There Is An R At The Top Of This Page

Twenty-three years ago ...


Isaiah 54                                          April 27
18 days                                            8, intern!
today's summative evaluation         9404.27


Though the mountains be shaken
     and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you
     will not be shaken
nor my covenant of peace
     be removed,"
says the Lord, who has
     compassion on you. 10


Help me to have compassion on others, LORD; referring 25 of 150 students for discipline is not how anyone wants to spend their day!


As I said, my summative evaluation was 4th period. I'm glad that between Miss Posey, Mr. Coursey, and myself we found out what my strengths were (my clarity is improving, my faith is strong -- an "emotion-related sleep disorder," and my reaction time is reacting) as well as my weaknesses (CLASS ROOM MANAGEMENT -- and I am not alone!) or my potential.


Now I am nearing the end of my internship and the end of my Stetson undergraduate career. Right now I don't feel a lot of the regrets I thought I would. Part of that help came from counseling from Kathy Wilkes, "the gang" from the education department, and others here who helped me to see like the Tin Woodsman did -- by not trying to act so human, I am finding those qualities in me. I am finding you in me, Lord.


[Prayers for] Evan Keller chose not to accept the InterVarsity position at UF, and says he'll be here for the next few years;
Patricia Hall (biology/premed 1997) and I were talking in the commons for a half hour; she has a lot to say, here from Zephyrhills, nee' New York;
David Crowder (history 1997) is having time difficulty in Dr. Steeves' class; help defuse tensions on both sides, Lord


I debated whether or not to name names in reprinting these prayer requests of mine from more than two decades ago. Then I figured that I'm not saying anything incriminating, and it also shows that I used to document more than I do now! I think. The [prayers for] sign in my journal was a stick figure on his knees, and my art hasn't appreciably improved. No, the musical talents that Sarah and Jeffrey have both developed -- the music teacher Kari at our church says Jeffrey has a good ear for music, so we're looking into him playing the trombone or the saxophone this fall -- come from Martha!


And Sarah already plays the clarinet.


This morning we headed out earlier than usual to bring the kids to school because Sarah had to be at Ramstad for a rehearsal for a concert next month. Then I brought Jeffrey to Longfellow and had that ... epiphany, like the one I had with Sarah this morning before we left the house, that the kids are getting so tall and so growing so faster than I think they are sometimes. Of course, that also leads me to make errors in judgment sometimes that I think they're going to react to as eleven and nine-year-olds (Sarah and Jeffrey, respectively) the way a forty-five year old like me would.


I ask a lot. And I need to tell more.


Must schedule that dentist appointment I haven't scheduled in YEARS ... starting yesterday afternoon, the top left of my mouth (you know dentists, and maybe you, will have a way more technical name for this!) started to hurt bad as though a nerve had been exposed by something I had for lunch. Now as I write this it's not bad; when you see me smile it's not obvious I have teeth missing -- and the adult ones don't grow back -- and some there are very small parts. Bread and ibuprofen help and I'm not sure I even notice the pain unless the day is long. I'm serious about the bread.


And the R is at the top of that handwritten journal page of mine from 23 years ago.


David