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Meet Joab
I first met Joab in October of 2010 when I joined a small mission team from my home church for a week in Haiti. Joab came along on one of our evangelistic, radio-sharing expeditions as a translator. He’s a sharp guy and that’s how he picks up a few bucks now and then – he translates Creole to English and English to Creole. I’ve kept in long distance contact with him – sporadically – with the help of Facebook. When I see him next, I will have to ask him exactly how he accesses the internet. I’m pretty sure we can…
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First Day of School and First Day of NotSchool
Today (Monday, August 6, 2012) is the first day of the new school year for Melissa and our kids, but not for me. I turned in my keys last Saturday. I am cleaned out of my classroom and someone else will be teaching sophomore English at the school. It was quite a strange feeling, walking out the door and leaving a perfectly good job behind. As I drove away, I was looking for a fitting soundtrack from the radio, but it was Saturday afternoon and that’s a lousy time to listen to the radio. ZZ Top singing “She’s got leeeeeeegs.…
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LeMars and Grundy Center, Iowa
Thought I better finish off my pictures from our June trip before midnight, when we officially move into August!
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Decision Made
It’s official: I’m unemployed. I turned in a letter of resignation this past week and the school board accepted it this past Tuesday evening. It hasn’t really sunk in yet for me because I still need to finish cleaning out my classroom. When I turn in my key, reality is bound to hit me.Plus, school hasn’t started yet. When it starts without me, I’m not sure exactly how I will feel. But I can guarantee that there will be more than a bit of sadness involved. I just finished five years at my school and they were, overall, good years. …
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July Newspaper Article
Here’s what I wrote for the local newspaper this month about the temptation teacher’s often feel to gripe about their pay levels: My gut tightens a bit each time I hear a politician pander to teachers, telling us how very important our jobs are and how we deserve better pay. Now don’t misunderstand; I would gladly accept a raise in salary. But I don’t feel entitled to one. This attitude, admittedly rare among teachers, was undoubtedly shaped by my upbringing and lessons I learned from my parents. As a young man, my father was employed by Woolworth’s. By the time…
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Prayer Request
Dear friends (and even strangers!), Melissa and I are looking for prayer support for a decision needing to be made within the next few days which will ultimately shape this entire next year for our family. A year ago right now, our family was preparing to leave Haiti to return to Indiana after a two week trip. Upon our return, we rented out our house and moved in with Melissa’s mother in order to most effectively pay down debt in anticipation of returning to Haiti full-time in August of 2012. That date turned out to be a bit too ambitious, obviously.…
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Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
We have been in transition to the mission field for about a year and a half now. (Last year at this time, our whole family was in Haiti for a two week trip.) And, honestly, it is getting a bit old at times. We get impatient now and then. We really want to get going and we’re stuck waiting for that big change in local and ministry.But there are other transitions going on all the time – subtle changes that go unmarked. I thought I should mark a few of them here. These are all changes that tend to be…
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Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes
We have been in transition to the mission field for about a year and a half now. (Last year at this time, our whole family was in Haiti for a two week trip.) And, honestly, it is getting a bit old at times. We get impatient now and then. We really want to get going and we’re stuck waiting for that big change in local and ministry.But there are other transitions going on all the time – subtle changes that go unmarked. I thought I should mark a few of them here. These are all changes that tend to be…
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Pure South Dakota
I still intend to write about the paraplegic woman I saw walking – but that doesn’t come until we get to Iowa, and I still have pictures from South Dakota to post. My dad was from South Dakota originally and most of our family vacations were spent here when I was a kid, so South Dakota holds a very special place in my heart. I’ve already written about our perfect day in the Black Hills during our drive back East from Seattle in June, but I also need to include a few other pics from the following days.
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Grape Juice and Strong Wine
On one of our sightseeing trips around Seattle a few weeks ago, guided by my brother Ryan, we stopped at a great little used book store. I was looking for a good vacation read and, on Ryan’s recommendation, picked up a book called “A Severe Mercy” by Sheldon Vanauken. It’s a true story about Sheldon’s romance with his wife. In the beginning of their relationship, both were unreservedly pagan. Not long into their marriage, while living for an extended time in England, first his wife and then Sheldon became Christians. There’s an extended quote from midway through the book that…
