Life is stories you can tell, right? I love stories and I really love surprises………or at least I mostly really love surprises. Some of this week’s surprises were better than others.
Moved by a mixture of motives, Wednesday I filed as a candidate for the State School Board of Education. Wednesday evening the website showed that there were four of us running for the position. Thursday, the last filing day, two more candidates filed, one of whom is Amie Campbell, principal of Ogden Preparatory Academy. Surprise! How often does one run for office against one’s boss?
We put the ram in with the ewes in late August which means, given sheep’s 5 month gestation period, that we could have had lambs in late January. Two of our three Soay ewes gave birth in mid-February. Mid-March came and went and the third Soay ewe was still lamb-less. I feared she was sterile and made plans to cull her. Friday Miles noticed a tiny, jet black lamb trying valiantly to keep up with the older five lambs as they raced around the pasture. Surprise! The third Soay is not barren after all.
At Miles’ well child check, the doctor noticed a curvature in his spine and ordered x-rays. The films show he has an 11% curvature. Surprise! We are to make an appointment with a specialist at Primary Children’s Medical Center to learn the rest of the story.
Chick had a job interview Friday. Surprise! For three years he has submitted multiple applications and this is his first interview. Again, we are waiting to learn the rest of the story.
Grace won first place in the microbiology division, $50 cash, and a $300 WSU scholarship at the state science fair. Surprise! Actually it was not too much of a surprise. Grace’s project was good and her presentation excellent. It was fun, however, when the awards were read, NOT to hear Grace’s name when they announced honorable mentions, excellence awards, and then third and then second place. One name left, one place left…… “First place in the Microbiology division, Grace Hislop from Syracuse Arts Academy.”
Miles spent most of Saturday watching the NCAA basketball tournament online. Surprise! I knew he was a football fanatic and that he is obsessed by soccer as well. Basketball is a new passion for him. I fear he is a decathlete-type sports fan; good at being obsessed by 10 (or more) sporting events.
Grace played her final indoor soccer game Saturday. At the end of regulation time, the score was 5-5 so 2 minutes were put on the clock twice, with each team getting a turn to kick-off. At the end of the additional 4 minutes of play, the score was still tied so they began a shoot-out; one player vs. one goalie, with each person on the field getting a turn to take a shot. Grace was the third shot-taker on her team. The whistle blew, Grace approached the ball, tapped it to the left, shot from the right, and scored!!! While she and her team mates celebrated, her coach stopped the action. Surprise! A buzzer had sounded a few second after Grace began to take her shot and the goalie upon whom she shot paused at the buzzer. Grace’s coach noticed the goalie’s pause, asked the goalie if the buzzer had thrown her off, and, when the goalie said that it had, called for a re-shot. Grace missed her second attempt. The first shoot-out ended in a tie so the teams went to a sudden death, second shoot-out and Grace’s team ended up losing….kind-of. They lost the game but they won a moral victory. Sportsmanship still exists.
Spring is full of surprises…sort of. We are surprised by occasional snow storms as well as by unanticipated sunshine. The first tulip blooms surprise us and the first Box Elder bug may be a bit startling. Spring’s exact arrival and specific manifestations may surprise us but spring itself is fairly constant. It comes annually without having to be reminded or nagged. I love that about spring.
I love that about God too. He always comes (much more frequently than annually) without having to be reminded or nagged (though an invitation often helps!). His exact arrival and specific manifestations may surprise us, even startle us, but He is constant. And that is the rest of the story.
Love,
Teresa
Moved by a mixture of motives, Wednesday I filed as a candidate for the State School Board of Education. Wednesday evening the website showed that there were four of us running for the position. Thursday, the last filing day, two more candidates filed, one of whom is Amie Campbell, principal of Ogden Preparatory Academy. Surprise! How often does one run for office against one’s boss?
We put the ram in with the ewes in late August which means, given sheep’s 5 month gestation period, that we could have had lambs in late January. Two of our three Soay ewes gave birth in mid-February. Mid-March came and went and the third Soay ewe was still lamb-less. I feared she was sterile and made plans to cull her. Friday Miles noticed a tiny, jet black lamb trying valiantly to keep up with the older five lambs as they raced around the pasture. Surprise! The third Soay is not barren after all.
At Miles’ well child check, the doctor noticed a curvature in his spine and ordered x-rays. The films show he has an 11% curvature. Surprise! We are to make an appointment with a specialist at Primary Children’s Medical Center to learn the rest of the story.
Chick had a job interview Friday. Surprise! For three years he has submitted multiple applications and this is his first interview. Again, we are waiting to learn the rest of the story.
Grace won first place in the microbiology division, $50 cash, and a $300 WSU scholarship at the state science fair. Surprise! Actually it was not too much of a surprise. Grace’s project was good and her presentation excellent. It was fun, however, when the awards were read, NOT to hear Grace’s name when they announced honorable mentions, excellence awards, and then third and then second place. One name left, one place left…… “First place in the Microbiology division, Grace Hislop from Syracuse Arts Academy.”
Miles spent most of Saturday watching the NCAA basketball tournament online. Surprise! I knew he was a football fanatic and that he is obsessed by soccer as well. Basketball is a new passion for him. I fear he is a decathlete-type sports fan; good at being obsessed by 10 (or more) sporting events.
Grace played her final indoor soccer game Saturday. At the end of regulation time, the score was 5-5 so 2 minutes were put on the clock twice, with each team getting a turn to kick-off. At the end of the additional 4 minutes of play, the score was still tied so they began a shoot-out; one player vs. one goalie, with each person on the field getting a turn to take a shot. Grace was the third shot-taker on her team. The whistle blew, Grace approached the ball, tapped it to the left, shot from the right, and scored!!! While she and her team mates celebrated, her coach stopped the action. Surprise! A buzzer had sounded a few second after Grace began to take her shot and the goalie upon whom she shot paused at the buzzer. Grace’s coach noticed the goalie’s pause, asked the goalie if the buzzer had thrown her off, and, when the goalie said that it had, called for a re-shot. Grace missed her second attempt. The first shoot-out ended in a tie so the teams went to a sudden death, second shoot-out and Grace’s team ended up losing….kind-of. They lost the game but they won a moral victory. Sportsmanship still exists.
Spring is full of surprises…sort of. We are surprised by occasional snow storms as well as by unanticipated sunshine. The first tulip blooms surprise us and the first Box Elder bug may be a bit startling. Spring’s exact arrival and specific manifestations may surprise us but spring itself is fairly constant. It comes annually without having to be reminded or nagged. I love that about spring.
I love that about God too. He always comes (much more frequently than annually) without having to be reminded or nagged (though an invitation often helps!). His exact arrival and specific manifestations may surprise us, even startle us, but He is constant. And that is the rest of the story.
Love,
Teresa
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