The 2023 ornaments for our family are finally hanging on the tree. Ever since we were married in December of 1991, it has been our tradition to acquire one ornament that represents the past year. This year, a big event was our vacation to the Smoky Mountains. On that excursion, we spent a day tubing down a mountain, riding a mountain coaster, and riding the Alpine Slide, so we felt a good representation of that was the two bears on a sled. It was nice to be able to enjoy that vacation with our children, so the parent bear with a child bear also seemed appropriate.
The tradition has also developed through the years to include the kids. Since their births, we have also collected a yearly ornament for each of them. When they move out and get a tree of their own, these ornaments will follow them, and their trees can continue to be personally accented. The second ornament represents our daughter's year. All of her ornaments are Santas, so this year's Santa ornament displays a cactus wreath. This represents her mission trip to Arizona in the summer. The next ornament is our son's. With all of his ornaments being animals, this butterfly from Dollywood seemed to appropriately represent the fun we had at the theme park in Tennessee on our vacation. Finally, just for fun (and since I had the camera out), I've included the picture of a free ornament that I, as a member of the faculty, received from Pittsburg State University. I suppose this corridor of the park will almost always have something hanging over it from now on. In the summer, there were pennants up their. In the fall season, there were orange paper lanterns with lights inside. Now, for the winter holidays, there are large LED-lit bells adding to the setting. Silver Dollar City continually adds to its festivals with new decorations, and the Christmas season is no different.
...this sign that hangs on the outside of the classic Fire in the Hole ride at Silver Dollar City near Branson, Missouri.
My sermon, based on Matthew 1:1-17, begins at 22:05 in this video: Once again, there are two people involved in the transaction. In this series of lessons, we’ve talked about there being two individuals in a conversation involving thanksgiving: one who thanks and another who is thanked. Last week, we discussed there being two people involved in the operation of correction and saying no: one who tells the other no, and the second person who reacts to being told no. This time there are two included in the transfer of a request: one who is asking something of the other, and the other who reacts to the request. In any of these situations, you are one of those two people. Garth Brooks sang the song Unanswered Prayers: Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers Sometimes we are the asker. Sometimes we are the one being asked. Matthew 5 begins Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. In particular, verse 5 says, “Blessed are the gentle, for they will inherit the earth.” Perhaps that defines the word meek for us, which is the word used for gentle in the King James and English Standard versions of the Bible. The dictionary attempts to look at the word meek in a different light. It says that meekness can mean “easily imposed on”. Perhaps that goes a little bit past the Biblical definition. For the one making the request, the Bible defines meekness as humbly acknowledging your dependence on the goodness and grace of God. If you’re the one someone approaches with a request, meekness is the refusal to be arrogant toward them. It becomes more apparent throughout Jesus’s sermon. Turn in your Bible to Matthew 7: I think it’s important that you see this section of Scripture with your own eyes. In Matthew 7:7-10, the sermon reads like this: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or what person is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf of bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? So if you, despite being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” Consider the three words, ask, seek, and knock. We can be sure that these three words are a request that we make of God in prayer and meditation; verse 11 makes that clearer. But do we understand the literal aspect of the words? Jesus is not just talking about prayer and the answers to prayer. This section of the sermon sits right in between verses that talk about condemning others in judgment and another verse (12) that we know as the Golden Rule: “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Not only does Jesus let us know to ask, seek, and knock with God in prayer, but in a big way, He’s telling us, This is how to treat each other in community. Don’t demand of people: ask. Don’t insist they provide for you: seek. Don’t beat down their doors: knock. We might think of it in terms of using the word please. It has been said, “Authority can never be assigned or given to anyone. It must be earned with patience and a genuine investment in the lives of people you are working with. Stop trying to tell people what to do and instead, start asking them for their help. And when necessary, say please.” Another person said, “A request by its very nature unites.” It’s not about demanding, manipulating, coercing, or telling people what they should or should not do. In fact, this is all about standing beside each other and walking and working alongside each other. Then, of course, there is a chance that the other person can say yes, no, or maybe to our request - the same answers, by the way, that God can give us. So, in all of this, we recognize that our steady, trustworthy relationships are strengthened by meekness and humility. Strengthened by meekness may sound like an oxymoron, but it is not. It bears repeating that when Jesus uses the word in Matthew 5:5, He defines a fantastic aspect of our character by helping us humbly understand that we are dependent on the grace and goodness of Almighty God, our provider, and it keeps us in check, helping us to refuse to be arrogant with other people. Saying please involves humility. Whether we are praying to God or making a request of someone else, we must resist saying please in such a way that manipulates and controls in order to get what we want. I believe that’s something called selfishness. This is a great time of the year. Every year, we ask our kids what they want for Christmas. Every year, we are asked what we would like to open on Christmas morning. I usually don’t know what to tell people when they ask me that question. I know it’s frustrating for them to have to guess at what might make me happy, but I really don’t know what I want. But sometimes, if there is something on our list that we insist that we want or need, we try to trick and manipulate somebody to get it for us. Is there something that you have heavily hinted that you would like to get? Have you asked nicely for it, understanding that the answer could be yes, no, or maybe? Or have you basically just demanded that you must get this specific item, or you’ll be upset? Incidentally, will we be satisfied no matter what the answer is? I tried to let my students know that they should say thank you for the gift before they ever open it. That way their gratitude can still be sincere, instead of opening a gift that they didn’t want and trying to fake their thankfulness. If you watched the TV show Seinfeld, you know the character on one of the classic episodes known as the “Soup Nazi”. The main characters would enter the Soup Nazi’s place of business and order soup at the counter, the premise being that you had to order your soup in the exact manner in which the Soup Nazi had established. You had to stand straight, move through the line in a specific way. You couldn’t talk in line, and you had to be ready, speak clearly the type and size of soup you wanted, and scoot to the register. Any deviation from the Soup Nazi’s method, and he would shout you out of his business, yelling, “No soup for you!” Too often, this is how our society operates. It’s my way or the highway. I’m right and you’re wrong. I demand satisfaction. Let me speak to your manager. If you think you’re going to win souls to Christ with that attitude, you are sorely wrong. Instead, we must adopt the attitude of being affirming and encouraging, treating each other in love (even in our corrections), and yes, treating others the way we want to be treated. That Golden Rule is something else, isn’t it? We could even teach it in public, government schools. How? Because it makes sense…and most people don’t realize it comes from the lungs of Christ Jesus.
Who is the meek person? Is he the mousy fellow who sits in a corner chair never interacting with other people out of fear and inferiority? Is she the frumpy, awkward girl who is obviously out-classed by all of her peers? No…and we hear it all the time when we study the topic in Bible classes and sermons: Meekness is not weakness. The toughest among us, the strongest and best looking, the smartest person in the room, can have meek relationships. Now that we look back at that dictionary definition for the word, maybe it makes more sense to us. The dictionary defines meek as “quiet, gentle, and easily imposed on; submissive.” We may not like that phrase in the middle: “easily imposed on”. It makes it sound like only suckers are meek. When we hear “easily imposed on”, we automatically think “easily taken advantage of”. I don’t think that’s the intention of Jesus, but there is an element of that in our attitudes when we have meek relationships. Starting in Matthew 5:38, we don’t read about confrontation, manipulation, or forcefully demanding. And this is where we switch to the other person in the relationship: this time, think about being the one who is approached by another person with a request. It’s the same sermon…and you’ve heard it repeatedly. Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I say to you, do not show opposition against an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other toward him also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak also. Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.” He clearly wants us to deal with other people by submitting to them. He challenges us to serve others when we are called on to do so - even going further and doing more for them than they asked, and even when they don’t say please. One summer, when I was studying for my Master’s degree, I decided to do something I had never experienced to make a little extra money. I applied to work at the McDonald’s at 15th and Rangeline in Joplin. I was the guy at the drive-through, taking people’s orders on the intercom. You’ll remember I don’t go through drive-throughs, but in this case, I was OK, because I was the one in control and I could turn the experience into entertainment. During a busy lunch hour, people would often get stuck at the menu board, waiting for the line to advance to the pay window. And if I was the one taking their order, I would strike up a conversation as if I was working the crowd from my own little stage. I would tell them jokes. I would sing to them. I would bestow upon them wise quotations. But there are also times at McDonald’s when customers become virtually non-existent. We affectionately call these moments Down Time, and it is during those times that things can get boring. Time slows to a screeching halt. Nobody is cooking, there are no orders being filled, and most workers take the time to talk to each other. But not me. I wanted to take that opportunity to show the teenagers with whom I worked that “If there is time enough to lean, there is time enough to clean.” We didn’t have computerized menu boards. We still had those boards that could be changed by pressing letters into the plastic grooves. So I made sure the letters were straight and evenly spaced. Then I cleaned off all of the fly specks. I grabbed the stacks of trays and wiped them all down to clean them. I swept the lobby and interacted with customers. I even tackled the restrooms if I had the chance. It seemed that the result was positive. The managers certainly noticed the servant-leader who came in for an hour or two before going to classes, and I noticed other workers - the ones who stayed for any amount of time - started to do more while I was there. When I left McDonald’s at the end of that summer to go back to teaching, they gave me a going-away party - with a McDonald’s cake and everything. The truth is, the only way I could work in that setting was if I kept myself busy and made the job interesting and enjoyable. On most of those occasions, nobody told me or even asked me to do the things I did. As a result, I felt like I had more freedom, because I was choosing my own tasks. Others followed my example, and I was treated with respect by the bosses and not like an underling or a slave. I won’t lie to you and say it was my favorite job ever. In fact, it was exhausting. I definitely don’t want to go back. Do you think that might be what Jesus is saying when He says the meek will “inherit the earth”? Does He mean that when we act in humility and gentleness, we can win more friends and influence more people? Is this His way of telling us that we can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar? That might just be the case. I didn’t realize Hanukkah was even in the Bible, but there it is, and there is Jesus observing it in John 10. Verses 22 and 23 tells us, “At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple area, in the portico of Solomon.” That Feast of Dedication is Hanukkah. Honestly, because I didn’t recognize its presence in Scripture, understanding that it is an event that took place between the Testaments, but after I listened to a sermon by one of our brothers - Steve Higginbotham, who preaches in Knoxville, Tennessee - I was compelled to relay to you some the message that he delivered last year to the congregation there. Simply put, Hanukkah (or Chanukah) is the eight-day, wintertime, Jewish “festival of lights”. No doubt, you have seen the typical symbols of the celebration - a nightly menorah lighting and the spinning of a dreidel. The Hebrew word Chanukah means dedication, and is thus named because it celebrates the rededication of the Holy Temple - but that gets ahead of where we are. Let’s head in and see what we can see. Prophecy of Epiphanes This account must go back to the book of Daniel. We’ll call it the Prophecy of Epiphanes. Daniel introduces a man who calls himself Antiochus IV Epiphanes. We know of a man named Jesus, who is introduced in Matthew 1:23: “Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a Son, and they shall name Him Immanuel,” which translated means, ‘God with us.’” Jesus - Immanuel - is understood to be one with the Father. But Antiochus Epiphanes, by the name he demanded others call him, makes a similar claim: the word Epiphanes means “the manifested one”. Can you imagine anyone claiming to be such with no proof or authority to do so? Oprah Winfrey can’t make that claim. Neither can Mariah Carey. Elvis was the King of Rock and Roll, but he wasn’t the incarnate Son of God. Michael Jackson was the Prince of Pop, but not the prophesied Messiah. No cult leader should ever make that claim, but many have. And the same is true for Antiochus. In the second chapter of Daniel, we find Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. You remember how Daniel is finally called in to interpret the dream with the power of God. I’ve never had a dream like it. Nebuchadnezzar has a vision of a statue that was made of different metals from head to foot. Daniel tells the king about the rise and fall of kingdoms - world powers. He predicts, with the help of God, about Babylon, the Medes and Persians, and then the Grecian and Roman empires. During the Roman empire, some 500 years later, another kingdom, unlike any of these, will be established. It will never fall. That kingdom is the church. Daniel prophesies with great detail. It is during the Greek empire that he tells us about Alexander the Great, a big personality and military leader who would conquer and conquer. Historically, Alexander dies in his thirties. When he dies, his kingdom is divided among four generals. Daniel says that kingdom will be divided into four parts. One group, called the Seleucids. One of those would come into the Holy Land and desecrate the temple. He would stop the daily sacrifices. You can read Daniel 8 and 11, which comes to pass in history. The man who stops this worship and disrespects the temple so badly is Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the so-called “manifested one”. He even puts it on Greek coins: “King Antiochus, God Manifest, Bearing Victory”. In 169 BC, this man goes into the temple, stops daily sacrifices, offers an unholy and unaccepted pig as a sarcastic sacrifice to God, in contempt for the Jewish people. He establishes an altar of Zeus to be worshiped in the Jewish temple. He brings in temple prostitutes. The Jews mock him by calling him Epimanes. It sounds similar to Epiphanes, but the Jews call him Epimanes, which means “the mad man”. Imagine that kind of government - one that comes into your religious world with that kind of disrespect and open contempt. The Jews don’t like it either, and there are guerrilla wars - the Maccabean Wars - as they rebel against this proud, egotistical maniac. They drive him out and then have to rededicate the temple. They need to purify things. But they only find one jar of oil to light the lamps. As Higginbotham preached, “I don’t know if this is true or not, but this is what is said about it…” They used that oil, which was enough for a single day, to light the lamps for eight days, while they pressed new olives to get more oil. This is the event that is occurring when Jesus comes to Jerusalem in John 10. There are other miracles like this. A widow with oil that doesn’t get used up in 2 Kings 4 is one example. Jesus multiplying the loaves and fishes is another. So on Hanukkah, there are eight candles that are lit to celebrate and commemorate the eight days that the oil lit the re-purifying of the temple. All of this is said to have happened in 164 BC, and that is why it is known as the Festival of Lights. Light of the World We understand that there is a tremendous difference between a man who was prophesied who claimed to be “god manifested”, but now we have Immanuel, God with us. What a tremendous contrast! One is a man who makes grand claims and royal edicts - like the Burgermeister Meisterburger in the seasonal special Santa Claus Is Coming to Town - and the other is the Messiah, who consistently proves, through actions, miracles, and words, that he is God with us. There is Jesus, in John 10, walking through the temple area. “At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place in Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple area, in the portico of Solomon.” Those two verses, 22 and 23, now come to life with meaning! The celebration of this miraculous provision of light is happening when Jesus walks in. I want you to consider the irony. At this moment, when the Jews are celebrating God’s provision of light, in walks the Light of the world. It’s what He talked about in John 3:19-21: “And this is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light, so that his deeds will not be exposed. But the one who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds will be revealed as having been performed in God.” That’s incredible! That’s a claim He makes in John 8:12, saying, “I am the Light of the world; the one who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” That’s remarkable! It’s what He says in John 9:5: “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.” That’s amazing! He is very convincing. But they don’t see it. It is the epitome of irony. They don’t acknowledge Him like that at all. Instead they surround Him accusingly in John 10:24, and they ask, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” They just want to draw out of Him what they know is His claim to be the One, the true manifestation of God on earth. They celebrate the Festival of Lights, and when the brightest Light of all walks in, they’re wearing shades. Jesus answers them: “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these testify of Me.” He says, you don’t get it. Why? Because, verse 26 says, they are not His sheep. His sheep understand, but these people, celebrating this holiday, refuse to see the light. Jesus says, “My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give them eternal life, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” Then, verse 31: “The Jews picked up stones again to stone Him.” They reject Him. It’s the 21st Century, and they still reject Him as their Messiah. He is the object of the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name Him Immanuel,” but that makes no dent in convincing them that their Savior has arrived. Perhaps the center of meaning for us today, in Carthage, Missouri, is that we should celebrate more the arrival of the Light of the world. From time to time, should we not be more joyous, knowing that Jesus is Immanuel, and even if after His death He arose and ascended to the Father, He remains “God with us”. As we continue to study the culture of the Bible, the history contained between its covers, archaeological evidence, and geographical truths, we can even see evidence in the irony that Christ arrives at the temple during Hanukkah. When you think of Hanukkah, think of an all-knowing God - the God who sees the end of a thing from the beginning, the God who times arrivals and departures precisely for us to gain tremendous perspective when we look deeper into them. He sees this celebration and He provides the irony of their missing the true Light, their deliverer. Don’t make the same mistake! Steve Higginbotham preached, “While the Jews spend this time to celebrate - and rightly so - the festival of lights and what happened to them historically, how much more should we celebrate the fact that Jesus is the light of the world and is willing to save us from our sins!” "When you speak,
your words echo across the room. When you write, your words echo across the ages." (Bud Gardner) In 2011, Barry Manilow released an album titled 15 Minutes with the subheading of “Fame…Can You Take It?” The album was inspired by those artists who rise to the top so quickly that they can’t seem to deal with the change of altitude. In the liner notes, he wrote the following: Fame…Can You Take It? That’s the question jumping out at us daily from magazine covers, TV news, and online gossip sites. In my world of entertainment, I’ve watched perfectly decent and talented people achieve the success that they’ve been striving for, only to crash and burn as their star rises. One of the issues is this idea that these celebrities would surround themselves with fans. They would hire people who wanted to ride their coattails - people who would never say no to the powerful talent who signed their paychecks. But the opposite is often called for. We must surround ourselves with wise counsel! Saying no is about the things we will not allow, things that we refuse to concede. Saying no is really about maintaining our passions and our Christian values while still functioning in the world.
At times, that means that we set boundaries within our relationships. There must be things that we will not accept from others. People must recognize that, while we still “eat with sinners and tax collectors”, we will not yield to their ways of life. After all, aren’t there times when God tells us no? There are times when He wants to spank us for our own good - like the parent who tells the child, “This hurts me more than it does you.” Parents, like God, do not want to limit your enjoyment of life; they simply say no to you to help you avoid things, events, and people who tend to hurt, damage, or destroy. Discipline - saying no - is about protection. And while we may not feel it at the time, we should be thankful to those friends who help us say no to behaviors, habits, attitudes, and responsibilities that could potentially damage or destroy us. The apostle Paul was a coach to Timothy. He was a mentor that Timothy could look to for practical advice and example. Paul served Timothy by guiding him around the stumbling blocks that could potentially send Timothy plummeting off the trail and down the cliff. We all have blind spots, and we must be willing to listen when a fellow Christian is trying to help us avoid those things that can harm us. If I’m headed over a cliff, your love for me should tell you that it’s time to speak up. Don’t think you are loving me by allowing me to continue as I please and allow me to walk over the edge. Here are some examples of how Paul addressed things to young Timothy: In Second Timothy 2:22–25, Paul writes to him: “Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, skillful in teaching, patient when wronged…” Then, in 3:1-6, Paul continues like this: “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, slanderers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power; avoid such people as these. For among them are those who slip into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses…” But this is not only the case with how we treat brothers and sisters in Christ. We must also develop an ability to say no to well-meaning people when they conflict with God. In Galatians 2:11–14, the Jewish Christians accused Paul of watering things down. They thought the apostle was making things too easy for the Gentiles to join up. At the same time, the inspired Paul knew the truth - that these brethren were adding traditions that were no longer necessary for salvation after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. See what Paul writes in Galatians 2: “But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of some men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and separate himself, fearing those from the circumcision. The rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, ‘If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?’” Unfortunately, we read, “…when Cephas came to Antioch I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned,” but we read it with attitude: I got all up in his face and read him the riot act. I threw the book at him. Why? Because he was wrong, and he needed somebody to tell him how wrong he was. That’s not how it was put. Paul knew that Cephas was wrong, and out of concern that Cephas stood condemned - that the man could lose his soul for the way he was leading - Paul knew it was his job to correct him. The letter to the Galatians is not Paul bragging to the church about how he yelled and asserted his authority to Cephas; it is about correcting a brother in truth and love - not accepting things and allowing them to continue, but coaching, mentoring, guiding around the past and the habits that still existed. There is another example of love for others: it is love that compels us to care enough for others that we are willing to help them find and stay on the strait and narrow path to the presence of God. There is that vulnerability again: when we are approached by someone for correction, it is the ability to accept that correction as a loving act on their part. Sometimes the tone can be misread as meanness, but listen to what they have to say: there might be some validity to what they say, regardless of how they might say it. And there is our chance to say thank you to them in response to their no. We look at this lesson from two viewpoints - the deliverer and the receiver of the no message. It is a worthy thing to consider now, before it ever comes up in reality. How will you act in the situation? Originally posted on 5/7/2018 Here we go again. Yet another week of school-wide special dress-down days. These days, it seems we "commemorate" events by dressing down: Sweats Day, Jersey Day, Hat Day, Mascot Day, etc. We wear crazy socks for reading: Go Crazy for Reading! Then we turn around and wear crazy socks for drug awareness: Sock It to Drugs. For one, we show support; for the other, we tout our opposition. Confusing. Schoolwide dress-up days really do a couple of things: they disrupt learning, and they give teachers (and students) the opportunity to dress down. We can't say that they support school unity (a common defense), because everyone in the class doesn't participate. Every student, and every teacher for that matter, does not own a sports jersey or shirt. If everyone does it, I could see the unity defense coming into play, but they don't. When only a handful of students participate, it is, instead, distracting to the class. Crazy Hair Day becomes Look-At-Me-My-Mom-Tried-To-Outdo-Your-Mom-In-The-Crazy-Department Day. Unity? Methinks not. Not only that, but I happen to believe educators should dress professionally. There are occasions for wearing jeans, such as a field trip to the local cave, and there may even be reason to wear shorts, like during the end-of-year field day, but on most days, if teachers wish to be considered professionals, we must dress professionally. These dress-down days are excuses for teachers to "be comfortable" by wearing pajamas, sweats, and other unprofessional gear. Never do we seem to dress up to promote our so-called unity. And that brings us to Pajama Day, which seems to happen more and more as years go by. I hear people making fun of people who go to WalMart in their PJs, but then I see the same people promoting public pajama wearing in the school hallways. There's a mixed message here. Besides, we have no reason to wear night clothes to school - or in public. The flies and buttons are not as secure as day-wear clothing, and the whole set-up is generally less supportive. In other words, adults tend to jiggle more in their pajamas than they do when they dress for success. Let's just leave it at that. And then they complain that their students are less attentive to lessons. The same goes for Hat Day. As I continue to teach students to follow rules and use manners, I must realize that we have a dress code for a reason. It states that no hats are allowed, as well as no sleepwear, and no house shoes. It's harder to consistently expect kids to dress appropriately when we also encourage exceptions to the rule. In addition, it is always bad manners to wear your hat when you are inside a building. People like to see your eyes when you are talking to them - not the shadow from your hat. Don't take this the wrong way. I do believe there is a time to dress "special". That time for me is when it is appropriate to the lesson at hand. I've never done dress-up days for my lessons, knowing that not everyone will or can participate, but I concur that they could be used effectively to enhance the mood and setting of the class. Early in the year, last year, I supported our kindergarten students by encouraging my students to dress in particular colors on specified days. Most students were able and willing to dress in shirts to help teach our youngest Eagles. Also, I could still dress professionally in the designated colors without dressing down. Originally posted December 5, 2021
Looking back a couple of years, I came upon this post that I made regarding my then-impending retirement. It's interesting to see the things that led to that decision and how things have progressed in the last two years - both in my former school and in the politics of many schools I have visited in my position as supervisor of student teachers for Pittsburg State University in Kansas. We've been talking about my retirement, but up until now, I've only been 99.9999999% certain that it would happen at the end of this school year. Prior to the pre-school district-level meetings in August of 2021, I had imagined serving two more years following this one. That quickly took a nose-dive when I realized the return to many of the issues that burned me out one time before. I don't want to dislike my job, so it's time to leave while I still enjoy things.
I became eligible to retire a couple of years ago, but I simply figured I could stick with it for a while longer - just because I still have a passion for the profession and for my fourth graders. I didn't feel I had perfected the craft, and I longed for continuing chances to do so. There are so many areas that I can still improve. But here we go: I am officially announcing the plan to leave the classroom that has served as a second home for 27 years. With 32 years under the belt, I am hanging up my chalk. That doesn't mean that I'm leaving town, though, and it does not mean that I won't be involved in education. I am exploring opportunities to do public speaking and consulting in the field, as well as conduct professional development and work with elementary education majors in local colleges and universities. Additionally, I will maintain a relationship with the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, which has named me a master teacher. I will have more time available if a temporary, contracted job should open up with the institute. I can also write more books - both fiction and nonfiction, and I can serve the church more - both as a preacher and in the development of new materials and media. Of course, I will continue to donate plasma off and on, as well as get some more outdoor time around the house and exercise around the neighborhood. With one child off to college in 2022 and another entering junior high, there is always a need for earning some extra cash, so if anyone knows of any high-paying jobs that don't require special knowledge or skills beyond fourth grade, where I have spent a large portion of my life, please let me know about them. I could use all the help I can get. |
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