Who Cares?

I sit here about to begin the last day of the fifth week of school. What a year it has been! I was sitting at home last night (a rare luxury for this time of year) and began to think about this year. As hard as I am working, I am having twice as much fun. I love that I get to work with the students that I have. Whereas this year is a lot more hectic than last year was as far as time constraints are concerned, it is a whole lot more rewarding also.

I told myself that if this year was as bad for me personally as last year was, that I would not be back here again. I now can say that I honestly would like to teach here again next year. We are building a program that has essentially been decimated, and this year has already seen worlds of improvment. The rest of the year should be really good as well. Next year, we will be in a much better position, with the entire middle school level being students whose band experience includes the band staff that we have in place. The band program throughout the district lacks consistency all around. In fact, this year’s seniors have had seven different band directors at various times. That is hard for anyone!

As I found out in my private lessons teaching, there are two keys to developing successful students. I am convinced that neither of the elements are any more important than the other. One is good teaching. The other is showing up. A good teacher who doesn’t show up is not serving the students. A bad teacher who shows up is doing a disservice to the students. A good teacher who shows up is providing opportunities for the students to develop as learners. That’s really fun!

Enough about that…now to the important details of life.

I had one person show up to my Bible study on Monday. That was really neat. I am praying that more people will show up, but whatever the case, I am learning through obedience. By doing what I feel called by God to do, I am allowing Him to work through me. What an awesome opportunity that is! Opportunities pass us by every single day. Why do we not grab hold of them more often? Jesus said that “the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” (Matthew 11:12). So why do we so passively sit by while men and women go to hell?

I am reminded of General William Booth’s vision wherein he saw many people going about their lives on an island in the middle of a raging sea while people were drowning below. All the while, the saved men and women go about their business painint, making music, doing business, and whatever else. They are completely oblivious to the fact that the men and women around them are going to hell. How sad is that? And yet, what am I personally doing about it? What are you doing about it? Scary. Our responsibility is to present the gospel to others. We cannot save people. We are not expected to. But we have been given the truth and if we fail to so shine that light before men, then what use is our faith anyway? We are the salt of the earth. If the salt loses it flavor, Jesus said, it is only useful for being trampled under foot. Oh God! Make me worth more than the dirt on the ground! I want to be the preserving element of the world. I want to be the seasoning of the world. I want men to see my good works and glorify my Father in heaven. We are so blessed in this country, and yet we ignore the source of those blessings. Almighty God has given us everything. We overlook that and pat ourselves on the back. All the while men and women are dying and going to hell. How fair is that?

Okay, I’m at school and it’s about time for the bell to ring, so I guess that means I should go now!

6 September, 2003

After three weeks of school, things are still going pretty smoothly. We are incredibly busy, but that’s a good thing, because it means we have kids in band, which means we have a job and we are needed! Things are settling down a little bit as far as enrollment numbers, and they are pretty similar to what we had anticipated at the beginning of the year. It’s a lot of fun! We still haven’t finalized beginning band teaching assignments, but it looks like I will be teaching woodwinds again this year almost exclusively. I may do a little bit of brass stuff, though. I like not having to teach the same class five or six times a day like some teachers have to do. Every class is different material. That increases the required preparation time, but it also means that I don’t get bored throughout the day. And boring is definitely not an adjective I would use to describe my days this year! If I have time to be bored, I am neglecting some more important task like breathing.

The Bible study that I had thought would happen this past Monday did not happen. I am expecting it to begin this Monday, but I still haven’t had anyone confirm that they will show up. If it doesn’t happen, it will be all right. I will spend a couple of hours each week digging into Romans on Sunday afternoons and grow that way. I’ll probably post my outlines on here or on my website, or maybe both.

16 August, 2003

What a week. At least I am as close to being ready for school to begin as I will get. I still feel like there are mountains of things yet to be done, but I must remember that the first day of classes won’t involve a whole lot other than talking and getting to know the kids and checking our class rosters and all that. We have around 110 kids now in the 7th and 8th grades combined, split into two bands and one beginning class. We have right around 140 6th grade beginners also. Those are going to really be the keys as we rebuild the program. With the high school, we will not play during class on Monday, we have football program pictures during class on Tuesday, we have a big pep rally thing Thursday night, and another thing on Saturday. It looks like we will have to sacrifice one or two afternoon marching rehearsals in order to learn the school song, fight song, and national anthem. We haven’t learned any drill yet, and we have our first football game on the 29th of this month. It will be very interesting to see how much the kids practiced and memorized this week when we didn’t have any rehearsals.

The week has been pretty crazy overall. Staff development during the day every day. I guess it was on the way home from Church on Wednesday that I ran over something metal and it got stuck in my tire. When I went outside ready to go Thursday morning, I had a very flat tire. I’ve been mearning to get new tires for a couple of weeks anyway, so it’s good that I didn’t yet! I think I get paid next week and so I should be able to get my tires changed either tomorrow or Friday afternoon.

This is now the end of my fourth day of fasting. It is amazing what God can do! Denying the flesh is a wonderful way to strengthen the spirit. I will eat an apple for breakfast tomorrow to break the fast, and then go to my parents’ for lunch. I have done two other multiple day fasts before, one four and a half day and one that was about two or three days. This time, I drank juice pretty much throughout the fast. And prayed a good bit about it before beginning. I think that this was easier to do. I have not been hungry since the first day, but my mind wants to constantly think about food. That is really the hardest part about it once you get past the initial hunger pangs. I have a few reasons for doing this fast. One was to refocus my mind and spirit as I enter into the new school year. Another is for the city in which I live. I will be starting up a home Bible study in September, and I want to see the city impacted positively for the Kingdom of God!

I will begin studying Romans and have considered putting some outline/notes on here as I do them in preparation. If I can get them typed up, then I can put them on here. We’ll see what happens with that! This fall will not be one in which I have a whole lot of free time. I have a few things on my plate, and it’s as though I’m juggling them sometimes! Always looking ahead. More importantly looking up, for our redemption draweth nigh!