I know I haven't done as much writing on here as I'd have liked the last few days, but it was a hard week - I had to create and give two midterm exams but also had to calculate and submit mid-semester grades for all 150 of my students. That took forever! (Well, okay, it took about 10 hours of grading and calculating, but in two days, that was a lot of work.) Thankfully, this week is spring break both for me and my fiancee, so I get to spend the whole week down here with him and our cats. The one negative to this is that I have to sleep on a couch for a week, but oh well.
Today was my third day here, and it was a wonderful day, for a few reasons:
1. I was with my fiancee, all day, on a Monday - hasn't happened more than twice since the semester began, since we both teach 5 days a week.
2. I felt good enough to work out this morning before he woke up, and I'm beginning to see results from my cardio/weights workouts. I definitely feel better about my body and I'm getting stronger. This is a wonderful feeling!
3. I had NO PAIN today.
--> Let that one sink in. I had NO pain. My back didn't hurt. My sinuses didn't hurt. My jaw wasn't swollen. My migraines didn't flare up. I also had no problems with my low blood pressure. I never got dizzy. I got through the entire day, from 7:30 a.m. until now (11 p.m.) like a normal person! That almost never happens. In fact, I can't honestly remember the last time I felt this good. I'm still dealing with my cold, but other than a few coughing fits and not being able to breathe through my nose, today was an absolutely phenomenal day. Praise the LORD for His goodness to me!
4. I got to cook for us. Unfortunately, the recipe I used ended up being too spicy for both of us (which, for me, is a rare thing), but the flavors were actually delicious. Who knew that orange marmalade could be a key ingredient in delicious chicken burritos?
5. My fiancee's cat didn't attack my cat more than twice. This is an improvement!
Tomorrow is the 15th, which means it's time for another scripture to memorize. I don't know yet what I am going to use for this 6th verse. I have to confess not knowing my 5th one as well as I'd like. With all of the stress at work the last two weeks, I confess that I didn't focus on this one as much as I did the previous 4. In order, they have been:
January 1: Numbers 23: 19 - God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?
January 15: Daniel 3:17-18 - If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us and will deliver us from your hand, o king. But even if He does not, we want you to know, o king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.
February 1: Isaiah 43:19 - See, I am doing a new thing! Even now it springs up - do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.
February 15: Psalm 4:4 - In your anger, do not sin: when you lie in your beds, search your hearts and be silent.
March 1: John 10:27-29 - My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish: no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand.
For some reason, I always get tripped up with "I know them, and they follow me" - I want to switch it around, or say that "they know me," but then I get messed up and have to look it up. So that means for the rest of this month, I will have to practice two of them to get them in my head more.
So this post definitely isn't as deep as some of my others, but I am just so thankful that God gave me such a wonderful day today. I am so blessed by my Father in heaven. I am thankful for the lack of pain, the time with my fiancee, the rest from work, the provision of a home and family and job, and for His daily mercies.
I hope you all have had as wonderful a day!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The loosener of knots
I'm back in my Daniel study again after lapsing a bit this last week. It's no excuse, but being sick left me so tired, I chose the easy route and did not engage in active bible study the last few days. Lord, please change this about me so that I might not choose the easy way of this world, but give me a heart that chooses you in every circumstance!
I'm at the point in Daniel where king Belshazzar has been frightened to death by handwriting on the wall. The queen mother comes and tells him about a Jew named Daniel, who "was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems" (Daniel 5:12).
That last phrase, "solve difficult problems," in Aramaic is literally "the loosening of knots," implying that Daniel could loosen "knotty" things or difficulties. The question was then posed: what knots do you wish God would enable you to loosen?
I have to admit, I had no idea when I came across the question. What in my life is "knotty"? I don't know.
But what if I phrase it a different way: what is there in my life that ties me up, or entangles me?
Ah, now, that is easier to answer.
1. My temper - I don't get "angry" so much as frustrated, and I have been frustrated a lot this past year. It does no one any good, and only works to entangle me in sin.
2. My tongue - ain't this the truth for most all of us? How often do our tongues get us in trouble? Cursing. Using the name of the LORD in an unholy way. Gossiping. Speaking less than the truth. Convincing ourselves (or, worse, others) that the lies Satan tells us are the truth.
3. My self-reliance - here I am not talking about physical reliance, but that ridiculous part of my ego that says I can handle things on my own. The part that tries to tell me that I don't really need God's help, I can figure out life, the universe, and everything without Him. The part that makes me worry until I'm sick about things I have no control over because it says I should have control.
There are others as well. Oh, how these have tied me - chained me, really - to sin. They tie me to the worst parts of myself, and work to prevent the glorious mercies of God from transforming me like He desires to do.
But, friends, there is glorious, wonderful news for all of us who tie ourselves up until we are strangling in our sin and pride.
Christ is the great un-tier. Listen to what He proclaims in Isaiah:
For the Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion -
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of HIS splendor. ~Isaiah 61:1-3
He is the great releaser, the freer, the one who can take our chains (and our knots) and bring complete freedom. He brings beauty, gladness, and praise to replace our ashes, mourning, and despair.
Paul wrote that "the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who, with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). He brings freedom as He transforms us from our sinful selves into reflections of His glory.
Paul also wrote that "anyone who has died has been freed from sin ... count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:7, 11).
The good news is this, friends: we do not have to spend our lives (or eternity) tied up, chained, constrained, and constricted. We serve the Almighty God, the freer of prisoners, the untier of knots, and the giver of LIFE!
Oh, Lord, untie my knots, release me from my chains, and transform me ever more into your glorious likeness, that I might reflect you and proclaim my freedom in you!
I'm at the point in Daniel where king Belshazzar has been frightened to death by handwriting on the wall. The queen mother comes and tells him about a Jew named Daniel, who "was found to have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding, and also the ability to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve difficult problems" (Daniel 5:12).
That last phrase, "solve difficult problems," in Aramaic is literally "the loosening of knots," implying that Daniel could loosen "knotty" things or difficulties. The question was then posed: what knots do you wish God would enable you to loosen?
I have to admit, I had no idea when I came across the question. What in my life is "knotty"? I don't know.
But what if I phrase it a different way: what is there in my life that ties me up, or entangles me?
Ah, now, that is easier to answer.
1. My temper - I don't get "angry" so much as frustrated, and I have been frustrated a lot this past year. It does no one any good, and only works to entangle me in sin.
2. My tongue - ain't this the truth for most all of us? How often do our tongues get us in trouble? Cursing. Using the name of the LORD in an unholy way. Gossiping. Speaking less than the truth. Convincing ourselves (or, worse, others) that the lies Satan tells us are the truth.
3. My self-reliance - here I am not talking about physical reliance, but that ridiculous part of my ego that says I can handle things on my own. The part that tries to tell me that I don't really need God's help, I can figure out life, the universe, and everything without Him. The part that makes me worry until I'm sick about things I have no control over because it says I should have control.
There are others as well. Oh, how these have tied me - chained me, really - to sin. They tie me to the worst parts of myself, and work to prevent the glorious mercies of God from transforming me like He desires to do.
But, friends, there is glorious, wonderful news for all of us who tie ourselves up until we are strangling in our sin and pride.
Christ is the great un-tier. Listen to what He proclaims in Isaiah:
For the Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion -
to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of HIS splendor. ~Isaiah 61:1-3
He is the great releaser, the freer, the one who can take our chains (and our knots) and bring complete freedom. He brings beauty, gladness, and praise to replace our ashes, mourning, and despair.
Paul wrote that "the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who, with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). He brings freedom as He transforms us from our sinful selves into reflections of His glory.
Paul also wrote that "anyone who has died has been freed from sin ... count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:7, 11).
The good news is this, friends: we do not have to spend our lives (or eternity) tied up, chained, constrained, and constricted. We serve the Almighty God, the freer of prisoners, the untier of knots, and the giver of LIFE!
Oh, Lord, untie my knots, release me from my chains, and transform me ever more into your glorious likeness, that I might reflect you and proclaim my freedom in you!
Monday, March 7, 2011
Eternity is stamped on our hearts
I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. ~Ecclesiastes 3:10-11
Do you ever simultaneously want two opposite results? You want two things that you know cannot coexist simultaneously, and can't quite get your mind to choose one.
I've been feeling that way often lately. You see, I look at the world around us and get the sense that we are in the midst of what Christ called the "last days." Christ said that in the last days, many will come in His name, deceiving those who follow them. {Check.} You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. {Check.} Nation will rise against nation. {Check.} There will be famines and earthquakes. {Check.} He said these are the "beginning of birth pains." (See Matthew 24:4-8.)
I've read Daniel. I've read Matthew. I've read Revelation. I know what God has revealed of His ordained plan for the end of the age. And so there is a part of me - the eternal part - that is excited about this. It means that Christ is returning soon! And that, finally, the pain, suffering, and hardships of this life will be erased and replaced with the glorious eternity in God's presence for His children. That is a glorious thing, my friends! Listen to how John described it:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.' He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' Then He said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.' ~Revelation 21:1-5
Hallelujah! Friends, how can we not leap for joy at these words??!! Glory be to God, who truly makes ALL things new!
I can't wait for that, can you?
And yet...
Here's the other half of my truth. As much as I do earnestly long for Christ's coming, I must confess that part of me hopes it is not too soon.
You see, the non-eternal part of me is looking forward to being a wife come June. It is looking forward to having children with my soon-to-be husband. I want to be a mother, to grow old with my husband. I want to serve God and raise up children to do so as well. I want to run my race. (And I sort of hope that the race won't be cut short before any of those other things happen.)
At first, I felt quite guilty about these feelings. How could I wish that Christ's return be delayed? Do I really want this depraved world longer? Well, no. But I've coming to realize that, when it comes to my faith, both desires are ok. God made me not just eternal - He not only set eternity in my heart - but He also made me temporal. Physical. And He has been shaping my desires for this life as well as my desires for Him.
I think the only thing to do is to expect Him to come, to hope for His coming, but to never forget the race that He has given you to do in the meantime. He knows His plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11), and He has given each of us a purpose. So I will do what I know He has told me to do - to proclaim His word, to worship Him, to grow in faith, to take care of my family - and let Him worry about whether He'll wait until after I have kids or not. :-) I guess this is one area where trusting the sovereignty of God is quite liberating.
Expect Christ every day. Prepare for Him. Be one of the wise brides, and keep the oil in your lamp. But don't use that as an excuse for neglecting what God has planned for you to do before He returns. And rejoice that, one day, you will enter into the glorious presence of your God and never have to leave again!
Do you ever simultaneously want two opposite results? You want two things that you know cannot coexist simultaneously, and can't quite get your mind to choose one.
I've been feeling that way often lately. You see, I look at the world around us and get the sense that we are in the midst of what Christ called the "last days." Christ said that in the last days, many will come in His name, deceiving those who follow them. {Check.} You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. {Check.} Nation will rise against nation. {Check.} There will be famines and earthquakes. {Check.} He said these are the "beginning of birth pains." (See Matthew 24:4-8.)
I've read Daniel. I've read Matthew. I've read Revelation. I know what God has revealed of His ordained plan for the end of the age. And so there is a part of me - the eternal part - that is excited about this. It means that Christ is returning soon! And that, finally, the pain, suffering, and hardships of this life will be erased and replaced with the glorious eternity in God's presence for His children. That is a glorious thing, my friends! Listen to how John described it:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.' He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' Then He said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.' ~Revelation 21:1-5
Hallelujah! Friends, how can we not leap for joy at these words??!! Glory be to God, who truly makes ALL things new!
I can't wait for that, can you?
And yet...
Here's the other half of my truth. As much as I do earnestly long for Christ's coming, I must confess that part of me hopes it is not too soon.
You see, the non-eternal part of me is looking forward to being a wife come June. It is looking forward to having children with my soon-to-be husband. I want to be a mother, to grow old with my husband. I want to serve God and raise up children to do so as well. I want to run my race. (And I sort of hope that the race won't be cut short before any of those other things happen.)
At first, I felt quite guilty about these feelings. How could I wish that Christ's return be delayed? Do I really want this depraved world longer? Well, no. But I've coming to realize that, when it comes to my faith, both desires are ok. God made me not just eternal - He not only set eternity in my heart - but He also made me temporal. Physical. And He has been shaping my desires for this life as well as my desires for Him.
I think the only thing to do is to expect Him to come, to hope for His coming, but to never forget the race that He has given you to do in the meantime. He knows His plans for us (Jeremiah 29:11), and He has given each of us a purpose. So I will do what I know He has told me to do - to proclaim His word, to worship Him, to grow in faith, to take care of my family - and let Him worry about whether He'll wait until after I have kids or not. :-) I guess this is one area where trusting the sovereignty of God is quite liberating.
Expect Christ every day. Prepare for Him. Be one of the wise brides, and keep the oil in your lamp. But don't use that as an excuse for neglecting what God has planned for you to do before He returns. And rejoice that, one day, you will enter into the glorious presence of your God and never have to leave again!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
Shout out
So I have been very sick this week. My throat was pretty raw earlier in the week, but I made it through teaching until Thursday morning. Then I totally lost my voice, so had to let my students go after about 10 minutes Thursday afternoon.
The one plus side is that it gave me the opportunity to drive down to my fiancee earlier than usual. Unfortunately, I have been pretty sick the whole time I've been here, so he has had to put up with a lot of pretty rough coughing on my end.
But I have to say how very thankful I am. Thankful that I have a loving God who provided me with such an amazing man to love me, even when I'm gross and sick and my coughs make my little germaphobe cringe. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to serve alongside this amazing man, to help him and let him help me.
Now if his cat wouldn't attack my cat, and if only my cat wouldn't be so terrified... :-)
The one plus side is that it gave me the opportunity to drive down to my fiancee earlier than usual. Unfortunately, I have been pretty sick the whole time I've been here, so he has had to put up with a lot of pretty rough coughing on my end.
But I have to say how very thankful I am. Thankful that I have a loving God who provided me with such an amazing man to love me, even when I'm gross and sick and my coughs make my little germaphobe cringe. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to serve alongside this amazing man, to help him and let him help me.
Now if his cat wouldn't attack my cat, and if only my cat wouldn't be so terrified... :-)
Friday, March 4, 2011
Thoughts on teachers
I've tried to remain silent, but I really can't anymore. I am absolutely appalled at the vitriol I've been hearing directed toward K-12 teachers, primarily by Republicans, but by some Democrats, too.
It's obvious that 99.9% of the people yammering about how awful teachers are and how little work they do and how they don't deserve what "we" pay them know absolutely squat about teachers. So here's a little glimpse of what my family goes through:
1. My fiancee teaches from the first week of August through the last week in May. He does not get paid for June or July at all. This whole "they only work 9 months" crap is just that. He DOES NOT GET PAID for the remaining months of the summer.
2. He does not work "from 8-3" and get summers off. On a light day, he is at work by 6:30 a.m. and might get home before 7 p.m. On a heavier work day, when grades are due or extra work has been piled on, he is there from 6 a.m. until 10 or 11 p.m. This never changes.
3. He gets about 3 sick days for the year, and even on the rare days he has to stay home, he has to prepare everything for his sub, so he doesn't really get to rest.
4. His salary is nowhere near "$50,000 with up to $45,000 in benefits!" Since he started teaching, his salary has been cut 30%, with odds good that it'll be cut again this summer. He currently makes less than $30,000 a year. As for benefits, he has basic health insurance and dental, and has to give a hearty chunk of his gross salary to the state retirement plan as well. He's not raking in the dough, nor is the state paying outrageous benefits, but the same basic plans that most every other employer is required to offer.
5. Unless you've lived on Mars for the last few decades, you should know that most teachers pay for most of their supplies out of their own pockets. My fiancee has to buy paper, pencils, books, notebooks, and all sorts of other supplies that come out of his own bank account because the school district is broke and can't afford to get books for his students to use. He often can't assign books he'd love for his students to read because the school won't buy books (for the English teacher, mind).
6. With all the vitriol about the power of teacher unions, you need to know that some states don't allow them at all. The state where we live is a "right to work" state, which means you can't unionize at all. That means that here, where education has been the one item slashed every year for the last five years, teachers have no collective bargaining power, and no one stands up for their rights.
7. The teachers in my fiancee's school district can't get out of their contracts, either. They can't just "quit if they don't like it." The school makes them sign a contract that threatens to have their teaching license revoked by the state if they do not carry out all duties for the full term of their contract.
8. The contract also has an "other duties as assigned" clause, which the administrators have taken to mean that they can force the teachers to do all sorts of things (for no extra pay) at any time. My fiancee has been forced to clean the school grounds on the weekends (like last weekend), work as a waiter for school fundraisers (on weeknights, preventing him from grading and doing actual work), and much more. How many businessmen have to do extra crap that's not in their job description?
9. Teachers without tenure have virtually no job security. My fiancee's job is dependent on ridiculous evaluations - usually consisting of a person randomly entering his classroom for 5 minutes and then bashing him for not doing all sorts of other things in that 5 minutes - and on student test scores. Regardless of the fact that test scores depend mainly ON THE STUDENT - their personality, memory, learning skills or disabilities, parental involvement, sleep habits, health or illness, poverty (if they're hungry, do they really care about grammar?), etc. No matter, the only thing that matters is if they improve test scores. If they don't, obviously it's the teachers' faults, and they're going to be fired.
10. My fiancee also has to pay for all of his continuing education credits. The state (or school) has done nothing to help him. Despite the fact that each class he has to take (like one this spring that will take up 3 separate weekends, 10 hrs a day) costs upwards of $400-600, that also comes out of pocket.
So please, before you mindlessly join those lambasting teachers and teachers' unions, please do the research. Know what teachers actually go through. You who have 9-5 jobs, how many of you have to take your work home with you? Teachers' jobs are literally never done. There is always more paperwork - individual plans for each student that has a disability or is behind; evaluations on everything from their behavior to the smallest academic achievement; set lesson plans for weeks at a time (how many of you have to submit a work plan for the next month, every month of your career?); plus the actual lessons, and the grading (my fiancee is required to have his students do one graded assignment per day - that's 80 students a day, 5 days a week, so around 400 papers to grade every week, not counting quizzes, tests, or other larger assignments).
We work hard. We work until we literally can't function at the end of the day. I got the day off today, and yet have been doing work from home for the last 3 hours. Please think about how much is on our shoulders before you cut our salaries to the point that we can't pay our bills.
Thank you.
It's obvious that 99.9% of the people yammering about how awful teachers are and how little work they do and how they don't deserve what "we" pay them know absolutely squat about teachers. So here's a little glimpse of what my family goes through:
1. My fiancee teaches from the first week of August through the last week in May. He does not get paid for June or July at all. This whole "they only work 9 months" crap is just that. He DOES NOT GET PAID for the remaining months of the summer.
2. He does not work "from 8-3" and get summers off. On a light day, he is at work by 6:30 a.m. and might get home before 7 p.m. On a heavier work day, when grades are due or extra work has been piled on, he is there from 6 a.m. until 10 or 11 p.m. This never changes.
3. He gets about 3 sick days for the year, and even on the rare days he has to stay home, he has to prepare everything for his sub, so he doesn't really get to rest.
4. His salary is nowhere near "$50,000 with up to $45,000 in benefits!" Since he started teaching, his salary has been cut 30%, with odds good that it'll be cut again this summer. He currently makes less than $30,000 a year. As for benefits, he has basic health insurance and dental, and has to give a hearty chunk of his gross salary to the state retirement plan as well. He's not raking in the dough, nor is the state paying outrageous benefits, but the same basic plans that most every other employer is required to offer.
5. Unless you've lived on Mars for the last few decades, you should know that most teachers pay for most of their supplies out of their own pockets. My fiancee has to buy paper, pencils, books, notebooks, and all sorts of other supplies that come out of his own bank account because the school district is broke and can't afford to get books for his students to use. He often can't assign books he'd love for his students to read because the school won't buy books (for the English teacher, mind).
6. With all the vitriol about the power of teacher unions, you need to know that some states don't allow them at all. The state where we live is a "right to work" state, which means you can't unionize at all. That means that here, where education has been the one item slashed every year for the last five years, teachers have no collective bargaining power, and no one stands up for their rights.
7. The teachers in my fiancee's school district can't get out of their contracts, either. They can't just "quit if they don't like it." The school makes them sign a contract that threatens to have their teaching license revoked by the state if they do not carry out all duties for the full term of their contract.
8. The contract also has an "other duties as assigned" clause, which the administrators have taken to mean that they can force the teachers to do all sorts of things (for no extra pay) at any time. My fiancee has been forced to clean the school grounds on the weekends (like last weekend), work as a waiter for school fundraisers (on weeknights, preventing him from grading and doing actual work), and much more. How many businessmen have to do extra crap that's not in their job description?
9. Teachers without tenure have virtually no job security. My fiancee's job is dependent on ridiculous evaluations - usually consisting of a person randomly entering his classroom for 5 minutes and then bashing him for not doing all sorts of other things in that 5 minutes - and on student test scores. Regardless of the fact that test scores depend mainly ON THE STUDENT - their personality, memory, learning skills or disabilities, parental involvement, sleep habits, health or illness, poverty (if they're hungry, do they really care about grammar?), etc. No matter, the only thing that matters is if they improve test scores. If they don't, obviously it's the teachers' faults, and they're going to be fired.
10. My fiancee also has to pay for all of his continuing education credits. The state (or school) has done nothing to help him. Despite the fact that each class he has to take (like one this spring that will take up 3 separate weekends, 10 hrs a day) costs upwards of $400-600, that also comes out of pocket.
So please, before you mindlessly join those lambasting teachers and teachers' unions, please do the research. Know what teachers actually go through. You who have 9-5 jobs, how many of you have to take your work home with you? Teachers' jobs are literally never done. There is always more paperwork - individual plans for each student that has a disability or is behind; evaluations on everything from their behavior to the smallest academic achievement; set lesson plans for weeks at a time (how many of you have to submit a work plan for the next month, every month of your career?); plus the actual lessons, and the grading (my fiancee is required to have his students do one graded assignment per day - that's 80 students a day, 5 days a week, so around 400 papers to grade every week, not counting quizzes, tests, or other larger assignments).
We work hard. We work until we literally can't function at the end of the day. I got the day off today, and yet have been doing work from home for the last 3 hours. Please think about how much is on our shoulders before you cut our salaries to the point that we can't pay our bills.
Thank you.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Waiting for that perfect time
I confess: I hate waiting.
When I was younger, and, honestly, even now, when I'm waiting for someone to arrive or to come pick me up, I go crazy if they aren't on time. When I still lived "at home" with my parents, I would usually play piano while waiting. This was not just to pass the time - it was because the piano was in the living room, and I could watch outside for whomever it was I was expecting.
I am in a serious period of waiting, friends. Except this time, it's not just for a ride or for a friend to show up. It's for my wedding. In 3.5 months, I'm marrying the love of my life.
I get so antsy about it! I tell my fiancee all the time: I wish I could just quit my job, we could elope, and start our life together. But, alas, that can't happen. And so I am waiting.
This brings me to two thoughts:
1) God must have something to teach me in the waiting.
2) Why don't I expect Christ's return for His bride with as much excitement as I do my fiancee's "return" for me?
The first idea is partly a way to keep my focus in these last three and a half months. I decided in January that I needed to really let God shape me into the wife He wants me to be. If I am not reshaped by God, I will be one pitiful, selfish, unloving wife! Why would a bride spend great effort in reshaping her body for her groom-to-be and not ask God to reshape her heart?
So I have been praying for the last two months that God would do a mighty work in me, that He would show me areas that I need to let Him prune before they become dangers to our marriage.
The funny thing about asking God to help you find areas that you need His help on is that He will immediately start showing them to you! And so He is.
The second idea comes in large part from Matthew 25:
At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.'
'No,' they replied, 'there might not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'
But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
Late the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.'
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." ~Matthew 25: 1-13
Scripture says that we, the Church, are the bride of Christ. He is coming back for us one day - though He has been "a long time in coming" (for us, at least).
Imagine that. Christ is coming back! And part of His plan is to collect His bride that they might be together forever. I know how much I long to be with my earthly beloved - I tell him every time we talk! I long for it with my whole being. I sometimes even cry when we are apart.
I wonder what it would be like if all of God's children waited with the kind of expectation and anxiety and sheer joy that brides do for their wedding day? I wonder how different we would appear to the rest of the world if we were truly expecting Him, waiting for Him, jumping in place in total excitement and pleasure knowing that He's on His way?
Are you expecting your bridegroom?
When I was younger, and, honestly, even now, when I'm waiting for someone to arrive or to come pick me up, I go crazy if they aren't on time. When I still lived "at home" with my parents, I would usually play piano while waiting. This was not just to pass the time - it was because the piano was in the living room, and I could watch outside for whomever it was I was expecting.
I am in a serious period of waiting, friends. Except this time, it's not just for a ride or for a friend to show up. It's for my wedding. In 3.5 months, I'm marrying the love of my life.
I get so antsy about it! I tell my fiancee all the time: I wish I could just quit my job, we could elope, and start our life together. But, alas, that can't happen. And so I am waiting.
This brings me to two thoughts:
1) God must have something to teach me in the waiting.
2) Why don't I expect Christ's return for His bride with as much excitement as I do my fiancee's "return" for me?
The first idea is partly a way to keep my focus in these last three and a half months. I decided in January that I needed to really let God shape me into the wife He wants me to be. If I am not reshaped by God, I will be one pitiful, selfish, unloving wife! Why would a bride spend great effort in reshaping her body for her groom-to-be and not ask God to reshape her heart?
So I have been praying for the last two months that God would do a mighty work in me, that He would show me areas that I need to let Him prune before they become dangers to our marriage.
The funny thing about asking God to help you find areas that you need His help on is that He will immediately start showing them to you! And so He is.
The second idea comes in large part from Matthew 25:
At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.'
'No,' they replied, 'there might not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'
But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
Late the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.'
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." ~Matthew 25: 1-13
Scripture says that we, the Church, are the bride of Christ. He is coming back for us one day - though He has been "a long time in coming" (for us, at least).
Imagine that. Christ is coming back! And part of His plan is to collect His bride that they might be together forever. I know how much I long to be with my earthly beloved - I tell him every time we talk! I long for it with my whole being. I sometimes even cry when we are apart.
I wonder what it would be like if all of God's children waited with the kind of expectation and anxiety and sheer joy that brides do for their wedding day? I wonder how different we would appear to the rest of the world if we were truly expecting Him, waiting for Him, jumping in place in total excitement and pleasure knowing that He's on His way?
Are you expecting your bridegroom?
Friday, February 25, 2011
Holy
I must confess, I have struggled for years with understanding the concept of holiness. Be holy. Show holiness. You are holy. The Lord is holy. These phrases all sound powerful and wonderful, but I honestly didn't understand what it meant to be holy. Last year, I read the entire Bible, and noticed how often God proclaimed His holiness and demanded holiness from us. Yet it still didn't click. But today, I think something is finally making sense.
I'm currently studying the book of Daniel (using Beth Moore's study as a guide), and today the discussion was all about holiness. It's not just Daniel, though. In my NIV bible, according to the concordance, there are no less than 150 separate occurrences of the word "holy" or "holiness." Obviously, God want us to get the idea of holiness.
The first instance of the idea of holiness comes in Genesis 2, verse 3. The principle of first instance states that the first time something occurs in scripture, there is something important to gleam from it. This verse is:
And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
The Hebrew word is is "qadash," meaning "to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate" (according to the KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon.
In this instance, the idea of holiness, applied to the seventh day, implied a separation apart from the other 6 days. It was to be a day of rest from work, and (later in the OT) a day dedicated to the worship of God Almighty. After this first mention, over 150 times, God proclaims His holiness, demands that we be holy, or consecrates things, days, or feasts as holy to Him. They belong to Him. They are for Him alone.
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states that,
"In primitive Semitic usage "holiness" seems to have expressed nothing more than that ceremonial separation of an object from common use which the modern study of savage religions has rendered familiar under the name of taboo (W.R. Smith, Religion of the Semites, Lect iv). But within the Biblical sphere, with which alone we are immediately concerned, holiness attaches itself first of all, not to visible objects, but to the invisible Yahweh, and to places, seasons, things and human beings only in so far as they are associated with Him. And while the idea of ceremonial holiness runs through the Old Testament, the ethical significance which Christianity attributes to the term is never wholly absent, and gradually rises in the course of the revelation into more emphatic prominence."
In Daniel 5, Belshazzar desecrated the holy items taken from the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and used them as part of a drunken orgy, toasting his false gods with them. That very night, God broke the great Babylonian Empire. Beth talked about the idea that the enemy wants nothing less than to make holy things unholy.
Followers of Christ are made holy through Christ. God says over and over again that we have been set apart from this world - "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds" (Romans 12:2). We are the vessels that He inhabits on this earth - no longer the temple or the ark, but in us, His children. (See 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.")
We are to act in ways that honor Him. We should never be used to honor anything other than God. Selfishness - honoring ourselves - is wrong. Sexual Immorality - honoring pleasure and immediacy - is wrong. Pride - honoring ourselves above all - is wrong. Any time that we act in a way that honors any one or thing other than God, we are acting unholy. We are not acting like those picked up and stamped by the Living God.
Holiness turns out to be in some ways a fairly simple concept. Act, think, speak in such a way that God is honored, and no other. In this, you show yourself to be His, not part of this society or this world, but a citizen of His realm. You are anointed as His when the Spirit lives within you and fills you up with Himself. You are reserved for Him for eternity.
Be holy. Stop acting like a fool of this world. Stop honoring yourself and your desires. Start bowing before your LORD, the God Almighty who never lies, never changes, and demands total righteousness. Start honoring Him with your choices - what you watch, what you read, what you say, where you go.
It's an easy concept, but so hard to do. Lord, help your children to learn how to be holy. Let us honor you in ALL things!
I'm currently studying the book of Daniel (using Beth Moore's study as a guide), and today the discussion was all about holiness. It's not just Daniel, though. In my NIV bible, according to the concordance, there are no less than 150 separate occurrences of the word "holy" or "holiness." Obviously, God want us to get the idea of holiness.
The first instance of the idea of holiness comes in Genesis 2, verse 3. The principle of first instance states that the first time something occurs in scripture, there is something important to gleam from it. This verse is:
And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
The Hebrew word is is "qadash," meaning "to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate" (according to the KJV Old Testament Hebrew Lexicon.
In this instance, the idea of holiness, applied to the seventh day, implied a separation apart from the other 6 days. It was to be a day of rest from work, and (later in the OT) a day dedicated to the worship of God Almighty. After this first mention, over 150 times, God proclaims His holiness, demands that we be holy, or consecrates things, days, or feasts as holy to Him. They belong to Him. They are for Him alone.
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia states that,
"In primitive Semitic usage "holiness" seems to have expressed nothing more than that ceremonial separation of an object from common use which the modern study of savage religions has rendered familiar under the name of taboo (W.R. Smith, Religion of the Semites, Lect iv). But within the Biblical sphere, with which alone we are immediately concerned, holiness attaches itself first of all, not to visible objects, but to the invisible Yahweh, and to places, seasons, things and human beings only in so far as they are associated with Him. And while the idea of ceremonial holiness runs through the Old Testament, the ethical significance which Christianity attributes to the term is never wholly absent, and gradually rises in the course of the revelation into more emphatic prominence."
In Daniel 5, Belshazzar desecrated the holy items taken from the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and used them as part of a drunken orgy, toasting his false gods with them. That very night, God broke the great Babylonian Empire. Beth talked about the idea that the enemy wants nothing less than to make holy things unholy.
Followers of Christ are made holy through Christ. God says over and over again that we have been set apart from this world - "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your minds" (Romans 12:2). We are the vessels that He inhabits on this earth - no longer the temple or the ark, but in us, His children. (See 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 - "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore, honor God with your body.")
We are to act in ways that honor Him. We should never be used to honor anything other than God. Selfishness - honoring ourselves - is wrong. Sexual Immorality - honoring pleasure and immediacy - is wrong. Pride - honoring ourselves above all - is wrong. Any time that we act in a way that honors any one or thing other than God, we are acting unholy. We are not acting like those picked up and stamped by the Living God.
Holiness turns out to be in some ways a fairly simple concept. Act, think, speak in such a way that God is honored, and no other. In this, you show yourself to be His, not part of this society or this world, but a citizen of His realm. You are anointed as His when the Spirit lives within you and fills you up with Himself. You are reserved for Him for eternity.
Be holy. Stop acting like a fool of this world. Stop honoring yourself and your desires. Start bowing before your LORD, the God Almighty who never lies, never changes, and demands total righteousness. Start honoring Him with your choices - what you watch, what you read, what you say, where you go.
It's an easy concept, but so hard to do. Lord, help your children to learn how to be holy. Let us honor you in ALL things!
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