Exploring Your Call

Semester Wind Up

I'm going through a bit of an interesting place thinking-wise as this semester winds up. It is the first time in 7 years that I won't be teaching come January due to my upcoming sabbatical. First off, I find it really difficult to let go. I know that my students will do fine without me, as there are many other capable professors available to mentor & encourage them but I really do care about my students. I experienced some pride a couple weekends ago as I hosted a youth event on campus and saw youth leaders that I trained over the past 7 years look after their youth groups. Interestingly, almost every year was represented and it definitely encouraged me that I have an amazing job!

We're heading off in mid-January for our grand adventure, our family sabbatical and we are anticipating many new memories & opportunities to be an encouragement to others on our journey. This past year has been an amazing one, I'm absolutely loving who my kids are becoming, where Wendy & I are at as a couple, and really looking forward to spending more time with them all in a brand new context. We're not quite ready to leave but can see that it is just around the corner!

Carpe Diem! Seize the day and live life to the fullest! My quest to bring life to others continues and I look forward to what I will learn in the process!

Life of David

I'm teaching a course on the Psalms this semester and in fact almost through the majority of my lectures and now in the midst of presentations. A big section of the course is centred around the life of David & how we relate to his story. One of my favorite musicians Michael Knott did an album which essentially is his own story interwoven with the life of David. The album is from 2001 and here's the promo:

Dealing With It...

So here I sit at my Dell watching my words spill out on to this blog post. I've been battling a cold all weekend, a migraine taking me out completely on Saturday. I had the lofty goals of going for a ski that day but no energy or willpower could be mustered due to my weakened state. So instead of exploring play outdoors - I've spent most of my weekend indoors. Even my body winces as I cough out, revealing a soreness throughout my back, neck & joints. I'll admit it freely that I'm a complete "suck" when it comes to being sick.

Tomorrow it is back to teaching and I still have some prep to do - might be time to go with a dvd back-up lecturer or a small group time. We'll see how it all works out. I also have much to do in preparing for this next weekends' retreat at Camp Arnes. I'm looking forward to connecting with some junior highers from my home area and hopefully encouraging them in their journeys through life.

I'm looking forward to traveling this spring to Thailand with a group of young adults from our church to do some teaching, construction, & help out an orphanage. I'm guessing the photo ops will be prime and perhaps my writing will get a good igniter as well. Traveling for me has always helped my musings on life.

I'm also looking ahead to a summer of outdoor play with my youngest child Zachary - he should be in full-on run mode by then, and my girls hopefully will be furthering their cycling abilities. So much to look forward to but lots to be done before then. Cheers to getting better and curses to this dreaded cough that threatens my very breath.

Renovation of our Landscape

We're in the process of making some changes to our property and instead of doing it on our own we've hired a local landscaping company - it's costing us some but it is looking great already. In a sense, my role as a professor is similar to landscaping only my focus is life renovation - I assist students with providing shaped information that helps them better understand their world, themselves, and their role in the world. It is a very rewarding job but tough work - working with people always is challenging. Thankfully, I feel that I'm better equipped at teaching than landscaping - but there is something invigorating about being creative in whatever we do! I've always admired people who work the land and have enjoyed my moments of helping on the farm - although it seems a long time ago already. It's a tradition that goes back to the beginning of time - working the land to produce fruit for the harvest, for survival, for advancement. So here I am in the midst of yet another new college year, renovating the landscape of freshmen - exploring new ways of learning, of growing, of exploring!

Sept Long Weekend Cycling

Life continues on and we decided to take a break from cottaging it and stay home for a change. It's a little chaotic packing for our family it seems - it almost be nice to just have a set of stuff always packed to make traveling anywhere easier. I did manage to escape a bit though - a 40km Giroux loop with road bikes - complete some significant winds that allowed us to hit & maintain 50kms/hour going north and unfortunately has the opposite effect when going south - around 26km/hour. Jason & I enjoyed the ride though! We had some friends over for a bbq on Sunday and it was good just to chill out in the amazing weather.

The aim for certain members of Team Bodydriven was to mtn bike the classic Ingolf route but a 40 percent chance of rain ended up coming true at about 9am - and it poured. The thing about Ingolf is that it is amazing riding when dry, with some super technical stuff - but when wet it is absolutely treacherous - sort of like riding on ice! The rolling granite (complete with obscene sections of boulders or split rocks & little drop-offs (a few big ones too) can get a little slick and if you don't trust the rubber on your wheels it can get a little dicey.

Thankfully we avoided any downpour for most of our ride (about 10 minutes of rain in the epic 2 hours) but we did our share of close-calls and minor wipeouts. No bleeding though. A total of 16kms may not sound like lots but it is all rough riding and my hands are still sore from clenching the handlebars. Tomorrow it's back to college - registering a whack of new & returning students - and I teach my first class on Thursday - communications, Friday - outdoor ed, and next Tuesday - interpersonal processes - wooh!

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.

Last Class

So I wrapped up my Psalms class today and now am focused on creating exams/grading papers. Lots to do but it feels good to have accomplished much already. The temptation to escape on my bike remains strong but I was good today and spent time with my family as it has been a busy week with three nights in a row of scheduled work.

I'm looking forward to catching up with some friends on the weekend but I will be trapped for at least another week or two by grading & proctoring exams. I will survive and hopefully my students will as well.

My daughters actually joined me in my class today as Wendy had a hair appointment and we were unable to find any sitters. It worked out alright as they were entertained by one of my female students, coloring in their coloring books. But Aimee got a little nervous and joined me up front as I went through the exam review. At one point she tugged on my pant leg and whispered Daddy - Daddy I have to pee! So we took a little unexpected break to the amusement of my students. I hope they enjoyed the distraction!

Soundtrack to post: "Time To Get Away" & "North American Scum" by LCD Soundsystem

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!

Teambuilding with YIP

This past Friday - I had the opportunity to facilitate some team-building with the Youth Internship Program that our government sponsors for young adults who are looking for furthering skills in searching for jobs. Here are a few pics:

This mouse-trap tower initiative is becoming a favorite - the object is to build a tower as high as possible using loaded traps! I have a video of them going off after they reached the 24th level. I'll try and post it sometime. Note: do you see the guy hiding behind the easel in the corner?

The Pyramid Initiative - the goal is to move the pyramid to another location and rebuild it using a special apparatus consisting of a rubber band and six attached strings.

We used the museum grounds and I like how ominous my spider looks with the dutch windmill in the background.

I tried some new activities and of course included some classics like the Spider's Web & Blind Maze. All in all a good day of being indoors for the morning & outside for the afternoon.

The object is to get through the Spider's Web as a team but utilizing each hole only once and avoiding touching the lines which of course unleashes the wrath of giant poisonous spider! One interesting dynamic was that snow was melting from the roof resulting in some annoying drops of water on the participants.

The blind maze is designed to allow different people to become leaders as there are many dead ends or circuits that leads to confusion. The object is to find a missing item that somehow helps them - usually I use keys or a flashlight. This was the first time I did this in the snow - interesting effect!

Vintage 1989

Weird to think anything is vintage that was made in 1989 but as I googled Game Boy - sure enough it came up as a vintage on Ebay and instead of selling for $99 it is listed at 99 cents. I'm sure it will sell for more but wow! Interestingly, I still have my Game Boy from 1989 and I definitely used it well.
It's pea-green monochrome screen has a few scratches but it has held up well over the test of time. SuperMarioLand & Tetris were probably the most used games on it...

My first year of college I admit to bringing it along to a few of my more dull classes where profs would drone on about theology & philosophy. Tetris helped me stay awake and provided some entertainment while I took in all that valuable information. Plus it had that lovely classical music that obviously deepened my understanding of musical scales & timing. Those creative Russians!
Oh the ironies of life as I know all too well that I've had students playing Solitaire in class on their handy dandy laptops. I like to think generally speaking my lectures keep most more focused & alert. But who knows? I realize that I do use big words too and bring up theology & philosophy in class as well...ultimately - I do know that my relationships with students in the end will count more than anyone lecture but it was cool to get a note & a few comments from students this week who appreciated how the classes had connected with them - maybe the mojo is real!

Happy Birthday To Wendy & Happy New Year's Eve!

A shot of the moon & a fireworks burst of light courtesy of my dad's pyrotechnic aptitude.

Last year we spent New Year's in Green Bay but this year we were able to get away to the Star Lake Cottage with my parents, my brother Kyle & his family, and my sister Keira.

This shot was taken via tripod on bulb mode on New Year's Eve.

Our annual tradition of sparklers & fireworks!

I did manage to get a few football games in and saw the Packers clobber the Bears but unfortunately they just missed getting into the playoffs with the Giants having a stronger strength of schedule or something like that. I guess I'll be cheering for the Seahawks instead - my B-team ended up in the Superbowl last year but they definitely aren't the same team. New Orleans would be my next pick - we'll see what unfolds during the wild-card weekend.

A shot of Chelsea & yours truly doing some skiing at sunset on Star Lake.

A shot of us in less of a posed shot.

I got lots of skiing in - I'm guessing about 20kms by the time the weekend was over and Chelsea joined me for a km or two on the lake trails that my father groomed. We also cleared off a huge section of lake for a skating rink which was a workout in itself.

My little sister Kiki skating (hey if you don't want this posted let me know)

I was able to play a bit with my camera during Wen's birthday celebration that coincides nicely with New Year's fireworks!Wen's birthday cake complete with the appropriate number of candles.

The birthday girl Wendy & our daughters (kind of cute how Chelsea is holding Wens' belly where child #3 currently is hiding out!)

Christmas for unfortunately often involves tons of marking exams - I had total of 86 exams to go through and I managed to get all my marking done by Dec. 30th. On top of that I had to create new syllabi for three courses because of our switch from a modular to a semester double block schedule. So yeah - although I got to play with my family and enjoy some of the festivities, I still had lots of work to get done.

Aimee bundled up, if you look closely you can see her dad in her eyes!

A nice shot of Chelsea in winter-mode.

The girls absolutely love the outdoors and highlights for them included playing with their dolls, building forts, Chels' skiing, Aims' snowmobiling with Grandpa, and both loved going for short hikes in the snow!

A couple shots of Aimee & Grandpa on the snowmachine!

Wendy has caught up to me once again age-wise - at least until March! 2006 was a great year for us as a couple and a family. We'll see what 2007 brings? I'm hoping lots of mountain biking, teachable moments in the classroom, fun & learning times with the family, escapes with Wendy, a healthy baby boy in May, the list continues...

Another shot of our annual tradition of sparklers & fireworks!

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...

Pride

A lion's pride is his family - a very different understanding of pride than one normally sees. I came across this article awhile back which shares the story of a pride of lions rescuing a young girl who had been kidnapped by some men. These lions scared off the men, and stayed with the crying girl until police arrived!

When we hear the word pride, we often think of someone self-inflated, someone who boasts or brags, and thinks only of themselves. We all have things that we can be proud of: accomplishments, rewards, degrees, etc. But they all pale in comparison to the pride that a father or mother have of their children.

As a father part of my role is to look after, guide, & teach my children. I often feel quite unworthy and occasionally not very capable. I think most parents feel this way. I make plenty of mistakes, losing my cool in attempting to intervene in a crisis or argument. But I must say the joys for me as a father are always greater than the regrets or struggles.

My pride is my family - which right now are made up of a beautiful wife and two amazing daughters. They are the perfect blend of their parents and I don't feel guilty bragging. My daughters exhibit their own unique personality, energy, strengths, & character. I know I've barely begun the privilege of being their father and I am looking forward to seeing the future accomplishments & challenges that they will face. I realize to that my role as a father is a temporary one, at least within the realm of my home. May God give me the grace to be worthy of the title - Dad!

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.