Moving Forward, But How?

Today's church sermon was on Luke 9: 51-62.

From NIV:

Samaritan Opposition

⁵¹ As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. ⁵² And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; ⁵³ but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them^[a]?” ⁵⁵ But Jesus turned and rebuked them. ⁵⁶ Then he and his disciples went to another village.

The Cost of Following Jesus

⁵⁷ As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”
⁵⁸ Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
⁵⁹ He said to another man, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
⁶¹ Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family.”
⁶² Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”


Two things jumped out at me during the service.
1. "If you are looking backward, you can't move forward."
2. Are you willing to give up these same things to follow Jesus?

Let's look at each of these. However, I want to discuss 2 first.
2. Our Pastor was honest and said she would have a hard time giving up the comfort of her bed, home, car, life to follow Jesus as He asked these followers.  For someone who had served in a church for 10 years, attended Seminary for 4.5 years, and has been serving in this church at least 3 years, she follows Jesus daily, but she is loves the creature comforts she has become accustomed to in her daily life. I am too.  If Jesus stood before me and said to give up all I have to follow Him, would I? I would want to say my good-byes to my family, bury my loved ones, etc. Would I be able to just walk away?  If I had to answer right now, my answer would be "no." I was Saved in 5th grade, Baptized in 8th grade, and I have believed in Jesus for as long as I can remember, since attending church as a tiny child.  I try hard to walk a Christian path, but I know I am not the best prayer, Bible studier, etc. I just try to be a Christian example to all those I can, and if I falter, I try harder next time. However, I don't know if I could just walk away to follow Him.

1. I can't even remember what exactly our Pastor was saying when I heard her say something really close to "If you are looking backward, you can't move forward." I certainly didn't hear what she said immediately after that either b/c these words hit me pretty hard. 
The next thing I remember her saying was that farmers who are tilling their land cannot look back at what they've done or they will not be able to plow in a straight line. The parishioner behind me seconded her comment. In order to do the job right, they must keep looking forward.
As you know through my blogging, processing, and moping the last 16 months, I have had a life altering change occur that was out of my control. It cut me deeply in a way I have never experienced, and I have had an extremely hard time processing and moving beyond it.  
While trying really hard to listen to all she had to say, I was also processing this idea. Then I thought . . . I am a traditionalist.  Traditions are extremely important to me, and family is huge to me.  I have amazing memories with my niece and nephew. I truly loved every moment spent with each of them the 9.5/11.5 years I saw them daily. Because of this, I think of all the experiences we are not having now, all the memories we are not making now, and how different their lives are. 

Then I think . . . God has plans for me.  God has to break me down to build me up. But . . . what does He have in store and when will it happen?  How long will this pain, anger, and fear continue?

When I look forward, it is the unknown when it comes to my relationship with my niece and nephew, finding a husband, having a family of my own, etc., dealing with the pain and fear I have.
Looking forward also means dealing with and taking responsibility for my ailing/aging mother.  I truly believe the end is closer than many think, and while I am readying myself for that, whenever the time comes, I am pretty much doing it alone.  I see her and care for her daily, and each day brings new realizations, concerns, and fears.

So . . . how do I quit looking back?  How do I truly move forward? How do I balance the past with the future?
For now . . . I will keep praying and processing. :-)

Teachers' Salaries

I have seen the following several times, and it makes me laugh each time. I don't know how wrote it, but I am sharing it anyway.

Could you imagine if teachers got paid what athletes did and athletes what teachers did?


Teachers' hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or 10 months a year! It's time we put thing in perspective and pay them for what they do - babysit! We can get that for minimum wage. That's right. 

Let's give them $3.00 an hour and only the hours they worked; not any of that silly planning time, or any time they spend before or after school. That ...would be $19.50 a day (7:45 to......... 3:00 PM with 45 min. off for lunch and plan-- that equals 6 1/2 hours). Each parent should pay $19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children. 

Now how many students do they teach in a day...maybe 30? So that's $19.50 x 30 = $585.00 a day. However, remember they only work 180 days a year!!! I am not going to pay them for any vacations. LET'S SEE.... That's $585 X 180= $105,300 per year. (Hold on! My calculator needs new batteries).

What about those special education teachers and the ones with Master's degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage ($7.75), and just to be fair, round it off to $8.00 an hour. That would be $8 X 6 1/2 hours X 30 children X 180 days = $280,800 per year. Wait a minute -- there's something wrong here! There sure is!

The average teacher's salary (nation wide) is $50,000. $50,000/180 days = $277.77/per day/30 students=$9.25/6.5 hours = $1.42 per hour per student--a very inexpensive baby-sitter and they even EDUCATE your kids! WHAT A DEAL!!!!

Heaven forbid we take into account highly qualified teachers or NCLB . . . .

Fireworks Community Show

Each year for the last 10 or so years, my local community has hosted a fireworks show.  At first, it was just the city shooting them off from a field for all to enjoy.  Everyone would drive to the other side of town to get a good view. In the last few years, they have had activities for families to do earlier in the evening or from about lunchtime until the fireworks start at the large community park. Last night, they even had a concert with a somewhat well-known country singer after the fireworks for those who purchased tickets.  The community is really working to make this annual event something fun and worthwhile.

When my family began enjoying the community fireworks, my niece and nephew were little.  We decided we would put together a picnic and go early to find a parking space, have a little fun, and settle down to watch.  Our picnic each year consisted of pizza and soda.  The kids loved it!  We backed the truck or van into one of the first spaces with a grassy curb on two sides.  We put down the blankets and chairs, we enjoyed dinner and conversation, and then we were ready for the fireworks.  The kids loved it!  My grandmother loved it! When my cousins, all right around my niece and nephew's ages, were in town, my aunt would bring them out, and the fun multiplied.  We have great pictures of the kids all dressed in red, white, and blue having fun with one another.  The kids remember these events and even mention them to this day.

While it isn't July 4th quite yet, the community fireworks were popped tonight.  I surprised my mom and Great Aunt by telling them to put their shoes on and get in the truck.  They didn't know where we were going.  We stopped at Sonic for a half-price shake and then drove to the high school to get a spot.  They enjoyed the show.  This year, we could hear music playing.  I think the community played music at the park, and we could hear it where we were.

While the evening was fun, it was sad.  My niece and nephew weren't there for us to share this experience, and this is the first year without my Granny and Great Uncle, with whom my Great Aunt always watched the show. I know all those who have passed have the best seat in the house to see all the Nation's fireworks this year.  I hope my niece and nephew get the opportunity to watch fireworks, even if it isn't with Gram and me.

Here are a few pictures I snagged from a friend on Facebook.  I didn't take any pics, and when I do, they normally don't come out well.

Random Thoughts From My Vegas Trip

Now that I have returned from our family vacation, I have had some random thoughts.

1. I love listening to my niece and nephew sing to the radio/CD, especially when they don't think they can be heard.  Oh, how I miss those sweet voices!

2. 103 degrees in Las Vegas is far different than 103 degrees in Texas.  I can handle warmer temps in Vegas far better than those in Texas. In Las Vegas, there is a big difference between standing in the sun and standing in the shade.  You can feel the difference.  In Texas, there really is no difference between standing in the sun and standing in the shade.

3. I really enjoyed being able to walk to and fro and found myself wanting to walk more and more. I didn't get tired, which surprised me.

4. I am so glad I got to have this experience with my mom and that my niece and nephew got to have it with her too.

5. In my opinion, the scenery on I-10 is better than the scenery along I-40 with the exception of the Grand Canyon.

6. Use the bathroom every time you see a roadside rest stop or when you get gas b/c there are areas where gas stations and bathrooms are few and far between.

7. Las Vegas is not as smoke-free as many other areas and states.  I just kept thinking . . . If we weren't on the path to Lung Cancer, we are now.

8. More people stared at my mom, who is on oxygen and uses a wheelchair when we walk long distances, than we have ever experienced anywhere else.

9. I was astonished at the number of people who would literally light their cigarettes/matches/lighters right next to us with my mom on oxygen.

10. Las Vegas has a homeless situation, and the more we walked and passed these people, the more thoughts I had on what Las Vegas should be doing to change the situation.

11. We only visited one buffet, and I asked the waiter what they did with all the food at the end of the night as we were there just before they closed, and he said they just put it all in the trash.  Really?!? I am sure there are rules that have to be followed, but with the homeless situation, is the trash the right place for all that food?

12. There is a volcano in Arizona.  We happened upon Sunset Crater Volcano in the middle of the night as we were headed to Four Corners, so I don't have good pictures.  Wish we could have seen it in the daylight.

13. There are lots of tourists in Las Vegas.  The majority tend to sleep late and stay up late.  If you want to walk around with few crowds, head out between 9:00 and 11:00 am.

14. We tried to eat like the locals and find less crowded and less expensive areas.  However, restaurants and fast food places, even gas stations, away from downtown and the Strip close at 10:00 pm.  Just be prepared.

15. I was a little worried about taking kids to Las Vegas for "vacation," but there is plenty for them to do.  Check websites and blogs for free and less expensive things to do as a family.  There were many families there, even with tiny babies and toddlers. (We were there for my niece's dance competition or it would not have been a place we would have visited right now.)

16. My niece and nephew noticed there were no children's channels on cable/satellite in the Las Vegas hotel.  

17.  We went through Border Patrol in New Mexico at 3:30 am.  I was driving at the time, and everyone in front of me had to show ID.  When I rolled up to the officer, he was nice and polite, asked how many were in my car, and told us to have a nice night.  He didn't ask for or want to see my ID. I found that very interesting.

18.  The parking lots and roads at the Hoover Dam are very dirty, covered in oil or something.  My niece, nephew, and sister-in-law all wore flip flops.  By the time we got back in the car from our visit, their feet were black.  When the kids washed their feet in the tub once we go to the hotel, the dirt left a black ring around the tub.

19.  The night we walked The Strip and wandered in and out of most of the hotels, Celine Dion was in concert in whichever hotel.  As we walked by her theater, I told my niece and nephew all the people we were passing were going to a Celine Dion concert.  They asked, "Who is Celine Dion?"  I thought it was funny.  My sister-in-law told them she is the lady who sings to the Titanic song.  They then acted like they knew who she was, but I'm pretty sure they only knew her for that one song.

20.  It is possible to go to and have fun in Las Vegas and not gamble, drink, or see a show.  :-)

I Love My Doctor!

Starting in January 2012, I began seeing my current doctor.  I needed someone closer to home, and I needed to follow-up on some things I had been monitoring with my previous doctor.  I had heard good things about this doctor from my brother and sister-in-law, so I decided to give him a try.  I really don't like seeing male doctors, but I gave him a shot anyway.

He is all about taking care of the whole body and not just the ailment.  He wants complete health, and I really like that.  He is also a data man, and I love that.  I love data!  Because I have insurance, I can get my blood work analyzed every three months.  It is a very detailed, multi-page analysis where he looks at everything possible.  After giving blood, I visit about 2 weeks later to go over everything.  He gives me my own colored copy to go through with him.  He makes notes in advance, and then I can make all the notes I want as he talks.  We discuss each part.  He asks me questions when some areas are a little off, and I ask questions when I don't understand something.  He is patient and takes his time to make sure I understand where I stand with my health and what I need to do in the next three months. 

For about a month before I give blood, I tend to worry that I'm not doing everything I need to do, but when I go for the analysis, I get good news.  (So far anyway!) Everything I have been doing/trying is paying off.  I am losing weight, my health is getting better and better, and I am feeling so much better than I did a year ago.

I was a little nervous at first b/c I thought he was into supplements and other things I really didn't understand.  Well, he is about vitamins and Metagenics.  He does his research about everything, reads constantly, and only wants the best for his patients.

When I leave his office each time, I feel invigorated to do even better the next time.  I can stay the course and keep working toward good health and less weight.

I love my doctor!

Cell Phones and Other Modern Conveniences

I have had a mobile phone since I began working during high school.  It was a bag phone that was too large to carry around with me.  I didn't get a cell phone that I could carry in my pocket or purse until I was a Junior in college.  I know I used it, but I wasn't "attached" to it.  I used it to make sure my family knew where I was.  I always called home when I left work, school, etc.  I hardly ever texted, and I made few phone calls.

Once I began teaching full time, I still used my phone sparingly.  I called home every day when I left work, I used it to talk to folks when necessary, and I began texting more.

When I moved from the classroom to Central Administration, I got a Blackberry.  I know now, looking back, that I was a little too attached to my phone during the first few years of having it.  I checked it constantly.  I got over a 100 emails a day, numerous phone calls, and plenty of texts. Being in a new position, I felt "on call" all the time.  I had 3 campuses and central office asking questions, needing info, and more. I finally set some rules for myself.  No messaging/checking messages after 9:00 pm or before 6:30 am.

Now, I try to make sure I don't have my phone out and visible when my attention should be on something else.  If I am at the table, a meeting, class, etc., I try to keep my focus on the people I am with or the task at hand.

I had to do some growing and learning, but now I see how wrong I was those few years.  I missed out on family time and appeared disrespectful when not giving my full attention. With this in mind, it amazes me the amount of time and when people are on their phones.

I saw this on Facebook yesterday.  Enjoy!
It reminded me of my thoughts on cell phones, but it hits on many other modern conveniences that could be discussed. I put my thoughts in blue at the end of each statement.

Growing up without a cell phone

If you are 36, or older, you might think this is hilarious!

When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning.... Uphill... Barefoot... BOTH... ways...yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!

But now that I'm over the ripe old age of forty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don't know how good you've got it!

1) I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!! (When I was in high school, we volunteered through National Honor Society to begin the city's public library.  One of our jobs was to create the card catalog!)

2) There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter - with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there! Stamps were 10 cents! (Well, stamps were more expensive than that, but I did right many letters.  I also wrote tons of notes to friends that we passed between classes.)

3) Child Protective Services didn't care if our parents beat us. As a matter of fact, the parents of all my friends also had permission to kick our ass! Nowhere was safe! (In the town where I lived, if you got in trouble at school or somewhere in town, your parents knew before you got home.  You knew how to act b/c you were raised "right" and b/c everyone knew you. We knew everyone and everyone knew us.)

4) There were no MP3's or Napsters or iTunes! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself! (My dad was a record collector, so we spent many Friday nights in the record store.)

5) Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up! There were no CD players! We had tape decks in our car. We'd play our favorite tape and "eject" it when finished, and then the tape would come undone rendering it useless. Cause, hey, that's how we rolled, Baby! Dig? (Yep!)
 
6) We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that's it! (Yeah!) 

7) There weren't any freakin' cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn't make a damn call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your "friends". OH MY GOSH !!! Think of the horror... not being in touch with someone 24/7!!! And then there's TEXTING. Yeah, right. Please! You kids have no idea how annoying you are. (Yep!)
 
8) And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent... you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister! (If you wanted to dodge calls, you just didn't answer at all.)
 
9) We didn't have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your screen guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen.. Forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE! (My brother played Atari.  I'm sure I played some, but I wasn't into video games, and I still am not today.  I played and played using my imagination daily.  I think kids are missing out on that today.)

10) You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!! NO REMOTES!!! Oh, no, what's the world coming to?!?! (I was the remote for my parents' tv when I was little.  I had to get up and change the channels.  When my parents replaced the living room television with a new one, I got the old one for my bedroom.  The remote only went one direction.  If I was on channel 8 and wanted channel 5, I had to go all the way through all the channels until it got to the end and then started repeating or I had to get up and change it at the tv.)

11) There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I'm saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards! (Yep!  We only had cartoons on Saturday mornings until I was a little older and there were some on television right after school.)

12) And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove! Imagine that! (I don't know how I made it with out a microwave.  I use it all the time now.)

13) And our parents told us to stay outside and play... all day long. Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort. And if you came back inside... you were doing chores! (My brother and his friends played all day at each others' houses or outside.  He didn't come home until it got dark.  I, on the other hand, was not one to play outside.  I played in the house, especially my room, using my imagination to do all kinds of things or visit great places.)

And car seats - oh, please! Mom threw you in the back seat and you hung on. If you were lucky, you got the "safety arm" across the chest at the last moment if she had to stop suddenly, and if your head hit the dashboard, well that was your fault for calling "shot gun" in the first place! (Car seats existed when we were little, but they were not required.  My brother wouldn't stay in his.)

See! That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled rotten! You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1970 or any time before!

Teaching: The Job Everyone Thinks They Can Do

I read this blog yesterday and thought it was worth sharing. Enjoy!

The Hardest Job Everyone Thinks They Can Do

Those Who Can and Summers

Last weekend, I heard, for the umpteenth time, "Those who can, do.  Those who cannot, teach."  I don't know who said this originally or why, but it really angers me when I hear it.  I mean ANGERS me!  Yes, most, well, all of the time, it is said by a non-educator who has absolutely no clue what it is like to teach, but still.  It angers me!

My dad gave me a sweatshirt many years ago that said, "Those who can, do.  Those who can do more, teach."  This I love! 

One time in a store, a lady misread my sweatshirt and almost attacked me.  Once she reread it, she really liked it and explained how the original quote upsets her too and she was ready to go after me if that is what my shirt said.  She, too, was an educator.

I am sure you have heard comments about how teachers get paid for the summer when they don't actually work.  "Teachers get 3 months off plus all those other holidays," they say.  I just saw this on Facebook, so I thought I would share. It isn't one I have seen before.

Four Corners, USA

Last summer, my niece and nephew wanted to visit Four Corners.  They were trying to visit as many states as possible (they visited 5 states last summer), and this would add 4 at once.  We couldn't make the trip happen, but we did this year on our way home from Las Vegas. (This year, they visited or passed through 6 states.)

I knew, looking at a map, that the monument was in the middle of nowhere, but I really didn't understand the concept of "nowhere" until we drove from Flagstaff to Four Corners.  Because we left the Grand Canyon and made this crazy decision to go visit Four Corners so late, we started looking for a hotel.  Within the 4 hours it would take to drive from Flagstaff, Arizona to Four Corners, USA, there were few towns.  If the town had a hotel/motel, it was full. No vacancies!  Of the other "towns" we passed through, they didn't have hotels/motels.  We decided to drive straight to Four Corners, where we parked outside the locked gate and slept in the van.  In order to find a bathroom when we woke up, we had to drive around 40 miles into Colorado.  We got a few hours of rest and made it to the bathroom and back with an hour to spare (sleep!) and then we entered the Navajo run area to see the monument.  It is a nice monument encircled by little booths where the Navajo sell their goods.

Each state is represented with their name and state crest.

This is a view of the whole monument.

Utah is on the left, and Colorado is on the right.

Arizona is on the left, and Utah is on the right.

Colorado is on the left, and New Mexico is on the right.

The very center of the monument.

3 generations, each in a different state all at the same time.

My mom is in Utah, my nephew is in Colorado, my niece is in Arizona, and I am in New Mexico.

I am in all 4 states at the same time!

Grand Canyon

Today, we visited the Grand Canyon. It is a beautiful, natural creation that is just awe-inspiring. We arrived around 5:00 pm, but we still had plenty of daylight, and the weather was beautiful.  We walked part of the Rim Trail.  I loved it!  I would have loved to have walked the entire Rim Trail. 

 There's water down there!  :-)

We drove to another area and walked a trail "back in time."  Every so many feet, there was a medallion on the sidewalk telling how old that area was.  We walked up through 3090 million years ago, and there was more trail to follow.

 There's water down there too!

The views are just breathtaking!

There was a geology museum that was very informative about the rock layers, age of rocks, and much more.

While driving through Grand Canyon National Park, we saw many Elk just eating along the side of the road and sidewalks.  People could literally walk right next to them.

Golden Nugget in Las Vegas

The Dance Competition's host hotel was the Golden Nugget.  It is a very nice hotel, the beds are comfy, and the pool is very neat.  The pool has a shark tank with 5 different kinds of sharks at its center.  A 3 story slide takes the slider through the Tank and out the other side.

Slide

Shark Tank

Waterfalls

 Inside the hotel/casino:

Painting with glass sculpture in front. 

They had glass sculptures and glass light fixtures throughout.

  

Lobby and stairs leading to valet.

A lighting feature with crystals and colored glass.

 A fish tank in one of the restaurants.

 The Golden Nugget

The hotel opens up right onto Fremont Street, which has music and videos playing overhead, other hotels/casinos, eateries, and shops.

View of the screen above Fremont Street

Discovery Children's Museum in Las Vegas

My niece and nephew love Science museums, so we decided to find the local museum while visiting Las Vegas.  We visited Discovery Children's Museum.  It has three stories with 3 or more learning areas on each floor. In the center of the museum, there is a climbing system that stops on various levels allowing for more learning.  There are also areas to climb to different levels or slide down to other levels.

Las Vegas Zoo

My niece and nephew love to visit the zoo, so we try to visit our local zoo a few times a year, and we try to visit zoos wherever we go on vacation.  While many wouldn't think twice about what to see in Las Vegas . . . the Strip, casinos, shows, etc, we had to add Las Vegas Zoo to our list.  First, we had to see if there was a zoo, and the kids were excited to learn there was.

The zoo is 3 acres.  THREE!  Have you ever visited a zoo so small?  It is also in the middle of a somewhat busy area and neighborhood.  Many zoos we have visited might be near a neighborhood, but b/c they are so large, you still feel like you are away from the busyness of life.  We were driving along when I saw a wall, about a block long, that was painted with animals on it.  We made our u-turn and found the front, which was along another wall that was about 2-3 blocks long.

Here are a few pictures from our visit.

Entrance

Turtles and Flamingos

This little turtle was away from the others trying to escape through the fence.

 Petting Zoo--Goats

Peacocks and other birds wandered all around.

 

 

 

  

 Wallabies lounged in the shade.

Mountain Lion resting in the shade.

American River Otter

Chinese Alligator looking up at us.

 A Lion is in the corner.

Raven

Barbary Apes--the only troop in the United States

 Since these are so rare and can't be found anywhere else in the US, we sat on a bench watching the one that stayed out in the open for a while.

Vulture

Chimpanzee lounging on the cot and using a ball for a pillow.

Ostriches