My Reaction to My Husband’s News that He’s Going Back to School Wasn’t Initially as Happy and Enthusiastic as He’d Hoped It Would Be: Here’s How It Went Down

Below is the play/skit/summary version of our conversations this past week.

Recently when Kevin began working on his invention related to clean energy perchance to finish and submit the proposal for a patent, he was using the CAD program he’d gotten a couple years back for the drawings.  

Wednesday last week

Kevin: “I want to design things.  I’d love to work for Honda.  They have the most awesome company ever!  Did you know they’ve won the Baja 1000 for 17 consecutive years?!…My motorcycle is riding so much smoother now that I cleaned the carbs.”

Me: “Why don’t you take an AutoCAD class?”

Kevin: “That’s a great idea!”

Me: “They may offer some through the library or a county continuing education program.”

Friday last week:

Kevin that morning: “I’m going to go to ITT and get some information about classes.”

Me: “Great! That sounds good.”

Kevin late afternoon: “I enrolled in the program at ITT.”

Me: “You did what?!”

Kevin: “I thought you’d be excited for me.”

Me: “I suggested you take a class, and you go and sign up for a 21 month $46,000 program without discussing it with me first?”

Kevin: “It all just happened so fast.”

Me: “What about work?  You’re the only one with a full-time job right now.  I don’t have any scheduled hours at school.”

I exit the room with my journal and a pen, needing some time to process on my own (I’m the introvert/writer/ask God first person here), before we actually have a discussion about this. 

A little later that same evening: 

Me: “This is a major life decision.  I really think we should make big ones like this together.”

Kevin: “Maybe this isn’t meant to be.  I guess I’ll just keep being miserable.”

Me: “No, I want you to be happy, excited, and have hope again, but I think we really need to discern this prayerfully.  If this is God’s will for you, then all of the current obstacles to doing this will be removed (including my reservations).”

The very next day Kevin prayed all the way to work.  He then was inspired to ask his supervisor about his student status.  "Are you thinking of going back to school?" he asked.  Kevin admitted he was and asked about the possibility of getting his schedule changed so he could take night classes two evenings a week.  He says that would be fine and tells him about the tuition assistance offered through work.  

My three biggest concerns had been addressed: accommodations at Kevin’s job so he could continue working full-time while attending two classes a week; affording this right now; and maybe God has something else in mind for us.

My Facebook status message as of August 29, 2015, 7:13pm

Kevin Potter has some exciting news to share. Through the grace and guidance of God, my babe is going back to school. He's registered for the ITT Technical Institute program for Drafting and Design Technology. Orientation is Sept. 10. He asked God for a clear sign that this is what he's supposed to do, and the clarity came today. Neither of us knew how we would make this work right now, but as I told Kevin last night, if this is what God wants of you, then all of the obstacles in the way will be removed. Today, the path to a degree is looking significantly clearer, and we're both hopeful for the future.

We’ve been married for 11 years this week, and we became friends when I was only sweet sixteen, so I’ve known about Kevin’s knack for research and design for 18 some years.  Even soon after we met, he told me about how he regretted not finishing high school.  His mom refused to sign the papers for him to go back because he had been suspended for skipping class.  After getting his GED, he started taking classes towards a degree in electronic technologies at a local campus of Bryan and Stratton.  Not too long after that, his employer stopped assisting him with tuition, and he couldn’t afford to continue.  Returning to school has been a dream of his for a while.  Apparently, now is the time.

I am very excited that all of these doors have opened so Kevin is able to go back to school, follow his dreams of continued education and furthering his research and design technical abilities and connections.  When he's told people about it, we are both beaming.  

Kevin: “You started it!"

Afterword: I read my husband this post, and his comment was that I didn't write enough about Honda, the company, the products, but that's my gear-head husband speaking.  

He wants me to include that Honda's mantra is: The Power of Dreams, and they are the world leader in economic and eco-friendly transportation, which are only two of the many reasons why he wants to work for them.  It is not possible to incorporate the extent of knowledge and enthusiasm Kevin has when it comes to Honda even for a writer like me.  When I've gotten it on video, I promise to post that on my blog, too.

Prints of Grace Photo Art Cards

All above photos are Prints of Grace © Trisha Niermeyer Potter

Many people know me as a photographer.  I was the Photo Editor of our high school newspaper for my freshmen through junior years, so I got in the habit of always bringing my camera with me to everything snapping photos everywhere of everyone.  I have hundreds of photos of the places and people who have influenced and enhanced my life over the past 19 years. 

Each Prints of Grace Photo Art Card comes
in a white or cream photo holder/
greeting card with a white envelope.  All
photos are 4 X 6.

I once had a business selling photo art cards.  Recently, a coworker who saw some of the photos I put up to decorate the classroom for my summer camps liked what she saw and wanted to purchase some to use in her Montessori classroom as matching works and as fancy  greeting cards to send to parents.  I am very grateful her interest inspired me to rediscover how I can blend photography, art, and a love of nature’s beauty. 

My first shipment of white photo cards and now cream ones are in. I've gotten my nature photographs organized, prints filed by photo, and originals scanned.  I have the negatives on file for the photos I took before I had a digital camera. 

I'm back in business and ready to take orders.  E-mail me at trishaniermeyerpotter@yahoo.com for more info, pricing information, special order options, and/or to place an order.  

If you have a gift shop or boutique and would like to look at all of the styles available and discuss pricing for larger quantity orders, just let me know.

Do Pro-lifers and Pro-choicers Ever Agree? Planned Parenthood Videos, Women’s Rights, and Reality Bites

Who determines a person’s value or worth?  Under what circumstances is it acceptable to coerce, lie to, force, manipulate, and/or shame someone into doing something they don’t want to do?  Who determines what options people have, are educated about, and which ones they take?  Are people who feel trapped, alone, without resources, who feel they have no choices likely to make the best decisions? 

I know a number of people who identify themselves as pro-life and actually live it.  I am related to and friends with many people who say they are pro-choice. 

This list is a compilation of the beliefs and principles I’ve found that most of my family and friends who call themselves pro-choice usually have in common with those of us who are pro-life:

·         Everyone deserves access to affordable health care.

·         Each woman’s dignity is to be respected and protected. 

·         Women deserve to be given thorough, accurate, and truthful information about all of their choices when it comes to their reproductive rights and the options available to them.

·         Women need safe places where they can talk through their issues and concerns in a confidential environment and have access to resources that can help provide them with maternity care, financial, and moral support, parent education, and adoption services.  This type of assistance ought to be widely available, accessible to people of all races and socioeconomic backgrounds, and receive government funding.

·         All health clinics ought to be held to the same health standards as other medical offices and hospitals who provide the same and/or similar services to preserve the safety of the clients as well as the doctors and nurses.

·         Forced abortion (like they use in China)  is morally and ethically wrong.

·         Exploitation of women needs to be reported and stopped.   This includes, but is not limited to, that which is observed by medical health professionals in a clinical setting.  Other physicians, nurses, etc. are mandated reporters by law, and those working in any form of health clinic ought to be held to the same standards.

·        Ultrasounds ought to be part of the free and/or low-cost services available to and provided by all ob-gyn doctors’ offices and/or health centers where pregnant women receive care.

·         Sex trafficking of men, women, and children is completely unacceptable and must be stopped.

·         Medical practices who serve low-income families ought to receive funding grants for women 35 and over and those who are at high risk for breast cancer to receive free or low-cost mammograms once each year on location or at a nearby facility.

·         Harvesting organs and selling body parts of human beings is both immoral and unethical. 

Planned Parenthood has been selling the organs and other body parts of aborted fetuses.  I have watched some of the videos, but I honestly can't bring myself to watch all of them at this point. Regardless of what “camp” people are in, I have yet to speak with anyone who finds such practices anything besides immoral, unethical, horrific, and disgusting.

My Prayer for Each of Us: Lord, help us turn to You in times of confusion, concern, sadness, outrage, questioning, and seek Your guidance and Truth above all else.  You who formed each of us in our mother's womb and knit our inmost being alone know the worth and value of each human life.  Have mercy on all of us for the ways we have not protected or respected the dignity of human life from conception to natural death.  Give us the courage to stand up for Truth, speak for those who have no voice, and offer help and hope to all who are suffering in mind, body, and/or spirit. Amen.

You Watch Your Phraseology!

This is not only a warning issued in one of my favorite musicals (the original movie version of The Music Man), but it is also a good summation of what I do as proofreader/copy editor, teacher, tutor, nanny, writer, editor, avid reader, book reviewer, etc.

I must admit Kevin and I share a guilty pleasure many don't know about. Because we enjoy laughing together, we often read aloud certain publications, websites, status updates, blogs, and the like that regularly have particularly hilarious typos, grammatical errors, and unedited rants.  I say that "we" read them aloud, but really the vast majority of reading done in our household is done by me.  

It's become such a habit, that I will often pull out a highlighter to mark the funniest misspellings, ridiculous quotes, and unfortunate phrases as I'm reading, so that I can share them with my husband. To be honest, several of the pieces I've read with a number of glaring errors and downright amusing grammatical goofs have been my own.     

Words matter, people!  Be careful which ones you put in and leave out.  It makes a difference not only to the panda, who eats shoots and leaves, but also to the recipients of your correspondence and those darn English majors. 

I often intentionally phrase things in a way that makes others laugh.  This time I didn’t realize the severity and possible entertainment value of what I’d sent until after I received an e-mail back from my supervisor approving the attached letter to parents about this last week’s camp.

I’m fairly certain that if anyone scans school e-mail subjects, this will likely be one that stands out: RMS Survivor letter to parents    

So much for watching my own phraseology.  Oops!  

Someone has a sense of humor, and fortunately, I do, too.  Last week I was lead teacher for RMS Survivor Camp for the Primary 3-6 age group.  This is ironic for a couple of reasons: enrollment for afterschool Montessori Enrichment isn’t filled to capacity as it has been in previous years and was in the spring last year, so I don’t have any guaranteed hours for the school year as of yet, and thus can’t technically be considered among the RMS teachers who have survived some shifts, changes, and reorganizations throughout the spring and summer months. The other irony is that I was sure I wouldn’t make it through the week.    

We identified things that are living, were once living, and/or are not living and never were.  We categorized the things in our classroom as well as outdoors.  Last Monday we had a discussion about our favorite animals.  My co-teacher, counselor-in-training/alumnus, and I all agree that our favorite members of the Animal Kingdom are people, particularly children. 

We  talked about what living things need: food, water, sunlight, and air and that they have the ability to move and grow.  We reviewed how we breathe in oxygen and give off carbon dioxide, and plants use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis and give off oxygen, so we’re good for plants and plants are good for us. 

We experienced nature through our five senses.  We explored gardens, the Wishing Woods, and our classroom.  We tasted some exotic fruits that might be found on a tropical island, learned about different types of ivy and how to identify the poisonous variety.      

After recording my last scheduled summer shift on my time sheet, I left RMS to go out of town.  It felt strange leaving mid-week and without having any guaranteed hours at RMS come the start of this next school year, but ministry called. 

For the past four years, I’ve been learning about Theophostic Prayer Ministry (TPM) and studying to become a TPM facilitator.  New Creation Community, a Charismatic Catholic group and facility in Chesapeake, Virginia, have enthusiastically welcomed us to join them in a journey of healing life’s hurts through Theophostic Prayer Ministry, created and developed by Dr. Ed Smith. 

The training I took this past week was awesome! I'll write more about it and share some of the photos I took in an upcoming blog post, so check back for an update on the latest and greatest in ministry musings.