My incredibly smart and talented wife has started her new job this week – her new career. After years spent teaching teenagers in the classroom, most notably leading high school juniors and seniors through her Culinary Arts program and winning multiple medals and trophies all over the state, Carrie-Anne is moving into the office. She is today an academic counselor at Midland High School on the freshman campus.

We’re Bulldogs in our family now for the first time since the early ’90s when C-A was teaching at Burnet Elementary in Central Texas and we were cheering the green and white Bulldogs footballers to the State Championship Game in Houston. Midland High’s Bulldogs are purple and gold and Carrie-Anne is already stocking her closet with Bulldogs gear. She’s all in, all the time, with everything she’s got for her students. She relates. She invests. She takes the time and makes the effort. It’s what makes her so good. It’s what leads to her former students texting her pictures of their creations at chef college and in the restaurants where they work. It’s what compels these former students to stop by her kitchen and see her when they’re home from college.

She’s in charge of somewhere between 289-299 students now – the numbers change everyday as registrations continue. She’s working with 14-15-year-olds now, as opposed to 17-18-year-olds. She’s working with younger students who are making a dramatic transition to high school instead of seasoned juniors and seniors who already know the ropes. But she tackles every year and engages every student as a mission from God, as a sacred ministry. And we’re all excited to support her and love her through her own transition to Midland High.

Peace,

Allan