A Message in a Meme

"God will always let us see His gracious and triumphant bow when life goes hard. Have we ever noticed how a rainbow arises? The sun suddenly breaks through the clouds with magical brilliance even though the elements are still raging and their wildness has not been allayed"

I've been tagged for a book meme by Babystepper

These were the instructions -

Grab the nearest book.
Open the book to page 56.
Find the fifth sentence.
Post the text of the next two to five sentences in your journal/blog along with these instructions.
Don't dig for your favorite book, the cool book, or the intellectual one: pick the CLOSEST.
Tag five other people to do the same.

Ok, I did pass up the two closest ones (contrary to the rules). That's because the first was Symphonie Fantastique--the score--every page was music (my son's book), and the second was the phone book.

The third was an obscure little book I grabbed from the bookshelf in the den. I haven't read it. The author is a guy named Helmut Thielicke and the blurb on the cover says that he was writing to his fellow churchmen in Germany during the Second World War. His life and theirs were in danger. Pretty apt words about the rainbow.

Now whom shall I tag? Hmmm. That's the hardest part.

I'm thinking I blog in a cul-de-sac

Update Blogs...Isn't Technology Wonderful!

I was just handed the address of a blog begun by my fellow teacher's family. They are using this means to post all the latest updates from the hospital. It sure beats asking around for information. Anyway, here it is: http://www.schimmerupdate.blogspot.com/

Information Bits

It is amazing to me how so many people can see the same accident and give such different reports. I've heard that:

the boys in the back seat were not wearing their seatbelts and were ejected from the vehicle

the boys in the back seat were wearing seatbelts and they snapped with the impact

the boys in the back seat unbuckled themselves after the accident and got out of the car because they thought it was on fire because of the smoke from the airbags; then they collapsed because they had major fractures.

the suburban rolled (there was grass in the top of the doors)
the suburban did not roll

the trapped driver was conscious
the trapped driver was unconscious

all three are in critical condition
only one is in critical condition

We will probably never know what happened exactly.

Regardless, there is a memorial service for the young man in the other car. There are not a lot of stories about that. A family lost their son and brother. Pray that they will be able to put one foot in front of another and get through the next few days and years.

Our colleague is still in the ICU but they think they have saved both of her legs and feet. She will have more surgeries--for abdominal injuries, fractured vertebra, broken ribs, etc, but we are confident that she will recover and be up here again, baking schnetka and managing her senior class with experienced excellence and great fervor.

We have been making cards and posters at school. Every hour, as we open in prayer, somebody prays for those injured and for the other family too.

The boys are recovering well after surgery for broken femurs and pelvic breaks--lots of pins, screws, and rods. They also have facial fractures--one has a broken jaw and cheekbone, the other has a black eye and broken bones below the eye.

Interestingly enough, he also has a bruise in the shape of a seatbelt across his chest. So I've heard...

School Daze

It's been a really tough day today.
First hour, right after we said the pledge of allegiance and had the scripture and prayer for the day, we received word that our teacher who runs the route from the North, in a Suburban, had been hit head on by a small car that veered suddenly into her lane. They were probably both going about the speed limit, which was sixty-five miles an hour. The other driver was killed, the teacher was pinned in the car, two of the students who ride with her were ejected from the car and were stretched out in the ditch beside the road. We called the students into the chapel and told them what had happened. They divided into small groups and started praying. The teacher's husband--who teaches and coaches at the school--left for the scene; the superintendent and principal left also. We didn't know who the other driver was. Every student was imagining that it was his or her parent or sister. Things were really tense for the rest of the day. We got updates frequently over the intercom. The teacher and both boys were eventually medi-flighted to the trauma center in Oklahoma City. Almost immediately people began to arrive there, including some of our former students who live in the city. They kept texting the students here, and the phone kept ringing.
After school we had concession stands for the last home volleyball game of the season. Everybody was subdued and stood around catching up on the latest. I had four mothers to help and all the juniors, but we kept spilling things and forgetting why we had run downstairs to the kitchen. We were...pretty shaken up.
At this moment I don't know if anybody is out of surgery yet.
I'm sitting by the phone.
In a school like ours, only 88 students, and eleven teachers, we are all pretty close.
I've taught with this teacher for the last ten years; she's my friend; I taught her children; she taught mine.
Life is fragile.
Still, it could have been much worse. Two of the students who normally ride that route did not ride today; one was sick; one forgot her notebook and had to go back home. Lots of parents just came up to school and hugged their kids.
Yes, I called mine too.

One Last Cameo--with long blue lashes

Here's one last picture from last week--blue and white day. This is one of my amazing seniors. Honestly, those blue lashes had to be at least an inch long. I filmed her while everyone was quietly taking a test in the background and she batted the lashes for the camera...and hence...for the world at large.

Update on the Schnetka Saga

Now that my video camera is fixed, I've posted a picture of seven warm schnetka,
moments before their consumption by my hungry little car poolers. And here is the link to the recipe.