On Slowing Down a Bit

Yesterday I had my Sunday School boys over. There were 5 boys and the young man who helps in my class. It was noisy (boys are loud), chaotic, and fun. They devoured pizza, chips, and junk food. They played with Lego and a remote controlled truck. We had planned to go to the park, but there was a storm moving in, so we decided against that. We discussed which of the Torchlighter videos to watch later that evening, but put it aside until a bit later. I prefer movies as a "wind down" time.

Much to my joy, the storm blew over with little rain and the sky started to clear up. They boys were playing happily. Some of them were building a castle and dungeon out of Lego and the rest were playing a board game. I was hesitant to disrupt the peace, but I also didn't know how long it would last, so I finally gave them the option: stay, or head out to the park. The boys voted 4-1 to go to the park, so we headed out. The park is a short walk away; the boys alternated between running ahead and having pinecone fights.

At the park, they grabbed the basketball and all the males headed over to the court. I stayed at a picnic table (happily sheltered so not wet from the rain), taking care of the other sports equipment they had brought, along with water bottles, jackets, and whatever else got tossed my way.

And for half an hour, I just sat. I watched the boys play, I watched the children on the playground, I listened to the sounds of the park. I just sat and enjoyed life. Officially, I was taking care of the boys and keeping an eye on the stuff. Really, I was just enjoying getting to stop and rest.

I'm trying to do that this summer: Slow down, stop working, stop thinking about all the things, enjoy the moment, let the peace settle over me. I've been walking down to the creek to stand and watch the water. I've been sitting in front of the balcony window and watching the rain pound down and the wind whip the trees. I've been standing by the pond, watching the waterfowl and listening to the birds in the trees. I've been getting coffee and sitting outside in open areas and reading or people watching. I've been letting my mind slow down and I've been relaxing.

There are so projects that I could focus on, but I've been remembering that it's okay to slow down, to stop for a while, to just let things go. Summer is my quiet time, and I'm allowed to enjoy the peace and not think about all the things I could do. There is a time to stop and watch the rain, listen to the birds, enjoy coffee, and then be ready for the next task.

This summer is about slowing down.

The Last Sunday

Yesterday was the last Sunday School for the year. It was a wild year; we had some illnesses go through in February, making things more complicated. Then a wee, sweet, very early baby came in March, leaving us short two teachers as his parents were more focused on him than on the students (go figure!). But we all survived, 33 weeks of teaching, and now we get a break!

This year I taught my kids theology, focusing on Bibliology and Theology Proper, with some Christology and Pneumatology thrown in. We covered everything I could fit into the time we had and looked up piles of Scripture references. We also had 2 missionary weeks, taught by my helpers.

The kids did a good job on their memory work this year. They got a prize for every 10 verses, for a potential total of 3 prizes. Most of my class received at least one prize, and 9/15 received all 3 (and to be fair, 2 of them stopped attending part way through the year, so really it's 9/13). I was very pleased with them.

The last week is always more relaxed. Some teachers do a short lesson, most of us do review or trivia, and everyone has snacks. 

My class of 11 and 12 year olds had some excellent cupcakes and some acceptable juice boxes. There was a rousing game of Bible trivia, followed by ocean trivia because we had time and it was the first box I grabbed. The Bible trivia winners had first choice of a pile of treats; for ocean trivia, answering a question correctly and first meant I threw a candy at you. I did eventually make most of the class stop answering so the quieter students had a chance for prizes! We ended with me throwing the remaining candy at them and the wild scramble. According to one student, that was his favourite part, completely overshadowing the 32 hours and 45 minutes of Sunday School leading up to it!

And now it's summer, and we all get a break. I'm resting for three weeks, and then I'll start to think about next year.

I Might Be Old...

Yesterday the Sunday School girls were over for an end-of-year party. There were crafts to make, pizza and junk food to eat, movies to watch, and things to discuss.

At one point we were talking about books we've read recently. I told them that I'd just finished a autobiography, but they probably wouldn't know the person. It was about Alex Trebek. They didn't know who he was, no problem, but it turns out that they'd never heard of Jeopardy!

They knew the theme song, given that I sing it to them frequently during quizzes and trivia time; in fact, they said that everyone knows that. They had just never heard of the show.

When I was younger, I'm pretty sure everyone had at least hear of Jeopardy! I showed them a short clip of final Jeopardy (teen tournament), but they did not recognize it.

One day I'm going to make them watch a full episode, but an older one with Alex Trebek.

Cooking in Summer

Summer is rapidly approaching, unless that week of very hot was it; in that case, fall is rapidly approaching! I think, though, that we'll get more summer soon enough.

I don't like cooking much in summer because my apartment gets hot quickly and cools off slowly, and turning the oven on is not helpful. I have the stovetop, microwave, toaster oven, and air fryer to help (the air fryer is new; it was a Christmas present). Still, I prefer not cooking much.

The normal plan is to have things cooked and ready to be heated up or added to salads or something simple like that. 

The challenge right now is that the freezer is full. Some of it is for the kids (frozen juice boxes and treats for Sunday School and parties; as a side note, the fridge has a case of pop for the kids as well). Some of it is about 20 cups of rhubarb, several small bags of partly cooked potatoes (to be spiced and thrown in the air fryer), and some of it is just stuff: bread, meat, large bags of frozen fruit, general stuff that can be found in the freezer. Also, I don't have a deep freeze in my apartment, just the fridge freezer.

So cooking ahead, beyond what is already done and in the freezer, is out for now. 

On the other hand, it's still cool enough to cook regularly. Today I made a stir fry for this week's lunches. It was beautiful: yellow bell peppers, orange carrots, red onion, green celery and tomatillos, and white mushrooms and chicken. I've been trying to eat vegetables regularly and I love the variety of taste and colour. Pretty food makes eating even more enjoyable.

For summer....well, we'll see. I tend to rely on salads, anything that can be cooked in the toaster over or air fryer (the benefit of living alone is that I only need to cook one serving at a time), and maybe more stir frys. Basically, easy and not too much extra heat in the apartment. 

Another Young Teacher

Another one of my former students has joined the ranks of Sunday School teachers. Officially, he's a helper as he was unsure about teaching this year. I spent the summer trying to recruit him (while the music leader was also trying to recruit him); I was sure, from teaching him, that he had the makings of a good teacher. He learns well, thinks well, and communicates well.

For most of the year, he's been taking care of the attendance chart, keeping score during quizzes, helping children find Scripture passages, and once or twice getting things started when I was called away to deal with various Sunday School issues.

In April, I brought up the final missionary lesson of the year. I gave him and the other helper the option of teaching it if they wanted to; otherwise, I would make it a homework lesson. My young helper said that he wanted to teach, and I was very pleased.

He taught this past Sunday and did an excellent job. He was clear, engaging, and linked ideas from the life of Adoniram Judson to what we've been studying. With more practice, he's going to be an excellent teacher.

That gives me 4 young men and 2 young ladies who were in my Sunday School class once upon a time and who are now involved in teaching Sunday School. I'm quite pleased that the next generation is stepping up. 

May

There were so many things I wanted to do in May, and instead I was tired and didn't accomplish as much. I did finish work reports and my professional growth plan and emails and all things work related, so that's nice.

The best part of May was one lovely Saturday when one of my former Sunday School students got married! It was a wonderful wedding and the bride was radiant. 

We finished women's ministry near the end of May. We're looking at doing renovations at the church, so there won't be regular Wednesday ministry next year (the renos are to the classroom area to add more room for students, but that means no childcare for the first part at least). It works nicely so we can all get a break. The leaders are planning some events -- maybe our regular fall/Christmas/spring teas. They will also be encouraging other people to do some practical sessions in baking, gardening, whatever they like. It will an interesting year.

The very end of the month was more painful. One of the men at the church, one who has been there for at least 15 years, passed away yesterday. He has had health issues for as long as I've known him, but things pretty much came to a head this spring. I'm happy for him; he's free from pain and illness, and he's with the Lord. I'm sad for the rest of us, and especially his wife and son.

So it was a mix of a month. 

Summer Already?

Spring seemed to take forever to get here. April was nice, then snowy, then nice, then snowy... Winter just kept coming back. Spring finally came at the end of April, but it still felt like forever before the leaves were out and the grass was green.

Now here we are, the end of May, and it's suddenly summer. The weather report keeps promising thunder storms this week, but none have made an appearance. Instead, it just keeps getting hotter and hotter. It feels more like July than May.

I don't enjoy +30 any more than I enjoy -30!

On the other hand, the trees are in leaf and the one by my building is in full bloom of beautiful pink flowers. My plants are growing. The birds are singing loudly. It seemed like almost overnight everything started to grow.

It won't be "summer" hot for long; the heat is set to drop a lot next week. Maybe the rain will finally come. I'll enjoy that.