The first week of March, I attended my first softball game of the school season, attended a soccer game, and attended a middle school track meet. To conclude the week, I packed my bags and with several fellow church members travelled to the Dominican Republic for a week of ministry.
During the week leading up to our departure, news began to stir that things in the world may be changing and while we were out of the country things definitely did change.
My typical week consists of church on Sunday, school (work) during the day Monday through Friday, and extracurricular activities almost every night of the week; roughly sixty hours per week supporting students grade seven through twelve in some capacity. In a matter of days, all of it was essentially gone. An extended Spring Break quickly turned into virtual learning. Church as well transitioned online. Extracurricular activities were no more after multiple postponements eventually gave way to the cancellation of seasons.
The year began as most in recent memory have with Reedy women's soccer and basketball games. In late January, I had the unique opportunity to watch one of Scott Middle School's boys basketball teams face off against the middle school I work for in a tournament in Denton. As we moved into February, there was another playoff run by the Denison Lady Jackets basketball team. That brings us back to March.
One of my most memorable moments of the year was a simple encounter at a restaurant in Waco. Our team that travelled to the Dominican republic actually flew out of Austin, so there was a brief road trip to be taken before taking to the air. While eating lunch in Waco, I recognized a young woman from Denison and got her attention. We had never spoken prior to that day as far as I can recall but during her days in high school I had travelled all over north Texas and southern Oklahoma and cheered her on as she was part of the Denison Lady Jackets basketball team. Fortunately, I got a pleasant reaction and we had a wonderful, albeit, brief conversation before parting ways; I on my way to the Dominican Republic for a week of ministry, she on her way to San Antonio for a week of ministry.
While in the Dominican Republic, I had an opportunity to play wiffle ball one day with some of the kids in one of the communities we visited. The Dominican Republic has a great history and legacy of baseball players including Juan Marichal, Julio Franco, Pedro Martinez, Vladimir Guerrero, and Adrian Beltre just to name a few. For many boys in the Dominican Republic, they see baseball as the way to a better life. Their faces lit up when they saw a bat and a ball. As I was throwing pitches to one boy in particular, try as I might, I simply could not put the ball past him; he hit everything - hard. As more boys arrived, they organized a game using sticks as bases; no gloves needed. It was quite an experience.
Throughout our time in the Dominican Republic we also got to visit a baseball academy, a medical center, and a school, as well as several churches and communities we were able to minister in. As our week began to come to an end, word began to trickle in that the world was definitely changing.
The remainder of the spring semester of school looked unlike anything we had ever seen before. While many districts had weeks of delays before resuming classes and transitioning to virtual learning, we missed one day. The Tuesday following Spring Break a new world of instruction began. Our teachers were learning on the fly how to become virtual teachers. My school districted opted at that time for me to not work for the duration of virtual learning for the remainder of the school year. I was tremendously blessed and fortunate that my district chose to continue my pay during that time.
As the school year came to an end, there were a few letters written to some special students as well as creative goodbyes to eighth graders that had not been seen in person in months and to the senior class. As the senior class walked the stage in delayed graduation ceremonies, a student who has had a tremendous impact on my life graduated. I had the privilege to support this student for seven years either in the classroom or through extracurricular activities. On the hardest of days and in the lowest moments, it is memories of this student that keep me focused on why I do what I do. I feel so blessed to have been allowed to play the small role that I did in the life of this student.
As Spring turned into Summer, days, weeks, and months began to blur. Afternoons were spent walking through the neighborhood, by the lake, or on a local school track while wondering how long it would be before a return to normal. I was fortunate to take a brief camping and hiking trip to New Mexico in June and then another trip to Colorado in late July before returning to work for a new school year.
As a new school year began, I began my tenth school year with Frisco ISD - different than any school year before. A large number of students remained virtual while those who returned to campus were greeted with many new guidelines in place. Extracurricular activities were delayed for larger schools allowing me an opportunity to watch a select number of volleyball and football games involving some of the students from church who attend smaller schools. Though there were numerous restrictions in place as larger schools began to resume extracurricular activities I was provided the opportunity to continue to support our students through their extracurricular activities and for the first time in nearly six months life seemed somewhat normal. Today, on the last day of the year, I attended the one hundred first game I have seen this school year. All but nine of those games have included either Reedy or my middle school. There is no greater feeling than getting that smile and wave and the hi or hello from a student that knows I am there for them.
As Summer gave way to Fall and then to Winter, the changes of the year became more glaring and more sad. Though church and school extracurricular activities had resumed as time passed, I made the necessary decision to pull back and limit my interactions to the "Reedy Bubble." I forewent attending church in person for online church and no longer attended Denison games; I missed Denison football games for the first time in many years.
The year brought many unexpected changes and significant hardship and grief for so many. Holidays were spent apart from family though the much greater loss is that of family and friends who have passed away. Through it all, I am grateful for the people God has placed in my life as I have navigated the year. Through family and friends, fellow church members, students and their families, coworkers, and some complete strangers in divine appointments, God has blessed me tremendously.
As I look back on the year, I fear that in the midst of a pandemic and an election far too many of my brothers and sisters in Christ have become clanging cymbals of 1 Corinthians 13.
As I look forward to the year ahead, my desire and my challenge to my brothers and sisters in Christ is to love.
And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:37-39
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