Officially Summer Time!!

Another school year is over! Graduation was this past Sunday and I am sure that the class of 2009 could not be happier. I am not sure who enjoys the time off more, the teachers or the students. I wanted to write this post earlier, but for me it did not really feel like the end of the school year because I had all of the final exams to grade. But I just finished all of my grading and now I can start to think and reflect about the year. Overall I think that this was a good year for me at Notre Dame and also at Westwoods Christian Academy. As I think about the 08-09 school year at ND, alot of memories come to mind. I think of myself being a better Math teacher this year, having a great time playing in the student-faculty basketball game, some unforgettable moments with students in and out of the classroom, and creating better relationships with the faculty. At Westwoods hopefully I was a better AD (athletic director) this year, and as coach for Westwoods Basketball team, our team enjoyed a 22-3 record. As I reflect on this past school year, as other years, the main thing going on inside of me is an evaluative process. For me to determine whether or not I did a good job this past year, I have to really take some time and think about it. My overall goal is to be better than last year, in every capacity. Every year I want to get better. Better at relationships, better at teaching, better at coaching, and most importantly to me, better at being a faithful Christian. It is easy to hear and believe the nice things that people say and I think that it is important to do that, but I want to be honest enough to get the whole story as well. And this can be humbling and hard to do. I know that before I started the 08-09 year I had some goals that I felt like God put on my heart to make a priority. I wanted to make my classroom a safer place with less sarcasm and joking around, and have more encouragement and affirmation. I wanted to start off all of my classes with improved interesting relevant thought provoking devotionals. I wanted to get to know the faculty better. I wanted to run better basketball practices, create more effective plays and defenses, and make Christ come alive and shine through our team more than in years' past. This is just the short list of some of my goals for this past year school, and I want to evaluate myself through this kind of lens. So how did I do--hmmmm, I am still thinking about it. Some goals I did okay with, some goals I may have done better with in previous years. That's okay though and I will not get all depressed or weird about it. I know that I will never be perfect, but I also never want to quit letting God refine me and I want Him to continue to give me opportunities. So I have already been praying about how I can make this summer of 09 better than last year's, and I will soon be thinking and praying about the next upcoming school year. This might sound like a silly way to go through life, but Julie and I firmly believe that God wants his people to have strong character. He does this by presenting us with opportunities in life to be good stewards of, and that is what we want to do! So next time you are in the office, on the jobsite, in the classroom, at practice, or with the spouse, remember you will be provided opportunity- try to take advantage of it! Jesus talks about this stewardship in Matt 25. If you have some free time read it today!