+Writing on the Run

I’ve kept intending to write an entry.  I’ve had one eaten, and the rest of the time I haven’t simultaneously had the time and energy!  Yes, it’s midterms again.  Gaaaaah.

Some good news, though.  I’ve got my first private high school student!  And ironically enough, through a university tutoring list!  I think I mentioned in here that I found out the math department maintained such a list;  I didn’t think they would, as they have a learning center staffed with TA’s practically around the clock.  But they do.  And just a week after my name appeared on their website, this woman called me wanting help for her high school senior in calculus.

Unfortunately this means I’m stuck offering her the rate I offer to college students, $15/hour. 🙂  But it’s good to break into the market, anyway.   I had my first session with the kid last week;  he’s bright and follows along well enough.  (I’ll call him Stuart.)  He says I’m miles better than his former tutor, who didn’t really know what she was doing.  Originally his mom said she just wanted him to be prepared for a test coming up, but now they’re making noises about hiring me longer-term.  Yesssss! 🙂

I’ve also had a mildly lucrative relationship with an engineering upperclassman here.  Those tougher problems can take a long time to help solve, and it adds up quick…  Alex wants to hire me five hours a week to help with physics and calculus next term;  and Juan wants to pay me over the break to help him get his head above water for next term.  We’re also talking about trading some training in English grammar for training in Spanish;  I really want to get better with the language.

Juan’s got a job in the afternoon and evenings of the weekend, now.  I’m worried that he might just burn himself out;  the break should help.  He said he does want to meet this weekend for Bible-reading, though.  And I’m gonna be meeting Alex on Sunday.  I’m going to introduce him to Celtic music, which he’d never heard of. 🙂  We might just do some Bible reading too.  Alex, though a Christian, hasn’t been too involved up ’til now.  I didn’t fully realize just how little involvement he had until he asked me, regarding my Bible, “Is that the King James Version or the New Testament?” 🙂  Yes, I had to explain about what the Old and New Testaments are.  And yes, it came as news to him.

Last week I had to move one of our appointments because I really wanted to make it to Wednesday evening Mass.  (With the car gone, morning Mass is a lot harder to get to;  it’s a much shorter walk from the university.)  I asked him if he’d like to come along, and he said sure.  (He said he’d been to a Mass once before.)  Anyway, he went up for a blessing at Communion as I’d told him, said he was glad he came, and I thought that was that.  But then this last Wednesday, he told me regretfully, “I won’t be able to come with you tonight.”  I blinked.  “Oh, you want to come to Mass again?”  “Sure!  It just won’t work out tonight.”  You coulda knocked me over with a feather!  We’ll see what the Father has in mind, I guess…  I really think he picked the two of us out for each other;  we’ve been good for each other, I think.  Apparently so does Alex, because when we pray he almost always thanks God for me.

Juan’s schedule is the least of my worries about him, I’m afraid.  But I’ll have to save it for another entry, as I have to leave shortly for my second session with Stuart.  Ain’t no dust on me lately!

Oh, one more thing.  The car has not turned up.  But Chris, my head in the People of Praise, informed me, “I’ve approached a few people and we now have a little over $1000 to get you a car.”  I blinked.  “I… don’t know what to say.”  “It’s what we do, brother!”  My brothers and sisters have also been really great about giving me rides to meetings and so on.  Just today Chris helped me get to the house of a guy who he knew had a car and a truck for sale.

Also, the day my car was stolen, I ended up being late to my regular Adoration hour.  I told the Adoration coordinator about it, so he’d know why I was late.  This last week he saw me at daily Mass and asked me how I was getting around and if I had any means to get a new car.  When I told him my situation, he said, “Call me in a few days at work, I may have something for you.”  I tried him, but he asked me to call again next Wednesday;  we’ll see what he has in mind.  Chris, who knows him better (though he isn’t part of the People of Praise) told me, which I didn’t know, that he’s a financial planner and QUITE well off.  He joked, “You may be driving a BMW soon!” 🙂

It’s good to be part of a family – overlapping families, really – that takes care of its own.  Thank you, Father, for giving your own Love to your people.  Thank you for my brothers and sisters, and thank you for the love you’ve given me to share.