Through the Transitioning Seasons.

    “Let’s go play in the leaves!” I sit on the sidewalk and check penmanship pages while my darling students make leaf piles and throw leaves in the air and in general get leaves everywhere. My heart is full as I listen to their happy chatter and laughter and the sun shines in all its autumn beauty. The chaff blows across the way from the newly combined field. The children had been enamored with the youth boy in the combine and had shouted and shrieked in excitement. 

    I forgot how much fun it was to color with markers. The 2nd and 3rd graders at Sugar Creek School are highly invested in coloring with markers. Their pictures are very brilliant and the walls of our classroom look like a mirage of colors. I like the chaos of the pictures even if it is not aesthetically pleasing, and besides who said classrooms were supposed to be aesthetically pleasing anyway. They’re kids! 

    While around a fire, strawberries with marshmallow cream melted slightly are introduced to the group. In all honesty, the one presenting had never had them, but had heard of other people doing so. Although not everyone enjoys the delicacy, most have to agree that they are quite delicious. On that note, you should try it sometime. Cover a strawberry in marshmallow fluff and hold it over the coals until the marshmallow is almost drippy and then enjoy. The warm marshmallow and the cold berry go together quite nicely!

    In 2nd grade, we are reading a story about Heaven. The mother in the story is explaining what it will look like. When we have finished reading, someone wonders what the streets of gold will actually look like. For some time we talk about Heaven. Their childish minds are enamored with the thought of the amazing mansions. They will never know how much their teacher has been touched by their little comments. <3

    “I hate meatballs! I would rather eat a thousand okras than one meatball!” Says an exuberant 2nd grader. 

    A very special church service happens. No matter how far you are from your home or how far you are from God, He continues to call every person. After six years of wandering, a lost sheep returns to the fold. There are tears of happiness. The peace and calm that shines out of the face of the prodigal one tells of God’s amazing love. We join our voices and the church building rings with these words. “I will be true to Thee, Lord. I will be true to Thee. Where Thou leadest me, I will follow Thee. I will be true to Thee.” The sun seems to shine a little brighter. Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. Luke 15:10 

    The time has come, the annual fashion show of United Center, also known as the youth chili supper. Friday evening is spent setting up the church fellowship hall with lace doilies, glass candle stick holders with dark red candles, and brown napkins. A good friend and I are on candle repair duty. We use lighters to melt the broken pieces back together and we get some good chats in. The youth group in its entirety practices the songs we are presenting. C and I discuss life while straightening every napkin, plate, and chair. Later that evening, a few of the young people load up into a King Ranch and head to a late night donut shop. It is delicious as it always is. 

    The day of the chili supper dawns quite chilly. (Insert fake laugh that we are known for:) The morning is spent prepping cheese trays, vegetable plates, making soups, and more prep work. Time flies when you are having fun they say! Sustenance arrives in the form of pizza and after a quick clean up, we blend our voices in melodious sounds of singing. "What about the trio?" My coteachers and I look at each other with confusion written on our faces. "Would you guys like to have a trio?" Well, well, well. We agree to it. We head to a coffee shop for a little pick me up with some friends and then back home to get prettied up and practice our song.

    A few minutes past 4:30, the Sugar Creek Trio makes its way back to church. We practice over our song on the stage in the quiet sanctuary. People begin to arrive. It is a flurry of activities that proceed from the kitchen. Pies are being cut, soup is being stirred, and cinnamon rolls are being plated. Everyone is ushered into the sanctuary. The United Center youth files quietly down the side aisle and onto the stage. The singing is marvelously fun and it sounds better than the practices beforehand. The trio mostly goes off without a hitch aside from a slight voice shake. We file out the way we filed in and zoom off to start our work. Food is dished out into glassware and placed on the tables. It is quite the beautiful set up. Instead of serving lines, it is eating family style. AW and I serve up our table. We pour drinks and check that every need is filled. Coffee only gets spilled once, but as a girl who is not always careful in the kitchen and who worked in a bakery, I am pretty used to burns. The servers with slightly weary feet finally sit down to eat. Venison chili is actually quite phenomenal, which is the opinion of a person who doesn’t like regular chili. That opinion is shared by next to none in the near vicinity. Most of my friends are wildly disappointed in my opinion. It takes a bit for everyone to clear tables and a few other unlucky souls and myself get the job of scraping and cleaning candle wax from candle holders. With little persuasion, one young gentleman helps me by microwaving the holders and using a knife to pry out the wax. This is not recommended! The glass gets unusually hot and the wax doesn’t really melt. It is later found out that hot water works much better. Now one would suppose that after spending all day together that we would all want to go home and get to bed. Incorrect! We all head home and freshen up and meet at school for some volleyball. It is entirely a fun ball game with many young couples also appearing. They bring fresh excitement and energy as it isn’t a normal thing for them to play volleyball. Maybe it is also that fact that we are all a little overtired and funny things happen when people are overtired. The chili supper itself raised a good amount of money that will go toward “our youth outreaches”. It was an enjoyable experience and I now wish we did these such things at my Ohio home. 

    Finally the day came that my student got both of her casts removed. It doesn't feel like it has been that long while also feeling like it has been forever. She now has one wrist in a brace and the other completely free. She is enjoying her freedom as are the rest of us. 

    If you read my last blog, you will remember the “enjoyable” time I have had flying. After my parents get stuck in Florida and have to rent a car to drive the 18 hours home, I, together with my father, decide it would be best to cancel my tickets to dearest N + J’s wedding. I do so and receive a full refund! Yay, hurray! I get a substitute teacher for Friday & Monday and early Friday morning, that means 4:30 a.m., I get on road to Mortons Gap, Kentucky where my sister teaches. I arrive at two in the afternoon and freshen up before she gets home. We hurriedly pack all my things into her car and head for our Ohio home. It is nearly midnight when we finally pull up to our dear childhood home. The family is sleeping or scrolling peacefully in the living room. We arouse them from their peacefulness and after getting some snacks and beverages, we sit around and yap as our family does when we are all together. Oh to sleep in my room again, except it oddly doesn’t feel like it used to when it was the only room I’d ever known.

    Saturday dawns beautifully. The sister and I decide that our old haunt Basil will be the lunch place. The sushi is marvelous as it always is. A car wash before a wedding is something my sister and I are well versed in. Eight dollars seems like nothing compared to the $14 I am used to spending on a car wash. The arrival at school means many hugs for all the family and friends and of course the beaming young couple! We tell our cousin how excited we are to be involved in the choir. “It is the best place to be at a wedding!” My sister says. “I think being the one getting married is the best place to be!” He returns with an impish grin. “Well, I don’t have any experience in that area,” I tell him. Choir practice goes splendidly. The songs are good old faithfuls and the choir leader is excellent at his job. My sister and I get prime seating with the front bench as our view. What a large selection of youth attends the ball game! Three nets are full the whole afternoon and the ball playing is exceptional for a Saturday afternoon. The supper is attended and for once, the table conversations go quite swell with no awkward silences and nervous conversations with your friend beside you. Even though there is an inordinate amount of young people, the singing isn’t as great as it could be. My sister and I spend most of the time making faces at the bridal couple and their entourage such as seeing who can cheese bigger. The lovely bridal couple takes that one. In fact, I haven’t  seen a happier couple in a while. Someone makes the comment, “I want to look that happy on my wedding!” Evening volleyball is pretty much an afternoon rematch. 

    The wedding day weather is cold and windy. “You brought the Kansas wind with you,” someone comments. And yes, it feels quite like home. Choir practice goes splendidly, just like Saturday. The wedding is just a solid good wedding. The choir is so much fun to sing in. Once again, we are making faces at our cousin and our new cousin. How absolutely cute and glowing they are! J dear was so excited to hold his hand as she has never held N’s hand before. Aww! "Be our shelter from wild winds that blow. Lead us safe though whatever may come. And wherever our journey shall go, may we always be one in Your love." The bride and groom practically sail down the aisle. Their radiant joy makes it seem as though all is right with the world. What a joy it is to see your friends with the one who completes them! All too soon, the goodbyes are said and once again, the humming of the pavement is the lullaby that fills my ears. Seventeen hours and a night in the MG teacher house later, I turn in the driveway of that tan house on 21st Avenue. The string lights twinkle and the lamp light pouring from the windows has never looked better. Home sweet home!

    “The art of life lies in a constant readjustment to our surroundings.”

    “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

    “It is when we are in transition that we are most completely alive.”