30 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 18: Goshen Christian School

Today I am thanking God for the students, teachers, staff and parents that shared their experiences with me at the Goshen Christian School from 1997-1999 and 2009-2010, during the 3 years that I taught Bible at the school. In my first at-bat, I taught 6th, 7th, and 8th grade Bible classes (and threw in a Health class and even P.E.) In my second at-bat, I taught 7-8th grades, and 9-11th grades.

During these years at the school, I made some great friendships with a group of very professional educators. These teachers did not limit their lessons to their students or their classrooms--they all taught me as well. They welcomed me into their circle and never made me feel like an outsider, and treated me as a valued colleague.

I enjoyed the classroom experience and the challenge of bringing timeless truth to eager young minds, and even a few not-so-eager young minds. From time to time, I think of those mornings on bus duty, greeting students as they arrived for the day, and those afternoons, sending them on their way.

The clock does not turn backward, and days gone by are gone. So, I thank God for the Goshen Christian School, and I thank God for memories, so that gone does not have to mean forgotten.

Father, please bless my friends from Goshen Christian School today--teachers, staff, parents and students--wherever they find themselves. They are under your watchful Eye and protective Hand, I know. Thank You.

30 Days of Thanksgiving, Day 14: Friends from High School

Today in my thinking and thankfulness, I want to say thank you to God for the friends that I made while in High School back in good ol' Afton, New York. I should also admit that the friendships I made in high school actually had their roots even earlier in my life, for I attended the same public school, under the same roof, from Kindergarten until my graduation from High School.

While my last two years of high school left me somewhat confused about who I was, and who I was a friend to, the test of time has proven that even though I was not always a good friend to have, there were some who were friends to me then even when I didn't deserve their friendship.

A small handful of those same people are still my friends today, though we are separated by, as a minimum, hours of asphalt, and at a maximum, thousands of miles of Atlantic Ocean. No matter the distance, or the time zone, though...this marvel of electronic and digital communication we call the Internet has facilitated our reconnection and allows me to try to nurture those friendships. In truth, I have put more effort into reconnecting, reviving, rebuilding and maintaining those friendships now that I have reached into and beyond middle age than I ever did in my teenage years, when I was searching for an identity in which I could be comfortable. Back then, different things were important to me. Most of those things that seemed all-important then now seem silly and selfish to me. I now know that it was NOT what friendship might offer me, but the friendship ITSELF that was, and is, important.

Jane, Tim, Tim, and Sue (and some others who are not yet connected with me by these invisible electronic links)--I'm sorry I was not a better friend to you back then and there. I'm hoping to do better here and now. Thanks for not pulling the plug on me.