imagine kirksville, mo. now imagine everyone in town is between 6 and 17. it's like that.
I've offically joined the YouTube generation.
Below is a little that I grabbed with my camera phone Monday night, after we got back from picking up Gracie after she'd spent a week with Meme and Papa. Trey was excited to have Gracie back, so they were whooping it up in the living room, running around Audrey's "around-the-world" walker. Audrey was excited because everyone else was excited, so she started doing laps. It was a blast, as you can see.
- - -
Tonight I attended a parent-teacherish function for the first time. It was held at the local high school, and I was one of 120 or so parents who listened to presentations about opportunities to volunteer and connect to students and parents.
It's a new experience for me, on several levels. There's the "introducing myself as 'Trey's dad'" level, which is still relatively new to me. And kinda cool, though if I think about it, it should make me feel old, I suppose.
There's also the "I'm in a public school and I'm here mostly 'cause my kid's in a public school" level. I attended private Christian schools and home school after the second semester of kindergarten. (I was Mrs. England's student at Mackinaw Elementary long enough to get a candy-cane ornament.) And I never figured that my children would ever attend public schools.
But circumstances have arranged so that Trey is now attending kindergarten at the Early Learning Center at Winding Ridge. And as I walked into the auditorium tonight, I realized that I was with people I would have probably not met if I hadn't been there. They told us that the Lawrence school district has 16,000 students in all grades. Sixteen thousand! That's half the town (Pekin) we came from! The closest big city to where Kristy grew up is the same population as this school district! How totally awesome is this?
After the presentations, I went to the sign-up tables to see where I could help out. I joined a couple at the table for Trey's school and introduced myself to a father.
"I'm Mike. My son Trey's in kindergarten, and we're new in town."
"I'm Cory. We have a preschooler. What part of Illinois you from?"
As we talked, I found out that he lives in the same subdivision, and that he also prefers playing basketball with slightly older players who know fundamentals and aren't all caught up in fast breaks.
When I mentioned that I'd moved to town to become the new pastor of Oaklandon Baptist Church, he remembered where it was located, then mentioned that they might come visit us. After some more conversation, Cory and his wife left to pick up their child.
I'm sure that, as Trey and the other children grow, that there will be decisions to make about their schooling. I asked for God's wisdom on this one, and I'm confident He'll help me then, too.
But for now, I'm excited about the opportunities to connect with my neighbors, to make new friends. I'm excited about what God wants to do.
It was great to meet you, Cory. FYI: our Sunday morning Worship Gathering starts at 10:00. :)
Below is a little that I grabbed with my camera phone Monday night, after we got back from picking up Gracie after she'd spent a week with Meme and Papa. Trey was excited to have Gracie back, so they were whooping it up in the living room, running around Audrey's "around-the-world" walker. Audrey was excited because everyone else was excited, so she started doing laps. It was a blast, as you can see.
- - -
Tonight I attended a parent-teacherish function for the first time. It was held at the local high school, and I was one of 120 or so parents who listened to presentations about opportunities to volunteer and connect to students and parents.
It's a new experience for me, on several levels. There's the "introducing myself as 'Trey's dad'" level, which is still relatively new to me. And kinda cool, though if I think about it, it should make me feel old, I suppose.
There's also the "I'm in a public school and I'm here mostly 'cause my kid's in a public school" level. I attended private Christian schools and home school after the second semester of kindergarten. (I was Mrs. England's student at Mackinaw Elementary long enough to get a candy-cane ornament.) And I never figured that my children would ever attend public schools.
But circumstances have arranged so that Trey is now attending kindergarten at the Early Learning Center at Winding Ridge. And as I walked into the auditorium tonight, I realized that I was with people I would have probably not met if I hadn't been there. They told us that the Lawrence school district has 16,000 students in all grades. Sixteen thousand! That's half the town (Pekin) we came from! The closest big city to where Kristy grew up is the same population as this school district! How totally awesome is this?
After the presentations, I went to the sign-up tables to see where I could help out. I joined a couple at the table for Trey's school and introduced myself to a father.
"I'm Mike. My son Trey's in kindergarten, and we're new in town."
"I'm Cory. We have a preschooler. What part of Illinois you from?"
As we talked, I found out that he lives in the same subdivision, and that he also prefers playing basketball with slightly older players who know fundamentals and aren't all caught up in fast breaks.
When I mentioned that I'd moved to town to become the new pastor of Oaklandon Baptist Church, he remembered where it was located, then mentioned that they might come visit us. After some more conversation, Cory and his wife left to pick up their child.
I'm sure that, as Trey and the other children grow, that there will be decisions to make about their schooling. I asked for God's wisdom on this one, and I'm confident He'll help me then, too.
But for now, I'm excited about the opportunities to connect with my neighbors, to make new friends. I'm excited about what God wants to do.
It was great to meet you, Cory. FYI: our Sunday morning Worship Gathering starts at 10:00. :)
posted by pastor mike at 8:36 PM
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