My son was trying...

...to make a snow angel but he jumped in the snow face first. I guess we still have some teaching to do about proper snow angel technique.

As I looked through the pictures of the snow storm (dubbed "the Arctic Blast") from the past couple of weeks it made me wonder what life would be like it we had moved back to Alaska. For now I'm glad I'm here.

2008 was a year of transitions. They were not necessarily bad but it was a challenging year.

2009 will have it's own challenges and joys. In the words of Calvin and Hobbs on the final sydicated newspaper strip..."It's a magical World out there Hobbes ol' buddy...Let's go Exploring."

The Day After Christmas

Today is my dad's birthday. He would have been 72. This is one of my favorite pictures of him and this is how I like to remember him.

He retired in 1989 and left Alaska in his motorhome. He met up with me in Portland for a few days (I was going to college) as he journeyed on toward California to spend the rest of the winter with his dad in Fresno.





I learned a lot from my dad although I didn't know it at the time...
I miss our phone calls....

Looking out my garage at my car.

It's been snowing in Portland for the past week on and off. We have about a foot and a half but the city has basically shut down. I am fortunate that I have a truck as well and didn't need to use the car this week. This picture makes it look like we had a lot of snow but the way the wind blew the snow around around the house and deposited it in front of the garage doors exagerates the amount.

Thinking of Transitions 2

Well - I'll try to continue somewhat where I left off .

I have been a member of 3 different congregations (at different times) when I lived in Alaska. I have now been identified with 4 different congregations here in the Portland area since I first came here in 1987 for college. I have had different reasons for changing but they all have been associated with my involvement and things that I felt were important to my own growth and desire to serve.

I have made each of the Portland area transitions with the company, discussion and prayer of my then girlfriend and now wife. It was not as easy to transition with someone else but the decision to make the change was made together.

Now we find ourselves making the change with a family that included 2 young boys. Was it just time to do something else or was there something that gave us reason or concern? I will try to discuss this in this blog but not for right now. This brings me to my current situation at the church I now attend. I am working with assumptions that I cannot assume here and am learning how to use new tools and be effective as a worship leader.

This brings me to where I left off in the first entry...

While I appreciate serving in a leadership role I also appreciate worshiping with a skilled and confident leader. It has often felt like I have been dragged through a worship service rather than guided and invited. Some who lead are demanding leaders. I am probably one of those right now as I learn how this congregation works and worships. I have a desire to follow the music and this congregation seems to be using more of an oral tradition philosophy. While that is not bad it does make my assumptions more difficult. I am trying to use music and thoughts that connect with this group and I feel that I am missing it. Time seems to be my biggest enemy. I have things that I want to do or try but my own confidence is not up to the task. I have a new set of tools and processes that I am learning to use but that means I feel like I am experimenting where I should be worshiping. I have had nothing but positive comments returned to me but I know that my level of leadership needs to grow to become truly effective. I appreciate others confidence in me and don't mind being one of the "go to" people but... OK...if I waited to learn it by observing it wouldn't be any better. I am one of those people who need to get my hands on it to learn and remember. I am grateful for the desire of others that I participate and lead. I hope I feel my skills in this new venue improve and my own confidence grows.

So... for now... It's trying to freeze again here in the Portland area.

I wish all a safe winter experience.

Be safe....

Snow Days???

I grew up in Alaska. I currently teach in Portland, Oregon. It "snowed" Monday. I understand that some places get more snow than others especially in an area like the Portland Metro area but I still smile when we get what I would call a dusting and everything seems to shut down. Oh I know that there is more to this story than what I am privy to but still, what I have seen this week does not seem enough to warrant the current response..

There was no school Monday

Late Start Tuesday

No students and teachers were dismissed about noon Wednesday

Now I am sitting in my class with students watching the snow come down. It has fully covered the ground and the roads are surly covered now. We are still in class and the day goes on. This is probably not a high quality instructional day but we will have a lot to talk about as Friday (unless the district calls it a snow day) is the last day before Christmas Break.

I do love seeing student reaction to snow especially when it is not a common occurrence here. I have a couple of students who have never seen snow or played in it before.

p.s. On another note... I am hoping to get a new battery or a new camera soon. I would like to include pictures with these thoughts as well.

Have a wonderful and safe day.

Rob

The Grace of a child

I goofed!

I showed my students their report cards yesterday in rough draft form so they could get a preview before they go home next week. I did say that "these are not final drafts and there still may be some changes"... but I missed one and put the wrong grades on one report card. As a teacher I don't want to be known as perfect but I should have caught this one before it went out even as a rough draft to students. Today is an inservice day so as I went over the report cards one final time before they get printed packed to go home Wednesday I found that I had given one of my best students some "less than exceptional" marks.

I made a phone call home and let her know her true grades and apologized for letting that mistake get by me. I didn't want her worried all weekend about her grades. Her response was:

"That's OK ... Thanks"

Something much bigger than that was suppose to happen but she kindly and graciously let my mistake go away. She probably won't ever mention it again and I will forget about it (except for this post) and we will both move on.

While I hope I am often the giver of grace and second chances, it feels good to receive grace and kindness as well. A lesson and a reminder to me....

Thinking of Transitions

It has been about a year since my family and I began to seriously feel it was time to make a change in our church home. We had been attending that congregation for about 14 years. I wont get into the reasons we began to consider this and ultimately chose to become a part of another church family but I may address some of this in another post sometime.

We made the transition to that church family about a year after we were married. No kids and still looking for a place to anchor ourselves after making the move from the temporary college life to permanent resident married life. I remember a lot of feelings and new beginnings with that moved. It was almost like life started over.

I had some skill and a music background which was put to use. While it was nice to be of service it took me away from my family and it was a challenge to worship with the responsibility of leading the worship. When my first child was born my wife ended up sitting by herself working with my son during the worship. I decided I needed to have less of a leadership role and more of a family role. I still led worship once and a while but it was nice to sit with my family.

I feel like I'm stopping in the middle of a thought but I may continue this later tonight. For now I'm going to spend some time with my kids.

In the beginning...

I like to think out loud. It drives my wife nuts. I don't always have the end result in sight but I as I think and process aloud I begin to narrow my options to what I need to do. Even then sometimes I change the plan as the process unfolds. Muddy Water is a way for me to think out loud even though I don't always see the end until I get there.

I wonder how deep this puddle really is?