Ready for a Road Trip

If you have known me very long at all, you probably know that I love to travel. I especially like to take a road trip. There's nothing better than loading up the car and hitting the open road to Destination Unknown. No agendas. No appointments. No commitments. Just enjoying the scenery and discovering new places.

Some of my road trips have ended up in major cities -- Minneapolis and Albuquerque, for example. Others took me to small burgs that provided a beautiful backdrop for a few days of quiet reading and thinking. Most of the time, summer vacation is when I'm able to hop in the car and find my way to an open road.

This summer has not been the normal summer vacation for me. Don't get me wrong -- it has been wonderful! I have thoroughly enjoyed being with my family and enjoying the love, laughter, and food with them. But it has been a stressful summer as well. I came home to uncertainty due to health complications Mom was experiencing. There were seasons of conflict. We prepared to say goodbye to family members who are moving farther away from home. There were the numerous doctors appointments that naturally come with caring for the Geriatric Ward as well as cataract surgery and the recovery period that followed. My summer included my own injuries, too.  At the beginning of the summer, my concern was related to my hand. Much of my time in Arkansas was devoted to resting and recovering from that frightening injury. Now, as my vacation comes to a close, I'm dealing with a sprained ankle -- actually the second in as many weeks -- that simply does not want to heal and has definitely put a damper on my normal level of activity. Summer has been a good break on one hand, but I am definitely ready for things to return to normal. In the process of all this activity, I haven't had an opportunity for a road trip.

So I'm just keeping my eyes peeled for the first long weekend to come along in the Fall semester. That's when I'll hit the road and spend a few quiet days alone. I'm not sure where I will head or what I will discover.....but that is part of the fun of the road trip. And I honestly can't wait!UIKEYINPUTUPARROW

Withdrawals



It happens every year around this time. I start to experience withdrawals. It is like a drug. My mind races. Everywhere I look, I find that I am tempted to return to my addiction. It's in my blood and it just won't let go! What am I addicted to? Kids....and summer is the absolute worst time for me!


Much of my adult life has been spent working with kids in various ways.....in the church, in theater, in the schools. Summer was always the highlight of the year for me. Once school was out, kids were much more relaxed and ready to have fun. They were a joy to be around and I was always amazed at the things they could accomplish in a short period of time. Summer became a time of getting involved in community theater -- and I always managed to be surrounded by the children in the cast. Quickly, these summer musicals became planning sessions for youth theater productions. (I miss working with you, Daphne. We really did some good shows together, didn't we?)


Shortly after returning to Arkansas from Pepperdine, Jacqs appeared in my life. This 8-year-old girl was smart and active. Summers were full of activity -- whether we were zipping off to the Pink Palace Museum or to the local library -- we were always on the go. (I suppose this began as an effort to keep her mind off of the fact that her Daddy was away on a business trip shortly after moving back to Arkansas. Once we hit the road together, we became fast friends and the running never stopped.) As Jacqs grew into a teen, two other girls entered the scene -- Kristian and Sara -- and kept me just as busy. As I became more involved in the lives of my nieces, I also took on more and more responsibility in children's ministry.


My ministry to children became marked by the inclusion of musical and theater arts. Summers and Christmas generally involved the production of a song and dance extravaganza that we pieced together in just a few weeks. Before leaving bi-vocational ministry, I had produced and directed just over 20 of these children's musicals. I loved doing them because I got to combine my personal love of music and theater with my passion for the spiritual development of children. Few noticed that the musicals began when Jacqs got involved in the local church; the last one was completed just as Kristian and Sara were moving into the teen area. I pushed through some difficult circumstances in order to see the completion of the ministry to them.


Things have certainly changed for me. Jacqs has grown up, gotten married, and has a child of her own. Kristian will be graduating in a few days and Sara is not that far behind. I have fond memories of working with the girls and the other children that I was responsible for during those years. I miss the giggles and warm hugs that come from the children. Nothing is better than seeing a child's eyes light up with understanding and faith as they learn important truths and grow in their personal relationship with Jesus. My ministry passion will always be with children. I just struggle with the adults in their lives sometimes that bring words of discouragement and destruction into the life of ministry leaders.


So I continue to watch from a distance. I enjoy teaching piano lessons to a few children -- but it's just not the same. Occasionally, I get the urge to  return to children's ministry and see if things might turn out differently this time around....and then the fear of getting hurt again keeps me from taking the plunge. Now you see my struggle......I want to share fun, laughter, and truth with kids.....but I've got one too many scars to get past.

Summer Reading Project

Summer is a relaxing down-time for me. My performance calendar is less active and I get to have a much more relaxed practice routine. That means that I have more time to devote to one of my favorite activities - reading.

I've found that summer is the perfect time for me to begin reading larger novels that I have avoided during the school year. Part of the problem is that the books are so long. Often times they are classic works and require more brain cells than I can spare while teaching. I enjoy approaching these works during the summer months because I find it easy to escape into the setting of the novel without worrying that I am neglecting other responsibilities.

Some of my past adventures have been some of my favorite reading adventures. Last summer, I finally got around to reading Jude the Obscure as well as beginning the Harry Potter series. The summer before was the beginning of my reading of Ken Follett's Century Trilogy. Summer was also the time for great sagas like Gone with the Wind as well as modern beach reads.

So what do I have in mind for this year? I'm going back to the classics and reading Middlemarch by George Eliot. I first encountered Eliot in my undergraduate survey class with The Mill on the Floss and fell in love with her style. Middlemarch has always intimidated me because of its reputation and its massive size. I picked up a copy of the novel just before finals began and spent some time getting started last weekend. Now that finals are over and the lazy days of summer are about to begin, I think it's time to dive back in.

Now, where did I put that book? It's time to get in some reading.