Gains and Losses

Last night was my last class with the adult Confirmation group. I will love having my Tuesday nights with my family, and my Mondays and Tuesdays free of planning for the class, but I will deeply miss the people in the class. Trying to teach something makes you really look at it. Trying to teach your faith is mind-boggling, but ultimately brings the teacher closer to God. One person asked, "Now what do we do? Where do we find other places to do what we did here?" Good question. My church has loads of volunteer opportunities and even 2 Bible Study groups, an English and a Spanish prayer group, but they are all rather large groups. (My church has 3000+ registered families). Our class was a small, intimate group that basically went through the creed and discussed topics. There was lots of faith-sharing and a real community feel. It's hard to get that in larger groups. So I've gained more time but also have to say good-bye to a great class.

Tomorrow is my niece's birthday. Lauren will be 18!! That is simply a difficult idea to get my little brain around. Such a lady now. My memories of Lauren include her and the Singer having so much fun together. She's always been a role-model for the Singer who is a year younger. It's really hard for me to comprehend that she is heading off to college (the college-of-knowledge, a.k.a. William and Mary)in a few short months. That also means the Singer isn't far behind! ACK! I'm not ready for this.

A local story gives me hope for the future our country. This man 'did the right thing' (see earlier blog). This incident happened close by and has been in the news off and on since the accident. The man appears to be striving to live his life as best as he can. I admire him greatly, and pray for his future. What a lucky kid to have him as a dad. That the community recognizes his courageous behavior is also encouraging.