Voice From The Stars
My heart is full of joy with the best Christmas present I have ever received. It was wrapped in the most humble and unsuspecting of events. After reaching burn out on the past few teaching sessions, I discovered that there were no full day teaching opportunities left to pick from. I prayerfully placed my hopes that someone would call in for help early in the morning; but when morning arrived with is total darkness until 10:30 AM, I just let go of any hope to teach for that day.
I had a delicious serving of my favorite coffee
Tanzania Peaberry; all foamed up with some homemade vanilla syrup. I spent time reading my Father's personal letter to me and gear up for a day trying to organize my web page. As I waited, my wife got ready for her usual 12 per day work routine with the Koreans. I we enjoyed the late morning preparation time my phone rang, it was a call from the school district office with a notice of a teaching position available; I took it quickly.
The position would normally be something I would pass up because it was for just 2 hours and it was not a classroom position but a position for a gymnastics instructor. I chocked a bit as I considered that I had never taught a gym class before and the fact that it was quite a way from home for just 2 hours made it all seem a bit too much effort for so little.
It had been a long time since I had worked at this particular school but I went in and met a very kind, energetic gym teacher. She gave me a brief overview of the lesson and it involved the use of a parachute and time with first and second grade children but ended with sixth grade children. The class began as we all held on to the outer edge of the huge brightly colored parachute and began to do various activities like walking and running in a big circle then playing a game where one child hid under the chute playing the part of a shark. Three other students played life guards. The object of the game was to try and rescue the children the shark caught and tried to pull under the chute where they would become a shark too.
The 2 hours was all so much fun. I got the exercise I had been praying for, saw many children I had taught before and most amazingly worked with sixth graders whom I have feared being in class with since my arrival in the US. The sixth graders were all so wonderful as the played a great game of Maze ball.
At the end of the day I was so grateful to God for the chance to teach in the most enjoyable school event I have ever experienced in my 31 years of teaching. I couldn't imagine being a gym teacher having so much healthy fun with children and then getting paid for to do it. I remember the week before when one class was devoted to talking about what they wanted to be when they grew up; it ended by my saying, "When I grow up I want to be a teacher." The children all laughed and said, "You are already grown up and are a teacher." My response was, "Really! That is great." However as I sand here on the sunset shores of a life well spent without regrets, I now realize that I would really like to ne a Gym Teacher for the rest of my life. This now is my earnest prayer.
Now that I have shared the good news, I'm getting dressed up to go cross country skiing far up the frozen river into the dark of the wilderness because I need some exercise and I really want to see the The Geminids meteor shower.
Reports when I return.
Well it was cloudy but the ski trip up the frozen river was wonderful; a couple of hundred feet wide and many miles long; the snowy surface had been covered with well groomed tracks to ski on. It took about an hour but I really worked up a sweat in temperatures just around zero. Not a soul out on the river with just a light dusting on snow falling.
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