There is a solitary hearse outside my office window this morning and a fairly empty parking lot.  As usual, the Kindergarten teacher is concerned about what time the funeral will begin, when it will end, and...will this disrupt Kindergarten pick-up at 11:25 a.m.?

Seems like everyone is getting lots of snow.  A photo of the Lake Michigan off Silver Beach in St. Joseph, MI.  The sign caught my eye...and that white stuff is Lake Michigan.

The message below is something I sent out today to our Board of Christian Education, keeping them in touch not just with Interactive Board technology, the Computer Lab, the Art program, how our Basketball Teams did this past weekend, our MEAP scores, etc., but also how our students have been involved in the mission of God's Church to God's children around the world.
 

"Good afternoon, Mr. Strohacker, I know you like interesting stories so..."

All this healthful discussion took place while consuming an assortment of breakfast sandwiches, burritos, lots of Senior Coffees and, of course, Arnie's morning standard - a hot fudge sundae.
 

This coming Sunday is Life Sunday, and our 4th grade teacher/Band Director, Tom Farrand, is active in Lutherans For Life.  He provides lots of leadership in our church and school, will lead this Sunday's Bible Class, and led us in a terrific Chapel worship today.  Tom used enlarged baby pictures of our Faculty and Staff to create a guessing game and engage our students in today's lesson about the Sanctity of Human Life and God's great love for us in Jesus.

How different from our trip through Babies R’ Us a couple months ago or the two baby showers I’ve been to this fall. 

Ah, so often that's how it is with the fallen man.  "I hope nobody saw me."  As if that somehow changes the fact that we have fallen...again.

Photo I took of a 'temporary' church sign near Hobart, IN about a year ago.  How would you feel if...?

"Do you ever have a feeling inside yourself when you just know, 'I'm going to get into trouble today'?"  I can't recall a kid ever telling me, "No."  Invariably, they seem to be able to identify "that" feeling when they know before school ever starts, that 'this is going to be a bad day.'  That's a great first step.
 

And you're saying to yourself, "Why?  Why would she do such a thing?  A seventh grade boy, sure...but a fifth grade girl???" 

About half way through closing devotion one afternoon, and after the umpteenth time of pronouncing Juan as "Joo On" and Jose with a hard J sound and only one syllable (sort of like 'hose' but with a J), the kids began to look confused and finally asked, "What in the world is he reading?"  Pesco showed the devotion to a classmate who broke out laughing and provided the correct pronunciation:  "Whan" and "Ho-Za" (long 'o' and long 'a').  We all had a good laugh, including Pesco.