Double Trouble

Spring is in the air, which means, it's that time of year when spring sports begin to dominate everyone's Saturday. Soccer...baseball...and tennis?? Yes, Tennis! It is by far my favorite sport ever! I love to watch it, play it and talk about it! For years, one of the coaches at the tennis center where I play has asked Jaime and I to join one of his tennis teams. Until now, we've always had an excuse as to why we can't make such a commitment. This year, after a wonderful trip to New York to watch the U.S. Open, Jaime and I decided we were ready to join a team. When we announced our plan to our coach, his eyes lit up and told us to come join his team the following week for a "try out." I suppose the try out went well, because 3 months later we are still practicing with the team and yesterday we played our first match of the season!

I went in with some nerves, being unsure of how this would work. Especially since Jaime and I were not playing together, so I am still feeling out my new partner a bit. I thought this would be pretty easy because it was a placement match so the league could determine where our team, "Double Trouble," belongs within the league. Let's just say, we belong at the bottom of the barrel. My partner and I lost 0-6, 0-6 while Jaime and her partner didn't fare much better at 1-6, 2-6. This could be a really long season...but at least we're out there playing our favorite sport!

We Don't Need No Education!

Today my student came into my office and asked me why the Vikings lost the football game last night. I then informed him that the Vikings lost because they scored less points than the Saints. Thankfully, that seemed to satisfy him because I certainly did not want to get into a debate with him about fumbles, passing and running yards or interception percentages.

Additionally, I have figured out what is wrong with our current education system. It's the people writing the textbooks that don't know what they are talking about. I was working with some students last week on a following directions activity from a book I have at school. They needed to listen to my instruction and through the process of elimination figure out which title was the title for the book of the week.

Now, I'm fairly certain I have referred to my weakness of flying by the seat of my pants when it comes to therapy and this particular activity was no different. I had previously just taken a glance at it and thought it was a great activity and trusted the publishers enough to not look too closely. So, one of the statements was, "The book of the week is NOT the one with the name of a country in the title." Now I am confident I have a pretty good knowledge of world geography and nowhere in my many years of education did I learn that Africa was a country. Please don't think I am bragging when I tell you that I am absolutely positive it is the name of continent!

Community

I pride myself in being independent. I make a decent living for myself, make big purchases by myself, take long road trips by myself, go to church by myself, etc. When there is something that I need to take care of, I usually like to do it on my own and don't like to bother people too much with my problems.

However, when it comes to carpentry, I know absolutely nothing, and to be quite honest, have no desire to learn. So...when one of my dining room table legs decided to detach itself from the tabletop, I knew I needed to bring in some reinforcements.

I swallowed my pride (there's that nasty word again) and called my friend and asked her if I could borrow her husband (I knew he had tools) and his friend (who also happens to be my friend) for an evening of fun with tools. I bribed them all with pizza so they very kindly agreed.

After dinner and one trip to Wal-Mart later, my table is fixed and ready to play games upon---and eat upon. Now that, friends, is community! Serving God, by serving people! Thank you Mark and Gary, for spending an evening with tools, for me! I am quite thankful for my friends who were so willing to take precious time to help me out!

Silence

I'm sure that some of you may agree that silence is often a wonderful thing. Our world is so full of sounds that when you begin to listen and hear nothing it can be glorious.

Today, I think the silence is deafening. But it's a different kind of silence. I look at my phone and I hear crickets (no, it's not my ringtone, which happens to be crickets), but the crickets I hear are in my head (yes, I may be crazy). I sent a text message to a friend today about a scripture verse I had just read. I was looking for the meaning of a particular word within the context. I received a response that confirmed what I had originally thought, although I must admit I've been feeling particularly skeptical today, so I responded with the suggestion that perhaps Paul's words (which are actually God's words, as it is in God's Word) would hurt people struggling with pride, not help them.

I immediately sent a new text saying not to worry about me, but I can see how many people might not be altruistic (altruism should be a topic for another day) in the way they put these words into action. And then there was silence. The silence is driving me crazy! Even now, my eyes keep darting over towards my phone. Marci, get a grip and let it go. But I can't because I just want to explain myself a little bit more. Perhaps one more text would put me in a better light. Why am I so worried about what people think of me? Perhaps if I got it into my thick skull that the world does not revolve around me, I wouldn't struggle with pride so much. :)

The particular scripture I was meditating on today was 1 Cor. 9: 24-27, which says:
Do you know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessley; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

P.S For more motivational pictures like the one posted above, check them out at www.despair.com

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Tomorrow is my last day of Christmas vacation. I realize that I am very blessed to have a two week break, so I will not complain about that. But, I still have to prepare myself for the second half of the school year. I figure, what better way to do that than to remember some great verbal gems from the first semester and look forward to the verbal gems I will undoubtedly hear in the second.

One of my students and I were playing a game similar to 25,000 dollar pyramid. My young friend was trying to describe countries in Africa and Asia. Her clue: "It's a place where they have black hair." Hmm...what country in Asia and Africa do they have black hair? "Oh," she said next, "they also eat a lot of rice."

One of my young friends was upset about a test score and during our group session, he commented about his test and then said he was the "stupidest" kid in his class. Another young friend, in trying to make him feel better said, "That's not true, I know someone stupider than you."

On another occassion, a young friend of mine reported to the group that she was going to go visit her sister at Texas Tech. Well, someone in the room told the group that Tech's mascot is the Red Raider, while another said Texas Tech is TT for short. I asked my young friends what the Red Raiders say at football games, I made the hand signal and started the phrase "get your...." Well, one young friend, taking a stab at it said, "Get your TT."

But my personal favorite was when we were interviewing a 16 year old who clearly did not want to be talking to a roomful of adults(who could blame him?). Anyway, he would consistently provide us with one word answers, even when asked open ended questions about topics he enjoyed, such as 80's and 90's rock. So, finally, in desperation, after he was asked a question and he just kept staring at the ground, one adult asked him, "What would Kurt Cobain do?(WWKCD)" Not exactly sure I want my 16 year old basing their actions on Kurt Cobain, but sometimes we'll do anything for a response. I realize that this is a verbal gem from an adult friend, but we're all kids at heart, right?