Page 34 August 2016 By Kindra Hall My friend was in a car accident a year ago. A pretty big one. Big enough to crush his suburban into a small ball and launch it across a busy intersection. In the days following the accident, he told us the story. How he was stopped at a stoplight. How he looked in his rear view mirror. How he saw the large white plumbing truck speeding toward him with no sign of slowing, much less stopping. And how those few split seconds, when impact was inevitable, seemed to defy the limitations of time. I feel like I’m sitting at a stoplight right now, too. But unlike my friend, I’m not sitting at the light because it’s the law. I’m here because sometimes, it’s kind of nice to stop for a minute. It’s nice to stop going from place to place and racing around. It’s nice to stop and enjoy the slowness of the last few moments of summer. However, like my friend, I look in the mirror and see a huge truck pummeling towards me. It’s the big back-to- school vehicle coming at speeds that must be illegal or at least irresponsible. Each lazy summer day, slow morning at the Scottsdale library, chill afternoon at the pool, or (when we’re lucky) sea-breezed moment playing at the beach, evaporates. It’s a reality I’m not sure I’m willing to face, particularly because this back-to-school season, my oldest is heading to… Kindergarten. Let me be clear – I’m a huge fan of new beginnings. New Year’s Eve and Day are my absolute favorite holidays. I also like the unofficial, but important Arcadia holiday – the first Monday in August – when everyone commits to ridding themselves of the 5 to 8 pound “marine layer” they acquired on the coast. And I usually love back-to- Sitting at the stoplight of the kindergarten intersection GIRL NEXT DOOR school, because it’s always been preschool. I loved getting back to the routine. To normalcy. To, eventually, cooler temps. But years ago, my mother told me about the time I got on the school bus that first day of kindergarten. And how I waved out the window. And how she waved until long after the bus was no longer in sight. And how she cried. “Nothing could prepare me for when you got off the bus that afternoon,” she said. “You grew up. In a mere three short hours, you were different. Just like that.” It’s as if the first day of kindergarten was some strange place – a place that defies the limitations of time. And the moment of impact was so intense, my mother can still remember it in detail 30 years later. That day is coming for me. That’s where I am right now: sitting at the stoplight of the kindergarten intersection, looking in the rearview mirror, and knowing that impact is inevitable. That it is going to rock my world. That it has the potential to hit me with a force that can crumple my car and send me soaring across a crowded intersection… In these moments, I think of my friend. My friend who was recently in that car accident. Who, in those few precious moments before the inevitable impact, made a choice. He chose to let go. He released his hands from the wheel. His foot from the pedal. He relaxed his neck, his back, his soul. He couldn’t fight what was coming. Instead he removed any sign of resistance, and let it happen. Certainly, kindergarten is not a life-threatening experience – for the child or the parent. And I am thrilled to say my friend walked away from that incident with minor injuries. But as back-to-school quickly approaches, and I am faced with the inevitable reality that my son growing up is an object in the mirror that is closer than it may appear…I plan to make the same choice my friend did: to let go and take the impact. To walk away with a few scratches and a story to tell my son the day he sends his oldest child to kindergarten.

Page 35 August 2016 By Jean Hodgson Travel experiences provide a relaxing break from routine and allow us to meet new people, learn firsthand about an unfamiliar culture, and see beautiful or exotic locations. But what if travel is also an opportunity to serve others? In September of 2015, 12 future travelers started planning and training for a trip of this kind that began at the end of February and took them to the village of Sita Carla in the Philippines. This was an interim trip for six Valley Lutheran High School students, three college students and three chaperones. As the son of a missionary family, Mike Alianza spent 12 years of his childhood there. Even though he has lived in Phoenix for years, his appreciation of the Ati tribe, the indigenous people of this island, has led him to be instrumental in providing a hospital there. He and his wife, Maureen, were the perfect leaders for this service adventure. Group members describe four plane rides, long layovers and a two-hour bus ride before finally arriving in Manila, but they also speak of being warmly welcomed and shown kindness by the Ati. Kelly Black, one of the high school students, said, “I remember having so many fears going into this trip, but they all disappeared almost immediately once we were there.” While they were in Sita Carla, they planned and planted a garden, built a new outdoor stage, painted a church, and ran a soccer camp. They also led a Vacation Bible School program that included teaching songs, performing skits and engaging kids in relay races and other games. One major event was helping with the ceremony celebrating the completion of a school building, the first school constructed for typhoon resistance in the area. When asked about highlights of the trip through the eyes of a chaperone, Patrese Collins said she was particularly moved by the way the team members worked together and quickly had the local people engaged with them. Their enthusiasm for helping and relating to the locals was obvious. The group had some opportunities to explore the area during their visit. They swam in both freshwater streams and salty ocean water, walked in the jungle, and attempted to climb coconut trees. One day they had a mini vacation to the tourist island of Boracay. After the exciting catamaran ride there, the group visited the shops as well as the stunning beaches. But as the day ended, there were repeated comments about missing the Ati people. After experiencing the Ati people’s culture and comparing it to her own, Black reflected on the trip and her team members agreed with her sentiments. “I became overwhelmingly grateful for things in America. The United States is more comfortable, but the Philippines was an easier place in some ways,” she said. “We came to give, but instead we received so much,” said student Ethan Collins. Serving the Ati Tribe in the Philippines WHERE’S THE NEIGHBOR? Local students and parents had the opportunity to help improve living conditions in a village in the Philippines.