The past few weeks have been difficult mainly because I have too much time on my hands. I only go to school once a week for my physiology lab. The rest of my studying is done at home and on the internet. Some weeks it takes more time than others but even a long unit doesn't take more than a couple of hours a day. My second job of getting kids set up for online tutoring has been quite slow due to the computers being back ordered. I signed up at a temp agency, had an interview and have taken some basic office tests. My data entry skills have been described as phenomenal. The only problem is that most of the positions are full time which my class prevents me from taking. I had an interview for a part-time position last Tuesday but they chose the other candidate. With all of that in mind, I was grateful to be asked to watch Jane on Thursday and Friday.
Jane is now 15 months old and I no longer do all the talking. I do not understand most of her jabbering but her vocabulary is surprisingly large for her age. The most common word was "ba'o" which she proudly proclaimed every time she saw my water bottle. I had to find a sippy cup for her so she could have a drink every time I did. It didn't take long for me to start calling her "parrot" because she often tried to repeat words or short phrases. As I was searching the refrigerator for something to give her at noon, I asked her if she wanted some green beans. Her imitation of "green beans" was very close to the real thing.
Jane has also learned some basic sign language for words like please, more and thank you. I was giving her some blueberries one at a time. As soon as she got one blueberry in her mouth she reached for another. When I held the plate out of her reach until she was done chewing the one she had she immediately began rubbing her chest to say "please." Being given another blueberry was greeted with one of Jane's large smiles - a smile so big that you can tell from behind if she is smiling. She is also quite generous with her hugs. Add it all up, and it was a very enjoyable way for me to spend a couple of days.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Waiting and Clocks
Those of you who heard me speak a few years ago may remember that I talked about waiting. God asks us not only to wait for him but also to wait PATIENTLY. (Ps 37:7, James 5:7) It's the last part that is hard even though we've all had lots of practice waiting. I remember waiting for Dad to come home so we could eat supper and, since it was in the days before 2-way radios, much less before cell phones, we didn't know how long we had to wait. My theory was that if we would just start eating he would come. Mom wasn't willing to test my theory, but when she did give in it always seemed to work.
These days I've been waiting for other things like transcripts and a telephone call that the temp agency has found a post for me. I'm waiting to hear whether or not I've been accepted into the Occupational Therapy program next fall while trying desperately not to think of what happens if I don't get in. At least I know I won't hear anything before mid-March so it's no use being impatient before then. Transition also involves waiting. It just takes time to develop friendships and there doesn't seem to be much that can hurry that along.
I've been reading Neil Postman's book Amusing Ourselves to Death. His main point in the first chapter is that every tool we use for communication is like a metaphor that affects how we look at reality. He borrows from Lewis Mumford's book Technics and Civilization and uses clocks as an example. I don't give clocks a second thought. They are there to make sure I get to work and class on time. Add an alarm and it gets me out of bed on time in the morning. Mumford says that clocks produce seconds and minutes which has "the effect of disassociating time from human events and thus nourishes the belief in an independent world of mathematically measurable sequences." The clock made us into time-keepers, and then time-savers and now time-servers. We no longer pay any attention to the sun and seasons since the world is made up of seconds and minutes and has more authority than nature. "With the invention of the clock, Eternity ceased to serve as the measure and focus of human events."
That last phrase brought me up short. If the simple ticking of a clock makes it that much easier for us to forget that we are living for eternity, we are in even greater danger now when ads declare, "That is so 17 seconds ago!", as if we couldn't possibly wait less than half a minute for some bit if data.
The last few months have added something else to the list of things I'm waiting for. I know I will see John again but it seems like the wait will be very long. And I wonder what I will do in the meantime? I know it will be easier to wait patiently if I can remember to see the wait in light of eternity rather than the ticking of a clock or the speed of a download.
These days I've been waiting for other things like transcripts and a telephone call that the temp agency has found a post for me. I'm waiting to hear whether or not I've been accepted into the Occupational Therapy program next fall while trying desperately not to think of what happens if I don't get in. At least I know I won't hear anything before mid-March so it's no use being impatient before then. Transition also involves waiting. It just takes time to develop friendships and there doesn't seem to be much that can hurry that along.
I've been reading Neil Postman's book Amusing Ourselves to Death. His main point in the first chapter is that every tool we use for communication is like a metaphor that affects how we look at reality. He borrows from Lewis Mumford's book Technics and Civilization and uses clocks as an example. I don't give clocks a second thought. They are there to make sure I get to work and class on time. Add an alarm and it gets me out of bed on time in the morning. Mumford says that clocks produce seconds and minutes which has "the effect of disassociating time from human events and thus nourishes the belief in an independent world of mathematically measurable sequences." The clock made us into time-keepers, and then time-savers and now time-servers. We no longer pay any attention to the sun and seasons since the world is made up of seconds and minutes and has more authority than nature. "With the invention of the clock, Eternity ceased to serve as the measure and focus of human events."
That last phrase brought me up short. If the simple ticking of a clock makes it that much easier for us to forget that we are living for eternity, we are in even greater danger now when ads declare, "That is so 17 seconds ago!", as if we couldn't possibly wait less than half a minute for some bit if data.
The last few months have added something else to the list of things I'm waiting for. I know I will see John again but it seems like the wait will be very long. And I wonder what I will do in the meantime? I know it will be easier to wait patiently if I can remember to see the wait in light of eternity rather than the ticking of a clock or the speed of a download.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
1987 NCCAA Div II Champs
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| March 1987 |
I remember crazy things like our coach showing up at practice with genuine clown shoes and having us play volleyball for our last practice before leaving for nationals. I remember being told to stay out of the sun even though the Kentucky May-like weather in March was very appealing to us after a long Chicago winter. Coach didn't want the sun to sap our energy. I remember taking a 2 hour nap the afternoon of the championship game and for once not being groggy when I woke up. I remember not being able to sleep after the finals and staying up having fun with my teammates. I also remember the sense of satisfaction in having won a championship and yet being so thankful that we lived for something far more lasting and fulfilling. Without Jesus in our lives it would have been an empty satisfaction.
My teammates and coaches told many stories this weekend. It would take far too much space to tell them all and half of them would be like inside jokes unless you knew the personalities involved. There is also the story of how we had four coaches over the course of the year and the back story of how the team had gone from 0 and ___ in 1985 to being national champs in 1987. But what stood out to me was what an exceptional team we were. Not only did we have some exceptional talent for our level (National Christian College Athletic Association Division II) we also had an exceptional commitment to each other and to the game. I didn't realize it at the time but in retrospect I see it more clearly. This weekend Coach Hakes talked about how much we cared for each other. It didn't matter who he played when; there were never any hard feelings. All the way up and down the bench we did whatever would help the team. We not only practiced and played together but we genuinely enjoyed spending time together off the court. We sang and prayed together, and laughed and cried together. That commitment to each other is still there after all these years. We shot some hoops and told basketball stories but most of our conversations centered on the stories of God's faithfulness in the midst of the joys and sorrows of our lives. We've all decided that we will not wait for another 25 years before we get together again. And we will make sure we get more than a month notice so hopefully everyone can be there.
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| February 2012 |
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Visiting homes
For the last several weeks I've been getting a few hours in at a new job with Learn It Systems. They are providing online tutoring for students in the Minneapolis Public schools. To qualify the students need to receive reduced lunches and be doing poorly in a school that has failed to meet standards for the past three years. The Learn It Systems program gives the student a netbook computer and an air card to provide the internet connection. Once they have completed 19 hours of tutoring in either math or English, the computer is theirs. My role is to take the computer into the home and make sure the student has begun taking the pretest. I also unlock the computer once they have finished so they can do something with it besides just go to the tutoring website.
It is always interesting to go into homes and see how people live and react to a guest in their home. More than one has forgotten I was coming and the standard response is to start sweeping the floor or doing the dishes. The first time I unlocked a computer, the mother talked to me non-stop. I was grateful when she finally understood that I wasn't able to focus and it would go much faster if she left me alone. Another mother sat quietly beside me the whole time. By then I knew what I was doing and could have engaged in some conversation.
The first home I visited was very sparsely furnished. The only thing in the living room was a twin mattress and a TV sitting on a chair. The dining room didn't have anything in it. And the longer I was there, the more kids seemed to appear. I think by the end I had counted 6. In another home I only saw the living room. There was a couch under the window and the rest of the room was filled with a bed. I have no idea what was behind the curtains in the rooms on either side.
Many of the parents speak little English, though at least one parent seems to understand enough to get the basic sense of what I am trying to communicate to them. Last week I met a family from Nepal. Though the father spoke some English, the mother knew just a few words she was eager to try out on me. I had some extra time so I gladly accepted a cup of very good chai as they practiced their English. In some ways I felt like I was back in France.
I think the most enjoyable moment I've had so far came as I explained to a first-grader that the computer would be hers once she completed the 19 hours of tutoring. A wide smile spread across her face. She was delighted with the prospect of being able to earn something she could call her own.
It is always interesting to go into homes and see how people live and react to a guest in their home. More than one has forgotten I was coming and the standard response is to start sweeping the floor or doing the dishes. The first time I unlocked a computer, the mother talked to me non-stop. I was grateful when she finally understood that I wasn't able to focus and it would go much faster if she left me alone. Another mother sat quietly beside me the whole time. By then I knew what I was doing and could have engaged in some conversation.
The first home I visited was very sparsely furnished. The only thing in the living room was a twin mattress and a TV sitting on a chair. The dining room didn't have anything in it. And the longer I was there, the more kids seemed to appear. I think by the end I had counted 6. In another home I only saw the living room. There was a couch under the window and the rest of the room was filled with a bed. I have no idea what was behind the curtains in the rooms on either side.
Many of the parents speak little English, though at least one parent seems to understand enough to get the basic sense of what I am trying to communicate to them. Last week I met a family from Nepal. Though the father spoke some English, the mother knew just a few words she was eager to try out on me. I had some extra time so I gladly accepted a cup of very good chai as they practiced their English. In some ways I felt like I was back in France.
I think the most enjoyable moment I've had so far came as I explained to a first-grader that the computer would be hers once she completed the 19 hours of tutoring. A wide smile spread across her face. She was delighted with the prospect of being able to earn something she could call her own.
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