Cricket

Over the weekend I was on a retreat for my new job. Some other time I'll catch you up on how utterly bizarre it was to be on a work retreat for the first time in around 7 years. Bizarre, I say.

Today, though, I want to tell you about one of the other new teachers at the school. Her name is Cricket (a nickname that she has fully adopted as her name. So fitting) and she is 70 years old. When she told the group her age, I said, out loud "Stop it!" I would have NEVER guessed that she was 70 years old. She is beautiful!

Each new person was asked to share some of their story and her story is so amazing. I didn't ask her if I could share it with you, but I feel most certain she wouldn't mind! She's just that way. She was married to a Presbyterian minister for 41 years. Two years ago, he passed away. You should hear her talk about him. She talks about having a true knight in shining armor. But not in a way that seems to overcompensate for some other reality. She truly feels that way about him. BUT, she is not stuck in her grief. Speaking of his passing comes so naturally, and she never makes you feel like you shouldn't ask about it.

And then, she talks about the rest of her life. All the things she plans to do and all the ways she plans to serve the Lord until she takes her last breath. Just this summer she went parasailing with her 10 year old grandson. She has promised her granddaughter a hot air balloon ride as soon as she's tall enough to see over the basket. While we were down on the dock over the weekend she saw people riding on a tube behind a boat. Once we explained what was going on, she said, "Do you think if I flagged them down, they'd let me try that??" I feel certain that they would have! She is spunky and hilarious and one of the kindest souls I've ever met. And, she's hoping the Lord will call her to minister to Native Americans sometime soon!

She will be working for the first time in her life. Teaching the older toddlers at the school and she is very excited to work on teaching them the 23rd Psalm.

I am trying to figure out just how to spend as much time with her as possible. I can only hope that I will have as much passion for life and the Lord as she does when I am 70. I plan to call her to mind every time I feel tired. At 33!