating something. I need a messy craft table.

This morning I went to a cross country invitational to watch my students run.

I LOVE cross country inivites. The moment when the gun goes off and wave of runners comes over the first hill never gets old. I love that families come out in full force to watch their kids and that I got to meet parents. I love that the rain doesn't keep people away. We're all soaking wet, our feet covered with mud, and we sprint from one spot on the course to another to keep yelling. Every kid gets to race- no one has to wait on the bench for equal playing time. We cheer for these kids and they work hard- digging in on the hills, catching 5 more people, pushing it on the final stretch.

It was so fun to show up and support these kids- some are from last year and some current students. Rachel, the one that told me about the race, has never actually been my student but stops by my room before 5th period everyday to say hi. She won the race!  

Sar drew this picture while she was baby-sitting and we left it for the mat snatchers today. Funny that we all know each other now.

Mat Snatcher part 7

They figured out how to use facebook as a resource and left this long note:

Before we left in the morning we delivered these notes:

and a Christmas wreath (we have momentarily taken the Fall wreath) for Matty B... even though it's only October 1st.

Nothing happened all day unfortunately. When we returned late tonight, before we had even turned off the car, four people were standing on their balcony (a friend was visiting). Sarah and I started laughing immediately and ended up standing on the sidewalk talking to them. After a couple minutes of awkward conversation and after several invitations to come talk to them face-to-face  we went up and met the mat snatchers and Ashlee.

It was fun hanging out.
We like Matty A, B and Ashlee.
We're all going to be friends.
We can't wait for Shauna to get back and meet them.
We're going to continue playing mat snatchers.

While I was writing this the boys came back and did this:

Where I'm From

George Ella Lyon wrote Where I'm From. Today in Composition we followed her style and wrote our own versions. These are 4 different places I'm from.

I am from duct tape, "The Road to Real", and Diet Coke.

I am from rows of hammocks (swinging, moved every night by Work Crew).

I am from round-a-bouts and neighborhoods connected in a maze.

I am from upfront games and relational ministry, from Scottie too Hottie and Molly too Cool.

I am from one-on-ones and texting during Campaigners.

I am from you were made for this and take a seat, take a load off your feet.

I'm from praying holding hands, a pass around journal and Campaigning for something greater than ourselves.

From 26.3 miles blading with Brown Bear and hours collaging with Fred.

I am from conversations- a thousand words in cars, on couches, and sitting at a table in pajamas using chopsticks to eat slippery, cheesy, gooey, salty, heavenly, squishy noodles while saying the Pledge of Allegiance backwards.

I am from bunk beds, Spread Cups, and jelly-fish yo-yos.

I am from the Kokomo porch where raccoons hide out and the grass that was a blanket for devotions and crumping parties.

I am from TEAM CILT sweatbands, float trip rocks, and the flowers we water with our spit.

I am from Wacky Wednesday, taking initiative, Irving and Manuella.

I am from sleepy Braves making late night laps on the loop and the long line of crying Torchbearers.

From Noonway and hug or a high-5?

I'm from Johnny Appleseed before we eat and singing in the Green Cathedral.

I'm from the beautiful Tippecanoe and meetings at 12:44.

From bug bites, crusty pink eye in the morning, and the broken Annies.

I am from a wall of 8 1/2 x 11s that hold a summer of stories, wrists of stacked friendship bracelets and faded swimbands, and porches of dirty flip-flops that have trod the ancient trails of Tecumseh.

I am from Sammy's sweatbands, Dutch lawn ornaments, and a JPs latte.

I am from the cottage on 13th St (since 1919, mold-infested, haunted by Helen J).

I am from the black squirrels, the Pine Grove climbing tree.
I am from Nykerk v. the Pull, long boarders, the girls you want to marry, Bultman and his ballerina wife.
I am from the orange sweatpant mafia, Kletz lunch on Thursday, and pretending to study in Martha.
From peace be with you and the sanctification of the Spirit.
I am from Sue serving me communion and letters from Despondent U.
I'm from Vanderquad and Dykstra, May term carnie food and Sunday sundaes.
From the secret prayer room and blindly climbing to the roof of the chapel tower.
I am from family lines, wooden paddles, and framed composites- women honoring friendship, love and loyalty since 1919.

I am from quilts, Joy, and pepperoni frozen pizzas.

I am from the attic pull-down door (peeling, creaky, jammed shut with a pencil nub).

I am from the beehive under the play fort ladder and the tree that grew in our living room one winter.

I am from teeth grinders and books on tape, from Lyle and Avis. 

I am from over-achievers and late-night-readers.

From wash the dishes and turn off your light.

I am from Sunday school, 11:00 service, Synago, and youth group.

I am from Crawfordsville and Kendall at Hanover.

From the arthritis in Mary's damn hand and Katie's leg that got run over by a car.

I am from "The Dave Wright Years" chapter of the history book- socks with sandals, pig-tails and glasses- now writing "The Sarah Wright Years"