The Christmas cards from friends and family got me thinking. I haven't ever written a "Christmas letter" type summary of my year. So, I thought I'd give it a try on my blog. If you aren't interested in this sort of thing, that's fine. You can stop reading now and wait for the next post, probably on Wednesday. (Caveat: I don't normally think in calendar years, so I won't reference much from the first part of the year simply because to me it was "last year." For me, the new year begins the week before school starts.)
Major events of 2007
1. Buying a house. Motivated by the rapidly decaying condition of the apartment complex I lived in, I was able, by God's grace and help from my family, to find an affordable house here in town. The month-long sprint that was the process ended in early July when I finally took possession of the house and moved in--for one day. The next day saw me off to Sioux Center for three weeks. [A huge thank you, by the way, to my friends the Catlins as well as my entire family for helping me move into my house. And a second thank you to my family for re-doing my bathroom while I was gone. I still love it six months later!]
2. Starting classes for a Masters degree. The three weeks in Sioux Center (and indeed, the two months of preparation work) were the most stressful weeks of my entire year. The work was intense and detailed, although I enjoyed it. By the end of three weeks, though, I was ready to leave and start living in my house.
3. CPLS Graduation in May. It was a privilege to watch a class of 29 seniors take their final walk across the stage. This class and I have a long history: some of the students have had to put up with me as a coach and/or teacher since they were in 7th grade. It was a bittersweet yet joyous moment for me. To see these kids begin to take flight on their own after all the years of working with them was wonderful.
4. Running in the first CPLS 5K in August. I've always been (and probably will be) more of a sprinter than a distance runner, but I decided to try the 5K that the school sponsored. I finished in exactly 24 minutes, not exactly fast, but for me a great time. And the extra endurance that I gained from training for the race certainly made refereeing easier.
5. School Tour (to New York). For the second time in 6 years at Cair Paravel, I was able to go with the juniors and seniors as the traveled to New York City for a week. It was great to travel one last time with both classes.
6. Visiting Ames. On my way down from Dordt to Topeka, I made a side trip over to Ames. It was good to see all of my old friends one more time, and as nostalgic as always to roam the campus of Iowa State.
Normal events of 2007
1. Teaching. What else? I am truly grateful to God that I get to do what I do. I can't imagine doing anything else. Cair Paravel is a great place to be, and I enjoy the privilege of working with the students. I could go on for hours....
2. Coaching. I spent this year as an assistant coach for both the boys' and girls' teams. Like teaching, coaching is tiring work, but it is a chance to interact with my students outside of class, making teaching them in class easier. The girls' team won the inaugural Kansas Christian Athletic Association girls' tournament in the Spring. The boys came close this Fall, taking second after an exciting championship game.
3. Refereeing. It's my excuse to get out and run while still getting paid for it. This year, I did a few high school games and enjoyed doing that. There's nothing like a little refereeing to give one practice in handling irate people. :-)
4. Bible Study. I am part of a multi-generational study that meets weekly (for the most part). It's a blessing to be able to sit in there and learn from people older and wiser than myself. I also hosted a small (very small; we need to find more guys) single men's Bible study at my house.
5. Scholars' Bowl. Our 2007-2008 team took first place in our classification at one tournament. We also participated in another. The team had a lot of fun at both tournaments, no matter if we won or lost. This coming calendar year promises to be the most active ever in the history of Scholars' Bowl at CPLS: we are headed to two more high school tournaments and hosting a small high school tourney of our own, not to mention the two middle school tournaments that we're hoping to do in February.
As always, God has shown Himself faithful in my life in many ways. I know that I could not survive a year of teaching without His grace. It is simply too demanding a job, and I would burn out, becoming the ultimate grumpy teacher. From financial provision (tuition for graduate school, help with the down payment on the house) to the blessing of being able to spend time with my family over breaks, God constantly provided what was needed when it was needed. Soli Deo gloria!
Thanks for reading! May God make your 2007 a year of great joy and of knowing Him more deeply!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Sunday, December 30, 2007
What Day Is It?
The joy (burden?) of being on a break from teaching is that one often forgets what day it is. Such is the case with me right now. I only knew that yesterday was Saturday because my computer told me so. To be honest, I would have had no clue as to which day of the week it was otherwise. I'm pretty sure I skipped a day last week (not sure which one, but one seems to be missing from my recollection). Of course, being sick and trying to rest isn't exactly a memory-making experience.
Off to other adventures now.
Off to other adventures now.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
And More Snow!
If the forecast holds, Topeka could see another 2-4 inches of snow on top of the 9 that fell last weekend. This is one of the snowiest Decembers that I remember, and I'm not looking forward to shoveling it. Still, the snow makes for beautiful scenes, like on Christmas Eve, when it was so bright (thanks to a full moon), that everything was casting shadows. It gave everything a serene, peaceful appearance. That probably won't be quite the case with this snowfall, since the moon is now waning.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Snow!
Yesterday was a record setting day for Topeka snowfall, at least for the date. The official NWS tally of snowfall, 9 inches, was the highest snowfall total recorded on 12/22 in the history of the climate records. (Admittedly, these are only about 100 years old. I'm sure that sometime in the past 4000 years, there's been a bigger snowfall, but no one bothered to record it...) Here at my house, I had 7 inches of accumulated snow, although it was deeper in places thanks to drifting.
I was initially surprised that Silver Bells was postponed, but once I went out last night about 8:30 p.m. to clear off my driveway, I realized that it was a brilliant decision. I spent about an hour outside, and I only made it a 1/4 of the way down my driveway. I went back out this morning and spent another 45 minutes digging myself out so I could make it to church. The last time I saw this much snow, I was in Ames, IA, going to college. The last time I saw this much snow in Kansas was probably when I was a teenager in Lawrence. It's an amazing and beautiful thing to see. And the thunder was a nice addition. It's quite a rare thing to have thunder snow, and we did yesterday. Really cool!
I was initially surprised that Silver Bells was postponed, but once I went out last night about 8:30 p.m. to clear off my driveway, I realized that it was a brilliant decision. I spent about an hour outside, and I only made it a 1/4 of the way down my driveway. I went back out this morning and spent another 45 minutes digging myself out so I could make it to church. The last time I saw this much snow, I was in Ames, IA, going to college. The last time I saw this much snow in Kansas was probably when I was a teenager in Lawrence. It's an amazing and beautiful thing to see. And the thunder was a nice addition. It's quite a rare thing to have thunder snow, and we did yesterday. Really cool!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Rant: Time and Date Errors
I'm just feeling the need to go "Andy Rooney" for a minute:
There are several common mistakes that people make with dates and times that are either slightly annoying or slightly amusing to me, depending on the mistake.
One is what I call the "noon problem." It seems that many of us have forgotten whether noon is 12 a.m. or 12 p.m. Consider the following statement, "The store will be open on Christmas Eve from 8-12 a.m." Now, I think we all know what that means. The store will be open from 8 a.m. until noon. However, that's not what the statement says. Noon is not 12 a.m. Midnight is. Noon is 12 p.m. So, the statement is really saying that the store will be open from 8 a.m. until midnight on Christmas Eve. I don't think those hours are going to be popular with most of the staff....
While the "noon problem" is more amusing than annoying, the "misplaced year modifier problem" is more annoying than amusing because it shows an ignorance of how our calendar system is set up. The problem manifests itself something like this: "He was born in 5 B.C. and died in 50 A.D." The problem? Our calendar system was set up in such a way that the split between B.C. and A.D. is the year of the birth of Jesus Christ. (Now, the guy who calculated the year was off by about 5 years, but hey, cut him some slack. He did the best he could with what he had.) B.C., thus, stands for "Before Christ," and A.D. stands for "Anno Domini," which is Latin "Year of our Lord." B.C. modifies the year by sitting after the number, e.g. 5 B.C. means 5 years Before Christ. A.D., however, modifies the year by sitting before the number, e.g. A.D. 50 means in the Year of our Lord (number) 50. It doesn't make much sense to put it the other way, e.g. 50 A.D., since that would mean 50 in the year of our Lord. When thought of that way, the second options is quite confusing. 50 what? And what year, precisely is this "Year of our Lord?" Sadly, we no longer teach the meaning of the phrase A.D., and so it has wound up misplaced after the year instead of before.
Of course, there are some, primarily historians, who realize full well what B.C. and A.D. stand for. They seem uncomfortable with this knowledge, however, and that leads to a third "error," one that is particularly infuriating to me. Here's how it works. In an effort to remove any references to Christ from their calendars, some historians call every date that would normally be designated "A.D." as "C.E." meaning "Common Era" or "Christian Era." Likewise, "B.C." becomes "B.C.E." or "Before Common Era." The numbering stays the same. Now, hopefully, you're seeing the absurdity of this. The dividing point, the birth year (albeit slightly miscalculated) of Jesus Christ, is still the same. But the reference to the cause of the dividing line has been removed. It's like people were afraid that if they used references to Jesus as a real, historical person that they might actually have to believe in Him.
It's also intellectually disingenuous for two reasons. First, there's no such thing as "Common Era" because many cultures use different calendars with different starting and ending dates. Secondly, the "Christian Era" could not begin at A.D. 1 because "Christians" did not really exist, yet. (Christ would only have been about 6 at the time and wouldn't have had too many disciples.) The "Christian Era" probably should not be held to begin until later, perhaps as late as Constantine's "Edict of Milan" in A.D. 313. So, the whole point of the designations is not for some valid historical reason; rather, it's simply an attempt to avoid the references to Christ in the year naming system. Yet this point is not acknowledge by proponents of the system. They somehow feel more "enlightened" for having removed from their system the reference to its origin in the first place.
So, the next time you plan on sending the e-mail out about your Christmas party, be sure to say that it runs "From 7 p.m. to 12 a.m." (not 7 p.m. to 12 p.m. That would be one long party!) and that it is on "December 21, A.D. 2007" (not 2007 A.D.). And please, don't even dare try to say, "2007 C.E." Somehow, the idea of a Christmas party in a year designated "C.E." just seems a little too much like mockery to me.
End of rant.
There are several common mistakes that people make with dates and times that are either slightly annoying or slightly amusing to me, depending on the mistake.
One is what I call the "noon problem." It seems that many of us have forgotten whether noon is 12 a.m. or 12 p.m. Consider the following statement, "The store will be open on Christmas Eve from 8-12 a.m." Now, I think we all know what that means. The store will be open from 8 a.m. until noon. However, that's not what the statement says. Noon is not 12 a.m. Midnight is. Noon is 12 p.m. So, the statement is really saying that the store will be open from 8 a.m. until midnight on Christmas Eve. I don't think those hours are going to be popular with most of the staff....
While the "noon problem" is more amusing than annoying, the "misplaced year modifier problem" is more annoying than amusing because it shows an ignorance of how our calendar system is set up. The problem manifests itself something like this: "He was born in 5 B.C. and died in 50 A.D." The problem? Our calendar system was set up in such a way that the split between B.C. and A.D. is the year of the birth of Jesus Christ. (Now, the guy who calculated the year was off by about 5 years, but hey, cut him some slack. He did the best he could with what he had.) B.C., thus, stands for "Before Christ," and A.D. stands for "Anno Domini," which is Latin "Year of our Lord." B.C. modifies the year by sitting after the number, e.g. 5 B.C. means 5 years Before Christ. A.D., however, modifies the year by sitting before the number, e.g. A.D. 50 means in the Year of our Lord (number) 50. It doesn't make much sense to put it the other way, e.g. 50 A.D., since that would mean 50 in the year of our Lord. When thought of that way, the second options is quite confusing. 50 what? And what year, precisely is this "Year of our Lord?" Sadly, we no longer teach the meaning of the phrase A.D., and so it has wound up misplaced after the year instead of before.
Of course, there are some, primarily historians, who realize full well what B.C. and A.D. stand for. They seem uncomfortable with this knowledge, however, and that leads to a third "error," one that is particularly infuriating to me. Here's how it works. In an effort to remove any references to Christ from their calendars, some historians call every date that would normally be designated "A.D." as "C.E." meaning "Common Era" or "Christian Era." Likewise, "B.C." becomes "B.C.E." or "Before Common Era." The numbering stays the same. Now, hopefully, you're seeing the absurdity of this. The dividing point, the birth year (albeit slightly miscalculated) of Jesus Christ, is still the same. But the reference to the cause of the dividing line has been removed. It's like people were afraid that if they used references to Jesus as a real, historical person that they might actually have to believe in Him.
It's also intellectually disingenuous for two reasons. First, there's no such thing as "Common Era" because many cultures use different calendars with different starting and ending dates. Secondly, the "Christian Era" could not begin at A.D. 1 because "Christians" did not really exist, yet. (Christ would only have been about 6 at the time and wouldn't have had too many disciples.) The "Christian Era" probably should not be held to begin until later, perhaps as late as Constantine's "Edict of Milan" in A.D. 313. So, the whole point of the designations is not for some valid historical reason; rather, it's simply an attempt to avoid the references to Christ in the year naming system. Yet this point is not acknowledge by proponents of the system. They somehow feel more "enlightened" for having removed from their system the reference to its origin in the first place.
So, the next time you plan on sending the e-mail out about your Christmas party, be sure to say that it runs "From 7 p.m. to 12 a.m." (not 7 p.m. to 12 p.m. That would be one long party!) and that it is on "December 21, A.D. 2007" (not 2007 A.D.). And please, don't even dare try to say, "2007 C.E." Somehow, the idea of a Christmas party in a year designated "C.E." just seems a little too much like mockery to me.
End of rant.
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Colds! Bah, Humbug!
So, two weeks ago, I lost my voice thanks to a cold. I had just gotten over it, and then I manage to catch another one. This one, thanks be to God, has left my voice alone, but I've been coughing for three days, now. It's not fun. I can't remember the last time I've been sick for this long. Last year, I caught nothing. Not so this year. :-(
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Winter Is Here
Astronomically, winter starts on December 21. In terms of the weather conditions, though, winter started with the early-season snow last week and the ice storm this week. And it looks like winter is going to get into full swing with a significant snowfall in the forecast for this weekend. The current official forecasts call for 5-7 inches of snow in Topeka. That will certainly make things wintry. Of course, I'm supposed to be helping family move to town Saturday morning. Could be a bit difficult if the snow falls as predicted. We shall see. Accurately forecasting snow accumulation is quite difficult. Still, it will be nice to have snow this time around instead of ice. Perhaps it will even linger for a week and give us a "White Christmas."
Monday, December 10, 2007
Prince Caspian Trailer...I'm Concerned
I've just watched the first trailer for the movie The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, and I have to say that overall it looks like it will be an interesting movie. Unfortunately, it also looks like it's going to deviate from the book (and embellish) on it far more than The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe did. There are several little hints I saw that concern me, but I'm not going to mention any of them. I'm going to take a "wait and see" attitude regarding this movie. Hopefully, it won't deviate as much as I'm concerned that it will.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
"Ice" of You to Drop By
By this time tomorrow night, NE Kansas could be in the grip of a serious ice storm. Warm air aloft and cold air near the surface could combine (potentially) to produce a serious freezing rain event. That much is well known. The Weather Service does a great job in sending out warnings about this sort of event.
What's not in the forecast, though, is the amount of uncertainty regarding what actually will happen. Some systems are easy to predict. Some are not. This system is proving slightly problematic. A small error in the forecasted direction of the upper air disturbance will result in far less ice or far more snow to the region. Surface temperatures also could sneak over the freezing mark, turning a potentially dangerous event into a cold gullywasher.
That being said, taking precautions is certainly wise. If this system does indeed progress as the forecast models predict, we could be in a for a long couple of days. I'm praying that it doesn't and that God will be merciful to us in this situation. Please join me in praying.
What's not in the forecast, though, is the amount of uncertainty regarding what actually will happen. Some systems are easy to predict. Some are not. This system is proving slightly problematic. A small error in the forecasted direction of the upper air disturbance will result in far less ice or far more snow to the region. Surface temperatures also could sneak over the freezing mark, turning a potentially dangerous event into a cold gullywasher.
That being said, taking precautions is certainly wise. If this system does indeed progress as the forecast models predict, we could be in a for a long couple of days. I'm praying that it doesn't and that God will be merciful to us in this situation. Please join me in praying.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Cold
A few random thoughts on the word "cold" (because I have nothing else to say right now)
I have a cold.
It's cold outside.
I'm not used to this cold, yet.
Cold is a strange word if you stop and think about it.
Wouldn't frío be much better?
I just has that onomatopoeic sound to it, like someone trying to talk while cold.
I have a cold.
It's cold outside.
I'm not used to this cold, yet.
Cold is a strange word if you stop and think about it.
Wouldn't frío be much better?
I just has that onomatopoeic sound to it, like someone trying to talk while cold.
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Veni Veni Emmanuel
With December here, cold air descending on Topeka (albeit only for a day), and the season of Advent beginning, it is time to turn to thoughts of Christmas. I have tried as hard as I can to avoid Christmas related music and decorating until Advent starts. It's sort of my way of "rebelling" against our culture that seems to feel the need for Christmas to start the day after Thanksgiving (or even right after Halloween). With Advent now here, my Christmas lights are now turned one and my Christmas tree is now up (much to the delight of my cat). My thoughts now can slowly turn towards the joyous birth of our Lord and Savior in Bethlehem some 2000 years ago.
Sadly, though, as I've gotten older, Christmas has ceased to be my favorite holiday. I know that there are people that just seem to love this holiday more than any other, who could listen to Christmas carols year round and have their lights on perpetually. To me, though, Christmas has lost a lot of its wonder, thanks to the secular and materialist emphases that our culture has placed on it. (If I hear one more commercial hawking products using "Carol of the Bells," I think I'll go crazy.) Christmas is supposed to be about celebrating the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, which is a wonderful and joyous event. It is an appropriate time to give gifts. Yet our society wants to have the joy without the Source. The result is so saccharine that I can hardly take it.
So, while strangely dressed gnomes sing carols to try to get me to buy GPS systems that I neither need nor want, I'm going to content myself with singing the centuries old refrain "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." Amen, come Lord Jesus. And save us from our own folly.
Sadly, though, as I've gotten older, Christmas has ceased to be my favorite holiday. I know that there are people that just seem to love this holiday more than any other, who could listen to Christmas carols year round and have their lights on perpetually. To me, though, Christmas has lost a lot of its wonder, thanks to the secular and materialist emphases that our culture has placed on it. (If I hear one more commercial hawking products using "Carol of the Bells," I think I'll go crazy.) Christmas is supposed to be about celebrating the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, which is a wonderful and joyous event. It is an appropriate time to give gifts. Yet our society wants to have the joy without the Source. The result is so saccharine that I can hardly take it.
So, while strangely dressed gnomes sing carols to try to get me to buy GPS systems that I neither need nor want, I'm going to content myself with singing the centuries old refrain "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel." Amen, come Lord Jesus. And save us from our own folly.
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