That was a surprise!

I wasn’t kidding when I said God had some surprises in store. I received some news early this morning, which could result in some exciting adventures. Time will tell.

Surprises from God

God is always full of surprises. I have had a handful of conversations with friends over the past few days that have been unexpected. None of them have been bad by any means. It is one of those things where you know God has to be up to something.

I haven’t heard from a few of these individuals for quite a while. Conversations I’ve had with people I see quite a bit have turned directions I never expected. It is one of those situations where you just step back and say, “Okay God, I don’t know where all of this is coming from so you are going to have make sense of all of it!”

It makes me anxious, a good anxious. My hopes are rising but so are my fears. It makes me curious and a bit impatient. I feel like a little kid on Christmas Eve. Tomorrow morning all of the presents get to be opened but tomorrow morning seems like it will take years to get here. What will come next?

I’m praying some of these conversations will continue. I’m praying some next steps will become evident as they do continue. Until then I’ll keep leaning in and learn as much as I possibly can.

Have you never heard?

Have you never understood?

The Lord is the everlasting God,

the Creator of all the earth.

He never grows weak or weary.

No one can measure the depths of his understanding.

He gives power to the weak

and strength to the powerless.

Even youths will become weak and tired,

and young men will fall in exhaustion.

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.

They will soar high on wings like eagles.

They will run and not grow weary.

They will walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31

CHICK NIGHT!!!!

I was finally able to attend a Chick Night last night. It was a great time as we turned the Summer Place Clubhouse into a spa. We had a smaller group than last time but it worked out wonderfully. It created a very intimate atmosphere and gave all of us the chance to really invest and build some awesome friendships. Stephanie Rorie leads our Chick Night team and she did an incredible job leading last night. I look forward to more fun Chick Nights.

That's my sister!

My sister, Anna, graduated from college this last December and quickly landed a great position for a local newspaper. She is a sports journalist for Pike Press in Illinois but also writes other articles. This week one of her articles on the election became the top story. My sister is a genius!

Only in my class...

There are all sort of interesting things that happen in my classroom. Sometimes there are funny. Sometimes weird. Sometimes just plain crazy. Today there seemed to be lots of them but I can only remember a few.

Student: Miss Koutz isn’t today Good Friday.
Miss Koutz: No. Wednesday was Ash Wednesday, which is 40 days before then.
Student: Oh. Really? I thought today was Good Friday.
Miss Koutz: Nope. Sorry.
Student: Hmm. Okay because I was going to say Jesus died today but I guess not.

I asked one of my 6th grade students from last semester to help with me demonstrate during our recruiting assembly this afternoon. We started with a piece our class wrote for buckets. The plan was I would start and she would join me after a few bars. I introduce the piece and she starts clicking off. I join keeping the same beat but she discovered it was too fast. She stops, shakes her head and says, “No. No. You are playing way too fast. We gotta slow down. That is crazy.”