Out of the Gate......................"

Yesterday was a bit like being on one of those bumper car amusement park rides, my initial back-to-school encounter a matter of three different individual connections, the first a miscue on my part. Having read two separate e-mail messages and somehow mentally gluing them together, the old man went in bright and early only to discover his error: nothing was happening, orientation-wise, until twelve-thirty. No big deal. I simply returned home after checking out my new room and eventually went to brunch with Beth and the granddaughter. The afternoon, then, was a three-hour session seated in the cafeteria with the rest of the staff, an annual ritual wherein everyone gathers to meet new members, learn of any changes within the program, and watch a few videos. Mostly, it’s a repetitious affair. The teachers, themselves, have been structuring their units and working on schedules for the last week or so. My own responsibilities? Show up and make myself willing to be flexible. This is not a “punch in, punch out” position. Things change. Last night, for example, was “open house”, six to eight, the parking lot a jigsaw puzzle of automobiles overflowing in all directions, families coming in abundance with their children, me having to orbit the situation for several times before finding just enough space to squeeze in the old Toyota Corolla. Three of our five students would come in with their parents, one of them the Fourth Grader who will be mainly my concern this time around. We shake hands and I ask if he remembers me from gathering last year outside at the bus loop, waiting for his ride home. He does. The ice is broken. Mom, after a few minutes, takes him home. Wednesday we set sail. This will be my eleventh voyage, all prior each their own experience, all, I remain convinced, completed under His anointing; and I say that, not meaning to infer divine direction in my accomplishments, but rather His rest, His counsel, His rod and staff teaching me as I go……