Jobs and Death

I really love my job. I don't know what it is, but I really, truly love being there. I love the kids I work with. I think they are fantastic. They are also hilarious.

On Wednesday the kids were being testy, and two of them were arguing back and forth. The autistic kid speaks up and says "Where's the love?" I had been trying to regain control of my group and when he said that I couldn't help but laugh. ( I refer to him and others by descriptions like 'the autistic kid', or 'the blind girl' because I was told I'm allowed to tell people the cute stories, but I'm not allowed to disclose the identiy of the students by saying their names)

In other not so great news, when my dad picked me today he asked it I'd recieved any bad news phone calls and I hadn't, so he told me that my Uncle Clarence (well.. my grandma's brother), he died last night from a massive heart attack. I was really shocked. I was sure Uncle Clarence would have lived another twenty years at least. He was healthy. I didn't know how to act or what to do. I wasn't exactly close with him, but he was very important in my mom's life when she was younger. I've seen posts on facebook from my cousin Bethany detailing who he was to her, and also how a few other members of the family took the news.

You know, I used to think that the younger the person is, the harder it is to deal with thier death, and I do still believe that's true, but I think there's another important factor, whether the death is expected or not. From what I heard, Uncle Clarence was gone before they the EMT's got him to the hospital.

Clarence Trowbridge was a pillar in both his family and in his community. He will be missed, but he has the joy of meeting God now.

I start working tomorrow at the elementary school. Apparently my interview wasn't actually an interveiw, but the school informing me of what I would be doing and what I'd need to get to get started. I'm nervous and excited and I hope I do well.

I've been thinking more about school and I don't know what I'm doing next semester yet. At the very least I would like to do a Saturday Seminar and the Spiritual Formation Experience. We'll see what happens.

Our True Selves: Children of God

I was reading in the book of John with the Message translation/interpretation and I got to John 1:12 and I was forced to think about it in a different light.

I don't frequently read the Message version of the Bible, mostly because I don't have a physical copy of it, but when I get the chance to go online to http://www.crosswalk.com/ I like to check it out and read side by side comparisions with other translations.

I have never read John 1:12 quite this way before:

But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves.

Mostly I've just read it this way:

Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God (NIV Translation).

He made them to be their true selves. Obviously since the Message is not really a translation, but an interpretation, this was not originally in the text as we know it, but it spurred me on to thinking about our true selves; God's original design for us.

The truth is that we were and are made to be God's children and anything less is just incomplete. There is no peace; there is no Shalom.

(Shalom is a Hebrew word that we translate as peace, but unlike the word peace, Shalom is much deeper in it's meaning than inner calm or an absense of outward conflict. It includes wholeness, or completeness. )

Musings

I had one of those dreams last night that was soooooooooooo good. It was better than reality. It was one of those dreams that when you wake up and realize it wasn't really happening you're dissapointed. It was one of those dreams that you hope and pray it does happen someday in real life. *sigh*

Anyway, my job interview was cancelled last Friday. School was closed.
I was called into to sub today for an afternoon kindergarten. I had to change diapers on five and six year olds. But it was a good day. I love this age group.

My cousins wife said that when her daughters go to preschool she wants to send them where I am because I work so well with kids, especially that age group, and both of her girls love me already. I just smiled.

One thing that makes me feel awful inside is that when I'm subbing at the special needs school, every preschool teacher expressed irritation and dislike toward their students. Last week when I was subbing for a preschool class room, it was a bit of a rough day for the kids. They were acting out and being testy. The teacher said (about me) "she'll never come back after today", and I replied that I would gladly come back any time, but I don't think the teacher believed me.

I hope that if I can get the job at the elementary school they will put me with preschool and kindergarten age. Those kids need to be loved. :-)

Update

I've been working as a para-substitute at the SELF School. I've only worked 3 days in the past two weeks, but I love working with the preschoolers.

I have a job interview tomorrow at 10:30am. At least I think it's an interview, but the word "interview" was never actually said. They just said they wanted to talk further about the job with me. Maybe that's their way of keeping their applicants from becoming nervous during the actual interview process.
I think this would basically be a great job for me. It's Monday through Friday, I would get weekends off. It starts at 8:30am and I'd be done by 3:00pm. And my starting pay would be $8.37 per hour. I would be a paraprofessional at an Elementary School. I want this job.

My baby mice will be 4 weeks old tomorrow. I think the adult male has a lot of sexual aggression that he needs to get out. He's in a cage by himself with a wheel. He keeps running on the wheel almost nonstop, but I suppose it's better for him to do that than to try to mate with his male babies (All my mice are separated by gender).
Here's a video of my mice having fun on their new wheel.

What I need to do

As I've been studying different things about being a disciple of Christ and member in the Kingdom of God, there are five things that I want to start making sure that I do or experience at least once a week.



They are:

Communion-spending time coming intot he presense of God in Worship.

Community-spending time in fellowship with other believers.

Discipleship-spending time looking after my own personal growth through study.

Mission-spending time purposefully doing God's work and reaching out to those who are in need and don't know Christ.

Accountability-spending time meeting with a person whom I can share with and will hold me accountable.

Love it

One of my favorite things about the early church is that they were incarnational at heart. They didn't go to gatherings and then try to build relationships. They were already in relationships and gatherings happened as a result.

That's Beautiful. <3

Baby Mice at 2 Weeks Old

Well, my babies are now two weeks old. Here they are with the momma in their "nursery" witch is easily detatched from the cage.

Fortune Loves to watch whenever I bring my mice out.

All six of them can fit in my hand withe room to spare, except now they're at the time when they're starting to crawl and explore, so holding them in one hand it a little bit of a challenge.

Maybe it's just me, but I think they're adorable. I've been taking them out every day for the past few days to let them get used to being handled. If mommy or daddy mouse are in the 'nursery', they come out to play too.