yesterday was my interview day for teach/here. i was at a local middle school from 8am until 2pm being rated (all day people were referring to the "raiders" and it took me half of the day to figure out they were actually saying "raters." a good sign for a hopeful teacher? you be the judge.) during the day, i taught a short lesson to class full of 8th graders, wrote an essay about the impact a teacher's attitude has on their students, participated in a group role-playing/problem-solving activity and was interviewed twice. they also fed us breakfast and lunch and had a panel discussion with the current residents. (if this is new to you, teach/here is a program that would allow me to obtain a master's in education at no cost, place me with a mentor teacher for a year to get useful hands-on experience, place me in a classroom for the next four years and pay me the whole time. it's pretty awesome. the people in the program are called residents.) after all of that, i came out feeling much better than i ever expected to. especially after shaking all morning and barely being able to force myself to eat breakfast. this a huge opportunity for us, and the hugeness could not be understated.

there were some positive signs throughout the day, but i'm weary to let myself get too excited. i'll find out on the 11th if i made it. one week, three days. this decision could be one of the most impactful things that ever happens in my life. please pray.

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(obviously, i will never fully catch up on back-posts. new things just keep on happening.)

Dust

most days i think there is nothing i would rather like than a new job. i can feel in my innermost being that i am not in the right place. which gets me thinking about what is the right place. what was i made to do? i have a lot of interests, which makes it difficult sometimes to see what my true gifts are. because i can sew, but not like a tailor or a seamstress. and i can build, but not like a carpenter. however, from each of these things i get satisfaction, and i would do any of them on a day off and enjoy it. oftentimes i feel two pulls on my life. one to do work with my hands and one to be relational with others. and when i do both, i feel alive.

in genesis, when the consequences of the fall are laid out, God says to adam,

"cursed is the ground because of you;

in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;

and you shall eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread,

till you return to the ground,

for out of it you were taken;

for you are dust,

and to dust you shall return."   - [genesis 3:17b-19]

and from that point on humans, perhaps specifically men were called to labor for their livelihood. "by the sweat of your face shall you eat bread." this sweat is the thing i feel like i yearn for. the labors we were called to were simple labors, necessary labors. growing food, making bread. the labors that enable us to sustain ourselves and our families. i feel like at my core i long for the ability to do these labors and not have to worry about pay or money. i feel like life should be simpler than that. I want to be able to cook and bake for people, clean, or build a chair or a table in exchange for a place to live. i feel like i need my time to be spent in sweat to be true to who i was created to be, and who i became after the fall. just as i know my wife pines deeply for the opportunity to be a mother (part of her role as described in genesis 3).

i suppose, to be more concise, i have recently begun to more strongly feel my connection with the dust from which i came. i feel my body's desire to be a part of that dust, and to follow in my Father's footsteps, molding it into the things that sustain life. to me, this seems paramount. and regardless of whether i find it in a job, i need a job that will allow me to partake in dust.

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Buttermilk Wheat Bread

so tonight there was a congregational meeting at our church which is always accompanied by a dinner. tonight they asked people to bring a pot of soup or some cornbread or rolls to share. soup and bread, my favorites! i decided i would try and get some buttermilk wheat pull-apart rolls turned out in time for the meeting, so i came home from work and got a double batch of dough started with some instant yeast since i wouldn't have time to let it rise twice anyway. well, it became apparent to me that i didn't have time even for a short rise and then since i was rushing so fast, i accidentally poured in one and a half times the amount of salt that was called for in the recipe. so, seeing that there was no way to be done for the meeting and not wanting to eat a salt lick, i mixed up another single batch of dough with no salt and kneaded them all together (not recommended, it was very difficult!) luckily the dough that had been sitting out was cooler than the one i had just made so i could tell it was adequately kneaded when the temperature evened out. all that to say, i let it rise while we were at the meeting, proofed it when we got home and pulled out four big loaves of buttermilk wheat just before midnight. a delicious mis-judgement of time. and the salt was just right.

Curried Lentil and Brown Rice Soup

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Snow Day

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