CowPi Journal

Ever have just one of those days at work where everything and everyone seems to be coming down on you? This song will cheer you up. (For mp3 format.)
This place is even hosting remixes of the song.
Thanks Ray for the song!

(A postcard sent to PostSecret)

A young man approached the pastor and said, “I think I want to be baptized.”

The pastor replied, “You think? Don’t you know?”

“I guess I’m ready,” replied the young man.

The pastor nodded and reached his hand out to shake the young man’s hand. As the young man returned the gesture, the pastor grabbed him around the neck and put him in a headlock.

The young man, shocked at the sudden maneuver, started to laugh at the embarrassing situation he found himself in.

The pastor tightened his grip and the young man became serious, and then began to struggle for air.

When the pastor thought the young man had just about enough, he let go. The young man dropped to his knees, gasping for air.

The pastor said, “When you want Jesus as bad as you want air, then you’re ready for baptism.”

(Thanks Brian for the story.)

In class yesterday, I had told the students to get out a half-sheet of paper and clear off their desks for a quiz. Some students were moving slow in clearing off their desk, desparately trying to re-memorize this small table of numbers they need to know for finding trigonometry values. I had just about every desk cleared when I noticed these two students up front, each lingering over the table longer than anyone else in the class. I teasingly asked, “Are you two cheating? Let’s put the notes away.”
Since the two students were honest, hard-working honor students who just happen to be dating, I posed a rhetorical question to several nearby students in an attempt to be funny. “If these two would cheat on a math quiz, would they cheat on each other?”
Unfortunately I said it loud enough for most of the class to hear it. Half the class went silent, the other half kind of chuckled a little. A girl from the back spoke up—the girl that is known to say stuff off the wall and out of the blue—“That’s a serious question,” and most of the class started laughing.
I hushed the class and agreed with the girl-from-the-back’s statement, adding that I would never expect those two to cheat on each other. The girl shot a quick glance at the guy. After a couple more comments, we began the quiz.
Today, I found out the guy had just cheated on the girl at a party this weekend. He was absent on Monday, so this was his first day back at school after the incident. Furthermore, the “other girl” sat in the back of the same class.
What timing! Do I know when to open my big mouth or what?
To be honest, I had no idea of any of this drama. This couple had been dating for nearly a year. Everybody knew them as a couple. She had been a positive influence on him and he knew it. I would have never expected him to ruin a good thing like that. But darn it if he did.
If I had known, I never would have said anything, especially out of respect for her. I rarely tease students about their relationships except maybe if they spend too much time on the telephone and not on their homework. I usually smile bigger to my students who are couples when I see them together being boyfriend/girlfriend at games or dances, but rarely in the classroom. My students who are couples are quite respectful in and out of the classroom.
The whole thing makes me wonder. What I said is something I would normally not say. But I said it and I said it now, at that this rough moment in their relationship. Why now? Was it a coincidence or just bad timing?
Lord, I hope I didn’t add fuel to an already difficult situation. Forgive me if I did. Please bless them. Help all involved to work through this, and learn from this incident. May they all be drawn into a closer relationship with You.