By Kiera Rich – krich13@bellsouth.net

I heard something very disturbing and rather disgusting on the news last night.  There are two counties in Georgia who start school TOMORROW!  Although I love the beginning of the school year, school does not start in August.  School officially begins the Tuesday after Labor Day.  Everyone knows that.  Any other date is just wrong and should be corrected immediately.  At least everyone USED to know that…back in the day…when I was in school.

I always get a little wistful about the start of school — when that start occurs at the proper time and not a month early.  The new school year always makes me want to return to those good old days when I stood at the front doors of Ralph Moody Elementary with my new lunchbox in one hand and my new school supplies in the other. 

I was one of those kids who other kids made fun of because I really loved school.  I loved learning.  I loved books.  I loved the smell of crayons, the taste of paste and a young man named Mike, who sat behind me in second grade.  In addition to seeing Mike again after a long summer apart, there was always something special about a new school year.

The new year was a fresh start.  A new beginning.  My new teacher didn’t know that I had missed every word on a spelling pre-test the year before or maybe she did and was just kind enough not to mention it.  By the way, “of” should not be included on any spelling list.  Ever.  How are you supposed to sound that one out?  Here’s a hint.  There is not a ”v” in “of”!

A new beginning with my new teacher was a wonderful thing but a fresh start with my new classmates was even better.  Not all of them knew that I’d thrown up in the hallway in front of the library due to a nasty combination of cafeteria chili and a stomach bug.  The fact that I could pass a football better than any boy was not always common knowledge so I could still be a “secret weapon” for the team captian who was “in the know”.  My classmates also didn’t know or had blissfully forgotten that the annual showing of “Snoopy Come Home” reduced me to a sobbing, quivering pile of wet Kleenex.  By the way, that stupid movie still has the same effect on me and yet I STILL watch it everytime it’s on TV.

From 1st grade through 5th grade, I attended the same elementary school so although I did know a little about my classmates and my teacher, I still got to discover new things about them.   I found out important things like the fact that John, a major bully and tormentor in my life, hated me because I was a better quarterback than he was.  I also learned that one of the Wendys (There were 4 of them in my grade.) was a friend who stuck by me through everything and another Wendy incited me to the absolute verge of attempted murder more than once.

And I learned about my teachers.  I learned that Mrs. Barton, the 5th grade teacher that my older brother hated, would turn out to be one of my favorites because we shared a love of U.S. History and writing.  I learned that Miss Finch, the teacher I was terrified of, would also turn out to be a favorite simply because of the way she loved me.  For more on Miss Finch please visit my post entitled, “The Reluctant Pilgrim”.

School was definitely a very social thing for me but I also loved the academics.  I loved the challenge of learning all the state capitals and the presidents in order.  I loved creative writing and learning to weave together the elements of a story.  I loved vocabulary and the ability it gave me to shock my orthodontist, a man that I saw every six weeks throughout my elementary school career.  Apparently not too many 5th graders came into his office and complained about “ambiguous mandible” pain.

There were parts of school that I hated too.  4th grade was one of those areas.  “How,” you may be asking yourself, “is it possible to hate an entire grade?”  If you had my 4th grade teacher, who shall remain nameless, you would understand.

I was very excited about 4th grade.  After being assigned a different teacher in 3rd grade, I again had Mike (My 2nd grade crush.) in my class.  I also had 3 of the 4 Wendys in my class — including the one who drove me crazy but it was ok because I got the teacher I wanted!  Over the summer, my parents has requested that I be in his class.  He was my first male teacher and I remember thinking that was a very cool thing.  He looked a little like “Mr. Rogers” and yet I honestly cannot remember one thing that I really learned in his class.

I take that back.  I learned a lot so let me re-phrase the above statement…I honestly cannot remember one positive thing I learned in his class.  Some of the things I did learn were not positive.  I learned to hate science and nature because our “science” time every week was just spent looking up word definitions.  So while I added to my vocabulary, every ounce of love and interest that I had for the natural world was bored right out of me.

I learned to hate math because in 4th grade, it became coupled with humiliation.  My teacher regularly called a group of kids to the chalkboard and gave them a long division problem to solve.  Sometimes, I got the problem right.  Often, I didn’t and those times when I missed were excruciating.

We had to stay at the board until we solved the problem correctly.  If it was wrong, we had to do it again — with no help or instruction about what we may have gotten wrong on the previous attempt.  More than once I returned to my seat in tears only to hear the sounds of snickering as one of the Wendys laughed at me.  And did my teacher intervene on my behalf?  Of course not.  He said, ”Maybe if I make you do enough problems on the board, you’ll finally learn how to divide.” 

I knew how to divide just fine.  My problem was performance related, not math related.  I got so nervous standing in front of the class that I simply could not function.  It never occurred to my teacher to wonder why my tests and homework were done well but I had trouble solving a problem on the board.  He simply assumed the problem was academic and attempted to humiliate me into learning.

And I did learn.  I learned to hate both math and science because of a bully of a man who had been teaching for too long. 

This morning I had a conversation with the Children’s Director at our church about teaching Sunday school this fall.  It’s a very exciting time, with new classes starting and kids moving up a grade level.  It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a classroom and had a group of kids to call my own and the thought is very appealing.

However, it’s also extremely frightening because teaching kids is an awesome responsibility.  I don’t want to be the subject of someone’s blog in 20 years about the Sunday school teacher who never really understood.  I don’t want to be the teacher who failed to connect with a kid on their level and thereby killed any flickering interest they may have had in learning about Jesus.  I don’t want to be a bad teacher. 

But it’s not about me.  It’s about some little kids who deserve to learn about and hear God’s Word.  It’s about Jesus who said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them…”  And it’s about God who wants the whole world to know about Him.

For better or worse, teachers impact kids.  So as our nation goes back to school (And Sunday school!)  I ask you to join me in prayer.  Pray for the teachers as they prepare for another year and for the students as they switch gears from the freedom of summer into the grind of earlier bedtimes, homework, and spelling tests. 

Pray for the safety of our schools and churches.  These places should be a safe harbor for kids where they can take rest from the pressures of the outside world.  They should not be places of violence or humiliation.  Ever.  Pray that our teachers become heroes simply for the way that they teach and love on kids and for no other reason.

If you have children, pray specifically for your child’s teacher(s) and encourage your kids to do the same.  

You never know what kind of work God is doing in someone else’s life.   You never know who you are “teaching” by example and by your words and actions.  You never know what your prayers may or may not change.  You never know how this school year may change your child or yourself.  You never know.

But here are 3 things that never change:

1.  New crayons always smell wonderful!

2.  Every child deserves an amazing teacher – who begins teaching on the Tuesday after Labor Day when school “Officially” starts.

3.  Jesus lived and suffered and died to save a world riddled with sin.  Because of His amazing love and sacrifice, we have a brand, new start.  Every day.

Happy First Day of School!

by Kiera Rich – KRich13@bellsouth.net

It’s Pop-Quiz time!  And the subject you have chosen is United States Presidents so answer these questions to the best of your ability. 

43 men have been President of the United States of America.  How many can you name?

Who was the only U.S. President to serve two non-consecutive terms?

Who was the only U.S. President to not have a Vice-President for his entire term?

Which U.S. President was not elected to either the office of Vice President or of President?

Who were the only grandson/grandfather team to both be United States Presidents?

In our Nation’s history, there have been two father/son duos of Presidents.  Can you name them?

You may find this difficult to believe; but, I have a passion — some might call it an obsession — with U.S. Presidents.  Alternately, they fascinate me, they disgust me, they inspire me, they educate me, but above all, they motivate me to leave the world a better place than I found it.

One of the things that I love about the presidents is that they were just ordinary men.  Before he became president, Lyndon Johnson was a school teacher.  And James Garfield?  An ordained Minister.  Woodrow Wilson was the president of Princeton University, while President Harding was a newspaper man in Ohio.  Presidents Washington and Carter were both farmers and President Truman ran a failed clothing store in Kansas City.  He never even graduated from college.

Throughout history, our presidents have been Just ordinary men who, by their placement in history and their personal actions, did extraordinary things – sometimes good and sometimes bad.

I am currently reading a book called, “The Defining Moment:  FDR’s Hundred Days & the Triumph of Hope“.   I’m only a couple of hundred pages into the book so my knowledge is still limited.  But here are a few of the important things that I have learned so far.  FDR wanted to be president more than anything in the world.  He was willing to do pretty much anything to achieve this goal — even if it meant bending the rules or simply making them up as he went along.  A rather inauspicious beginning for a man who would go on to be considered one of the greatest presidents in U.S. History, don’t you think?

And FDR was not alone in his “rule-bending” ways.  His 5th cousin, Theodore Roosevelt, wanted to build a canal through an isthumus in Columbia.  However, the Columbian government was not in favor of his plan and politely but firmly told him, “NO!”.

Did Teddy take “no” for an answer?  Of course not, he simply changed the rules.  He backed a small group of revolutionaries who seceded from Columbia thus creating the independent nation of Panama.  And Teddy got his canal. 

Teddy was famous for saying the word, “bully”.  In TR’s use of the word, it means, “superb or wonderful”.  I can’t help wondering if he understood another meaning of that word though.  The meaning, according to  Dictionary.com, goes something like this “a blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who habitually badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people.”

I think it’s safe to say that everyone, at sometime in their lives, has had to deal with a bully.  A young man by the name of “John” tormented me throughout elementary school.  When I got into 7th grade, he passed the baton to a young lady named “Julie”.  She was a quick study and apparently used John’s bullying cirriculum because she picked up exactly where he had left off.  Julie picked on me until I moved out of state in 8th grade at which time “Bryan” took over.  As I think back on John, Julie, and Bryan am I filled with nostalgia and a sense of gratitude for the important lessons they taught me?  Are you kidding???  Lost in the memories of my childhood, they all still make me so mad I want to spit at them! 

And I admit, I’m disappointed by my reaction to the bullies of my childhood.    With the exception of dumping a juice box all over Bryan when I was a freshman in high school, as a rule, I pretty much took the path of least resistence.  I gave up and gave over power, giving the bullies free reign to terrorize my life.  And then I went and picked on someone smaller and weaker than myself.  Vicious cycle, isn’t it?

I do wonder about the bullies of my past.  What became of them?  Do they now follow people around the office and make fun of their hair cuts?    Do they sneak into the break room and steal the goodies out of people’s lunches?  Do they make up catchy rhymes and songs about people’s piglike noses?  Probably not; but it is kind of amusing to imagine how society would react to those scenarios.

But not every bully has to have a soundtrack.  Maybe the bullies still intimidate people, but in more subtle, insidious ways.  Maybe they don’t resort to out and out name-calling but don’t hesitate to tell people they’re “stupid”.  Maybe they badger people so extensively about a mutual project that the badgeree feels like nothing more than the badgerer’s puppet.   Maybe they sit on a committee at your church or school or board of directors and simply make everyone’s collective lives miserable.  Maybe they do get emotionally, verbally, or physically abusive in their personal relationships.  Whatever the level of abuse, it has continued through their lifetime because nobody has ever dared to tell them, “No.  Stop it.  This is not acceptable.”

Many of our presidents have been bullies.  Andrew Jackson used verbal intimidation and screamed at people to get his way.  With Lyndon Johnson’s 6′4″ frame, his “in-your-face” management style often had a physical component.  And Richard Nixon?  I don’t even know what to say about him.  I think President Ford summed it up pretty well though when he said, “Any man who has to have a list of enemies has too many enemies.”

And yet for all of the bullying characters who have occupied the White House, we have still seen amazing accomplishments.  President Lyndon Johnson had a vision for the ”Great Society”.  His programs gave aid to education, attacked disease, and fought poverty.  He started Medicare and championed the causes of urban renewal, beautification, conservation, crime prevention, voter’s rights, and environmental protection.  He made great strides in ending the blatant segregation that still haunted our nation.

President Johnson sounds like a great man, doesn’t he?  He certainly accomplished a lot and left the world a better place than he found it; but, at what cost?  Who did he crush in the process?  Who paid the price for Johnson’s success?

John 14: 6 says, “Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.”

This verse is often used to explain the path to Salvation.   Nobody comes to God except through Jesus.  Pretty simple.  However, I also think it tells us very plainly that the end does NOT justify the means.

Jesus IS the path to God.  But along that path other things matter too like our attitude toward the other creations of God — people, all the critters of the earth, the environment.  It isn’t all about me.  How I treat other people matters.  It matters a lot.  It matters to Jesus and it should matter to me just as much. 

I have to confess…I, at times, am guilty of manipulation to get my way.  I’m guilty of emotional blackmail.  I’m guilty of putting someone down in order to feel better about myself.  I am guilty of bullying.  And I need to stop.

50 years from now, I may have accomplished great things.  I don’t know.  I’m not off to a real swift start but who knows what God may have planned for me?  I think it’s safe to say that I will never build a canal or end a world war or enact a program that will provide health care to millions of people who truly need it.

However, I would rather be known for my kindness, my compassion, and for the way I have lived my life than for the way I changed the world. 

How about you?

Pop Quiz Answers

43 men have been President of the United States of America.  How many can you name?  Answer

Who was the only U.S. President to serve two non-consecutive terms?  Grover Cleveland

Who was the only U.S. President to not have a Vice-President for his entire term? John Tyler

Which U.S. President was not elected to either the office of Vice President or of President? Gerald Ford

Who were the only grandson/grandfather team to both be United States Presidents? William Henry Harrison & Benjamin Harrison

In our Nation’s history, there have been two father/son duos of Presidents.  Can you name them?  John Adams & John Quincy Adams.  George H.W. Bush & George W. Bush

By Kiera Rich – krich13@bellsouth.net

We are a part of the community at a fairly large suburban apartment complex in Atlanta.   As with any slice of the population pie, most of our neighbors are fairly normal, conscientious, semi-thoughtful people.  This blog is for not for those people.  This is for our other neighbors.   Here are some things that I would like for you to remember.

1.  Thou shalt not allow your dog to poop in front of the mailboxes.  If this action is unavoidable at LEAST have the courtesy to clean up after said dog.

2.  Thou shalt not use the exercise room as your personal phone booth.   Mobile phones are just that.  Mobile.  Feel free to roam on back to your own apartment and argue with your girlfriend to your heart’s content.  I’m sure your wife won’t mind.

3.  Thou shalt not lift weights, move furniture or do ANYTHING that involves dropping heavy things on the floor at 3 AM.  I don’t care if it’s a weekend, there are non-insomniacs below you who are sound asleep and wish to stay that way.

4.  Thou shalt not use more than one parking place per vehicle.  Your car is not the Presidential limo.  If you are so concerned that it might get scratched, feel free to park far away from the building.  There are plenty of spaces available.  Use as many as you wish.

5.  Thou shalt not allow your children (Or anyone else!) do anything in the pool except swim.  `Nuf said.

6.  Thou shalt not, when exiting a parking place, do so without checking for on-coming traffic.  You are entering a moving lane of traffic.  You do not have the right away.  Ever.  No matter how fast you’re going.

7.  Thou shalt not stand in common areas and smoke.  What you do in your apartment is your business.  What you do while standing in front of our door is our business and we are in the business of avoiding lung cancer, thank you very much.

8.  Thou shalt not be a slob.  The management has given us a wonderful, compacting dumpster for our trash.   It is both convenient and accessible.  Please use it.  No, dumping a bag 10 feet from the dumpster is not “just as good”.  If you try to make a bank shot with your Hefty bag and miss, please clean up after yourself.  Old Jalapeno peppers and coffee grounds do not smell nice when they’re baked in the July sun for several hours.

9.  Thou shalt always clean up after your dog.  Although I already touch on this in commandment 2, it’s such an important concept that I felt the need to address it again.  I’m happy you have a dog.  I really am.  I understand that dogs need to relieve themselves.  So please be a good pet parent and clean up after your pup!

10.  Thou shalt not steal.  God made this pretty clear in Exodus 20.  So to whoever swiped my bike off our porch, please give it back.  I won’t ask any questions.  I promise.

In Mark 12, Jesus tells us to love God above all else.  Ok, that’s fair easy to understand.  Then He throws a curve ball when He says that the next important commandment is to “Love your neighbor as yourself”.  Gets a little trickier there, doesn’t it?  If I love my neighbor as myself, would I want myself to step in steaming dog poop?   Would I want myself to be awakened out of a sound sleep by a terrifying bang?  Would I want myself to have my bike stolen?  Nope.

Then again, would I want myself to be the subject of a stranger’s blog entry?  Probably not.  Would I want myself to get honked at and glared at when I make a mistake and pull from a parking place into moving traffic?  Not so much. 

So how do I fix a problem that is as much about me as it is my neighbors?  How is it possible for someone who tries so hard to live according to God’s Word to still fall so painfully short?  How did I get to be so judgemental?

I don’t know the answers to those questions.  I do know that God put me in this particular place for a reason and it was not so I could write this blog about my neighbors.   Maybe if I tried harder to be friendly.  Maybe if I worked on improving my bad attitude.  Maybe if I cleaned up a mess that someone else created.  Maybe if I exercised a little patience with those around me and didn’t just assume that they are all out to inconvenience me.  Maybe.

I believe that the Bible is God’s true and perfect word.  It would be incredibly arrogant of me to think that I could add a thing to what He’s already done.  But in my mind, I think maybe I’ll add an 11th commandment.  Just for me.  Just as a reminder.

“Thou shalt not be selfish”.  That is something I need to tell myself daily if not hourly.   ”Thou shalt not be selfish” is something that I need to do, not just tell myself.  “Thou shalt not be selfish” is a really hard thing to do; but, in the true spirit of this new commandment, if anyone else wants to borrow it as a mantra for their life, please do — especially if you’re my neighbor, are riding a stolen bike and own a dog!