Facie’s Ramblings

This week I have been teaching Vacation Bible School, something I am grateful to have the opportunity to do. I want to be sure the kids have fun while learning the Bible stories. but the real challenge is determining how lenient to be and how many feelings I should try to spare. Yesterday, I told my 12 kids to divide up into groups of three or four for a scavenger hunt. Once the kids did that, because I had an extra list, I asked if anyone wanted to work alone. After about 30 seconds, one girl volunteered, and I then started to explain the instructions. Soon after, one boy started to get upset because he insisted that he really had wanted to work by himself. I explained that I had asked for volunteers (and I actually looked right at him when I asked this question), and he did not speak up. This seemed to upset him even more, and he next said that he wanted to work with the girl who was going solo. For about five seconds I considered telling him, as nicely as possible, that he needed to...

In a span of about four hours on Tuesday, I went from worrying about summer childcare for my kid and my unknown work schedule on two projects, to thinking I was going to be working from home on only one project (thus needing a lot less childcare), to finding out all my work was wrapping up due to budget issues (thus needing no childcare). Sigh. Have I mentioned recently how much I hate the economy? I just heard on the news today that the Pittsburgh Public Schools are sending out almost 300 provisional furlough notices. I know of so many people who are either looking for work or who have had to settle for something. I know even more people who have not gotten a raise in years even though the cost of living has continued to go up. When does it end? As for my situation, it is not so bad, really. I highly recommend getting laid off to anyone. Seriously. Once you have gone through that and figured out how to survive it, most work-related things that come after are not so bad. When I s...

The party's over. I was not really expecting my team, even with all the injuries, to lose to an 8-8 team with a QB who was a horrible passer. But maybe God really was on Tebow's side (I say that with some sense of seriousness; see my last paragraph). But I mostly believe that God could care less about sports, bands, movies, etc. I am pretty sure He has enough other things to keep track of. And let's face it: a lot of rich, famous people are rather crappy people, and I kind of doubt God would want to reward that kind of behavior with a #1 movie, album, or Super Bowl victory. But what do I know? Well, I know that the Steeler season is over, not even halfway through what is typically the worst month of winter here in southwestern PA. And unlike last year, I don't get to look forward to watching football into February. There is no more planning weekend activities around Steeler games. No excitement in thinking that my team could be hoisting another Lombardi trophy thr...