Materialistic?

This weekend brought the news that the chapel at Virginia Theological Seminary had burned and also a Toy Story movie marathon. These seemingly disparate events offered me the opportunity to reflect on my relationship with things: buildings, toys, gadgets, clothes, and other such stuff. A recent article offered the suggestion that our problem is not our stuff, but that our problem is our appetite for more and more stuff.

What if we took better care of our things? What if we let ourselves love our things, how they shape us and make our lives richer? What if we looked for things we lost, repaired things that are broken instead of just buying a new replacement? What if we honored the God who made this world by taking care of all that we have been given?

Peace

The Rev. Ollie Rencher returned for a special Middle School chapel about peace. Beginning in our own hearts and homes, he inspired the girls to consider how changing the world was truly possible.
"Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me..."

Be assured that lots more praying was going on as the 9th, 10th, and 11th grades were taking the PSAT!

Double Header

Today I shared the wisdom learned from a woman who flies planes for FedEx, the world is always spinning. The application of this truth, in my life, has been the understanding that I'm never really "stuck." Often feeling stuck with a relationship problem or a new skill that seems beyond me, I can wake up in the night struggling with these issues. Remembering the pilot's words, I know that when I wake in the morning, I am actually "in a new place," no longer wherever I was when I went to bed simply because of the earth's rotation. From a new vantage point, solutions and movement forward seem possible.

As a special gift, and dedicated to the seniors, one of our Middle School girls sang "On My Own," as a solo from Les Miserables. What talent!!

Identity

If I can be a runner*, what can you be?  It is possible to recreate, reinvent, reshape and change who you are.  You'll have to be patient as others around you adjust to your new identity, but in the mean time you can practice making space for those around you to change who they are.

*runner:  noun, something that Katherine Bush has never been, and in fact is an identity that she has actively avoided, even derided.