Jesus in the market

This was a quote from a short message given by NICS director Joe Hale: "I simply argue that the cross should be raised at the center of the marketplace as well as on the steeple of the church. I am recovering the claim that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves; on the town's garbage heap; at a crossroad so cosmopolitan they had to write his title in Greek... at the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble. Because that is where He died. And that is what He died for. And that is what He died about. This is where churchmen ought to be and what churchmen ought to be about." -George MacLeod

10 snippets of middle schoolers

Oh man i love my middle schoolers.... 1) One day my 7th graders got an ice cream party right before my class. they came in bouncing off the walls, quite literally. In an attempt to get them to calm down, I asked them if they needed to go outside to the field and run laps. In almost perfect unison, they unexpectedly exclaimed, "YES!" I was so taken aback, I let them go. They each ran about three laps and begged to keep going. The PE teacher would have been so happy. 2)This is a 6th grader's reason for visiting the Bahamas: "You should go to the Bahamas because their beaches are as clean as new bought towels." 3)In a short Bible skit, one 7th grade girl animately described a shepherd saying "and he is a flocker of sheep." I almost fell out of my chair laughing. 4)I never know what to say to this, "Are we learning today?" I always say no. 5)The 2nd question that always gets me, "Are going to have fun?" seriously? I always remind them that we never have fun. 6)I walked up behind one of my 7th grade boys and he didn't know it, and all of a sudden he stopped mid-sentence and said, "I smell Miss Jones." I wasn't sure whether that was a complement or an offense? 7)I was just walking through the middle of my boys' playing soccer, while taking pictures of them, and one kid just bursts out, "Miss Jones you're just making me laugh!" Best complement ever. 8) To a 6th grader..."Please take this note to the office." "Can I run?!" "Uh, you can run when you're not in the hall." "Yeah!!!" He was indescribably excited. Why do they love to run? 9)I made a student cry, literally wiping tears. What did I do? Apparently my rendition of Romeo and Juliet was quite moving. 10) My students had to write what they were most thankful to God for on a little bitty star for a bulletin board. My favorite response: texting. What are we going to do with this generation?!

Aunt Alanna

So....I hadn't yet told the world through my blog, but....I'm going to be an aunt. Yep, that's right. It's pretty much the coolest thing, ever. Aunt Alanna, Auntie Alanna, Aunt Lanna......tough choice. Hum... sigh....I'm an aunt....enough said.