A New Year

A new year. New students. New classes. New classroom. New information to give these students. New responsibilities.


High school. Freshman class advisor. Assistant volleyball coach.


New is scary. New is exciting. New gives the chance to start over and also to learn. And learning I am. From where to seat certain students to history facts. For example, did you know that on Nov. 8, 1910 a man alarmed friends, neighbors and the medical world as a business deal tickled his fancy so much that he nearly died of laughter? That's right, "S.H. Schrapp conned a local farmer into believing that a shaved-tail horse was actually a mule. The farmer bought the tale and the horse, much to the amusement of the tongue-in-cheek Schrapp, who began to smirk. The smirking turned to chuckles, the chuckles to giggles, until finally he was convulsed by laughter." He laughed for twelve hours straight until finally, a doctor "applied a heavy electrical shock to Schrapp and suddenly the laughter stopped." Found in a book full of newspaper articles from the twentieth century, I must admit, after reading it, I thought I might need a little electrical shock therapy!


The first week of school has been a whirlwind, and I am sure the year will be likewise. I am looking forward to the year, however, with excitement. I look forward to building relationships with my students, to growing as a professional, and to experiencing God in new ways.

I am glad life is full of new. New breeds growth.