Driving In Novice
Novice: A person new to a field or activity; a beginner.
When my daughter Julie was very young she would make up words to express herself better than words that already existed. For example - combound. She thought this should be a word when you put two things together and as we say - combine. I have to say I like combound much better. It just sounds more expressive. She would also "guess" at what she thought words meant. One time she asked me what the N was on the driving gears. I told her Neutral but she insisted on calling it "novice". We still call it novice.
Last week our church hosted a Vacation Bible School for 3 year olds thru 6th grade. I was the director (although I had many many many volunteers who made this event happen) and my job most of that week was to put out fires, organize late registrants and keep the schedule flowing. Most of those activities require pretty quick brain action and reaction. While VBS ran smoother than even I thought it could possible go (given that we had 364 or 368 children on our high day) I found myself running in novice.
Monday, the first day of VBS, at 4 mintues before the opening welcome, my cousin Matilda texted me that they were taking her mom of of any kind of life support and letting her go peacefully. I remember texting back one word "noooooooooooooooooo" Her mom, Sandy, has been one of my absolute favorite relatives (we all have them) and her 3+ years of battling cancer has had been hard for many of us to understand. She and Joe became closer because of their common fight. Both of them very active in their area's Relay for Life. It was so hard to know that soon, too soon, she would be free from pain but gone from our earthly life. I stepped in the bathroom for about 1 minute and breathed in and out and shook my head to get the grief in the back of my mind, put on a happy face and go say Good Morning to the kiddos.
Each day through texts and calls I knew what was going on with my family and I tried to stay focused. My mind jumped back and forth from my responsibilities at church to trying to put my brain around what was going on in Ohio. Sandy passed away early Thursday morning. She was a very special lady and even in her pain and fear she always greeted people with a smile that would light up the world. She was always gracious and she always loved. One of my friends posted on my Facebook the day she died " cancer did not win, God did, He took her home! don't ever give cancer credit, my friend! I will try to remember that comment each time I find myself angry and cancer.
When my daughter Julie was very young she would make up words to express herself better than words that already existed. For example - combound. She thought this should be a word when you put two things together and as we say - combine. I have to say I like combound much better. It just sounds more expressive. She would also "guess" at what she thought words meant. One time she asked me what the N was on the driving gears. I told her Neutral but she insisted on calling it "novice". We still call it novice.
Last week our church hosted a Vacation Bible School for 3 year olds thru 6th grade. I was the director (although I had many many many volunteers who made this event happen) and my job most of that week was to put out fires, organize late registrants and keep the schedule flowing. Most of those activities require pretty quick brain action and reaction. While VBS ran smoother than even I thought it could possible go (given that we had 364 or 368 children on our high day) I found myself running in novice.
Monday, the first day of VBS, at 4 mintues before the opening welcome, my cousin Matilda texted me that they were taking her mom of of any kind of life support and letting her go peacefully. I remember texting back one word "noooooooooooooooooo" Her mom, Sandy, has been one of my absolute favorite relatives (we all have them) and her 3+ years of battling cancer has had been hard for many of us to understand. She and Joe became closer because of their common fight. Both of them very active in their area's Relay for Life. It was so hard to know that soon, too soon, she would be free from pain but gone from our earthly life. I stepped in the bathroom for about 1 minute and breathed in and out and shook my head to get the grief in the back of my mind, put on a happy face and go say Good Morning to the kiddos.
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