Saturday, October 30, 2010

an important piece

one of the reasons (actually the main reason) i want to be a teacher is so i can minister to children. i want to show them love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. i want to show them the spirit of jesus. i want to show them this because most won't get it at home. most won't get it from other teachers or students. i may be the only one to show them, although i hope and pray this is not the case. 


the class i am working in this semester is a first grade class. it is an urban school full of hunger (physically and emotionally), brokenness, abandonment, and poverty. yet because these are kids, there is still hope, imagination, and dreams. they can still be reached easier than if they were older. i want to grow my students not just intellectually, but emotionally, socially, and god willing, spiritually. so i am always thinking of lesson plans & activities that will build them up & encourage them. 


a little over a year ago my husband preached to the church about the body of christ and every one's role as a member...the point was that the church's tendency today is to come and get filled without really ever pouring herself out. she has become content and lukewarm. the message was entitled "don't be a missing piece." this suddenly came back to me when i was thinking of an activity to do with my first graders and i was inspired. 


so i bought a 24 piece puzzle and drilled a hole in each piece. i put each piece in a ziplock bag along with ten colorful beads and some string. i explained to the class that the whole class is like a puzzle and each student is a very important piece. without one student, our class is incomplete, just like a puzzle with a missing piece. i explained to them that they each have gifts, talents, and strengths that help make the class what it is and that each student is extremely special. 


they made necklaces out of the puzzle piece and beads to remind each child that he/she is special and important. they absolutely loved it, and even if the concept i explained was a bit abstract to them, i hope it stuck somehow. and if not, i hope that in a few years they will remember the activity and be encouraged by it. they wore their necklaces for the rest of the day. 


i am not sure how this activity would fly with kids above the age of 8, but my first graders, boys & girls, were so excited about it. depending on the grade i teach with the job i get, i would like to do this every year with my class. not only does it exemplify individual significance, but it helps create classroom unity. 


school should be a place where you are encouraged, believed in, grown, challenged, built up, and expected the best of. and it should give you precious memories. and i pray the holy spirit creates an atmosphere in my classroom where children will encounter him on some level. 


whenever i am discouraged and stressed about being in college, i try to remember that it will be worth it to build the kingdom of god in such a way.

Monday, October 25, 2010

garments of selflessness and sacrifice

     "one of the workers in the underground church was a young girl. the communist police discovered that she secretly spread gospels and taught children about Christ. they decided to arrest her. but to make the arrest as agonizing and painful as they could, they decided to delay her arrest a few weeks until the day she was to be married. on her wedding day, the girl was dressed as a bride--the most wondrous, joyous day in a girl's life! suddenly the door burst open and the secret police rushed in.
     when the bride saw the secret police, she held out her arms toward them to be handcuffed. they roughly put the manacles on her wrists. she looked toward her beloved, then kissed the chains and said, "i thank my heavenly Bridegroom for this jewel He has presented to me on my marriage day. i thank Him that i am worthy to suffer for Him." she was dragged off with weeping christians and a weeping bridegroom left behind. they knew what happens to young girls in the hands of communist guards. her bridegroom faithfully waited for her. after five years she was released--a destroyed, broken woman, looking thirty years older. she said it was the least she could do for her Christ. such beautiful christians are in the underground church."


-tortured for christ, richard wurmbrand



the exert above is one of many that really touched me. the book was written by an underground pastor who illegally and wholeheartedly devoted his life to spreading the gospel and served fourteen years in prison as a result. no amount of torture or threats could make him deny his First Love. this happened during the reign of the communist soviet union in romania. while romania has been liberated from communism, there are still many countries that severely persecute believers. we have no idea what our brothers and sisters in christ in many countries face. as a part of each other; as a part of one body, His Bride, we must love them and lift them up in prayer. the world is not worthy of such beautiful christians who love their heavenly Bridegroom even unto death. may our love grow just as strong and may we clothe ourselves with the garments of selflessness and sacrifice so that we can be the beautiful Bride that He is waiting to receive in the place that He has prepared.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

hope until the end

"Lord God, set my feet on a rock and give me a firm place to stand on. Help me to show earnestness by trusting in the full assurance of hope until the end, so that I may not be spiritually sluggish, but an imitator of those who through faith and by practice of patient endurance and waiting inherit the promises. For I need endurance, so that I may do Your will and receive what is promised. Deliver me from drawing back and shrinking in fear, for then You will have no delight or pleasure in me. But may I be among the just and righteous servants who live by faith in You."
-Prayer by Sheila Cragg in her Devotional, "A Woman's Walk With God"







Tuesday, October 19, 2010

happy birthday mommy and sissy!

happy birthday today to my  mom, and to my sister who turned 15 on sunday. i love you both so much! what beautiful women you both are.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

the savior of our brokenness

read this. http://letgodwrite.blogspot.com/2010/10/broken-has-face.html

my beautiful friend anna started lightforce international to help stop sex trafficking in central america and to bring the hope of Jesus to those who have suffered from this terrible industry. she has a blog if you want to learn more about what she does. i love her most recent post, "broken has a face." 

Jesus is not only the savior of our sins, but he is the savior of our brokenness. we are not only to surrender our sin to him, but we are to offer him our hurts, our tears, and our brokenness. he is the ultimate comforter and healer. he is the only one who can make us new and whole again. 

therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 corinthians 5:17

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

glory upon the soul



Grace makes us glorious because it puts glory upon the soul, carries the soul above all earthly things, tramples the world under her feet; it prevails against corruptions that foil ordinary men.

Monday, October 11, 2010

every spiritual blessing


praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.                         -ephesians 1:3

Sunday, October 10, 2010

silk organza loveliness.

loveliness in the form of a pink organza dress and black heels. classic old hollywood beauty.

Organza Leighton dress

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Monday, October 4, 2010

He speaks.

this past sunday night we talked about hearing the voice of God, emphasizing that he does speak to us. it's amazing. the Lord speaks to us, just as he did to the ones we read about in the Bible.

we talked about the keys to hearing God. we discussed a lot: being still, being desperate, being surrounded by the godly, being obedient, etc.

but i think the main key to hearing God is simply to expect to hear Him. the God of the Bible moves on behalf of His people's faith and expectancy. if we believe that He will speak to us, that He desires to speak to us, that we will hear Him, that we won't be satisfied until we hear Him, etc, then it will be so.

‎"The key to reaching your potential and extraordinary success begins with the discipline to hear His voice. I dare you to fill the voids with something greater than yourself to walk into a powerful destiny designed for you that no man in all his brilliance, charm, or good could ever dream to accomplish in his own strength. Be changed by a gracious God."

Friday, October 1, 2010

lovely october

it's a beautiful october weekend.

missing brian while he is leading the junior high students on their retreat this weekend...praying for great things to happen!

this weekend's goals:

1. start paper on edgar allan poe...finish as much as possible before monday!
2. study for eds 360 quiz
3. do extra credit assignment for edu 313
4. clean the house...wait i already did that today! (few things are more peaceful than a clean house)
5. make my grocery list for next week/make a trip to kroger
6. get prints made for frames and hang frames up

this weekend is also busy with my little brother & sister's homecoming, catching up with old friends, and of course the youth service sunday night... hoping i can get these done! :)

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