Adventures in Administration

http://goo.gl/k3qn6 Strength for the Journey   is one of my all-time favorite worship songs.  It was written by Michael John Piorier  and the lyrics really sum up my reflections from this past summer. This summer was a lesson in humility and patience.  Traditionally summer is a time to set new goals for learning, improving, tinkering, and rest in order to prepare and rejuvenate for the year ahead.  Summer is a time to reset, take the long view, recalibrate, tackle larger projects.  All of these were part of my to-do list.  Now that we are a few days away from welcoming students back to school I see that the path this summer was far different from my vision.  And in the end, I am grateful for the challenges and hard work that came with the different path because I believe that our school is in a much stronger place than if the summer had adhered to  the path I mapped out. The typical list of summer conferences that I like to attend did...

I was given a gift this year in that the first three days of my Thanksgiving holiday were spent on the road with my sister.  I helped her to drive her two amazing dogs and what had been left by the movers from Houston, TX to Los Angeles, CA.  Yup, three days of driving, 28 hours in the vehicle and only ourselves and Highway 10 for entertainment.  While this was not the way I would normally choose to spend a holiday, I am so very glad that I had the opportunity to do so. The route is a pretty desolate one.  There is not much in the way of interesting scenery (with a few exceptions in New Mexico).  And no matter how much you love spending time with someone, 28 hours of driving and the care of two large dogs is demanding.  However, this trip reminded me of a few important lessons that I am carrying with me as I move with our school community towards finals and towards the end of Advent. Cool rock formation in New Mexico Any time that you have to...