My Favorite Teacher

15 Dec 2010 Leave a comment

by Dienna G. in Uncategorized

Most of us have a favorite teacher. That one teacher when we think back at our childhood. . .

You know the one.

The one who lit a fire in you for a certain subject.

The one who believed in you when no one else did.

The one who made learning come alive.

The one who seemed to make the world just right with a smile.

For whatever reason, that teacher just sticks out in your mind.

I had lots of teachers I liked. Lots that poured their hearts into their jobs. I am thankful for all of them.

But one sticks out.

Mrs. Burgoyne. Fourth grade. Weatherly Elementary.

She inspired me.

Not long ago on a Sojourn night, I talked about how she had made me believe that I could do things that I had not thought possible. She even let me teach her class a math lesson. Three days later after I had formed small groups, made little pockets with math problems inside for the kids to discover and a multitude of other stuff, she gently let me know that I had to give her class back. She had inspired me to reach beyond my feelings of insecurity to dream of what could be. That summer I opened a preschool in my garage. I recruited from the neighborhood and every Tuesday from 9 until 11 am, preschoolers showed up. I hired an assistant and at the end of the summer had a graduation ceremony with parents invited. The local news came too. Seemed a 10 year old running a summer preschool in her garage was a human interest story.

I was thrilled recently when I found Mrs. Burgoyne on Facebook. She remembered me. I was for a moment transported back to the 70’s. Memories flooded as I remembered my teacher making Charlotte and Wilbur jump to life while reading Charlotte’s Web. I remember not knowing the answer to a question on a test and her telling me the answer. I still remember today that Switzerland is known for clocks and cheese. I remember going to her house to work on the Taj Mahal project that my friends and I had created. It was headed to the city fair and she wanted to help us perfect a few things. She gave us kool-aid and cookies. The kool-aid was red. I thought I was the coolest kid in the whole world. Mrs. Burgoyne changed my life.

Thank a teacher today. If you can find your favorite teacher, thank him/her.

Solitude

04 Nov 2010 Leave a comment

by Dienna G. in Solitude Tags: , ,

I am about to check into a hotel for a three day writing retreat. I have deadlines and trying to write in the midst of life as normal is just not working. I get so distracted. Write a paragraph then go put a load of laundry in. Then on the way back to the computer I notice that the mail just came. Go get the mail. Open mail. Deal with mail. Remember that I’m writing so back to the computer I go. Phone call. Someone is coming to pick up some paperwork I haven’t signed yet. Go print off paperwork. Sign paperwork. Organize paperwork. Answer door. Chat. Realize I need to change laundry out. On the way back to the computer start cleaning the house. Remember that I’m writing so put broom up. Sit back down to reread paragraph to remind myself what I was doing.

So that is why I’m going to a hotel where there is no laundry, no house to clean, no dog barking, no husband and no teenagers. (No husband and no teenagers make me sad. No dog, laundry and house to clean does not make me sad.)

I am reminded that in the busyness of life it is so hard sometimes to think. It is so hard to focus. It is hard to hear from God at times.

Solitude.

We need more of it. We need to unplug. We need to sit in stillness and listen.

Recently my son went to a retreat where they had 30 minute blocks of solitude. He came home with a decision about something in his life that had been obvious to me for a while. Not so obvious to him until he found solitude. And there he heard God. Clearly.

Find some solitude. Even for just a few moments. No music. No computer. No distractions. Just you alone. . . and God.

 

Twirling and Freedom

22 Oct 2010 Leave a comment

by Dienna G. in Freedom Tags: , ,

Lately I’ve been thinking about twirling.  Remember, for a moment, being a little girl standing out in the green grass. The warm summer sun beating down on your face. The blue sky with white powder puffs here and there beckoning. And you would throw your arms out with abandon and twirl. Just turn around and around and around. Until finally too exhausted you’d fall into a heap on the grass, giggling at the dizziness and the fun.

I missed twirling. I missed the very act of just letting go of the things that press down on us. I missed the carefree abandonment that twirling provided.

So, every once in a while I’ll twirl. Just for the fun of it. I love to twirl in the rain. Or on a day when huge snowflakes are falling from the sky. I lift my face toward the white sky and feel the flakes hit my face. I don’t twirl as fast as I used to. I do it slowly, taking in the moment. Enjoying the freedom.

The freedom of letting all your worries and stress float away. The freedom of just being in the moment.

And then there is spiritual twirling. When life presses down on us and things rise to the surface that are ugly. That we didn’t even know existed deep in the recesses of our hearts. In those moments we need to get rid of those things. We need to ask Jesus to forgive us for the ugliness. For the attitudes. For the things that hold us back. And then walk in freedom. No, not walk. . . twirl in freedom. Letting all the guilt and the shame go. And living in the moment of forgiveness.

Twirling.

We need to do it more.

Take a moment. Get up from your chair. Put your arms out. Tip your head back and spin. Enjoy the moment. Take a deep breath and get back to life.

And if the ugliness in your life has surfaced lately. . .  Take a moment. Confess it to Jesus. Ask His forgiveness. Then savor the moment. Let the guilt and the shame escape as you twirl in the freedom that only forgiveness can bring.

 

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