A Glimpse of A Week at School

During the past week, Jannie and I have spent nearly every day at school. The Reservation has its community Christmas Party tonight. Our school group were assigned to do the baking. Jannie helped some ladies with a very involved ginger bread house creation. Not one, but three buildings! I was paired up with a grumpy middle aged guy that doesn't like to try new things. "Grumpy" and I managed to have a good time making three cakes. I just let my silly side come out and joked about everything we did. We timed out each procedure as if it were a serious docking maneuver for the Space shuttle. Next, we tried spritz cookies. Now, Grumpy doesn't like to try new things, and he really doesn't like facing failure. Well, who does? but that is what we had with those spritz cookies. We didn't know that the little foil wrapped squares of margarine were measured at 1/2 cup. We didn't know that there is a big difference between soft and too soft margarine. We didn't know that we had to slowly pour in the sugar while beating the margarine at medium speed. Then, add the egg, and vanilla, and so forth, and then beat the whole thing for FIVE minutes! We just dumped the ingredients together and mixed them. It didn't work. Grumpy quit. I started again, adjusting the softness of the margarine. Grumpy came back and we failed again. Grumpy quit. By now, I was frustrated, too. I can develop my own pictures, load ammunition, make a bunch of things, but I couldn't make spritz cookies!!! Grrrrr.......umph! I grabbed the recipe book and discovered there were very explicit steps which were to be followed...steps which I didn't know about since they were absent from the hand written directions we were given. So, I mustered my courage one more time, and so did Grumpy. We followed the directions carefully. I know you won't believe it, but our third attempt worked!
While making cookies may not seem to be a big deal, if you think about it, it was an important learning opportunity. We didn't quit. We persevered and conquered which was an important learning achievement for Grumpy, and it didn't hurt me either. The ladies had their challenges with the gingerbread houses, too. They persevered and made some nice looking edible products which could be given away at the Christmas Party.
After the three days of baking, we were given a treat and the class went on a field trip...ten pin bowling an hour away in Kelowna. The driver of the fifteen seating van was not a member of our class. He is rather well educated and quick witted. Every now and then, he would utter a sneaky remark which was meant to attack Christianity. He would look in the rear view mirror and smirk, enjoying his little game. He said, "That new Bible isn't as good as the old one. The new one wrote out a whole bunch about God." Jannie replied, "I don't know what Bible you are reading because my Bible has the same God from front to finish." The driver replied, "You know, the fire and brimstone God that judges evil from the old Bible is different from the Jesus God of the new Bible." I responded, "You need to read a little further in the new Bible, as you call it. The last book in the Bible, Revelation, reveals Jesus as the same God as the one in the old Bible. There is plenty of judgement there."
The driver said, "Yeah, but he takes so long." He laughs. Jannie spoke up, "It is because of His great mercy that He is patient with us and gives us a chance to seek Him." The driver chuckled, but all present listened.
Later, at the bowling alley, I assited one of the students, a lady with a leg brace and physical handicaps. She said, "I like you shirt, Howard." I was wearing a t-shirt that said, There are two sure things in life: 1)there is a God, and 2) you're not Him. Each time it was her turn to bowl, I would position a ramp till she was happy with it, and then bring her ball and set it on the top of the ramp. That is how she would play the game. Handling the ball that way transfered oil from the ball surface to my hands. When I tried to bowl immediately after her, I just couldn't control the ball well. It either slid out of my fingers too early, or too late. Believe it or not, this worked out to my advantage. Last year, without oily fingers, I bowled a 230+ game. While that might be good for my personal best, it doesn't help evangelism. Standing out as exceptional is not desired within the Native community. The word community has a sense of level ground to it. So, by bowling a 135 in game one, and 98 in game two, I actually fit better with the community.
Tonight is the Christams party. I think we will be asked to sing Christmas carols in Secwepemctsin (Shuswap language). We have been attempting to reach out to three reservations, it is nice to have one that is welcoming us into their community a little more each year.