sad news and happy news

Today I received news that gave me a mix of emotions. My high school guidance counselor, MaryAnn Gambill, passed away this morning after a long battle with Hepatitis C and it's complications. Of course my first emotion was sadness at losing an amazing friend and mentor. To even try to describe how she impacted innumerable lives would be absolutely impossible. But that sad news is also happy news because I know she is now in Heaven, no longer in pain, spending time with her Father. Mrs. Gambill was one of the first people I met when I started at Kent View Christian High School my sophomore year, mainly because she was the guidance counselor :). During my first couple months there, I noticed that a good majority of the students would go spend their free time in the school office, which I found kind of ridiculous. I mean, who would want to hang out in the school office of all places during break times, right?! Well, I soon found out that everyone was going to hang out in Mrs. Gambill's office. She always had a smile, a hug, and her candy jar (in that order) available the minute you walked through her door. I never thought she noticed me, mainly because I would always try to blend in with the other students, being too shy to want to be noticed. But, one day she caught me, gave me a hug, sat me down in a chair and had me talking within minutes. After a year I had made a close group of 4 friends and we would always hang out at her house. That's what was so great about her, she was there for us outside of school as well. She called all of her students "her kids"; it was awesome, we were all like adopted kids to her. And to every student who walked through her door she showed unconditional love, the type of love that Jesus constantly taught. Whether you were the school goof-off or the valedictorian, she loved you equally. One of my regrets is that after graduating and starting at Western I didn't go see her as much as I would have liked to. I lost touch with her for a while, except through the occasional email. She joined Facebook just so she could reconnect with all of her kids, and now her wall is becoming a memorial page, filling up with people sharing memories and leaving messages. I am sad that she is gone and that I don't get to hear her call me her kid again, but I am now looking forward to seeing her again in Heaven and receiving one of her hugs. She was an amazing woman of God, and because of that she is now with God livin' it up :).

a

Welcome Baby Gavin! Welcome 2009!

It's been awhile since we've updated this here blog, but rest assured, we're alive and well. Over the course of the last couple weeks, things have been fairly quiet. Scott enjoyed having some paid days off- it's been a long time since I've indulged in such pleasantries. We thought of attending the New Year's festivities in downtown Burlington, but opted for the MUCH warmer viewing of the falling ball in New York. I was set to work Friday morning, so off to bed 'relatively' early. Since then, we've been waiting for the news of the new Gavin baby, who decided to make her appearance at 1am, Jan. 7th. only 10 days late...but welcomed nonetheless.

We reconvened at our weekly meeting this past Monday and had a good time catching up with the students that were gone for winter break. We have high hopes for further solidifying the foundation of Chi Alpha at UVM this year, by becoming an officially recognized campus group, casting the vision of what college ministry is truly about, and training & mentoring the leaders of Chi Alpha in the years to come!

In other news, Scott has found a lack of enthusiasm among the workers about the union we are represented by, yet most everyone has complaints that they want addressed. I think this struck a nerve with me-maybe it runs in the family... All I want to be sure of, is that my $50/month is going toward something I can be proud of, even if the shop needs a new mindset.