2/20/2014 Books, the library and Wings to Fly

I had a professional development for two hours in the library yesterday morning,and I was kind of distracted by all the books on the shelf. Remembering my first impression of a library so many years ago and thinking about how my love of books has grown over the years, I decided to record some thoughts about it all.

Austin has an amazing library system, and you can get books electronically delivered to your reading device; or you can have books delivered to your nearest location from any other location in the city. With millions of different books available, I really have just had a revival of going to the library in the last couple of years. It's thrilling.

I read The Book Thief recently. One of the attractions for me to the book and then the movie was this young girl's desire, this almost unquenchable thirst, for books. As her story played out in Nazi Germany, I could remember my own feelings sometimes that books were forbidden to me. I love looking at books on shelves. I love thinking about is contained in the pages.

The library at my campus is full of books and it's a relaxing place to go with it clean and modern decor; but the librarian is not very nice, and he makes it almost impossible to want to be in the library, much less check out a book. Since I've been there I've only checked out one; that's unusual for me.

I was telling Whitney my story and started laughing because I knew I was spending time in the library later this morning doing some work on the computer. I told her my goal today was to touch every book in the Dewey Decimal System. She says to me she didn't know what that was and didn't even know where her school library was; she was joking. She knows where the library at her school is, but she has really never utilized it

So I challenged her to go to the library today and to look up a book on the Holocaust and check it out; just one simple task. I wanted to get her into the library. The irony of all this disconnectedness from the library and the wealth of information it posses is a quote on the board this week for my students. It says this, "I can give you wings, clear skies and a slight breeze, but without desire and a little effort on your part, you will never fly'.

It was just a that came to me as I was driving to school and thinking about the lack of involvement with some of my students to their education. Many of them have never been to the City of Austin library and hardly venture into the campus library unless they have to.

They have not developed a joy in learning; their curiosity about what lies behind each of those books doesn't exist yet. I guess in some way I had this grand idea that that's what I want to inspire in them - a desire to know what's behind the covers of each and everyone of those books, a thirst for knowledge beyond where they are currently.

Teenagers live in the moment, and currently in our society we're pretty self-absorbed. We live in the moment, even adults in today's society rarely access the things around them. Even with the wings and a clear sky with a slight breeze, sadly so many people just don't fly.

Mitchells in the Revolutionary War

The next line I tackled was the Mitchell family. My great grandmother was Artha B Mitchell (1883 - 1977). I can barely remember her. I was ten years old when she died. She was the daughter of Francis Marion Mitchell (1855 - 1904). It is Francis's grandfather, Andrew Mitchell, Jr. (1760 - 1824) who served in the Revolutionary War. It is truly a story worthy of legend. Andrew was one of 3 sons born to Irish immigrants Andrew and Mary (McGowan) Mitchell. The young family came to the colonies in 1752. They began their journey in a Scottish - Irish community in Eastern Pennsylvania before migrating to Orange County, North Carolina. Besides the boys, Andrew and Mary had 2 daughters, Margaret and Nancy. At the time of the Revolution, my 5th great grandfather, Andrew, Jr was just starting his family. He had married Mary Tate in 1781. He was in service but took furlough to be with his ill wife. This informa...

Revolutionary War beginnigns

With the 4th of July only a couple days away, I thought I'd spend some time visiting with the family and share some of our family heritage. As the United States turns 236 years old this week, thinking about those unique ancestors who risked so much to bring about the American independence takes me back to Virginia, North / South Carolina and Maryland and the original 13 colonies. We all get so wrapped up in our lives that we forget to honor the past; or, as is often the case, families are unaware of the past. Technology opens the coffins of complacency and sweeps away the dust of indifference. I love learning about my ancestors. They are some unique individuals who lived life in another time and place but who are still present in our genetics. Think about it...........the same DNA that existed in a person 236 years ago is chronicled in my own DNA. It is almost like a message left in a bottle...........all I have to do is open the bottle. Our col...

PATIENCE Heard a devotional this morning about patience from Women of Faith . Patience is one of those characteristics many of us feel we need to improve. From the word "macrothumia" meaning long fuse. There are two Greek words that lie behind the word “patience” that is used in the English New Testament. The word used here in Galatians 5:22 is macrothumia. It’s from two words thumia from the root thumos. Thumos most commonly is translated “anger.” It originally carried the idea of a violent movement of air, of water, or a violent movement in the ground or in animals or even humans. It carried the idea of something that boils up. Or something that goes up in smoke. I really believe women have the ability to be inspiring. A Christian woman can truly inspire others with patience, forgiveness and kindness. To me, these qualities help support and encourage others around me. I am struggling with the possibility that my not being promoted is a personality difference with...

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