Getting to Know You

School is starting tomorrow for my college alma mater (with a new president!) and most public schools in Texas, but not for mine.  Don't know why, but I'm not fighting it.  However, it means that tomorrow I start my faculty meetings and therefore start getting to know those I will be working with this year.  I'll also be getting to know students starting next week that "live" in a land unfamiliar to most of my former students - the land of "adulthood!"  Watching the news last week, a report was mentioned that is written annually to describe the mindset of the incoming college freshmen class.  I must confess that I didn't even catch a few of the references, which must mean I'm old??  Good to be reminded of some of the culture that my new students will think is normal.  Teachers making references that have no context....don't tend to make their points well.   Here's to my effort to remain relevant without giving up my own cultural mindset.  The link below lists all 75 descriptions, but I've included a few of my own favorites.

For those of my teacher friends who will be getting to know their new students tomorrow, keep in mind Anna's words before she sings the song "Getting to Know You":
"It's a very ancient saying,

But a true and honest thought,
That if you become a teacher,
By your pupils you'll be taught."

May you teach - and learn - much this year. 

http://www.beloit.edu/mindset/2014.php

The Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2014

Most students entering college for the first time this fall—the Class of 2014—were born in 1992.

1. Few in the class know how to write in cursive.
2. Email is just too slow, and they seldom if ever use snail mail.
6. Buffy has always been meeting her obligations to hunt down Lothos and the other blood-suckers at Hemery High.
12. Clint Eastwood is better known as a sensitive director than as Dirty Harry.
15. Colorful lapel ribbons have always been worn to indicate support for a cause.
18. Fergie is a pop singer, not a princess.
26. Unless they found one in their grandparents’ closet, they have never seen a carousel of Kodachrome slides.
27. Computers have never lacked a CD-ROM disk drive.
35. Once they got through security, going to the airport has always resembled going to the mall.
39. Pizza jockeys from Domino’s have never killed themselves to get your pizza there in under 30 minutes.
46. Nirvana is on the classic oldies station.
50. Toothpaste tubes have always stood up on their caps.
53. J.R. Ewing has always been dead and gone. Hasn’t he?
57. A purple dinosaur has always supplanted Barney Google and Barney Fife.

p.s. Title is also from The King and I

Whenever I feel afraid...

I hold my head erect
And whistle a happy tune
So no one will suspect
I'm Afraid.

While shivering in my shoes
I strike a careless pose
And whistle a happy tune
And no one ever knows I'm afraid.

The result of this deception
Is very strange to tell
For when I fool the people I fear
I fool myself as well!

I whistle a happy tune
And ev'ry single time
The happiness in the tune
Convinces me that I'm not afraid.

Make believe you're brave
And the trick will take you far.
You may be as brave
As you make believe you are
---------------------------------------------


All summer long I've been "impressed" with myself for not feeling fear about all the new-ness coming to my life (apartment, town, job, friends, church...)  I wondered how long it would last - not trying to be a pessimist or wish myself afraid - just wondering.  Because I have this track record of fear.  Of pretty much anything new and unknown.  Yes - I seem to have done lots of new things over the years.  Yes - afraid every time.
 
It snuck in today.  Not huge.  Not paralyzing.  Didn't even take away my appetite. (Darn.)  But it crept in - I could tell because my emotions were on edge and my tears were too quick - for seemingly no reason.  I believe one of the ways God has helped me conquer fear is by helping me identify it, name it and then tackle it! When I realized what the culprit was, this song popped into my head (ok, so maybe I've ramped up the song lyrics lately!)  But it has been a song that has brought me comfort over the years.  Ironically, I can't whistle.  At all.  But I love to sing.  And when I'm done singing through this song, I move on to songs that lead to the true conqueror of fear.  Today it was "Your Name" by Paul Baloche, "Great is Thy Faithfulness," "At the Cross" and "Still" by Hillsong. And a new one..."Unafraid" on Amy Grant's new album.  Simple, but powerful - I still choke up most times I try to sing through it!  Along with quoting scripture, it never fails that when I sing of Jesus, my fear recedes.  Will it come again, probably.  Will Jesus be there still, Yes.  Thank you, God, for music and for your peace.
 
Just thought I'd share. 
By the way, my first official school thing is tomorrow (that also helped me identify the problem), followed by meetings next week, students Aug 30th. Feel free to pray for fear-free days.  I believe prayer helps, too!!
 
Any songs, scripture or "tricks" you use to combat fear?  I'm always looking.
 
p.s. The King and I (this post needed the whole song!)

Sunrise, Sunset..

..swiftly fly the years, one season following another, laiden with happiness and tears.


I mentioned my parent's anniversary but wanted to give it its due with pictures of those seasons and years.

In this day and age, a long marriage is not something to take for granted. Here's to a wonderful 39 years of marriage and many more.

1968 Jr-Sr Jasper, TX prom

My Pa-Pa Booker performed the ceremony in my Holt Grandparent's home in Center, TX.

Frater Sodalis Luau - Mom made their matching outfits! 

 For my ACU married friends-keep those great pics for your kids :)

1997 The happy family :)

2010 The happy Grandparents! 

Love you Mom & Dad!

 

p.s. Yes, 2 days of Fiddler on the Roof, but couldn't pass up the obvious wedding song!  :)

May God bless you and grant you long lives.

...May God make you good mothers and wives. May He send you husbands who will care for you.

This month also celebrated my Me-Ma Booker's 80th birthday!  God has granted her long life.  He has made her a good mother and wife and sent her a husband who cared for her until a few years ago when we lost him.

I started a project a couple years ago of scanning in pictures of our Booker family, specifically focusing on my father's generation and before.  It came to fruition this summer in the form of a digital scrapbook containing some of our family history.  It was a joy to sit at her kitchen table and get stories and details documented straight from her mouth.  I learned a lot!  It took a bit of work, but I highly recommend it for every family.  As my Pa-Pa was a history teacher and my father is a history teacher, I think it's in my blood, but happy memories or not, I think it's important.  Here are a few of my favorite pics from our family.

Me-Ma (Charlotte) is the little girl standing a couple years before her mother and baby sister were killed in train/car accident.

Charlotte & JW on their wedding day - August 1949

1931: 4 Generations of family with Me-Ma as the baby - her dad, his mom, her mom.




1976:   4 Generations of family with me as the baby - my dad, his mom, her dad.

I'm sure more of these history pictures will be blogged about, but for now -
                                       Happy Birthday (again) to Me-Ma Booker.  I love you!

If you're curious about the book, here's a link to see it online.  You have to zoom in to read it, but you can skim through it to see the general idea.  MyPublisher Booker History

p.s. Post title from "Sabbath Prayer" in Fiddler on the Roof

Consider yourself at home...

...Consider yourself part of the family.

God has abundantly blessed me with good friends over the years.  It is always my prayer when I move to a new place that I have one good friend.  And He continually sends me more than I ask for!!

For the last week I have stayed at the house of one of those friends who feels like family and she graciously allowed me to come and go as if it was my home, too.   She is also the first blogger I knew (her family was always ahead of the technological curve) and so she helped me set up this blog! 

So this is a shout out to Jenni T, my college roommate and longtime friend!  Thanks for your amazing hospitality and generosity.  Thanks for your help and encouragement about this blog.  Thanks for your friendship.

In an ironic technology twist, I was able to be with her this week as she watched her first 3D movie (*Toy Story 3).  Because I know you all care, my first 3D movie was the summer of 1990 when my family experienced the short movie Captain EO starring Michael Jackson at Magic Kingdom!  Anyone else have that memory?

Here we are capturing the moment in our dorky 3D glasses.  I sorta miss the red and blue panel versions, but I don't miss the uncomfortable cardboard they used to be. 

p.s. Post title hails from "Oliver" this time.

Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start

I've been reading blogs for years and enjoying the peeks into other people's lives, but never felt compelled to write my own.  Still not sure if this will work, but have decided to have a go at it.  I've realized with all the social networking and blogworld, I can keep up with others, but no one knows what's going on with me.  As I start a new job in my new small town, I refuse to feel cut off from people, and this feels like it's a way to stay connected. 

Though God has delivered me from the perils of the perfectionism that dictated much of my past, there are still times it creeps in - one of which being, what would be the "perfect" first blog for me. 
Really?  Just start. 

Just so happens 2 big events occur this week in the Booker family - Dad turns 60 and Parents celebrate 39 years of marriage!!!  What a blessing for us to celebrate these milestones (with a fabulous meal) - and for me to introduce myself to the blogworld. 

My beginning:  Terry & Virginia - still very much in love.  What a role model for us.

What would I do without their support and encouragement??  As I traverse this single life, I feel blessed to have their Counsel without Pressure, their Love without Judgement.

And our family is made complete with brother Jason and his wife Leigh Ann...

...and our newest Booker joy....Holt!! (I'm sure he'll monopolize many future posts!)

That's enough to get started, right?? 

p.s. Those of you who know my passion for Broadway musicals, let's see how many posts I can name with a song lyric? :)

p.p.s. I look forward to knowing someone is reading this, so please comment!!!