Exploring Your Call

Failure Is A Risk But A Necessary One

A buddy of mine had this posted and after my string of "risk-related" posts I couldn't resist including it here on musings as well. It captures well some famous failures.

New Word Tool - Visuwords

As a writer, researcher, and teacher I am naturally connected to the "world of words." I stumbled across Visuwords earlier today and I'm wondering if it might be useful in exploring concepts & even inspiring ideas. You simply enter your chosen word into the search box and the online graphical dictionary whirs and spits out a "live picture" of linked words that shows a relationship with other words & kind of provides a context for each word you explore. Take for example the word adventure:

Seven Great Medical Myths

I came across this article that exposed some common medical myths, I have to admit that the turkey one I'm still suspicious about.

Drink at least eight glasses of water a day

This advice derives from a 1945 recommendation that adults should consume 2.5 litres of the stuff daily, or one milliliter for every calorie consumed. The crucial part of the recommendation – "most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods" – is often ignored. Drinking too much water can be dangerous.

Reading in dim light ruins your eyesight

It causes eye strain, difficulty in focusing and dries the eyes because of reduced blinking while squinting but there is no evidence it causes lasting damage.

We only use 10 per cent of our brains

Studies of patients with brain damage suggest damage to any area of the brain has lasting effects. Brain imaging studies have shown no area of the brain is completely inactive and despite "detailed probing" the non-functioning 90 per cent has not been located.

Hair and fingernails continue to grow after death

They don't. It is an illusion caused by the dehydration of the body which results in the skin retracting. This gives the appearance of increased length to the hair and nails – actual growth requires hormonal regulation which is not sustained after death.

Shaving causes hair to grow back faster or coarser

Shaved hair lacks the finer taper seen at the end of unshaved hair. It has also not been lightened by the sun, so it appears darker.

Mobile phones are dangerous in hospitals

Many hospitals still ban them, despite the lack of evidence that they interfere with electronic equipment, except in rare instances and at close quarters. Technological improvements have reduced the risk further.

Eating turkey makes people drowsy

This myth is based on the assertion that turkey contains high amounts of tryptophan, an amino acid involved in sleep. But turkey contains no more than chicken or beef. Its sleep-inducing effects are due to the quantities eaten.

The Final Countdown

Cello trio Melo-M and the Liepaja Symphony Orchestra (of Latvia) perform Europe’s The Final Countdown. I thought it appropriate to post this considering it is the final week of college (final exams) this year for my students...Pretty amazing piece of music and yes it was written in 1986!

Calm Before the Storm

The last week of August is approaching and I have to admit being somewhat apprehensive. I'm looking forward to teaching in September but there is a ALOT of prep still be done for this year to run smoothly. I have three syllabi to tweak further and an e-blast to send regarding a youth event, my travel plans semi-confirmed to a conference later in November, my outdoor education out-trips planned out & confirmed, etc. Hopefully will find some shalom in this all, some calm in the chaos.

Getting Back to Blogging

Wow - okay apparently it has been awhile since I've posted! Not sure why that it is other than the valid excuse of being pre-occupied by summer and spending time with family. My musings of course continue, as do my random thoughts & wanderings...but I admit to being a complete slacker for the past few weeks. We've done some traveling, cottaging, yardwork, cycling, photography, swimming, exploring the great outdoors and visiting local parks. I'll try and post some pics from the last month which I'm still sorting through...I know I've deleted well over a hundred (I do make some mistakes) and probably have about 400 shots that have survived my judgment (I am tough on my photos).

Wendy and I are loving our family: Zachary is continuing to be a growing joy in our lives (he's taken up karate or some form of martial arts along with smiling, cooing & wooing? to whoever he meets), Aimee is still my sparkling wonder who loves to be hugged, carried around, or pushed on the swing, and Chelsea loves exploring the limits of her balance, strength, & speed in whatever sport she's attempting (namely swinging, runbiking, swimming, & climbing). It is still hard to believe we are a family of 5 persons right now and it is admittedly yet more of a challenge loading up the Escape for our infrequent escapes to the cottage, the city, church, or visiting friends & family.

So yeah - August has arrived and my escape from the office is coming quickly to an end. I'm going to try and transition it all, already doing some reading & research, but yeah this ship is about to set sail for another year of education with a touch of revolution & hopefully inspiration!

Hard To Let Go

This whole professor-ing thing has some significant ties to parenting. Thankfully, my impact with my kids is more long-term but I have to admit that I had a much more difficult time this year letting go of my college students. Graduation is both a blessing & curse to a prof from my experience. Exciting to see students explore their future but it is tough to let go of them. Today - I sent off the teams I normally travel with on tour but I'm staying back from the trip for obvious reasons. Chelsea & I made a care package for them on Sunday night - complete with decorations! It turned out pretty amazing I have to say!

The school is sooo dead after they leave - I have a tough time being motivated to actually go there. I'd rather be where there is some action, some play, some life! Ahh...but many will return and I get to go through the cycle of teaching again! Seasons of education - right now the seeds are mostly aloft, some will find fertile ground and take root, others may wander for awhile until they find their place in this world...but it is encouraging and an honor to have been a part of the learning & hopefully growing experience for so many over these past five years.

Why I Do What I Do...

Sometimes my life has been about going through the motions, about simply doing work because it brings in money to pay for stuff. I can honestly say that the past five years have not been about going through that monotony. Now admittedly being a prof actually doesn't bring in a lot of money anyways but I do know of academics who do their jobs simply because it is a living.

Why I do what I do? There are several reasons and some are logical, some our emotional, some are spiritual. I honestly do feel called to do what I do. That is a foreign concept for some people and I'm not sure I totally get it myself. But I feel designed to fulfill the role I play as a teacher. I can't think of too many things that get me as excited as being a part of young adults' learning process. And it really doesn't matter what the subject is but those aha! moments where a student grasps a concept or comes up with a creative question never thought before - literally make me shout out for joy!

Working with young adults is not actually an easy group to work with - most struggle through this time as much as they struggled in junior high. They still are trying to discover who they are and what they are to do in life. They are experimenting with different ways of thinking, of being in relationships with others, of finding their identity. They are searching for what it means to be an adult, what life is all about, and what role they will play in the years to come. They are idealistic and most quite frankly are dreamers! They have a hard time committing to anything as they like to try so many things. They love to stay up late and sleep in hard.

Why do I do what I do? I feel fulfillment in guiding people in their journey to adulthood, to future jobs, to future callings. I feel significance in encouraging people, inspiring them to pursue their dreams, to walk alongside their journey for a year or three. It is also wild to see where they end up, who they are as spouses or parents, and who they in turn mentor or inspire.

I do what I do because I can't escape it. It seems a part of my DNA - I have always been a teacher. I have always loved learning new things (although I haven't always loved how I learned those things or the people that taught me). I get paid to read, to learn, to teach - how cool is that? I could go on...but I really should be marking not reflecting or dreaming or yammering on!

Ahhh - I hate graduation and losing those students that I feel I've impacted in some way. I think I understand how parents feel when their children leave their "nest." But students are meant to fly, meant to move on - so that they can be who they were meant to be!

A B C D F - Yep I'm Marking Exams!!!

Marking has been called the "bedpan" of teaching and personally I haven't found a more apt description but then again it is pretty hard to be creative when going through doldrums of correcting other people's mistakes. Sure there are the teachable moments, the "wow - i didn't expect you to do that well" surprises, the genuine pride that I do have when students succeed. But then there are the failures, the "obviously-didn't-study-and-probably-doesn't care" student wallowing in apathy and apparently likes the letter "F" - admittedly I sometimes struggle to understand how it is mathematically possible to bomb a true & false section of an exam!

Any-hows, I have officially completed the marking of one course (Interpersonal Processes) and for that I can celebrate - only two more courses' marking of final exams to go! Unfortunately - one of those courses (Communications) had 53 students, of which I've completed about 15. My other course (Philosophy & Programming of Youth Ministry) entailed a take-home exam and I'm saving that for last as I get to see firsthand the aspirations & dreams of ten people considering a calling & profession! Here's to emptying the bedpan and switching gears to a new year of teaching...oh yeah, I almost forgot - apparently I have to retool all my syllabi for 2007! So once I'm done marking - it's back to r & d my courses for the new year...

Brrrr!!!

Well - our respite from winter is apparently over! It is officially cold here again complete with 5 inches of snow and yes I have shoveled my driveway twice now! I guess our Albertan friends send us some of their cold temps - with windchill I think it must be -23 or so! So yeah - I'm ready for a warm getaway but apparently I'm stuck marking papers & preparing exams for our end of the semester in just a couple weeks. Brrr!!!

Labour Day Weekend

For the past four years - the labour day weekend means that the summer is over and its' back to teaching. I'm in the office for much of August but it generally is pretty relaxed without students or papers to mark or lectures to prep. Tomorrow classes begin - although my first class is slated for Thursday so I get an additional day to tweak what I want to teach. I woke up at 6am today and didn't bother going back to bed, instead driving to work and doing some minor adjustments to my already well-modified syllabi.

This past weekend was somewhat refreshing, I got a little riding in (on my wife's bike) and extended my mtn bike trail that is in development. I did some geo-caching with my Dad & my daughter Chelsea to some abandoned goldmines that my parents discovered awhile back. Picked up a souvenier of some core samples of granite that were used to search for veins of gold I'm assuming. I picked up a rock that appears to have a gold fleck imbedded in it as well.

The weather continued to be amazing as it has all summer...it was blazing hot again today! Hard to believe we are nearing fall but the ferns are already wilting and I've noticed some leaves change as well.

G

Syllabi Factory & Preparation H

Well - we've made the change-over from a modular based semester to a double-block semester - which means all my syllabi for semester one need to be ready for the first week of September. One new course that I have to create on the fly - Communications - is in process but I am moderately excited about it as change is good. Preparation can be tough - some would say its one of the toughest things about being an educator but I enjoy research and putting my notes for my presentations together. It's the marking that is the real "bed-pan" of the teaching world. Anyways - I'll be back in the trenches shortly!

Time For Change

Every now and then we need to make changes. It is something that is not escapable - in order to grow in any way we simply need to change. Every culture I've been exposed to has changed me in some way. It has made me more aware of my cultural understandings ; both the good and the bad.

Why do we fear change? Because sometimes change hurts. Deconstruction of ones' belief system is not an easy process. It is sort of like renovating a house. Somethings will need to be torn down before they can be rebuilt. It doesn't mean you have to throw everything away but you may have to set aside some things temporarily before you can reconstruct it. My understanding of God has changed many times over my life and I expect this will continue. My understanding of relationships with friends likewise has changed over time. When I reflect over the past ten years of marriage, I realize quickly that my understanding of love was very different than it is now.

What spurred on this thought of change? Well, I made some changes to my template and ended up erasing some things that I will have to rebuild. And that's okay! Change is good but it isn't always easy.

Canadian Summer

Well - I'm in the midst of getting into summer mode as a prof which means lots of reading, picking out texts for next year, speaking engagements, research, oh yeah and take a few more weeks of holidays to be with family! I'm most excited about the latter but I really do enjoy researching for new courses or tweaking the ones I already have prepared.

I have a new course next year entitled Communications which is aimed at first year college students and hopefully helping them learn how to communicate effectively both as speakers and writers. The other aspect of the course that I think is critical is learning how to read and research, both often weaknesses I see in students. Our Canadian public school system unfortunately is not doing a very good job in preparing students to write proper research papers.

My sister Ang & bro-in-law Rolf are returning from Ethiopia to have their third child and so we hope to connect a fair amount this summer as we don't get to see them much. So hopefully some quality time will be spent at the lake enjoying rest & recreation! Costa Rica honestly seems like a long time ago already but its been good to revisit my blog and take a look at the 650 other pictures I didn't post online! The weather has been amazing thus far here in sunny Manitoba and we are looking foward to a warm & refreshing summer!

The Blurring of Generations

Jer's Lifestylism placed a great link to this article about a newly minted generational group - the "Grups". When I think of the circles of influence I am a part of, I realize quickly how blurred generations have become. Some question whether or not 20/30 somethings are living with a "Peter Pan" mindset and are refusing to grow up. I like to think that we are simply messing with the modernist world surrounding us and saying we are not willing to simply do what previous generations have done. Why should I wear a suit to work when I'm much more comfortable in jeans and T-shirt? But then again, I saw a 45 year old local business owner with a soul patch, leather jacket, on a Harley and I started to chuckle...who am i a decade later?

After some self reflection, I came up with these random musings: I listen to the same types of music and bands that my students do; I wear similiar clothing; I too am concerned about the environment; I agree with their apathy concerning politics and that all governments are corrupt to some degree; I prefer exploring play through adventure sports rather than sitting passively by a TV; I am addicted to technology but love to escape from "the world"; I question people that think they have it all together; I detest the pursuit of happiness through materialism but you should see the stuff I've accumulated: bikes/cameras/outdoor gear/books/music...etc! We live in a paradox it seems, caught between what we envision our ideal lives to be and how we actually live our lives. The blur of culture continues...

Leadership Development

One of my favorite courses that I teach is Leadership Development. It is geared to a third year college student and encourages them to explore their own personal definition of leadership. Their major assignment is to develop a leadership portfolio which includes their personal philosophy of leadership, a set of personal core values, a life mission statement, a list of gifts/abilities/strengths/weaknesses, and finally a vision-casting discussion which looks at future goals or opportunities. As you can well imagine it is quite intensive but amazingly inspiring for my students to explore. The course wraps us this next week and their final exam is based on class presentations of their portfolio. I have to say that they raised the bar well and the presentations have been quite creative. It is very rewarding as a prof to see students excited to be in class and sharing their passion through their stories.

Busy Week

Ahead of me are four weeks of classes, then a ten day tour out west with a music/drama group with the college, and finally I will go into off-season mode! I am looking forward to catching my breath as it has been a busy last few weeks. I taught an evening and weekend course called Experiential Youth Ministry which was fun but a lot of work. It focused on using teambuilding initiatives in the context of camp or youth ministry to develop character, self-understanding, leadership & communication skills. All in all, a great course but it ate up two evenings and all day Saturday. I'm hoping for a bit of rest next weekend but that will most likely be interfered with due to a slough of assignments I need to mark. Such is my life these days of spring!

March Last Year in Review

I decided to check back in time and see my thoughts from March 2005. Turns out I was concerned about the concept of time, musing on the latest music, anticipating a trip to North Carolina & reviewed my time leading a trip to inner city Winnipeg.

Not much to say today - only busy week ahead. I will be teaching a weekend course entitled Experiential Youth Ministry and still plugging away with my Leadership Development class as well. 5 weeks of classes, grad, and then an escape out west with a number of students on a music/drama tour. Phew - busy times! Look at that consumed by time once again - it must be those killer modules; they mess with your mind breaking everything up into chunks.

Meeting Poverty In Our Backyard

This Wednesday I have the privilege to introduce my first year college students to poverty, the world of addictions, in the context of the inner city of balmy Winnipeg. These eager students (actually some of them are quite afraid) will be volunteering at foodbanks, serving at soup kitchens, hanging out with kids at drop-in centres, and hopefully connecting with the urban poor. Why? To expand their understanding of community and mission, two key values of the institution I'm employed by. And hopefully, bring compassion to those less fortunate and here the stories of people who have faced poverty firsthand by birth, loss of job, mental health, addictions, or by simply making some poor choices in life. I love to see my student's worldviews expanded in this setting. I've had some students who decided to stay and do their part in working with the poor. It is a complicated issue poverty and it obviously isn't simply about giving handouts but clearly we as humankind are called to reach out to those in need. For some reason, we sometimes find it easier to sponsor a child across the ocean than to respond to the need in our backyard. Why is that?

Whatever the case - I am faced with lots of scheduling details, travel logistics, and unfortunately a lingering cold that has threatened my voice numerous times this weekend. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated as I do my part in leading this missions exposure week from the 1st to the 8th. We will be working with organizations such as Siloam Mission, Inner City Youth Alive, Salvation Army, Gospel Mennonite Church, Living Bible Explorers, Union Gospel Mission, YFC Fire Escape, and Winnipeg Harvest. The week goes by quickly but it is tough being away from family.