Scheduling Woes

I thought, when I left my last job, I'd be done with scheduling issues. Back then it was parents who did not send in their summer and/or fall registrations on time and then were upset if I couldn't get them in on their preferred days and times. Or who set up times but then changed them. And changed them again. And again. Oh, and this one more thing came up. And then there were teachers who were definitely available on certain days until suddenly, with little or no notice, were not.

At my current job, for the most part, the scheduling is easy. Most of the parents at my current job are flexible enough and my schedule is flexible enough that we can set up meetings. They're pretty good at responding to emails and the only glitches comes when someone gets sick. It's much easier.

Sunday School has given me new scheduling issues. These ones aren't related to time but to classes. After registration day I sorted and organized and figured out how to make the classes work and to fit in all the students.

The next day, I had 3 more requests to register students. One I could accommodate; the others went on the wait list. Then this week there were two families who suddenly can't attend Sunday School. The kids are the wrong age, though, so I was only able to get one of the wait list families into the classes (and that by putting their older child in the class a year below his age group). And again I wanted to point out to parents that they should figure out if Sunday School will work for them before they register their children! On the other hand, at least they let me know rather than just not showing up.

I think that there will forever be scheduling woes to deal with; it's just a part of my life now!

When Time Stopped

 My most recent read was When Time Stopped: A Memoir of My Father's War and What Remains by Ariana Neumann. 

Ariana grew up in Venezuela with a Czech father and a Venezuelan mother. She knew nothing about her father's experiences in World War II. She did not even know he and his family were Jews. He never talked about it. Only after his death did Ariana start to learn about those years. Her father left her a box of documents and her cousin sent her more (her uncle had also not talked about the war year). There were letters, government documents from Czechoslovakia and Germany, and photographs of people Ariana had never heard about. All of this led her on a journey to find out what happened; in the process, she found family she had never known.

I quite enjoyed this book. It starts with Ariana's childhood memories, especially of her father. It then becomes a mix of the story of her father's life and the story of Ariana's quest to find the truth. The book is heartbreaking at times; after all, it is the story of a Jewish family in Prague during the Second World War. It is very intense at times as well. Even knowing that Ariana's father survived the war, there were still some very tense moments where it looked like he might not.

It is the story of survival, of a man who hid right under the nose of the Nazis, working in a Berlin factory for roughly the last two years of the war. It is the story of how a carefree boy became a careful man. It is the story of secrets kept, not because they were dirty secrets but rather because they were too painful to talk about.

I highly recommend the book to anyone interested in World War II from the human side.

Sunday School Time Again

It isn't quite time for Sunday School to start; that will be the middle of September. It is, however, time to get ready for Sunday School. I've been looking over curriculum, ordering supplies, making up prize boxes, and sending email. 

Yesterday was the annual Sunday School Registration. Because there are a lot of children at the church and not enough room for everyone, registration day is a big deal. Registration opens online at 10:00 and there are moms sitting by their computers waiting. Within the first minute, I had 10 emails; within 7 minutes, there were 33 emails. It slowed down after around 10 minutes, with only the occasional email after that. I went through the registration forms, organized the information on my spreadsheets, and tried to figure out classes. After a quick reminder to people, there were a few more emails, and then in the early afternoon I closed registration.

We have 90 students from around 40 families registered this year. There are 7 classes of between 9 and 16 students each (depending on the class and the size of the room). 

Now it's time for teacher meetings, handing out class lists and supplies, making sure everyone is good to go, and more emails.

Only 24 days until Sunday School starts for the year. 

Taken From a Paper I Wrote for School

I've been going through papers that I wrote for my Master's Degree lately. This bit here, the conclusion to my last term paper, seems important even for now. I have seen and heard many people focusing entirely on "God is love" to dismiss sins. They argue that a loving God wants them to be happy or does not really see certain things as sinful; that's how unloving people interpret Scripture, or things have changed and those verses don't mean anything now, or it's just the writings of man. They cannot deal with God telling them "no" to their desires because they think it makes Him unloving somehow. Here I try to explain that yes, God is love, but He is more than just that, and His love is so much greater than we sometimes make it.

The paper was written based on a popular book that I am not willing to name (although you may be able to guess if you have any familiarity with popular "Christian" books). I also removed the author's name from my essay. I refuse to give any sort of publicity, good or bad, to authors and books I would never endorse.

Finally, does love win? Yes it does, but not the sort of love ------ describes in his book. His love is too small and too man focused; ------ shows God acting only because his love for man is great, not because God Himself is great, and when he loses focus of God’s overall greatness, he diminishes the greatness of God’s love. ------ also ignores the other characteristic of God. God is love, but God is also just (2 Thess 1:6), holy (Is 6:3), righteous (Ps 7:11), sovereign (Jude 4), wise (1 Cor 3:9), and true (Jn 14:6), to name a few of His character traits. All of these characteristics work together to make up God, and all are equally important. Most problematic, ------- tries to divorce God’s love from His justice and in that he makes a serious mistake and gives a one-sided view of who God really is and what His love is. God’s infinite justice shows the depths of His love as He forgives sins that deserve death and is “the just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom 3:26). Yes, love wins, but so does justice. In the end, God wins in all His fullness and glory.

Things that Stuck with Me

 Bits from books that stuck with me....

"Having the money doesn’t make someone bad. It’s when money has them, their focus, their heart, their obsession, that’s what makes monsters."

 “You can’t just sit around and wait for men and women to appear. You have to raise them.”

"God has no problems, only plans."

"A child should be led, not left to wander."

Before Green Gables

 A few years ago I read Marilla of Green Gables by Sarah McCoy and I quite enjoyed it. It gives the backstory of Marilla Cuthbert, with the author imagining her experiences growing up through her teen years and into early adulthood. My only major quibble was that Matthew was not quite right and had that one romance (when Anne of Green Gables makes it clear that he had never even considered courting). It was a good story and didn't mess with the character of Marilla too much.

This summer, I read Before Green Gables by Budge Wilson. It purports to be the prequel to Anne of Green Gables and fills in Anne's background. I liked it even more than Marilla; I thing the author stayed more true to the character of her heroine. There were bits that I remember Anne talking about later in life, about her parents, the Thomas family, and the Hammonds with their three sets of triplets. Anne seemed as real to me as she did in the books. My main problem was remembering that she was much younger in Before Green Gables; she was written as an advances, precocious child. Granted, she was very smart and was forced to grow up too quickly. As she says in the book, "Sometimes I hope I get the chance to be young before I get too old to enjoy it."

The book begins with Anne's parents as newlyweds and ends as Anne gets off the train on Prince Edward Island, right before Anne of Green Gables starts. Now I need to read Anne of Green Gables again!

Farmer's Markets

Back when I worked at my former job, there was a farmer's market that I could stop by on my way home on Thursday evenings. It was a nice set-up with plenty of fruits and vegetables, some bread, and fudge. I often stopped at the hotdog stand for supper as well; it was my weekly treat. I left that job a few years ago and I don't know if that farmer's market is still there. I did enjoy going. Since then, I haven't often gone to a farmer's market since they were no longer as convenient. In my attempt to be more healthy in my eating, and because the fresh fruits and veggies taste so much better, I thought I'd look up any places close to me this summer.

Last weekend I had a disappointing experience. I last went to one particular farmer's market in the summer of 2020, and it was a great market. I checked out their website recently and it shows shows several vendors that I like, and since they're not too far from me, I thought I'd check them out. I'm pretty sure no one has updated the website for years; there were very few vendors and not much there. They've also moved back a bit to where they are no longer seen from the road, so their drive-by business is limited. If I hadn't needed to be in the area for another errand, I would have been very miffed to have gone all that way for pretty much nothing.

On Wednesday evening, I tried another farmer's market, this one even closer to me. It was much, much better. It had all the regular vendors, as well as a few that I may try. This week was just about getting some fresh fruit and veggies. Going forward, I may try a "new vendor each week" approach. I might also try some of the food trucks. The food is a little more than I like to pay, but I can experience new things and see what I like (that I can maybe try finding recipes for this winter). Also, they have the wonderful lemonade truck. I'm only a little sad that it was the end of July before I made my first visit!

And I was right: The fresh produce is so much better than the stuff at the grocery store!