It's a wonderful life...

"It's a Wonderful Life" really is a wonderful movie.  Tonight I caught the beginning of it before heading to Christmas Eve service and then caught the end of it after the service ended.

Before service, I saw life for George Bailey on the night before he was to leave for college.  The last scene I watched was as he was walking Mary home after the dance and he had just made a wish by throwing a stone through the window of an old home.  He was so full of hope and expectation.  On that eve of what George thought would be his life changing forever by leaving for college he said "I know what I'm gonna do tomorrow, and the next day, and the next year, and the year after that." 

So much joy and excitement for what lies ahead,
but oh those are dangerous and presumptuous words to utter. 

I've seen the movie.  I know that what tomorrow holds for George is not leaving for college, but his life changing forever as his father dies and he assumes his father's role leading the town's building and loan.  This is NOT the life he thought he'd be living.  This is NOT the life he wanted or had planned for or dreamed about.  He is burdened by it.  He marries Mary and there are glimmers of good, but he longs for more and is dissatisfied with what has been as it is not at all as he had imagined it to be.  So when things at the building and loan go sour, George goes into a downward spiral.

Doesn't life seem to have a way of not going as we expect...
sometimes we get to see ways things turn out better than we imagined,
sometimes things go wrong, so wrong...
then it is hard to see the good - then it is so hard to not choose the curse.

When I returned from church, George was in a state of despair in stark contrast to the state of hope he had been in before I left.  George and his guardian angel, Clarence, are now splashing about in the water under a bridge.  George thinks life would have been better had he never been born.  Clarence shows him what that life would have looked like and it is not a pretty sight.  As Clarence says to him, "Strange, isn't it?  Each man's life touches so many other lives.  When he isn't around he leaves an awful hole, doesn't he?"  and "You see George, you've really had a wonderful life. Don't you see what a mistake it would be to just throw it away?"
 

As I've moved this past year and then this week have been spending time in my hometown, which hasn't been my home address in ~12 years.  I've been reflecting over the past year and years of my journey here, there, and everywhere... Most of these moments have caused me to remember dear friends - though I haven't kept up with near as many of them, near as well as I would have desired - I know that without them there would indeed be holes in my heart and my life.  I remember especially some of the send-offs these friends have given to me.  Things haven't gone as any of us thought they would have upon the eve of what lay ahead....  But upon each of those moments of transition, there has been a deep sense of gratitude for what has been...  And since the eve of what lies ahead overlaps with the end of what has been laid behind I can be encouraged about what the future holds because of the faithfulness and goodness I have experienced in the past.

The words of Clarence to George in a book inscription at the end of the movie rang quite true for me tonight - "Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends."  Remembering my friends both those I chat with on the phone each week and those whose phone number I wouldn't even know where to look for - all of them stir my heart to chose to believe that the plans the Lord has for me are plans to prosper and not to harm, plans to give a future and a hope.

pressing on

     After Thanksgiving break, one of my students came to me right before class asking me to sign a slip for her to withdraw from the class.  She'd been working so hard all semester long and this request took me by surprise.  She was on the verge of failing, but I thought if she kept working hard that she would probably fall on the side of passing.  I told her that I was surprised that she had arrived at this decision because I had seen her working so hard.  I then said I wouldn't sign the form right then without talking to her about the situation more, that she should come back after class.
She didn't come by after class...
but she kept coming to class... 
I followed up with her and she said she'd decided she would work hard and that she could do this...
and SHE DID!
This is one of my highlights from this semester.
I saw so many students experience a wake-up call this semester, work hard, and then pull out a passing grade.  I also have had some students make poor decisions and I'll be assigning some Fs.  But yesterday as I crunched the grades, I was cheered again and again as I saw student after student getting a higher grade than they were assigned at midterm...

   I've been thinking a lot recently about the scripture "I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me".  I've been thinking a lot about "pressing on"...  These students have been an example to me as the have focused in and continued on instead of dropping out when things got hard and they were afraid of failing.  We are all still in the process of pressing on and discovering the purposes for which we were created and are called.  I'm privileged to be a part of their journey and I'm thankful that they bear with me as I too continue to learn how to teach and guide them as they press on.

ukelele in lab

 

one of my students played the ukelele and rapped/sang in my lab class yesterday as part of a presentation - it was a.w.e.s.o.m.e :)

Here's some of his song.  I got a little shout out toward the end of the song as you'll see below :)

 

S’up chem class - so please ta meetcha

The first name’s dirty - Last name demeesta

Meet ma lab partner Niko can’t pronounce his last name,

But don’t matter to me when we spinnin' our game

Some stanky stuff garlic smells real dank

The sulfur involved makes it stank so rank

The sulfur atom is bonded to O, 4 times bro, yo that’s fo sho

Rockin 22’s got a gloca an 2 nines

The sulfate molecule is so divine

Its ‘lectron geometry rockin’ tetrahedral

Ma boy NP gonna let you see bro

On a similar note, we’ll show molecular shape

NP’s potions master like Professor Snape

Sulfate likes it when you call it big poppa

Throw your lone pairs in the ayra 

like yous a tru playa

Sulfate likes it when you call it big poppa

 

Dr. A livin thug lyfe, straight chem master

A boss with her nano, she knows how to raster

Chill as can be ‘cept you mess with Alabama

She’d mess you potion style, you go 5 to 8 in the slama

That’s enuf from dirt, I spit the truth

Sulfate is as class as Italian vermouth

Back to the presentation, its been real fun

Can’t believe our chem lab is already done

seagulls flying as the snow is falling

as i went into work this morning, something caught my eye

it took me a minute to realize that what i saw were not ginormous snow flakes floating in the sky, but seagulls...

why are they flying while it is snowing so hard?
did they just now realize it was time to migrate (after > 18 inches of snow have already fallen in the past week)

it seems so wrong that these birds that fly above the lake and rest upon the sandy shore during the summer months are out flying in the snow

and yet they are

they aren't hiding in the warm eaves of homes or cuddled up together in the crook of  a tree

it seemed so out of place

and it wasn't just one or two... i saw 8 of them, all flying in pairs

this isn't their season and yet there they are...

i'm often torn by the dichotomy i come across in life

but this observation of the seagulls flying as the snow is falling felt peaceful

it was beautiful actually, these white birds amidst snowflakes

these birds were out of their element, but they were soaring

and i was encouraged

i live in a snow globe next door to christmas land...

celebrating birthdays

If you know me, you know that I enjoy celebrating birthdays.

I was reminded of this the other night while g-chatting with my friend whose bday is next month and being excited that I'll get to celebrate it with her...

I love to think about the unique way that my friends are who they are and think of how I can bless them best by celebrating their birthday with them.

I enjoy reflecting with them over the past year and years of their life taking note of the highlights - to remember the places where they have experienced blessing and to give thanks with them - to remember the truths they have learned along the journey and to agree with that truth - to remember the places where laughter has arisen and to rejoice with them.  Tis truly one of my most favorite things...

So, when did I forget that Christmas is Jesus's birthday?

Now I'm pondering how I can apply my love of celebrating birthdays to celebrating the birth of the Savior.