First, another quote that fits my mood from Monday:
"Savior, He can move the mountains. My God is mighty to save, mighty to save.
Forever, Author of salvation. He rose and conquered the grave.
Jesus conquered the grave."
-Mighty to Save
For what is impossible with man is possible with God.
-Luke 18:27
On a completely different note, I went to a 20-somethings church gathering last night called La-fa (La familia, for those who are interested...took some research). It's a group of people getting together to build relationships, learn and grow together. They alternate between having large group meetings with praise music and a "message", and small group meetings at peoples' homes. Last night was a large group meeting.
The topic was "community." Actually, the first thing that the leader mentioned was "Facebook is not real community."
Let me tell you, I love talking about and learning about community. I think this stems from an experience of real community that I had a couple summers ago. Twelve people from different backgrounds, experiences, and personalities got together and lived in the same house for 2 weeks while serving in ministry together (not to mention the week before we moved in...spending 18 hours on a plane and a week in a foreign country with people you just met...that'll bring you close and teach you a lot about each other and yourself...).
It was refreshing to talk about community last night, and to see the desire that people have to create communities where they are. I hope that I can get to know these people that I met a little better. Since I left college, I haven't had the same sort of experiences feeling deeply connected with a group of people and knowing that I could be blatantly honest with them and they would love me anyway. I know those types of relationships can be scary and take time, but I think they are crucial for growth and also for me to keep myself in check!
Long story short: I had a good time, I was reminded of some dear friends and our time together, and I look forward to going back and seeing where it goes.
I am way too wordy...I need to learn some lessons from this guy: 22 Words
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
some scriptures suitable for my mood...
No One is Righteous
9What shall we conclude then? Are we any better[b]? Not at all! We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. 10As it is written:"There is no one righteous, not even one;
11there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God.
12All have turned away,
they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good,
not even one."[c]
13"Their throats are open graves;
their tongues practice deceit."[d]
"The poison of vipers is on their lips."[e]
14"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness."[f]
15"Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16ruin and misery mark their ways,
17and the way of peace they do not know."[g]
18"There is no fear of God before their eyes."[h]
(romans 3: 9-17)
"...death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.
15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16Again, the gift of God is not like the result of the one man's sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification."
(romans 5:14-16)
O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, [a] you are there.9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.17 How precious to [b] me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.19 If only you would slay the wicked, O God!
Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!20 They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD,
and abhor those who rise up against you?22 I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."[l] 37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[m] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(romans 8:35-39)
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Happy New Year!
At the start of a new year I always like to look back at my journals from the past year and see how far I've come, where God has taken me, and what I have learned. The problem with this year is that I can't find my journal from the first part of the year! I have one more place I can look, and I will...I'll keep you posted. Here are some highlights from the year:
January: Started my Deaf Ed student teaching...2nd grade at Michigan School for the Deaf...LOVED IT.
February (i think...): Settled on a church in Swartz Creek and finally felt "at home" at church.
March: Continued student teaching, taking more responsibility in the classroom. Finished the rainforest unit with my students.
April: Finished my internship year and left MSU!
May: substitute taught and applied for jobs all over the midwest/east coast. Christian had a rough patch after his feeding tube surgery.
June: Interviewed and accepted a job at VSDB. Stood up in a wedding for two dear friends in Baltimore. Visited my friends on the east coast and visited the school. Moved back to my parents' house for the summer.
July: hosted two wedding showers for my sister and a bachelorette party. Attended another bridal shower for a dear friend from home.
August: Moved to Staunton, VA. Started my first real teaching job. Found an apartment.
September: Stood up in a wedding of two dear friends from home (in Illinois...on the day Hurricane Ike blew through the midwest). Stood up in my sister's wedding (in Indianapolis). Joined the Stonewall Brigade Band. :-)
October: Went flying in a small plane around the Shenandoah Valley. Hiked one of the tallest mountains in Virginia.
November: Drove back to Illinois for Thanksgiving to see my family and friends in Illinois.
December: Flew home for Christmas vacation to spend time with family and friends in Illinois.
2008 was busy and eventful. I'm excited to see what 2009 will bring. Resolutions might come to me in the next week or so. If they do, I'll post them (it makes them more real if other people know about them). Happy new year!
January: Started my Deaf Ed student teaching...2nd grade at Michigan School for the Deaf...LOVED IT.
February (i think...): Settled on a church in Swartz Creek and finally felt "at home" at church.
March: Continued student teaching, taking more responsibility in the classroom. Finished the rainforest unit with my students.
April: Finished my internship year and left MSU!
May: substitute taught and applied for jobs all over the midwest/east coast. Christian had a rough patch after his feeding tube surgery.
June: Interviewed and accepted a job at VSDB. Stood up in a wedding for two dear friends in Baltimore. Visited my friends on the east coast and visited the school. Moved back to my parents' house for the summer.
July: hosted two wedding showers for my sister and a bachelorette party. Attended another bridal shower for a dear friend from home.
August: Moved to Staunton, VA. Started my first real teaching job. Found an apartment.
September: Stood up in a wedding of two dear friends from home (in Illinois...on the day Hurricane Ike blew through the midwest). Stood up in my sister's wedding (in Indianapolis). Joined the Stonewall Brigade Band. :-)
October: Went flying in a small plane around the Shenandoah Valley. Hiked one of the tallest mountains in Virginia.
November: Drove back to Illinois for Thanksgiving to see my family and friends in Illinois.
December: Flew home for Christmas vacation to spend time with family and friends in Illinois.
2008 was busy and eventful. I'm excited to see what 2009 will bring. Resolutions might come to me in the next week or so. If they do, I'll post them (it makes them more real if other people know about them). Happy new year!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Highlight of the Day
Today was an interesting day. The teacher that I replaced is back from grad school on break and visiting school for the rest of the week...slightly intimidating for me, especially because I have felt so overwhelmed this week and I am using a lot of her materials from last year! :-) It's okay...she told me I could. ;-)
Why am I overwhelmed you ask? Homecoming. Tomorrow is homecoming at school. I'm a sponsor for our student government/student council, which means it's been my responsibility to make sure that the students are supervised while they decorate the gym. I've also been tutoring 2.5 hours per night Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Anyway, on to the title of this post. I was on facebook, catching up on my recent wall posts and the newsfeed when I get a message through facebook chat. It's from a friend that I take to every once-in-awhile, so I keep chatting. Then another facebook chat window pops up from a friend I haven't talked to in ages. She is going to be in Chicago the same time I am and wants to hang out/catch up. So we plan for sometime on the 23rd. Then a third facebook chat window pops up from another friend I haven't really talked to since June. Turns out he's going to be in Chicago on the 23rd, too. And we're going to try and hang out.
I feel so loved!
Why am I overwhelmed you ask? Homecoming. Tomorrow is homecoming at school. I'm a sponsor for our student government/student council, which means it's been my responsibility to make sure that the students are supervised while they decorate the gym. I've also been tutoring 2.5 hours per night Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.
Anyway, on to the title of this post. I was on facebook, catching up on my recent wall posts and the newsfeed when I get a message through facebook chat. It's from a friend that I take to every once-in-awhile, so I keep chatting. Then another facebook chat window pops up from a friend I haven't talked to in ages. She is going to be in Chicago the same time I am and wants to hang out/catch up. So we plan for sometime on the 23rd. Then a third facebook chat window pops up from another friend I haven't really talked to since June. Turns out he's going to be in Chicago on the 23rd, too. And we're going to try and hang out.
I feel so loved!
Friday, December 12, 2008
Feeling like an adult...and somewhat domestic
Days like today make me appreciate the sheer busyness of life, and make me realize that "housewives" and "stay-at-home moms" are not ladies of leisure sitting at home eating bon-bons all day.
Not that I had the day off, but the amount of errands I ran after work today made me realize even more how much time everything takes.
I had to go to a craft store to check prices for beads (and make sure they had individual letters, since we only want VSD and B) for a potential fundraising idea for the sophomore class. Then I went to Walmart to print a picture for my classroom. I went to some other stores to get some Christmas shopping done/at least started. ;-) I bought a washer and dryer (expensive, and unfortunately it won't be here until at least Friday...I was kinda hoping it would be here tomorrow...). I then went back to Walmart because it was the closest grocery-type store for me to buy supplies for the dish I'm making for the potluck tomorrow. I got home for the first time at 9:00.
When I got home, I started "prep" work for the dish I'm making for tomorrow. I decided to make Grandma's Minestrone soup. :-) So I chopped carrots, celery, onions, and parsley, and put them in my fancy new prep bowls from Pampered Chef (I LOVE them because they are marked with measurements!). After that, I organized my bills a little and sorted my recyclables...I needed to amke room for the new washer and dryer!
And then it was 10:00. I haven't even started the cleaning that I wanted to do tonight. Oh, well. Such is the life of a "grown-up"
Not that I had the day off, but the amount of errands I ran after work today made me realize even more how much time everything takes.
I had to go to a craft store to check prices for beads (and make sure they had individual letters, since we only want VSD and B) for a potential fundraising idea for the sophomore class. Then I went to Walmart to print a picture for my classroom. I went to some other stores to get some Christmas shopping done/at least started. ;-) I bought a washer and dryer (expensive, and unfortunately it won't be here until at least Friday...I was kinda hoping it would be here tomorrow...). I then went back to Walmart because it was the closest grocery-type store for me to buy supplies for the dish I'm making for the potluck tomorrow. I got home for the first time at 9:00.
When I got home, I started "prep" work for the dish I'm making for tomorrow. I decided to make Grandma's Minestrone soup. :-) So I chopped carrots, celery, onions, and parsley, and put them in my fancy new prep bowls from Pampered Chef (I LOVE them because they are marked with measurements!). After that, I organized my bills a little and sorted my recyclables...I needed to amke room for the new washer and dryer!
And then it was 10:00. I haven't even started the cleaning that I wanted to do tonight. Oh, well. Such is the life of a "grown-up"
Sunday, December 7, 2008
5 things
This looked like fun. :-)
5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
- Learning music for the Blue Lake International Symphony Band
- being a typical 8th grader ;-)
- learning Algebra
- growing up fast through friends' suicidal thoughts
- being boycrazy
- Ask a couple of teachers questions about a specific student
- Make a study guide about writing equations in slope intercept form
- Update IEP progress
- Find a recycling drop-off center
- Make a list of addresses for Christmas cards
- Apples with caramel
- chips and salsa
- fruit snacks
- Cheez-its
- chips and dip
- pay off my debt
- buy a house
- give to people who need it
- save some
- go back to school?
- Orland Park, IL
- Bloomington, IL
- East Lansing, MI
- Swartz Creek, MI
- Staunton, VA
- Quinlan & Fabish Music Co (stocking shelves, organizing, etc)
- Dr. Jerry Chow, M.D. (personal assistant for the nurse manager/filing)
- Math grader/tutor
- Babysitter
- Virginia School for the Deaf (HS Math teacher)
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Lockdown drills
Today after school we had a staff meeting. No big deal, staff meetings are normal. One of the topics that we discussed made me sad, though. As you can tell by the title of this post, it was the topic of lockdown.
I completely understand the necessity of having a procedure and a policy for lockdown. I also understand that in order for the procedure to work well, just as in the case of fire or tornado alarms, there must be practice. The thing that makes me sad is that there is a need for this sort of thing. There is a very real danger in the world today that students, teachers, or strangers could walk onto the campus of my school with the intent to harm themselves, others, or both. That breaks my heart. What makes violence the answer? What makes people, especially children, think that they can solve their problems by using violence or that anything is so bad that they need to harm themselves? I know this is no new phenomena, but I am still curious.
I think it was Shane Claiborne that wrote about how violence teaches violence, and until we as a nation stop dealing with our problems through violence, we will continue to have violence in our nation, as well. I'm not saying that I agree whole heartedly with Mr. Claiborne, but I do think it kinda makes sense. I don't want to blame the media or blame the government. And I certainly don't want to blame parents or teachers. It can't just be in the water, though. Something must have changed over the past 40 years (that is an insignificant number...I know that it is more than ten years but probably less than 50). When my parents were in school there was no thought in anyone's mind that a kid or anyone for that matter would bring a gun to school. What's changed?
Suicide among teenagers has always been an issue, I feel. It seems more and more apparent, though. I try to teach my students not to even joke about something as serious as killing themselves. What makes them think it's okay in the first place?
My heart yearns for hope to spread. I want to see people really believe that there is purpose to this life, and that they are loved. I'm going to work on showing that more. And believing it more myself, too. :-)
I completely understand the necessity of having a procedure and a policy for lockdown. I also understand that in order for the procedure to work well, just as in the case of fire or tornado alarms, there must be practice. The thing that makes me sad is that there is a need for this sort of thing. There is a very real danger in the world today that students, teachers, or strangers could walk onto the campus of my school with the intent to harm themselves, others, or both. That breaks my heart. What makes violence the answer? What makes people, especially children, think that they can solve their problems by using violence or that anything is so bad that they need to harm themselves? I know this is no new phenomena, but I am still curious.
I think it was Shane Claiborne that wrote about how violence teaches violence, and until we as a nation stop dealing with our problems through violence, we will continue to have violence in our nation, as well. I'm not saying that I agree whole heartedly with Mr. Claiborne, but I do think it kinda makes sense. I don't want to blame the media or blame the government. And I certainly don't want to blame parents or teachers. It can't just be in the water, though. Something must have changed over the past 40 years (that is an insignificant number...I know that it is more than ten years but probably less than 50). When my parents were in school there was no thought in anyone's mind that a kid or anyone for that matter would bring a gun to school. What's changed?
Suicide among teenagers has always been an issue, I feel. It seems more and more apparent, though. I try to teach my students not to even joke about something as serious as killing themselves. What makes them think it's okay in the first place?
My heart yearns for hope to spread. I want to see people really believe that there is purpose to this life, and that they are loved. I'm going to work on showing that more. And believing it more myself, too. :-)
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