Compromise... Friend or foe?

The art of compromise... To find a happy medium between two opinionated people. Is it fine to compromise in every area in life? I mean if I want Chinese food but can't make it to pfchangs I go to the scarry place... Or if I really want sonic I go to the gas station and mix something unique. When I bought a car, I wanted an Altima and settled for a civic. Is it ok to compromise everywhere? What about in a man? How far is too far to compromise? As a Christian, is salvation really the only uncompromisable quality? As I get older how far is it ok to compromise? I have seen many friends compromise in this area and some are super happy while others seem entirely miserable. Where is the boundary? At 33, is it time to compromise everything and settle just for a Christian? Or do I still have time to wait for someone who meets some of those what seem like unattainable qualities of the imaginary perfect guy? Where are the boundaries?

Where in the world....

Where in the world am I supposed to take up residency? God has been poking at my heart to see the world and hopefully do some good. But the question is... Where? I have friends who will gladly put my up for a few months to see the best of Ethiopia. I could revisit mission fields I have already seen and help there... But honestly... I just don't know. I do know that ever since I have seen the need for world missions I have had a burden, but now I wonder if my burden is just a spot of compassion or the Holy Spirit moving me. For the first time in a long time I think I am willing to be moved. When the door opens and the opportunity knocks, I want to be the first one to take it!

the church...may be the scarriest place on earth!

This last Friday I planned an overnighter for my girls basketball team.  It was going to be a very busy, but i was hoping fun evening.  With the end of the year so close, each weekend is filled with planned activities.  To schedule a party, i had to slide it in between two other events on the ever busy CBA/CBC calendar. I was very lucky to find about 12 free hours to party it up!  The team met in the locker room after school to change out of their embarrassing school uniforms for a trip to the olive garden for dinner.  After eating a very uneventful meal we were off to go to the church to attend the CBC missions conference meeting at 7PM.  Missions conference message was amazing and inspiring!  Once the message was over the party was to begin.  We played a game of basketball for about an hour. The girls began to give up (out of shape and winded) which left the host to move on to activity number 2-- scavenger hunt.  I found about 28 items in the church and scripture that would give a clue to the item they were to find.  I hid the clues in eggs...since easter is just around the corner.  the object of the game was to find all 28 eggs and then to find me.  While i was hiding the clues, my assistant coach took the ladies into the lockerroom and began to tell scarry church stories about noises in the building and urban legends.  Oh yeah.... in the dark.  As i was hiding my eggs, my help arrived.  i had two men coming to add a little fright to the ladies and their hunt.  so here is how it played out... one man hid in the hall way by a clock.  the other hid behind the information desk in the church foyer.  They were planning on jumping out as soon the ladies came near,.,, oh yeah... i forgot to mention... it was almost pitch black in the church.  the girls weere able to have a flash light and the comfort of each other.  The group that went to the clock had the first scare.  tony jumped out with panty hose over his head and a maron coat on backwards.  his daughter flipped... continuously telling him that she hated him.  The other girls in the group just laughed... not so scared!  but the other side.... is where the fun was.  josh (other man) was waiting for the group... which took a detour and went another way. he began to follow them.  he tried to make noises to they would hear... but they were too busy laughing that they didnt notice. finally he caught up!  the girls turned, were frightened, and took off running,,,, after he told them he would eat their soul!  the rest of the evening was fright for those girls! one girl attempted to go to the auditorium to return a hymnal and ran out at full sprint screaming!  a couple others were so scared that they struggled to sleep!  all in all...best over nighter ever!!!

send in the clowns....

I have been spending a lot of time home in bed with some random sickness, and i have noticed that it has been a long time since i have had a spout of side splitting laughter! You know, the kind of laughter that is uncontrollable and takes what seems like hours to control! The kind that makes you thankful if you have visited the restroom recently or regrettful if you hadnt... It has been so long since i have laughed this way that i cannot even remember. sure, i have had a chuckle here and there, but it has been too long since i have had tears streaming down my face, soar ribs, ugly face type laughter.  it might be time to bring in back up... send in the clowns!

when did a dotted quarter note become so hard?

I have been teaching band now for about 27 weeks (give or take a week).  It has been one of the most challenging things I have ever done!  It is hard to get the information from my head to the student's head! Last week we were working with staccato notes.  the concept of short is unfamiliar!  i clapped, sang, had them clap, and nothing seemed to make sense to them... finally i had to make the section a quiz grade for them to actually practice.  Today was the dotted quarter note.  For those of you who are not musically taught it is worth one and a half beats.  So i taught the definition.  i sang the song (Vivaldi's Anvil Chorus). i than had them clap while i struck sticks together.  Finally i brought out the bass drum.  with all my might i struck the head of the drum as they played.  we worked over and over and over again until finally it was somewhat in rythm.  With all the popular music in the world today, i would think that the concept of the dotted quarter would be simple.  every song that has any kind of beat ususes the dotted quarter!  it is a symbol of rythm... which makes me think... is the dotted quarter the problem or is it true that certain kinds of people just have no rhythm?  does heritage actually affect the amount of rythym you have?  does your grand daddy's soul effect the way you tap your feet?  as i look through my elementary class and i imagine their parents the correct answer may be yes!  their heritage may prevent them from ever conquoring the ... dotted quarter! 

the friend code

every group of girls should have a friend code.  this is a code that all girls live by to ensure that they are really the best of friends.  most good girls who grew up in the 80's and 90's lived their friendships by this code... basic concepts like "dont date your friends exs" or "hey there is a bat in the cave" or "dont call her boyfriend unless a dire emergency." these are things that we naturally wanted to do or not to do to ensure that our friends stayed our friends.  while working with teenagers i have seen that the code has died in this generation.  girls will date their bff's ex boyfriends and text guys who are not available until all hours of the night.  what has changed in the last 20 years that has caused the girl code to die? today's young girls will be friends with girls who they think do stupid stuff and then hope to not become like them!  I have decided to change this! to write a book, a manual that will instruct this generation about the girl code!

forgive and forget?

As i have become older i am learning that humans struggle to forgive and even more than that they struggle to forget.  Recently i have irritated a young friend of mine by stepping in when i shouldnt have.  I had good intentions, and i thought i was doing the right thing... but in the long run it came across decetful and rude.  So, once i realized i was wrong... i went to step two... forgiveness.  I have asked for forgiveness of the Lord and my young friend.  I know my God has forgiven me, but i do not believe my friend really has done so yet.  She hardly will speak to me... i am not sure that once she does forgive she will ever forget.  As a science teacher i am in awe of the capacity of the human brain.  The fact that it works all day long making sure our heart beats and our lungs expand it amazing!  The things that we can recall from years back are awesome at the least! Yet sometimes this leads us to things we cannot forget.  I pray daily that my friend will forget and allow us to reconcile our friendship again.