Two Topics

First-I went to a funeral home visitation tonight. A parent of two young ladies (still in hs) I had as students at my old school. This woman was working on her teaching degree and was supposed to student teach last year at our school. Months before she was to begin, she found out she had a tumor in her brain. The long and short is that she never got to student teach, as she went through keimo, treatments, etc. The doctors gave her three weeks to live about six weeks ago. Here are a couple of things that I learned from this wonderful woman-
A) No matter what, always maintain a positive attitude-even in her darkest points, she would smile and warm your heart, she would talk about when she got through it, etc. Her positive attitude and her smile were all I could think about in looking at her face tonight.
B) Life is short. You have today-and that might be it. So live today as if it were your last, and do it with a positive attitude.
The last thing I want to say on this topic-I kneeled at her casket tonight and prayed "God, I know she is with you....." But I had to stop there. I didn't really know. I never asked her, although she always wore a cross around her neck. Why don't we talk about those things? Shame on us. Alright, enough of that.

Topic #2-
I received an email from cdubs yesterday. Attached was an assignment she had to do for her class. In it, she referenced my leadership at our school, and honestly, I wept bitterly. (Way to make a great impression at your new school-sitting in your cubicle, tears running down your face...) She said some really incredible nice things about the way I did my job. Here is the skinny-I walked away from that place feeling good about the work I had done there, but as I walked away, I still had in the back of my mind questions on 'if I had truly made a difference' or not. I did not really have a 100% surity that what I did changed the school, made it better for students and teachers, etc. But her writing showed me that I did-because in it she wrote about how as a staff member she had to develop new plans on her own as a member of the group, how I would empower teachers to make their own decisions, then learn from them if they went bad. How I supported teachers in taking risks, and learned along side them regularly. That is what I wasn't sure I did, but cdubs gave me an incredible gift in her assignment. She showed me that I did what I set out to do. Thank you cdubs.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Topic #1: I hate how we live in a spiritual world, but go about our day to day as if we are simply living in a physical world. Why? Why is it so uncomfortable to bridge spiritual conversations? i think it's our western culture. It's not like that everywhere.
Topic #2: You are so good at what you do. I'm so glad you received that affirmation. I can only affirm you as a husband, Dad, friend and follower of Christ. Thank you to cdubs for affirming my man in his professional realm! I cannot step in and do that! And, let's face it, he is awesome.
October 2, 2008 at 8:22 AM
Anonymous said…
Nancy didn't "always" know; she was a good cathlic. But she came to know the saving grace of a caring Father as she suffered these last few months. She had a wonderful Christian "sister" who shared God's truth with her and Dan. She is with God now. She will leave a legacy of love behind. Pickel Head
October 2, 2008 at 2:10 PM
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