Fwd: Heads up! An item from order #1067703652178 has shipped.

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From: Target <orders@oe.target.com>
Date: January 20, 2021 at 5:42:27 PM CST
To: sgates786@gmail.com
Subject: Heads up! An item from order #1067703652178 has shipped.
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Order # 1067703652178

Stephen , your order is on its way Just a few more stops…

Hi Stephen , We're just dropping a line to let you know an item from your order shipped, and we processed a payment of $136.26. Need anything else? Connect with us by visiting order details. Thanks for shopping Target!

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Delivers to: Bethany Gates, 318 N Scott St Apt 1, Wheaton, IL, 60187-5827 FEDEX GROUND Tracking # 782815631400 Track status

Strider Sport 14" Kids' Balance Bike - Blue Qty: 1

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Give me Penmanship, Please!

Cursive handwriting is a necessary attribute of a well-educated citizen not just for honoring tradition and the art of penmanship, but for fluidity of thought and speech. The LA Times wrote an article, "The Many Health Perks of Good Handwriting" chronicling the research that correlates increased brain activity with handwriting practice. The evidence is very compelling because of how the fine motor skills help develop the brain and reading readiness for early elementary students. Cursive is more efficient, professional, and generationally un-biased- there is a universality to cursive. For centuries, eloquence in writing and speech was the standard of an educated, thoughtful citizen- we must maintain this for our students because they will need to be able to express themselves in written and spoken form for college, vocational school, interviews, and even less formal venues. The need for cursive instruction is obvious and should not be considered a separate part of the curriculum, but rather infiltrated throughout the content areas. I have seen this accomplished very well at a few private schools in this area (Covenant Classical School and Naperville Classical Academy). Both schools require penmanship practice in the early grades, and after 3rd grade (I think), students are required to only use penmanship in ALL of their writing (they are also required to stand when answering every question, and to use full sentences!) The reasoning behind these seemingly formal practices has multiple purposes, but for the purposes of this response, eloquence and intentional communication are the main skills being instilled.

Students should not just be equipped to answer questions on a multiple choice test correctly, filling in the right bubble, or regurgitate information drilled into them- but be able to articulately express, debate, and defend their thoughts on and extrapolations of such information. Cursive is a piece of this "owning" and cultivating their own voice for both their public and private lives- even if for learning how "it" has been done for centuries before texting and emailing. Just because everyone is texting does not mean we need instruction on text speech; are our goals as educators to facilitate our student's flourishing and contributing to human history and society (hopefully improving conditions for the disenfranchised and future generations) or merely meet the fads and demands of our functionality obsessed culture? Eliminating cursive instruction is equitable to a "dumbing down" of our standards and submission to the trends of technology.

Stardom on a small scale

In my child psychology class, we have to write responses to the reading we cover- this one is in regards to adolescence and our personal experience. I love these assignments because you get to connect what you are reading in theories with real life experiences.

Enjoy!

Adolescence was a mixture of exciting opportunities, discovery, growth, and academic success combined with daily feelings of inadequacy, self-hatred, comparison, fear and loneliness. I was an excellent student, highly involved in choral groups (the TV show Glee is based off of the Show Choir I was a part of!), theater, and church. I remember the joy of performing in Mixed Company, as it was called, and how I loved singing and dancing. I also remember feeling desperate for my director to give me a solo, working so hard on my voice in private lessons, and feeling lousy about my tone quality and lack of sight-reading ability. I relentlessly compared myself to almost every other girl, always coming in uglier, fatter, or terribly less talented. I found a picture of myself recently of myself from those days with other students, laughed out loud, exclaiming to my younger self “you are beautiful, why did you compare yourself so much? If only you had believed in yourself!” Personally, this is a trend for me- not believing in myself and feeling “not good enough.”

I remember my personal fable in high school, was to be the lead in the musical, win the director’s favor (who actually ending up losing his teaching license for inappropriate conduct with female students!), and then someday become a professional actress and singer- “showing them how great I really am.” There was an implicit curriculum within musical and theater department due to the band director’s daughters being in commercials and films- one of his daughters is actually a working, somewhat famous, Hollywood actress on a popular TV show currently. I think this reality, of the Morrison girls being groomed for stardom, getting agents, and auditioning for television and commercials definitely added to the pressure and desperation I felt to be affirmed and approved of. I felt starved for someone to tell me I was “good”, “talented” or had a “beautiful voice.” I don’t think my passion was for the craft as much for the approval.

Honestly, I still struggle with dreams of stardom- I think “little Bethany” really believes she is a movie-star in the making, singing her heart out to Amy Grant songs, and pretending to be Julia Roberts on a movie set, as hilarious as that sounds!

And yet, as an adult, it has taken me some years to realize in a personal, existential way the reality of doing “small things with great love” (Mother Teresa) exceeds doing “great things that get a lot of attention or acclaim.” I think this has a great intersection with my work as a teacher: in a way I still get to be the “star” for my students, but I get to bring the “audience” up on stage with me! That was always a frustration for me as an actress, pursuing a career in acting, auditioning for commercials, and working on films- I felt bored, stifled and wanted so much to affect real change and LOVE another. As a teacher, I get to act, sing, dance even, and most of all LOVE.

Anyone else have a personal fable or adolescent dream they want to share?!

A Beautiful Day

It was gorgeous outside today- perfect for a top-down convertible drive to the cemetery, Mom's favorite restaurant (Egg Harbor, of course!), and stopping by the house for photo album reminiscing and antique admiring. Kathy came with me, she has adopted me- or rather, I have adopted her!

I feel so blessed and loved by God through her and my growing community of mothers and sisters. This past year, I have really prioritized sisterhood and God has brought so many wonderful women into my life. My life is rich because of the relationships I am so blessed to participate in.


No one can replace my mom, the love and intimacy I had with her, how she "got me" more than any other woman- and I have wrestled with God over how desperately I need this knowing, this intimacy in my life. My soul cries out for that human connection, how when your eyes meet its like you are home, and your Being is cradled lovingly. My mom cradled me in her arms, her words cradled my heart and her eyes cradled my soul. He is showing me that my need is real and there is a huge hole in my heart, but that if I am open and willing (key ingredient) He can and will bring new love, new relationships, new joys, laughter and depth into my soul. I won't ever have what I had with my mom, and God won't "fill her shoes" in some magical way, but He can and is providing love and intimacy with others.

And the extra special part: being loved by the family of God isn't assumed by blood relation, but by His Spirit in us. It has been really special being loved by Kathy, Vicki and Carol this year- because none of these women are vested to me in the way my mom was (and I am not diminishing the love of a mother), but rather making a point to highlight how their love for me is independent of relation- they like me and choose me for family! This makes me cry because it is really good to be Chosen. I am believing- experiencing how the Family of God can bring deep healing to those that have lost their family.

There will always I think be a part of our hearts that cry out for more intimacy, though. We deeply long to be known and to know... we yearn for affirmation for our being, for love just because we exist, and adoration at who we are. I accept this nagging longing. I affirm this even, because it speaks of that part of our hearts that are Home only in God- who is the Being, who is the Existing One.

You have made us for Yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You. (St. Augustine)

My mom rests fully now.


Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ⁸ (1 Peter)

2 Years Approaching

So, it's been a while since I posted something, but I have been accumulating future posts in my brain hoping for the time to make them sound really smart and chic. HA HA HA! Time- what a joke! Instead of stock piling for later eloquent discourse- here is what has been percolating in my noggin:

- Grad School is wonderful! I love school and want to be paid to learn. :) Anyone else want to join me? Thank you God for nurturing our minds.


- What about worshipping God, walking with God with Pure Love, Pure Faith and Pure Hope as St. Theophan mentions? This is serious business and means dieing to myself in a way I haven't really wanted to explore... but the hardest step is the first and each day I am taking it! I want to worship God, love God, connect with God for WHO He is and not just WHAT He does or doesn't do for me. More to come on this topic...

- Is God ever NOT "doing"? Isn't He ALWAYS pouring forth His Love, Beauty, Goodness, Grace, and Salvation to all of Humanity all the TIME? And furthermore, isn't He every moment of every day giving us HIMSELF in His Son, Jesus? This is powerful stuff to take in... really take in. I think if I REALLY believed this, I would live sooo very differently and far more FREE!



And Tuesday is the 2 year anniversary of my beautiful Mother's death. Still weird typing those words. Still feels like I am writing about another's loss- not my own. And yet, this past year, has been the hardest for me- much more permanent. Much more REAL. She is GONE (not in St. Louis or Door County or Iowa visiting dear friends and family.) And I can't call her, cuddle into her warm body, hold her sweet veiny hands, smell her skin, or be seen by her beautiful hazel eyes that went right to my soul and affirmed my being. I have LOST much in her and carry a sorrow in my soul... but the Beauty of it all is that Christ trampled down death by death! And God is showing me that He is my Life (not my family, not my relationships, not my externals) and Rock. And that it is possible to live this life with pain, loss, holes and still have joy, still marvel at the Beauty all around, still laugh till your sides ache, still love till it's hard to breathe and still let go of it all if Your Father allows or asks this. I have realized in a gut-level way that Life (and the Christian Life) is not about happiness or comforts or dreams come true or even really good, noble things you want to happen working out... but saying Yes to our Father, His Son and the Holy Spirit and trusting (working out that salvation with fear, trembling, crying, cursing even at times) that He is far more invested in our True Being (Theosis- for those that are willing to entertain such a preposterous idea) than even we are... and in Him we are Home.

Thank you for reading!