an extraordinary time

“The house lights go off and the footlights come on. Even the chattiest stop chattering as they wait in darkness for the curtain to rise. In the orchestra pit, the violin bows are poised. The conductor has raised his baton. In the silence of a midwinter dusk, there is far off in the deeps of it somewhere a sound so faint that for all you can tell it may be only the sound of the silence itself. You hold your breath to listen. You walk up the steps to the front door. The empty windows at either side of it tell you nothing, or almost nothing. For a second you catch a whiff of some fragrance that reminds you of a place you’ve never been and a time you have no words for. You are aware of the beating of your heart…The extraordinary thing that is about to happen is matched only by the extraordinary moment just before it happens. Advent is the name of that moment.”

— Frederick Buechner, Whistling in the Dark, pp. 2,3

This Sunday marked the first Sunday of Advent. I have grown to love the Advent season over the past few years - it has become for me a time that demands that I throw aside all things that distract (does the blog count as distraction? hhmmm), complicate, harry and hurry me and to invite in a deep silence that reveals the little good things - the real things - that actually matter.

Advent is a season of waiting in darkness for a light that will surely come; a light that has come and will come again. It is the truest, sweetest, and richest expectation and anticipation that has ever and will ever exist. And it will not last forever. This anticipation is an earthly anticipation, to be sure. When Christ comes again, the waiting will forever be over; it will be replaced with joy that I can't begin to wrap my mind around. And clearly, that's a good, good thing.

But don't you think there's something delicious about anticipation?

So because I know I won't be waiting forever, it is my goal to soak up every sweet second of Advent by stopping, being quiet, and listening significantly more than I am in the habit of doing.

Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.

Isaiah 30:18

christmas trees, elodie, crafts, and a few really good songs

It's been a really good weekend here. Besides plowing through a massive stack of essays (definitely still not finished with those) + prepping a middle school newspaper to go to press, the weekend's been filled with christmas craftiness, babies, and good music. Thought I'd share.

Even though it's ridiculously early, the tree went up this weekend. If we'd waited any longer, really, the juice wouldn't have been worth the squeeze. This is the first time I've had a BIG tree- it was actually my childhood best friend's family tree growing up.

Isn't it pretty? I'm really hoping it survives the season.

I got to keep Elodie for a bit while Kate & Will snuck off to a wedding shower downtown & loved every second of squeezing her.

Had some more time with the Grahams and some other fine individuals this afternoon over some crafting. I made this wreath from Design Sponge's tutorial and think it turned out pretty good.

It now adorns the bookcase.

I'll leave you with a few great songs that I can't stop listening to.

1. Beauty in Walking Away - Marie Digby

I still don't really know who this is, but I stumbled across this song last week and have had it on repeat ever since. Something about its lyrics just sticks with my soul. Here's a vid so you can listen...try to ignore the weird bobbing of the neck. ???

2. Flags - Brooke Fraser

I went to see Brooke Fraser at WorkPlay here in the Ham last weekend, and she was phenominal. A New Zealander who is gloriously quirky and weird, her songs are a delightful cross between Sara Groves and Sarah McLaughlin. I really love this song in particular.

3. Love is Still a Worthy Cause - Sara Groves

It's no secret that I want to BE Sara Groves. I would go so far as to say that second only to scripture itself, her music has played the most critical role in getting me through the most difficult of days over the past five years. She herself is a former English teacher, and one time after a concert I got to tell her how much her music means to me. One of my favorite conversations of ALL time. :) Enter one of my faves (and the story behind it).

Hope everyone has a great start to the week and HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to an 8:30 bedtime. You read that right.

a glimpse of a Friday

If you took a peek into my classroom, here's what you might see...

Twelve year olds working feverishly on what I like to call a "literary autopsy." They like all things morbid - what can I say.

And if you were to take a peek into my classroom, here's what you might hear...

Me: "Do you know what a protagonist is?"
Student: "I think that's...isn't that...um, isn't that a person that has, you know, both private parts?"

And if you think I'm not serious, come hear for yourself. :)

Not sure about you, but I'm welcoming this weekend (and the extra hour it brings) with wide open arms.

a few favorite pictures this weekend.

What? I'm blogging two days in a row? That's RIGHT!! Because guess what? I'm finished EARLY with grades for first term report cards. This has NEVER happened.

So I thought I'd post a few favorite pictures from this weekend...

Look what bloomed in the little garden on our back patio!! I gave up on my herbs and flowers months ago, so I was delighted to see that something could bloom within a five mile radius of me and my black thumb. Not that I planted or maintain these flowers in any way. But aren't they pretty?

Today there was a fall festival in the park next to my school. This is me and my favorite second grader IN THE WORLD. My friend Nisha's daughter Morgan and I have been best buds since she was in kindergarten. Couldn't you eat her up?? I call her my little boiled egg (we both love a boiled egg for breakfast...)

Here are some of my boys getting ready to sack race...I just love this picture.

And this one is not from this weekend, but I love it. This is Hilary's friend Diamond with Pippi. Pippi A) doesn't like to be held and B) is not fond of men, I don't think. In her defense though, I wouldn't trust Diamond either with that look on his face. I can't look at this and not laugh.

Hope everyone has a good Monday tomorrow!

Meeting Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and a tough question.

This was one of the better Fridays I can remember...typically, Fridays are riddled with exhaustion and wild urchins, but today is one that I will never forget. Thought I'd share with you here.

We had a visit from The History Makers and Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and his family. Rev. Shuttlesworth was a prominent civil rights activist/hero and founder of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
(Pictured here - Rev. Shuttlesworth, his wife, Mrs.Sephira Shuttlesworth, and me)

On the morning of September 9, 1957 he came to Phillips High School, the school where I teach (now Phillips Academy, grades pre k-8) then an all white school, to enroll his children. He was savagely beaten by Klansmen on the front steps of the building with brass knuckles, chains, and clubs. His wife was stabbed in the hip trying to get her daughters back into the car, and one of his daughters broke her ankle when her leg got slammed in the car door.

His wife and children watched in horror from the car as their husband and father was beaten almost to death. Today, for the first time since that day, this family returned to Phillips. They walked onto the same front steps and this time, they did what they meant to do 53 years ago.

pictured above: my principal, Colonel Stone Johnson (who is HYSTERICAL), and me

We got to hear his childrens' accounts of witnessing this devastating beating...Rev. Shuttlesworth is 87 and has suffered a mild stroke, so although he was there, his children spoke on behalf of him. I listened with tears in my eyes for most of the presentation, and as I thought of all that has been accomplished since that day in '57 and as I looked across the sea of the brown faces of the people and children that I have grown to love like my own family, my heart hurt because of the fact that this is still not an integrated school. There are no white faces among the students.

And I felt a new kind of embarrassment, a new kind of shame in the part of my own culture's history that we call White Flight. I have thought about this a lot, but today I felt it. I was sitting in a gym with 300+ of the most beautiful, endearing, and delightful (it IS Friday, so I admit I had to dig rather deeply into my heart to find those truths:))... children who are SO obviously made in our God's image...

...and I FELT the reality of my history, my culture having FLED from movements toward living in communities together as God intended - we fled, we maintained the segregation however we could.

Our lives, for the most part, still reflect this. Mine not excluded.

So with this day came some hurt, some embarrassment. But with it also came significant joy and real hope.

My school is on the National Registry of Historical Sites (if you ever take a Civil Rights tour of the city, you'd stop here, so come by and see me in room 104!!) and you can read an in-depth history here...while I was reading it, I came across this...

"During the melee Reverend Shuttlesworth believed that he heard the voice of God telling him not to die, but to get up as God had a job for him to do. Shuttlesworth’s miraculous survival signifed to ACMHR members the intervention of the divine in their struggle for civil rights. His heroism increased his local, and national, reputation as the "South’s Fearless Freedom Fighter." The local Movement which Shuttlesworth headed, the ACHHR, gained strength and members willing to stand up to Klan-sponsored violence in their pursuit of equal rights to education and other civil rights in Birmingham."

I got to meet Rev. Shuttlesworth and briefly talk with his oldest daughter, Mrs. Pat, who witnessed the incident on the front steps of my school building 53 years ago and during my conversation with her, she looked at me said these words...

"I look at you and I can tell that God has a job for you to do. And dear one, it has only just begun."

So this afternoon when I read that line above in the document recounting my school's history, hot tears pricked my eyes for the second time today.

I know the Lord is asking me to look at my own life and to ask some hard questions and to seek his kingdom in my life in some very tangible ways. Only He knows and only time will tell what those ways will turn out to be, but I do agree with Mrs. Pat...it's only just begun.

A friendly letter

Dear Match.com,

I am moderately to severely offended by the volume of email I receive from you on a daily basis. Are you in some kind of sordid partnership with American Family Association? Because they are equally out of control with the unsolicited emailing. Or, maybe just generally equally out of control.

I'm going to operate under the assumption that you are working together. And I would also make the claim that you are in cahoots with Endless Pools, but I'll be honest and admit that although they need to slow their roll, that first email was...solicited. Can you blame me for wanting to know if the pools have a deadly current?

Back to my point. You should know that I am not interested in internet dating. Sure, I'm 29 and single, but come on. I have much more effective means of finding love. Don't you watch The Bachelorette??!! Also Craigslist listings. And I have never had trouble attracting international students. So I have no time for you.

Now since you're obviously linked up with AFA, I would also like to make clear that I am not interested in boycotting all of society. I know you are "Rightly Concerned: Cautiously Observing the Left, From the Right" but really, who cares if Home Depot calls you a liar? Why waste your time and resources proving them wrong? That's gay.

Let's kill two birds with one stone and remove me from this email list, shall we?

Thanks guys.

Fondly,
Claire

A perfect late summer recipe

While I could (and maybe should) be blogging about some of the weightier things that have been occupying my mind of late, I'm not because I'm just TIRED. Since school started, working days for me have been pretty much 7:15 on the nose to 6:30 or 7 each night. And all during the day basically all I hear is "Miss Hardin!! Miss Hardin!! MISS HARDIN!!!!!!!!!!!" I forgot how absolutely sick of hearing my own name I can get. Turns out 7th graders have A LOT more questions than 8th graders. And more often than not it's a question that I have quite literally answered no more than 5 minutes prior.

So what I would love to share tonight is what I think is my favorite recipe I've made all summer...I would love to give credit where credit is due, but I don't remember where I found this. I certainly did not make it up myself. Wish I could do that.

I'm not one for exact measurements when I cook, so know that all measurements are approximate.

Summer Veggie Tostadas

1 chicken breast
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tsp cumin
2 Tbs vegetable oil
1 c chopped zucchini
1 c chopped white onion1 c fresh corn
1/2 c green salsa
2 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro
whole wheat tortillas

1. Combine salt, pepper, and cumin and mix well
2. Sprinkle evenly over chicken breast
3. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat4. Saute chicken, about 3 minutes on each side
5. Transfer chicken from skillet to plate and shred
6. Return chicken to the skillet and add corn, onion, and zucchini - saute about 2 minutes, or until chicken is done
7. Stir in salsa and cilantro, cook 2 more minutes
8. Line baking sheet with tortillas and spray with non-stick cooking spray or spray butter
9. Broil tortillas until lightly browned (I cut the tortillas into triangles)
10. Remove from oven and spoon chicken & veggie mixture over tortillas11. Top with shredded cheese & broil again till cheese is melted
12. Sprinkle w/ more cilantro

And here's what you'll end up with...

You could skip the broiling step for soft tacos. Either way, it's FANTASTIC. Very highly recommend for a last jaunt with summer veggies before fall sets in, which I'm guessing will be late October around here based on the weather we've been having.

Have a good one, folks...I'm off for a shower, a glass of sauvignon blanc, and some good reading to cap off my last night at 28...that's right, tomorrow is the first day of the last year of my beloved twenties. RIDICULOUS.