Trying to view the world Biblically and to follow Christ at any cost.
Right now it’s Friday and I’m in the classroom with the autistic students I work with for my day job. It’s been going pretty well except for the times when a certain student has a breakdown and we have to spend hours calming him down/getting kicked and hit by him/holding him down in an empty classroom. I’m learning more and more to become numb to his curses, taunts and blows, because it really isn’t his fault and it happens so much that if I let it really get to me each time I could not function in this job.
Tonight I’m off to my evening job at the restaurant. I have notified my manager at the restaurant that I will be resigning in two weeks. It’s not a bad job, but my wife and I hate the irregular scheduling and late hours. I really hate leaving my pregnant wife alone at night until 10 or 11 pm, and there are plenty of other annoyances with that job. Hopefully I can find another part time job with a more regular schedule, better pay, and something that’s a little closer. I have discovered a pretty remarkable beverage while playing around with combinations at the restaurant. It could be called a “Vanilla Cream Italian Soda” or possibly a “Smooth Vanilla Float”. It is comprised of:
- 10 oz. sprite
- 0.5 oz. vanilla flavor syrup
- 3-4 oz. half-n-half creamer
- shaken, with lots of cubed ice
I had been making “cream sodas” using sprite and vanilla syrup for quite some time when the creamer was brought to my attention. It really adds a smooth, creamy taste–much like the last few gulps of a vanilla float where most of the ice cream has melted, only I think this drink tastes better and more even.
Tomorrow morning I get up early (with some trepidation) to head to Sanford for my monthly drill with the US Army National Guard. In ways, I do not look forward to this, because it is very tiresome and I have not lived up to my plans for exercising this month. I had planned to do a lot more running and training, but other stuff got in the way and now I feel unprepared–like the same feeling I used to get right before a weekly piano lesson when I hadn’t really practiced at all in the past week. However, in several ways I am looking forward to the drill–to see what new, exciting thing I can learn and deepen my understanding of the military. Will we take apart and assemble M-16s? Learn to throw grenades? Jump out of helicopters? Or just sit in a classroom and learn the latest military policies on this or that?
*****
One of my students here at the middle school is a mummurer. He is constantly saying nonsense things, sometimes under his breath, sometimes out loud. A couple times, he just says something so funny I can barely keep from laughing. About 20 minutes ago, I told him to put away the blocks he was playing with and get to his desk. He had been building a thing with the blocks that looked a lot like the empire state building. As he toppled it over, he said “Was it really beauty that killed the beast?”
Well today was my first day at the middle school working with the autistic students. It was great! Ok, so I’ve only been with these boys one day so far, but they sure were sweet. People have been filling my head with stories of outbursts and panics to the point that I was worried this job would be more like diffusing land-mines, but I have to say that each one of these boys is nice and sweet in his own silly way. It is a delight to know that the work I put forth to teach and help these boys through school will actually be visibly rewarded in their smiles and thank yous–not that I needed reward, but you know what I mean. It’s hard to have the same attitude when helping someone who kicks you in the shins for it than someone who smiles and gives you hugs, but I know that it never stopped our Lord from helping us.
This is going to be a good, silly, challenging, probably a little tedious year, I think.
Tomorrow I am doing something that I have not done for almost 9 years–I’m going to the first day of middle school. I’m starting my new job at Carroll Middle school here in Raleigh (actually it’s like just 4 miles down the same street I live on) as a teacher assistant for a class of autistic students. I was looking for a teacher assistant job for a long time and considered several options, but I found out that almost all of the teacher assistant jobs are in autism classes. Actually, I got a call from the principal at Carroll about 3 weeks ago at 7:30 in the morning telling me that he had recommended me for the position. Dumbly, I told him that’s great but I should probably get back to him later that day to let him know if I accept. You see, there were a couple other “hot brands on the fire” (I think the saying goes), and I didn’t know if I really really wanted to work with autistic children. However the night before that call I had prayed to the Lord with my wife, asking that one of the many interviews at schools I had done would yield a job for us. So how could I refuse? It was God’s provision and so I called back accepted right away.
I’ve been over to the school this past week a few days, meeting folks and getting the classroom ready. I’ve heard a lot of stuff about the students, and the more I hear, the more I get this sense that the right attitude to have coming into this is that I plan to just have some fun with these students and help them see learning as fun and very doable. We’ll see how that works out!
Well I did it. I’m in the United States Army National Guard for the next 6 years. And I wasn’t nervous at all about signing those papers or swearing that oath to uphold the US Constitution; not because I take it lightly or do not intend to honor my oath or commitment, but because I know this path to be a wise one for the provision of my family and the advancement of the Kingdom of God. It is a godly thing to gain employment in any honest line of work to pay the bills and take care of your family. Through many talks with my pastor (who is a chaplain in the Navy) I have seen that this is honest work and not out of line with our denomination’s traditions on ministry. I would love to write more about the details and the screening process I went through, including the physical and the ASVAB which I scored a 98 on out of 99, but I have to get going! Sarah and I are moving into our first apartment together tomorrow, in Raleigh, and it is very exciting. Lots of job interviews/prospects too. Until next time!
