Up the Down Staircase

This, of course, is the title of a classic 20th century play. I have read it but don't know if I actually want to have my drama department perform it or not.

Anyway, I was struck by how life seems to go in waves of success and failure, and in particular, how God seems to be blessing one thing incredibly and at the same time other stuff is falling apart. Example: Last night we had some of the most wicked rain and wind Minnesota has seen for a long time, and it came from the east. Every east-facing window in our house was leaking through the top of the window frame. I'd never seen anything like it before. I was wiping up sills and taking care of the children, and then every so often the door on that side of the house would gust open because aparently the latch doesn't latch so well against 50-mile-per hour winds. Aidan saw me using my body to hold the door shut and yelled, "Don't worry, Dad! I'm standing guard for you!" He propped his 35-pound self against the steel door and hunkered down, prepared for whatever.

Meanwhile, at school I had just an amazing day. We have had some big breakthroughs with a couple of kids (brother and sister) that I was afraid for when they started at SA earlier in the year. They weren't used to the subculture or the expectations and both of the bucked it in different ways. But within the last few weeks, the sister (8th grade) has made huge, unbelievable changes for the good. She participates in class, she's learning the material for the first time, she asks for help outside of class. Wow. The brother (6th grade) also nailed a vocabulary quiz for the first time this week. They are both starting to care and seeing that being bad for the sake of being bad is just stupid. My guess is that their parents are seeing some changes for the better at home, too.

I talked with a long-time friend today also who is trying to break into the Lutheran tradition as a DCE (director of Christian education). This will be a great post for him if he can overcome/persevere and make it through.

I continue to work on house projects to improve the saleability of this bit of God's green earth.