Monday Evening Reflections - October 15, 2007

Dear Family and Friends,
Last week I was under the weather for most of my days, but I managed to keep the things that are essential to my life going--like teaching and choir and spending time with my cat. I'm feeling better today and had a nice quiet weekend, but I still am sleeping a lot and seem tired. I hope this passes soon. Heaven seems on its way...
My family has been in crisis this past week because little Woody, Buddy and Debbie's Schnoodle, has had back problems that have terrorized them and us in conjunction. I've been in contact daily to check on things, and Debbie's been writing updates. Thankfully, prayers seem to be moving God's healing into place. Woody has done better every day with the treatment the vet has offered, and surgery may not be necessary. Woody has become so much a part of our family in the last five years. He's so human in his ways, and Debbie and Buddy just adore him. Having something wrong with him is equivalent to a sick child for them. My heart goes out to them, and as it turns out, my congregation's heart goes out, too. On Sunday, I asked the church to pray for Woody, and there were people who had suggestions that may very well help.
I managed to teach my classes last week, but more and more, I am finding ways so that my students do the bulk of the analyses and talking in my classes. I'm pulling out teaching methods from back in the mid-90's when I did a Creative Thinking Strategies practicum through Texas A & M in my classroom in Galveston, now applying them in new ways to the material I teach in AP English. Since our Academic Vice Principal is also encouraging the use of technology in our teaching, I've also incorporated this. The first two photos are of products that students made and presented on two short stories we've just read. Not only are they digging into tone, diction, detail, and now point of view, but they are also thinking out of the box about characters like Miss Emily in "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner. (See Photo #1) They charted Emily's sun side and shadow side, bringing out observations and astute understandings of this character who might very well represent the Old South. They did this; I didn't have to do much more than make the assignment and facilitate the presentations. I feel myself rising in my teaching again this year.
The second set of graphics are plotlines of "Guests of the Nation" by Frank O'Connor. (See Photo #2) Through this activity, I got a sense of how much my students know about human psychology and the way a story is plotted. They are just excellent. I feel like this might be the greatest year in my life as far as teaching to a high level. I feel very grateful that God has graced me with this class. In fact, you might say I feel like Cinderella (See Photo #3) in a sense. The grief workshop has had great effects on me in the last several weeks, with my crying and grieving a lot again and really just pushing through to the other side. Signs that I'm moving are the cleaning out of closets and changes in my handwriting and just new ways of reaching out. I feel blessed with Earth as my home and the United States as my country. Rather than focusing so much on my losses, I'm looking forward and upward toward better days ahead.
My rental business has been very quiet for a couple of weeks now. I'm so grateful for this hiatus. It's been long in coming. Ted called a little while ago and said he'd hung a new double front door on one of my houses. This is still a storm repair from Hurricane Rita. This door blew open during the storm, and we are finally getting a new one in place. This house has burglar bars on all windows and doors, so it's more complicated than it would seem.
We had a combined contemporary service and traditional service at my church on Sunday with a bagpipe band from Lyons College in Arkansas treating us to songs like "Amazing Grace." (See Photo #4) We celebrated with banners harking back to the Presbyterian’s ties with Scotland. It was a fun challenge to sing some contemporary songs with the guitars and piano. I felt like Paul McCartney or someone was leading us. Chris Miller added his accordion to some of the songs, and we made quite a joyful noise with our "I'll Fly Away." It was a morning I was happy to be a part of. I asked Joe White if he would take photos for me with my camera, and both he and Barbara were obliging. I'm very grateful. We had a visiting singer with us from Loyola University. Caressa Miller, our choir director's daughter who sang with the Chancel Choir all through high school, was back home to sing with us. What a family the choir has become. When Caressa and Camryn brought up what it's like to come home when your bedroom's been taken over by your younger sibling, we were able to add input as a group to soften their feelings. (See Photo #5) I'm very grateful to be offering my gifts in my church through this vehicle. God has placed me in a good and useful place. There was a luncheon served in the Fellowship Hall after the service, and I went up to see what they were having and to take a few photos. (See Photo #6) However, my diet has been going along so well in the past couple of weeks, I didn't want to sabotage it with a barbeque dinner. I went home to eat a salad and then got out to Sam's and Kroger to get stocked up with groceries for the week. Even this kind of activity has been a strain and effort for me this week. I'm so glad that I'm finally feeling better today.
I went to Beaumont for a few hours on Saturday to browse my favorite stores. God seems to be telling me, let go of the old and bring in some new. I found a compact Bible to take with me to China if Charlotte McCallum and I do end up going. She and I are in the getting-to-know-each-other stages and not moving very fast on that. I'm at a place where I'm going to let go and let God and just see what happens. If I'm meant to go to China this coming summer, it will happen. If not, it will happen at another time. I've gotten good at living this way, and it works for me.
My Delta Kappa Gamma teacher organization met this afternoon on the McNeese University campus, (See Photo #7) and the topic was Advanced Placement courses being offered in the Calcasieu Parish schools. I'm glad to have a full understanding about what is offered in the public sector, realizing that what I offer my students is also very valuable in the Catholic Schools sector of Lake Charles. The school district is setting different goals and different expectations than I currently have, and it was interesting to reflect on my teaching methods and achievements by comparison. I felt enriched by the presentation.
This is another shorter letter this week, but it's at least longer than last week's. I'm getting up and running again, and the world looks different. We all have places to go and things to do to make things better. May God guide us down achievable and better pathways...
With love and blessings, Linda
"Whatever you do may seem insignificant,
but it is most important that you do it."
--Gandhi