25 October, 2003

Ya know, life is too short to be in a bad mood. Things don’t always work out the way we want them to, but being in a bad mood only makes other people in bad moods. As I learned on Monday, when I choose to have a good attitude; when I choose to have fun; when I choose to not let circumstances or other people put me in a bad mood, then things work well. So I get tired. That’s my own fault for not going to sleep earlier. So my back hurts. Nobody else has to know that. It is all a matter of choice.

Our football team won the game last night. Their playoff chances are still alive. If they win one of the next two games, most likely they will be in playoffs. That’s great for the kids! It means that the marching season extends a bit longer, but high school football games are a sort of unique experience in and of themselves. I’m looking forward to the middle school all region auditions coming up here in a few weeks. There are a lot of exciting things coming up in the next couple of months as we wrap up this semester. Barely feels like it has even started and I’m already looking to Christmas break. Strange. I’ll add more to this later.

On A Roll!

Well, now that I have a bit more time, I seem to really be on a roll with these entries here! Maybe this will continue. I reckon it will, at least for a while yet. Perhaps it’s because it is a novel concept. Or maybe because I enjoy writing and this gives me an outlet to do so. Whatever the case may be, here is yet another entry into the annals of my life.

Today was another good day. I enjoy being able to finally have some time to get organized and do some administrative kinds of things at work. Not that I don’t love working with the students, but I also like to be able to be prepared as I go into the classes and rehearsals! I have begun to look at Christmas concert type music and am finding a few pieces that might be fun to do this year. We have a performance next week and then I’ll pass out Christmas music after that. We also will be taking the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade students to the high school football game in a couple of weeks. That should be a lot of fun for the kids, and it will be neat to be able to see nearly 250+ children with instruments up in the stands there to play!

Also on the horizon are all region auditions for both high school and middle school. The MS auditions are in a few weeks, and the HS auditions are right around the beginning of December. We’re working with individuals on that stuff and hope to be able to have a decent number of kids make those bands. The goal is to have more than last year.

So much on my mind and yet, here I sit realizing that my focus is really not where it ought to be after all! So much on my mind and yet, how many of my thoughts are centered on those things that God would have me look to. I know that having the band program run smoothly is important, but do I overfocus on it to the point that I ignore the more vital things in life? I fear that I do that. Focus is becoming a very important word for this school year. Focus is what I am realizing that I lack, or do not have set correctly. Am I truly “looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher” of my faith? Sometimes I am. Sometimes I am not. Oh God, that my focus would be right all of the time. I want to be able to say with Jesus, “I do only those things which please the Father.” I want that. I want to want that more!

20 October, 2003

Today was a good day. Every class that I taught went well. It started out bad, but I made the decision that I was not going to let circumstances get me down. I woke up after my alarm clock had been going off for two hours. When I rolled over, it was 7:00, and I was supposed to be at school instead of in bed. On top of that, I had a terrible sinus headache. When I got to school, I realized I couldn’t do a sectional because I had to have all of my grades done by 8:00am. I have contended for a while here that everything we do is a result of the choices that we make. I think I proved (or at least gave credence) to my theory. It was wonderful to have so many good classes. My band at the junior high rehearsed very well and we got a lot done. All of the beginner classes worked with me as well. It’s fun to have good days like this!

Since marching contests are over now, we are only having a limited number of marching rehearsals after school. I don’t think that I will be going to very many, if any, of the rehearsals that we will have. This gives me an opportunity to work one-on-one or in sections with the 6th through 8th grade students and help them out some with their playing. It also gives me a bit more administrative time to get things organized more for the lower grades that I haven’t really had opportunities to do so much with marching every day. It will be a good thing! I’m excited about the upcoming weeks and months. And we get the Daylight Savings time shift next week. This is the good one! Yay.