Prairie View

Sunday, January 14, 2018

Sunday Wrap Up--January 14, 2018

Blogging is seriously complicated when life gets more and more full of situations that can't be blogged about.  Maybe I need to take a cue from what I've begun to do in my language arts classes.  On one day each week, the students write in their journals a response to a quote which I have posted and spent some time talking about, inviting student discussion.  It's one of my efforts to highlight what I've come to understand as the most important language arts activity:  thinking.  On another day, the students write in their journals on a topic of their choice.  They do this in class for ten minutes.  The "free choice" day is what I'm thinking of incorporating into blogging activity.

What I am considering is adding a private blog--not open to the public.  It would serve as a record of the thoughts that I'm not ready to offer for public consumption.  The main concern is to protect the privacy of others, but other reasons enter in as well.  I'd have to figure out first how a private blog works, of course, and I probably need to figure out why I'm thinking of blogging privately as opposed to simply producing word documents.  I think it has something to do with blogging preserving the notion of writing as communication rather than simply writing as thinking.  It could contain the sort of material that might eventually find its way into publication in a better-organized, more carefully worded format.  I could paste email content into the blog, since that is often the form in which communication on some more sensitive topics takes place now.

And now I've gone a short ways down the rabbit trail of wondering how I could nurture among students the desire to communicate by way of writing.  Maybe they'd like a chance to share what they write about in their journals.  I've never offered them the opportunity.

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Facebook has recently reminded me about something that I've blogged about in some far-off time--the unhealthy and impossible task of insisting on keeping control of a narrative involving actual events, some of which are not commendable.  I have no personal acquaintance with any of the people involved in the recent Facebook narrative, and certainly no desire to add to the pain that is already present.  What I would like to do is to point out some of the unintended results of seeking to "control the narrative" in hopes that people can avoid this pitfall.

1.  Scolding people for gossiping makes all people who hear the scolding but have not heard the "gossip" wonder what is being withheld in the "official" version.

2.  People who have been praying about the situation begin to feel less sympathy for all involved if they have reason to believe that those giving out information have not been entirely forthcoming.  "Frightened and sorrowful" is a lot easier to rally around than "self-protective and harsh."  I understand that not all the details of a person's failures need to be recounted on Facebook, but actively squelching what is accurate but not laudatory could conceivably interfere with a quick resolution in a missing person case.     

3.  A missing person situation usually benefits from the widest possible publicity.  I may not be typical, but I'm a lot more likely to read and act on a personal message from a trusted friend than to simply read and pass on a "poster" from an official source that I have no connection with.  It's counter-productive, I believe, to insist on only "official" information being passed on.  It might make sense if you're in law enforcement, but if you're part of a praying Christian community, personal messages have a place.

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Today was a comparatively mild day, but we're headed into the deep freezer again, with sub-zero temps predicted.  The very thin snow cover mostly melted today.  Children got lots of play mileage out of that inch or so of snow last week, with the assistance of howling winds that piled it up a bit in some places.  The snow had quit by mid-morning, but the morning trip to work and school was not without hazard.  In Hutchinson, a number of accidents were reported, with one particular problem highlighted in news reports.  Apparently a number of stop signs were broken off by vehicles that slid into them when they tried to stop at the crossings where the signs were posted.  Visibility was poor because of blowing snow during the morning commute.

This morning after church I had a little trouble getting enough traction to leave my parking spot when I was ready to go home.  It turns out that it doesn't take much snow at all to create travel challenges.  I always worry about teenage drivers and mothers with small children who drive to school on typical school mornings and probably must do so on snowy days as well.  For their sakes and for my own, I'd probably be more quick to cancel or delay school than the men around me are.  Nevertheless I'm glad it's not my responsibility to make such decisions, and I always end up trusting their judgement and venturing out, driving slowly and praying hard.  I presume that's what others are doing as well.

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This morning at church two grandpas announced the birth of a new grandchild.  Joe Yoder announced that Danny and Kathy had a new daughter named Brooklyn Kate, and Marvin Yutzy announced that Justin and Jessica had a son named Samuel James, who was born in South Carolina where his parents live.  I recognized the "James" part of the name as a namesake for the baby's maternal grandfather, who was a student of mine when I taught school in Ohio. Grandpa James is a brother to our bishop Dwight.

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 Flu keeps making its rounds here, although we haven't had great swaths of students missing school.  I heard that both teachers Glenda and Tony were sick over the weekend, and know now that Tony does not expect to be there tomorrow.

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The Pleasantview Activity Center is nearing completion and plans are to have it ready for use at Hannah and Nelson's wedding reception on February 10.

I think this must be a record--two full-time Pilgrim staff members getting married during the same school term, plus one part-time teacher.

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Kaylene Martin is spending several weeks at Pilgrim, helping with teaching in various ways.  She is a Faith Builders student.  I presume that she's in the teacher training program.

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I feel at home already in my new classroom at school.  I especially like having a roomier space for the student desks.  A few of the old routines needed some tweaking to accommodate a different environment, but the needed adjustments are going fairly smoothly too.

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My sister Clara's wedding to Paul Stoltzfus is scheduled for June 24.  My nephew Benji Mast plans to marry Janae Miller on June 2.

Benji is teaching speech at Pilgrim this semester.

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Mark and Rose Nissley and some of their children returned from a trip to visit Mark's sister's family in Africa recently.  Mark told an interesting story this morning about his lost telephone which was found by a Muslim lady in desperate straits with a seriously ill child.  Mark got his phone back and the woman's son got prayed for in a miraculous series of events which we heard recounted.  Rose has some facial bruises that she acquired when an ocean wave slammed her onto the ocean floor, with her cheekbone bearing the brunt of the impact.

They had gone to the ocean near a fishing village.  The village people don't play in the water.  I think Rose has an idea now why that might be the case.  I know that I am far too ignorant about beaches and oceans to be aware of many of the dangers. I didn't even know it was possible to suffer injuries from waves making you collide with the ocean floor.  Isn't the sand supposed to be soft and fun to bury your toes in?

I do have an excuse for my ignorance about oceans.  Central Kansas is a long ways from an ocean.

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Ruthie is about to head out for CBS, but will just miss her brother Jonny who will return from Faith Builders at about the same time she leaves.  Their sister Rosene plans to leave in about three weeks to serve as assistant dean of women.

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More young men are needed to serve in the CASP program in February.

Shane reports that he learned in an Interfaith Housing board meeting recently just how significantly Hands of Christ and CASP has affected the work of Interfaith Housing in a good way.

Paul Yoder reports that a group of local Old Order Amish young people are planning a week-long "missions trip" to work in Hutchinson, working part of the time on Hands of Christ projects.

Shane's business is a housing business (arranging and managing rentals, renovations, and real estate transactions and investments) and he also serves on the Hands of Christ board.  He sees a lot of good working together among various agencies and entities in Hutchinson, addressing what has been identified as one of Hutchinson's significant challenges--access to good housing.






















3 Comments:

  • Do you have the option of making a post private? I've done that with some of my posts.

    By Anonymous Rosina, at 1/18/2018  

  • Good question, Rosina. I'll have to check that out. Does that mean that no one sees it at all except you?

    By Blogger Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige), at 1/18/2018  

  • Yes! I use it occasionally because my writing is different when I'm blogging than it is when I'm journaling--I try harder to communicate logically and kindly if I write as if someone was going to read it.

    By Anonymous Rosina, at 1/19/2018  

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