Tattletale

A few weeks ago, my principal made an announcement at school about an incident that had happened that morning on the bus. Apparently, a student opened the window on a bus and dropped a lead pipe out into traffic. The pipe hit a car and did several thousand dollars worth of damage. Our principal was appealing to our students to come forward and report any information that might be useful in tracking down the guilty parties.

I was sitting in the foyer of the counseling center when the announcement was made, and about five seconds after he finished speaking, a whole group of kids came flying around the corner in a race to the front office. I just had to laugh, because only in a school of fifth and sixth graders would a group storm to the principal to be first in line to tattle.

I thought about this incident last night at church while we were studying the 32nd Psalm. In the first five verses, David shows the juxtaposition of confessing sin versus not confessing sin.

1Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit.

3When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. 5Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord"--and you forgave the guilt of my sin.

I got to thinking that maybe I should be more childlike in my confession of sin. Instead of putting it off, ignoring it, or otherwise allowing sin to sap my strength, I should race to the Lord to tattle on myself just as soon as I hear His voice convicting me. He offers thirst-quenching forgiveness. What's not to like about that?

I think I'm going to try and be a better tattletale. I do, after all, have fantastic models of this daily. Perhaps each time one of them tattles to me, I will be prompted to offer up my own tales.

Give Me A Break

Everyday from 11:20 a.m. until 11:55 a.m. I have the pleasure of break duty. This duty requires me to go outside with about 75-100 ten, eleven, and twelve year olds and monitor their break time. Of course it's just another word for recess, but for some reason, my principal thought it would sound more grown up for an intermediate school to have "break" instead of "recess."

Most days, it is an enjoyable break for me too. I get to breathe some fresh air, see the sun, and interact with some pretty sweet kids in a very relaxed atmosphere. Additionally, as a counselor who often deals with their social skills issues, it's pretty insightful to me to see them in their natural habitat interacting with others. Sometimes, it's pure comic relief to see the creative things they will come up with to do, like play football with a tennis shoe or see how many people can fit in one coat.

Occasionally, like today, we have to stay inside for break because it is too cold, rainy, windy, etc. These are the days I dread.

Imagine two adults in one half of a gym (PE is still happening on the other side) with 75-100 kids. Some of the kids are playing knockout at three goals or sitting on the sidelines and visiting with friends...their two official options. Add to that pairs of chasers and chasees pinballing through the knockout lines and over their sideline friends.

And then picture huddles of girls pretending to be in line but actually planning their strategy to attract the huddles of boys across the way who are pushing and shoving each other in order to impress previously mentioned girls. It's like a show on the Discovery channel...Games Girls Play: Prepubescent Mating Rituals and The Exciting World of Flirtation and Budding Love.

And lets not forget the tattlers. They're like gnats that buzz around me in a cloud. As soon as one is swatted away, another is there to take his place.

I am a rule follower by nature. I like order and organization. I like to peruse the school supply and home organization aisles of WalMart to see what's new...

Inside break makes me downright twitchy. If I were sitting, I'd probably be up against the gym wall, rocking and banging my head.

So today, to while away the time (in between yelling in my bull horn to put out fires), I amused myself by coming up with all the things I'd rather do than Inside Break.

1. Do five loads of laundry - all white socks.
2. Reread the TAKS Testing Coordinator Manual.
3. Teach calculus for an entire day.
4. Explain to 10 moms how their child could be making all A's and B's and still fail the TAKS test.
5. Listen to 7 teachers complain about curriculum and the administration.
6. Clean the boys restrooms in the 6th grade hall. Eeeks
7. Attend 5 ARD meetings with chatty parents and teachers back to back.
8. Teach 10 kids how to give "I" messages...I feel_______when____. I would like_____.
9. Listen to 25 kids in resource reading do a timed reading.
10.Counsel 5 ten year old girls in my office at once....Now that is desperate.

Superhero Dreams

If I were a superhero, my name would be Polly Positive. I wouldn't bother with a cape or utility belt, but I'd never be without my Enthusiasm Socks. I'd fly to the rescue of those in the pit of despair. I'd equip them with magic red socks of their own that would give them supernatural hopefulness. And together, we would stomp out the enemy.


Negativity

A soul siphoning succubus,
She infiltrates with stealth.

Camouflaged as humor,
realism, the Devil’s advocate -
She paralyzes the positive
like the proverbial frog in the pot.

She was conceived by fear,
nurtured by doubt,
and brought to life by Choice-

Her legacy is passed
in whispers, rolling eyes,
and martyred sighs.

Only Choice can destroy Her.

Deliverance from the Lord of the Rings

On Sunday I heard a really convicting sermon on God’s Deliverance. The series is taken from Exodus, and the text for this week was Exodus 5-15, God’s deliverance of the Israelites, Moses, the plagues, etc. The application had to do with God’s ability to deliver us from whatever that might be enslaving us…sin, doubt, selfishness, pride, materialism, etc.

The whole sermon has really stuck with me, but the verses I find so powerful are Exodus 14:13-14. “Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.’”

So tonight, my husband and I were watching the last installment in our Tolkien-athon, and I slipped into my “former English teacher analyzing the movie” mode. I was thinking about how Sam is the true hero and also more of the Christ figure in some ways than Frodo. And that lead me to thoughts about Frodo representing man and the burden of sin (the ring) that we carry around. The longer we hold onto it, the more it weighs us down and captures our mind, etc.

When Frodo finally reaches the volcano in Mordor where he has journeyed so long to leave the ring, he can’t seem to let go. Again, I thought about sin and how difficult it can be to let go. It’s like we fall in love with it just a little bit, and it becomes our Precious. Even though it is dragging us down, wearing us out, and ultimately leading us to a fiery death, we hold on.

And again, I think about what Moses said to the Israelites, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm…The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” We need only to be still and let it go, “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin – because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.”

I’m going to try to do this a little more and see if I can avoid having a finger gnawed off.