busy

I know we all really hate it when people complain they are busy, but last week felt like one of the busiest weeks of my life (though I keep thinking, during transplant, I'm sure I thought that EVERY week, so the cumulative stress is certainly not what it once was). :)

Suffice to say, the school year did finally draw to an end on Friday. I was pleased that during my meeting-crazed week, I did have a few moments to accomplish two "good deeds" before the end of school:
1. I introduced one of my students, an undocument migrant from Guatemala, to the public library. To see him marvel at books--all free!--was a joy. "Estas segura?" he kept asking ("are you sure"). Since this student needs to repay his coyote for his trip to the U.S., and so cannot continue in school despite a shining future in education, I was happy to at least set him on a road to further independent learning.
2. I attended World Refugee Day at the Boston State House on Friday, watching two of my students--a Somali Bantu from my first days of teaching ESL, and a more recent Iraqi refugee--speak. I was so proud. And especially happy that I had managed to get one of these students to the front page of our newspaper that morning...a tribute to him, and to all the refugees celebrating World Refugee Day on Friday.

Also, I finished two GREAT books this past week while waiting for meetings to start and while lying awake too late into the night.
1. Enrique's Journey. The true story of an undocument Central American migrant searching for his mother in the United States. So conflicted, and of particular interest to me as a couple of my own students are undocument and traveled in the same dangerous ways that Enrique did.
2. They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky. The true story of 3 "Lost Boys" from Sudan. Not as compelling as What is the What, but also truer. A painful and hopeful read all at once. Since I have many students from Sudan, I'm always interesting in reading about the refugee experience there.

Saturday was our 11th wedding anniversary! We're going away to New Hampshire to celebrate this weekend...we are very excited!

This week holds VBS for the boys, a few curriculum meetings for me, an opportunity to speak at Camp Cherith for a few hours on Thursday night and Friday morning on writing mission statements...and LOTS of time playing with our puppy Kobe, who is pretty much the smartest and cutest dog EVER.

school dayz

This past week brought the end of school for Orilus and Jackson--they had a half day at their Christian school on Wednesday. We went out to Fuddrucker's that night to celebrate, and gave them the traditional "moving up" cards and five dollars each. Thursday and Friday the boys spent at some friend's houses (which they are loving!) while Jason and I worked. J and I are done on June 20th (this coming Friday).

So the end of another school year is wrapping up. There is much, much for which to be thankful. Mostly, I am feeling awed to realize that this is the FIRST school year since the boys arrived nearly four years ago that I have started AND finished. No leave of absence to travel to Haiti. No leave to school my children at home and help them adjust. No medical leaves for things like bone marrow transplants. :) Just a regular, run-of-the-mill year. And given all we've been through in the last four years, regular is a gift, and I am thankful.

The summer will hold some changes for us (we hope). We hope to move sometime (July? We are still waiting to hear on the seller's bank to get back to us about our offer). I start my doctoral program. We hope to re-organize Ripple Effect. But the summer will also hold the usual lazy-quality that I have come to love so much since the boys came home to us--mornings spent doing some schoolwork (to continue to fill in some gaps that remain in their educational backgrounds), afternoons at Lynn beach, some day trips, a family camping weekend in Vermont with my Mom and sisters and some cousins, an anniversary weekend getaway, and time to see family and friends. After last summer's blitz (South Africa, two trips to Kansas, our Make-a-Wish trip to Disney World) I am looking forward to a slower pace as we find ourselves this summer in a season of "wait." Waiting, mostly, to buy a house. Waiting on change.

And, I might add, waiting on the world TO change. It has been a bloody week here again in Lynn; even Governor Patrick is promising more funding to help curb the violence here. Tonight in the car on the way home from a family cookout, our boys heard a song about God's Kingdom coming and we told them that where God's presence comes through people of His love, there is peace. And that peace is not just "calm," but also "healing." How exactly God might have as work for peace is not entirely clear for us, but if there is a war going on in my city (and there seems to be), I want to be on the side for peace, and wholeness. Ironically, as the city erupts in gang fighting and shootings, our city's schools are in a budget crisis. Schools are closing. Many teachers are losing their jobs. In my "Freshmen Academy," 14 of our 24 teachers will not be with us next year (they have been "bumped" into other positions, or their positions were eliminated). This is not the kind of peace and stability Lynn kids need. And so, to be in the midst of a city that is angry, and in the midst of a school system that is hurting, is a very interesting--and purposeful--place to be. We struggle to remember that God, too, is--and can be--present here. Pray for us as we wait and work.