“The road to Hell is paved with good intentions,” claims an old adage. I have recently come to the conclusion that this is very true. I have people in my life, as I’m sure most of us do, who “just want to help!” (If you’ve ever let a little kid “help” with anything around the house, you’ll know what I mean when I say that some help is actually super unhelpful!) These “helpful” people desperately want to give advice or take over a situation no matter how little the recipient wants that. They might say unkind things or treat you in unkind ways “for your own good.” These people long to help, and I really do think that they mean well, but even when confronted about their behavior and the unintended consequences of it (often the hurt that it’s caused), these busy helpers refuse to believe that their actions did any real harm, sometimes excusing themselves with, “it’s the thought that counts,” or even becoming offended and reassuring themselves that despite the utter ingratitude they’ve experienced, they did their duty by trying (all the while thinking to themselves that if those silly people had just gotten out of their own way, their sage advice would have saved the day in the end).
The problem of the unhelpful helper is prevalent in the Bible. In a previous blog I mentioned Eve, who I believe thought she could help God out by eating the forbidden fruit. There are several other great examples of people who had a misplaced desire to help. King Saul thought that he would help Samuel, who was running a little late. Samuel was supposed to show up on a certain day to help Saul ask God’s blessing over a war the Israelites were losing. When Samuel wasn’t on time, the troops started deserting. Saul went ahead and made the burnt offering, feeling that someone had to ask God’s blessing, and since Samuel wasn’t there, he should step up and do it (1 Samuel 13). That doesn’t sound like a bad motivation, does it? “Someone has to do it, so I guess I may as well…” Isn’t that what David did when he stepped up to Goliath?
Speaking of David, in 2 Samuel 6, King David had decided to bring the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem with 30,000 of his men. On the way, the cart carrying the ark jolted because one of the oxen driving it stumbled. Maybe it hit a pothole or something. Uzzah pulled a mom-in-the-car and reached out to protect the ark from possibly falling out. Now, everyone back then knew that you never, EVER touched the ark except on its poles. In that moment, though, Uzzah felt as if God needed his protection. And he died.
There are other examples of people trying (and failing) to help in the Bible, but the examples of Saul and Uzzah are a great starting place. Saul’s big issue was that he didn’t trust God. Like David, Saul saw a need and filled it. Unlike David, who killed Goliath out of love for God and faith in Him, Saul took Samuel’s place at the altar out of fear. I don’t know if he even really believed that God would save the day or if he just thought that going through the motions of sacrificing to God would calm his troops’ fears. I do know that the Lord looks on the heart (1 Samuel 16:7), so even though outwardly David and Saul seemed to be doing basically the same thing, something must have been lacking in Saul’s motivation. As for Uzzah, he disobeyed God. End of story. As annoying as this expression is, we need to obey God because He said so. We don’t always have to know why. Uzzah didn’t get that, and it cost him his life. All the good intentions in the world can’t change disobedience into anything but sin.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Saturday, April 13, 2013
Fret not
I was driving my car the other morning on a rainy, stormy morning. My car already pulls to the driver’s side, and in the wind, I felt like I was constantly fighting the car to stay in my lane. It wasn’t a big deal until I went to pass a truck. The extra pull from the semi made it necessary to grip the wheel even tighter, and my arms were already tired. Being me, I passed the truck and decided to see what would happen if I relaxed my arms a little. How fast would the car veer off track? I was curious, and surprised when I realized that relaxing my arms made almost no difference in the car’s ability to stay on track. It turns out that I was over-compensating for the perceived danger of running off the road. Yes, the wind was still blowing, and I needed to be aware and correct as the wind came up, but gripping the wheel so tightly all the time wasn’t actually doing me any good. I was so intent on preparing for the wind that, when it did come, it was harder to deal with since I was already tired. I was wasting my energy on the danger I saw coming, thereby losing the energy necessary to deal with the danger itself.
I once saw a poster that said, “Worry is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.” The thing about a poster like that is that it doesn’t really convey what worry actually does. It’s not like worry is a harmless past-time, a waste of time but no worse than computer solitaire or staring out the window. Worry is a waste of time, but it’s far from harmless. It turns out that stress has harmful effects on the body (who knew?) including affecting your brain itself. Bear with me on this, because regardless of gender and age, this really does illustrate what worry does. During menopause (seriously, stay with me!), a woman’s hormones get way out of whack, and the body uses the adrenal glands (the endocrine system) as a back-up for the body’s hormonal production. If a woman has been stressed out a lot before she goes into menopause, the already over-taxed adrenal glands are further weakened, leaving the woman with much more severe symptoms of menopause. Worry and stress can also lead to high blood pressure and heart attacks, we all know that. In addition, it makes us miserable and weakens our ability to deal with what is stressing us out, so instead of being able to work through our issues, we end up too stressed out to remove the stress!
God, unlike me, never says anything unimportant. He never just babbles. The Bible, then, should be considered a source of what’s important, not a bunch of somewhat entertaining trivialities. When the Bible says, “Don’t worry!” (Matthew 6:25-34; Philippians 4:6), it’s not meant to be a cute little suggestion, like “Don’t wear pink and red at the same time,” or “No white shoes after Labor Day.” No, what’s at stake here is life, joy, and peace. And to be honest, your testimony to the world! If you don’t actually believe that God’s got it under control, why would the world want what you have?
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Ignore your neighbor's grass
As I'm recently engaged, I feel that I've been given the license to start planning in earnest for my future. To that end, my fiance and I have decided to have three kids. Obviously, we know we can't say for sure if that's the final number, but that's where we are right now. We were talking a while back about names and preferred genders (2 boys and 1 girl, please) and what we hope they'll be like. I hope I have a little boy who's just like his daddy, while he wants a little me running around. At the end of the day, though, we both know we can't control how they'll look or even, in many ways, what their personalities will be like. My fiance expressed his concern that we'll have a child he won't love as much as the others. I've heard other people say basically the same thing, but in a different way. "We're having our second baby... can I really love this one as much as our first?" So I thought about it, and told my fiance that he'll love all of his kids equally; he'll just relate to them differently. I used as an example the way he loves me. I'm really all kinds of different people, and he loves them all. He loves the sleepy me, and how silly and cuddly I get. He loves the crazy me, who wants to go outside and skip down the street and spin around for no good reason. He loves the serious me, the way I sometimes get really intense about issues. He loves all the parts of me, but he has to relate differently to each part of me. If I'm sleepy, that's not a good time to enter a serious discussion. If I'm being crazy, I wouldn't want him to try to hold me close on the couch.
It occurs to me that God does this for us, his children. God gives us exactly what we need when we need it, but I think that sometimes we get mad or jealous when he relates differently to different people. "Goood, but I wanted that!" we say with a childish whine. It reminds me of my students. Some of my students have IEPs that legally require me to do certain things for them, like give them extra time on their homework or classwork. Other students get mad because they don't get extra time too, but they don't need it! I am not allowed to say, "Well, so-and-so has a learning disability and therefore is allowed extra time." Instead, I just gently remind them to focus on themselves. In much the same way, imagine being a parent of a child with a peanut allergy. No matter how much the child begs for a sandwich just like her friends', no loving parent would EVER serve that child peanut butter and jelly, no matter how much she argues that the turkey sandwich is proof that you don't love her! If we would pay more attention to the kindness and consideration that God gives us as individuals than we do to what we think we're missing out on, we'd be much happier.
It occurs to me that God does this for us, his children. God gives us exactly what we need when we need it, but I think that sometimes we get mad or jealous when he relates differently to different people. "Goood, but I wanted that!" we say with a childish whine. It reminds me of my students. Some of my students have IEPs that legally require me to do certain things for them, like give them extra time on their homework or classwork. Other students get mad because they don't get extra time too, but they don't need it! I am not allowed to say, "Well, so-and-so has a learning disability and therefore is allowed extra time." Instead, I just gently remind them to focus on themselves. In much the same way, imagine being a parent of a child with a peanut allergy. No matter how much the child begs for a sandwich just like her friends', no loving parent would EVER serve that child peanut butter and jelly, no matter how much she argues that the turkey sandwich is proof that you don't love her! If we would pay more attention to the kindness and consideration that God gives us as individuals than we do to what we think we're missing out on, we'd be much happier.
Friday, October 5, 2012
However you say it
I hate having a cold. I'm sniffly and sneezy and stuffy and drippy (how does that work?!) and my head feels heavy and my body feels light, like I'm moving in outer space, and I'm so tired of coughing. I think one of the worst things about having a cold, though, is having to tell people what's wrong. "I have a cold," I say, as pathetically as I can. I feel awful, but the inevitable reaction is, "Oh, I'm sorry," in a slightly sympathetic (but mostly dismissive) tone. A cold. A common cold. A COMMON cold!!! Like my misery can be truly wrapped up into that one word. A cold. As in, "I'm cold." "Oh, what a diss! That was cold!" "It's just a cold." Sigh. I want a disease that sounds impressive, that somehow conveys how awful I feel. So when someone asks me what's wrong, I can say ______ and get a reaction that is more equal to the misery I'm somehow making it through.
What things are called really does matter. Can you imagine the viscious villian of your favorite story being called something silly? Harry Potter versus Bob! Mufasa is killed by Pumpkin! You just can't have that. Darth Vader... who doesn't hear that name and sense the dark side?
In much the same way, what you call God matters. God has many names and attributes in the Bible-- Messiah, Prince of Peace, Faithful, Provider, God of Abraham, Just... God wants to be the God of YOUR situation. He doesn't want to be some far-off God; he wants to be up close and personal. Think about it like this: I relate to different people in different ways. I have co-workers, and I talk to them at and about work. The co-workers who also fit into the category of 'friend,' I also call to chit-chat sometimes. The man who is my fiance, best friend, friend, and brother in Christ fits into more spots in my life. God wants to be involved in every part of my life. When I'm sad, he's Comforter. When I'm happy, he's Joy. When I need help, he's Counselor. God is always there, and most importantly, he's always Love.
What things are called really does matter. Can you imagine the viscious villian of your favorite story being called something silly? Harry Potter versus Bob! Mufasa is killed by Pumpkin! You just can't have that. Darth Vader... who doesn't hear that name and sense the dark side?
In much the same way, what you call God matters. God has many names and attributes in the Bible-- Messiah, Prince of Peace, Faithful, Provider, God of Abraham, Just... God wants to be the God of YOUR situation. He doesn't want to be some far-off God; he wants to be up close and personal. Think about it like this: I relate to different people in different ways. I have co-workers, and I talk to them at and about work. The co-workers who also fit into the category of 'friend,' I also call to chit-chat sometimes. The man who is my fiance, best friend, friend, and brother in Christ fits into more spots in my life. God wants to be involved in every part of my life. When I'm sad, he's Comforter. When I'm happy, he's Joy. When I need help, he's Counselor. God is always there, and most importantly, he's always Love.
Friday, July 6, 2012
Peek-a-boo!
Psychology is a fascinating subject. I distinctly remember trying to nail down my second major and realizing that it had to be psychology when I almost literally started drooling over the list of classes I could take if I majored in psych. Man! The human mind is unbelievably complex, and people spend forever trying to figure it out. Guys want to understand girls (and vice versa), parents want to understand kids... we all want to understand each other, and we want to understand ourselves. Think about all those personality tests people take to try and get a glimpse at their own psyche. Anyway. Tangent. Specifically, I was just thinking about the psychological phenomenon called object permanence. Piaget said that infants begin to understand object permanence around 8 months old. In other words, from birth to about 8 months, babies don't just think "out of sight, out of mind," they really believe that out of sight means out of existance. Feel free to try this at home! Borrow a baby, and take his/her favorite toy. Get the baby all excited about the toy, then cover it with a blanket. If the baby has established object permanence, he or she will try to reach for the toy. If not, then the baby will not reach for the toy, because to the baby, the toy is no longer there.
I was playing with my boyfriend's 17 month old neice this evening. We were playing peek-a-boo with a blanket. I'd cover her up, ask loudly where she was, then respond with a smile and "boo" when she, grinning, pulled the blanket off her head. There was one special moment when I, instead of pulling the blanket off, stuck my head under the blanket with her. We looked at each other and it was as if no one else was around; we were in our own little world. Now, we both knew that there were others in the room. She and I had been playing this game for a while, and she would often wait under the blanket for an opportune moment, then pull the blanket off and say "boo" to me or my boyfriend or her parents. She knew we were still there even though she couldn't see us, and she wanted our attention. But somehow, under the blanket, she and I could pretend that we were special and hidden from everyone else.
As shown by the peek-a-boo game, my boyfriend's neice has developed object permanence. According to more recent studies than Piaget's, she may well have understood object permanence at around 3 months old! Three months old, and she already understood that just because you can't see it doesn't mean that it's not there. She can choose to ignore what's there, as she did with me under the blanket, but she never forgot the truth that she and I were not really the only ones in the room. It's so strange to me how we as adults can forget the basic truth that we learned at 3 months old. We sometimes convince ourselves that because we don't feel God's presence or see his hand working in our lives, he's not there. God never leaves us (Matt. 28:20) or forsakes us (Deut. 31:8) whether or not we see him. He is an unseen God (Matt. 6:6)!
I was playing with my boyfriend's 17 month old neice this evening. We were playing peek-a-boo with a blanket. I'd cover her up, ask loudly where she was, then respond with a smile and "boo" when she, grinning, pulled the blanket off her head. There was one special moment when I, instead of pulling the blanket off, stuck my head under the blanket with her. We looked at each other and it was as if no one else was around; we were in our own little world. Now, we both knew that there were others in the room. She and I had been playing this game for a while, and she would often wait under the blanket for an opportune moment, then pull the blanket off and say "boo" to me or my boyfriend or her parents. She knew we were still there even though she couldn't see us, and she wanted our attention. But somehow, under the blanket, she and I could pretend that we were special and hidden from everyone else.
As shown by the peek-a-boo game, my boyfriend's neice has developed object permanence. According to more recent studies than Piaget's, she may well have understood object permanence at around 3 months old! Three months old, and she already understood that just because you can't see it doesn't mean that it's not there. She can choose to ignore what's there, as she did with me under the blanket, but she never forgot the truth that she and I were not really the only ones in the room. It's so strange to me how we as adults can forget the basic truth that we learned at 3 months old. We sometimes convince ourselves that because we don't feel God's presence or see his hand working in our lives, he's not there. God never leaves us (Matt. 28:20) or forsakes us (Deut. 31:8) whether or not we see him. He is an unseen God (Matt. 6:6)!
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Temptation
I can't tell you how many times I've read the story about Jesus' temptation in the desert (Matt. 4:1-11), but something that a leader in my church said today really changed my whole perspective on it. The leader was talking about her struggle against pride and insecurities and how we need to rid ourselves of the need to prove ourselves to others. She mentioned briefly that Jesus was tempted by that same desire when he was in the desert and Satan told him to throw himself down. I thought more about it later and was struck by the universality of his temptations. I used to think that Jesus was tempted in a fairly situation-specific way. I mean, seriously, Satan couldn't really get to me by telling me to turn rocks into food, so no problem! I didn't really think that part of it applied to me. As I re-thought about the three temptations of Jesus, I was amazed at how often I am actually tempted by the same things.
Temptation 1- "...tell these stones to become bread." I feel like this is the temptation to take care of yourself, to look out for number one. I feel like Americans are especially tempted by this one. We have such a "pull yourself up by your boostraps" mentality, and (whether we actually say it or not) look down on the people who haven't done that. Oh, you don't have enough money for _____? Well, get it together! Work harder! Get another job! We have a hard time recognizing God's place in providing for us. While I would NEVER argue that we should just sit around twiddling our thumbs, staring up at the sky with open mouths, waiting for manna from Heaven to fall straight into them, I also don't think we give God enough credit. I think we view our responsibilities as humans as an Olympic torch. We go til we can't, then pass the torch on to God. No! Instead, I think we need to recognize that God comes alongside us and works with us as we do well and fail and just go through life. We don't need to do it all by ourselves.
Temptation 2: "...throw yourself down." Jesus was fully human as well as fully God. That said, I think he probably wanted, at least once in a while, to have his closeness with God reaffirmed. I know it's a big deal to me when God speaks to me through a song, or Bible verse, or what someone else says or whatever else. I need to remember that he loves me. Jesus fought the temptation to have God prove his love for him in front of Satan.
Temptation 3: "All this I will give you... if you will bow down and worship me." This final temptation may well have been the sneakiest, the one we often don't even know we're struggling with til we look back on it. Jesus was tempted to go after a good thing with less than godly methods. Disobedience to God is never, ever okay, even when it looks like it will earn something God wants for us. Jesus had a God-given desire to save the world. Satan offered it to him, but with a condition. Worship him, not God. I feel like Eve went through the same thing. She was told that she would "be like God" if she ate the fruit. Even though God had told her not to do it, she may well have said to herself, "I love God, and I want more than anything to be like him. I know he said not to... but maybe he doesn't want me to have that burden. I love him enough to do it anyway!" This mindset, this rationalizing of sin, is dangerous and unfortunately really common. I know God said ____, but I think he meant for me to ____, which I can do even more efficiently by _____. This temptation is at its foundation a subtle version of pride. You may know God's will and really want to do it. You just think that you know the best way to get that accomplished. No one ever said that Satan was dumb.
"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." (1 Cor. 10:12-13)
"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." (Eph. 6:13)
"Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (James 4:7b)
Temptation 1- "...tell these stones to become bread." I feel like this is the temptation to take care of yourself, to look out for number one. I feel like Americans are especially tempted by this one. We have such a "pull yourself up by your boostraps" mentality, and (whether we actually say it or not) look down on the people who haven't done that. Oh, you don't have enough money for _____? Well, get it together! Work harder! Get another job! We have a hard time recognizing God's place in providing for us. While I would NEVER argue that we should just sit around twiddling our thumbs, staring up at the sky with open mouths, waiting for manna from Heaven to fall straight into them, I also don't think we give God enough credit. I think we view our responsibilities as humans as an Olympic torch. We go til we can't, then pass the torch on to God. No! Instead, I think we need to recognize that God comes alongside us and works with us as we do well and fail and just go through life. We don't need to do it all by ourselves.
Temptation 2: "...throw yourself down." Jesus was fully human as well as fully God. That said, I think he probably wanted, at least once in a while, to have his closeness with God reaffirmed. I know it's a big deal to me when God speaks to me through a song, or Bible verse, or what someone else says or whatever else. I need to remember that he loves me. Jesus fought the temptation to have God prove his love for him in front of Satan.
Temptation 3: "All this I will give you... if you will bow down and worship me." This final temptation may well have been the sneakiest, the one we often don't even know we're struggling with til we look back on it. Jesus was tempted to go after a good thing with less than godly methods. Disobedience to God is never, ever okay, even when it looks like it will earn something God wants for us. Jesus had a God-given desire to save the world. Satan offered it to him, but with a condition. Worship him, not God. I feel like Eve went through the same thing. She was told that she would "be like God" if she ate the fruit. Even though God had told her not to do it, she may well have said to herself, "I love God, and I want more than anything to be like him. I know he said not to... but maybe he doesn't want me to have that burden. I love him enough to do it anyway!" This mindset, this rationalizing of sin, is dangerous and unfortunately really common. I know God said ____, but I think he meant for me to ____, which I can do even more efficiently by _____. This temptation is at its foundation a subtle version of pride. You may know God's will and really want to do it. You just think that you know the best way to get that accomplished. No one ever said that Satan was dumb.
"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." (1 Cor. 10:12-13)
"Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." (Eph. 6:13)
"Resist the devil and he will flee from you." (James 4:7b)
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Focus!
Teaching is hard. Can I just say that for a second? Teaching is incredibly difficult. It's not any one thing that I can point to that makes it hard; there are a ton of little (and big) things that make it challenging, and the fact that teachers have to overcome the same challenges for 180(ish) days per year makes it exponentially harder.
One of the problems teachers have is a general lack of focus. Imagine it. You're looking out at roughly 30 young people. At any given moment, maybe 2 have their heads down. About 5 or 6 are doodling. Eight kids are looking right at you, but 3 of them seem to be staring past your head. One has his hand up, probably wanting to go to the bathroom. Several of the girls are glancing at each other out of the corner of their eyes and giggling or fighting smiles, assuming I don't see them. Two of my boys are trying to get comfortable in their seats, squirming or leaning their chairs back on two legs, despite my daily telling them to stop. One is sharpening a pencil, while one returns from having gotten a drink of water. The rest all go back and forth between looking at me, looking around, scribbling on their papers (is that math homework I see?) and whispering to a friend. How many of these kids are being quiet? Most of them. How many are looking at me? More important, how many are really hearing me?
The thing is, focus isn't something you see as much as something you feel. With my kids, I know that the doodler in the corner might be listening, while the one looking right at me is actually focused with every ounce of her being on the cute boy right behind her. I'm not nearly as concerned with what the child is doing as with what he/she is focusing on. I really believe that God is the same way. I don't think he needs us to pray 24/7 or worship 10 hours a day or read a book of the Bible each evening. I think that God just wants our focus no matter what we're doing.
One of the problems teachers have is a general lack of focus. Imagine it. You're looking out at roughly 30 young people. At any given moment, maybe 2 have their heads down. About 5 or 6 are doodling. Eight kids are looking right at you, but 3 of them seem to be staring past your head. One has his hand up, probably wanting to go to the bathroom. Several of the girls are glancing at each other out of the corner of their eyes and giggling or fighting smiles, assuming I don't see them. Two of my boys are trying to get comfortable in their seats, squirming or leaning their chairs back on two legs, despite my daily telling them to stop. One is sharpening a pencil, while one returns from having gotten a drink of water. The rest all go back and forth between looking at me, looking around, scribbling on their papers (is that math homework I see?) and whispering to a friend. How many of these kids are being quiet? Most of them. How many are looking at me? More important, how many are really hearing me?
The thing is, focus isn't something you see as much as something you feel. With my kids, I know that the doodler in the corner might be listening, while the one looking right at me is actually focused with every ounce of her being on the cute boy right behind her. I'm not nearly as concerned with what the child is doing as with what he/she is focusing on. I really believe that God is the same way. I don't think he needs us to pray 24/7 or worship 10 hours a day or read a book of the Bible each evening. I think that God just wants our focus no matter what we're doing.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Expectation
One downside to being a dreamer is that when life doesn't match up with my dreams, I can end up disappointed. I build something up in my head, and it's just never the same seeing it play out in the real world. On the flip side, planning things and dreaming dreams helps me to pinpoint what I want. And if it doesn't work out... well, at least I've had the joy of living it in my dreams!
My now-healthy attitude toward my dreams is not one that everyone shares. Some people don't realize how dangerous it can be to focus on your dreams and not the dream-maker and -fulfiller: God! As one example, look at the people who crucified Christ. In this Easter season, I'm struck again by how differently people back then viewed Jesus and his death. Back then, Jesus was a guy whose only credentials included a carpentry background and a borderline scandalous birth. He wasn't from a great part of the country. As one man said, "Can anything good come from there?" (John 1:46). He did miracles, sure, but that must have been rather off-putting as well. What if someone challenged everything you believed about your religion (and everything your family had believed for thousands of years) and then healed a blind man? I'd be scared out of my mind! Power up close is scary, and when it comes from a man who speaks against some of the most common and cherished practices of my religion... anyway, Jesus was just NOT what people expected. He was not a king, he was not a typical religious leader, he did not walk around with a halo and a perpetual spotlight. His clothes got dirty and he cried. He probably smelled bad sometimes. And then he died. I can picture the despair. I can picture people wincing as they felt that nasty little twisting inside that you feel when your hopes are crushed. They thought... just maybe... that he actually was the Christ. But then he died. And now they were left with all of the "I told you so"s and the misery of knowing that there was nothing to say to disprove them.
We know that Christ did rise. But until Easter, no one knew he would. I guess that's where faith comes in. If you look at the dreams in your life and think they're dead... well, do you trust God to come through or not? Things might not be the way you pictured, but let me say this. For those who love him, God makes ALL things work out for the best. So either your dead dreams aren't as good as what's coming, or they're not dead! Or maybe they're just dead temporarily :) Be encouraged and expect the best.
My now-healthy attitude toward my dreams is not one that everyone shares. Some people don't realize how dangerous it can be to focus on your dreams and not the dream-maker and -fulfiller: God! As one example, look at the people who crucified Christ. In this Easter season, I'm struck again by how differently people back then viewed Jesus and his death. Back then, Jesus was a guy whose only credentials included a carpentry background and a borderline scandalous birth. He wasn't from a great part of the country. As one man said, "Can anything good come from there?" (John 1:46). He did miracles, sure, but that must have been rather off-putting as well. What if someone challenged everything you believed about your religion (and everything your family had believed for thousands of years) and then healed a blind man? I'd be scared out of my mind! Power up close is scary, and when it comes from a man who speaks against some of the most common and cherished practices of my religion... anyway, Jesus was just NOT what people expected. He was not a king, he was not a typical religious leader, he did not walk around with a halo and a perpetual spotlight. His clothes got dirty and he cried. He probably smelled bad sometimes. And then he died. I can picture the despair. I can picture people wincing as they felt that nasty little twisting inside that you feel when your hopes are crushed. They thought... just maybe... that he actually was the Christ. But then he died. And now they were left with all of the "I told you so"s and the misery of knowing that there was nothing to say to disprove them.
We know that Christ did rise. But until Easter, no one knew he would. I guess that's where faith comes in. If you look at the dreams in your life and think they're dead... well, do you trust God to come through or not? Things might not be the way you pictured, but let me say this. For those who love him, God makes ALL things work out for the best. So either your dead dreams aren't as good as what's coming, or they're not dead! Or maybe they're just dead temporarily :) Be encouraged and expect the best.
What you see isn't everything
America sometimes seems to be a nation in which appearance matters more than substance. People have massive houses with rooms they don't even use and beautiful lawns with grass so perfectly manicured that no one is allowed to really play on it. Women buy products to try and look younger and clothes to try and look thinner. Schools pass students from high school who just aren't well-educated so as to prevent messing up their graduation rate.
I'm certainly not immune from being caught up in appearances. I was listening to a song on the radio that was a perfect Viennese Waltz in terms of tempo. I started dancing to it in my head, and daydreaming about how graceful and beautiful I'd be. As I kept thinking about it, I realized that the grace and beauty of ballroom dance is really an illusion. Dancing requires precision, knowledge, and extraordinary effort. Ballerinas ignore blistered and bleeding feet, screaming muscles, sweat, and fatigue to give the audience the impression that they can float like butterflies without even trying.
Sometimes I look at the people I respect most and see the effortless beauty of their lives and ignore all the time and energy they put into all they do. Sometimes I feel like I must be doing something wrong when I feel myself working so hard and see others doing great things with seemingly no trouble at all. I need to remember that there is always more going on behind the scene.
I'm certainly not immune from being caught up in appearances. I was listening to a song on the radio that was a perfect Viennese Waltz in terms of tempo. I started dancing to it in my head, and daydreaming about how graceful and beautiful I'd be. As I kept thinking about it, I realized that the grace and beauty of ballroom dance is really an illusion. Dancing requires precision, knowledge, and extraordinary effort. Ballerinas ignore blistered and bleeding feet, screaming muscles, sweat, and fatigue to give the audience the impression that they can float like butterflies without even trying.
Sometimes I look at the people I respect most and see the effortless beauty of their lives and ignore all the time and energy they put into all they do. Sometimes I feel like I must be doing something wrong when I feel myself working so hard and see others doing great things with seemingly no trouble at all. I need to remember that there is always more going on behind the scene.
Friday, April 6, 2012
The waiting game can be fun
Having worked with kids of all ages for over half my life, I feel that I've learned a lot about them, though I am often struck by how much more I have to learn! One major thing I've learned about kids is that they are all different. Some like bananas, some hate bananas; some like Barney, some are scared of him; some smile a lot, some cry a lot etc., etc. It's always interesting for me to see how different kids react to being left by their parents in the church nursery. Some kids stare blankly at the door and refuse to move. Some burst into tears and run to me for comfort. Some begin kicking and screaming and refuse to let me help them. Some don't even seem to notice. While the kids react differently, one thing is always the same. Whether the kid likes it or not, Mom and Dad are not returning until a set time. The kid could be happy or miserable; it doesn't change anything except how good a time the child has. Being sad is not going to make the parents come back sooner, and being happy is not going to somehow keep them away. After all, it's not as if a parent would come to pick up his/her child, see the little one playing happily and say, "oh, good! I guess I can just go on home, since Jamie's so happy here." No! The parent will not leave without that child, regardless of the child's attitude about the whole experience. It's the same with God and us. God has every intention of giving us all we need to live and even what we need to be happy! (Matt. 6:31 and 33, Matt. 7:11, Psalm 37:4) But God makes everything happen in HIS time, not ours. Whether we sit around sulking or have a wonderful time where we are, God will bring us his good gifts at the perfect time. Our attitude toward waiting changes nothing for him and everything for us.
Monday, April 2, 2012
How does your garden grow?
One thing I appreciate about God is his willingness to speak to us on our level. God is desperate for our attention, and will use whatever he can to get it. The Bible is full of parables explaining the greatness of God through ordinary things, stories Jesus told to his followers. For us today, we don't have Jesus in person to speak with us, but we do have a book to convey God's message. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus was the Word (John 1:1) and Jesus is also God. Knowing the Word (the Bible), is knowing Jesus, which is knowing God (John 14:7). But if Hooked on Phonics didn't work for you or if you just don't have access to a Bible, God can and will still try to draw your attention to him. Romans 1:20 says that we are "without excuse" because we can see God "through what has been made." Walk outside and watch a sunset. Look at baby animals. Smell the flowers. See the tiny veins in each and every leaf. God's handiwork is amazing, and God uses what he's made to reach his favorite creation... you!
Speaking of nature, I was speaking to a friend about sowing and reaping the other day. Galatians 6:7 says that "A man reaps what he sows." In other words, what goes around comes around. What you do in life has results. In much the same way, the effort that you put into your relationship with God will directly affect how close you are to him. I remember God telling me my freshman year that I had to "pull the weeds to plant the seeds." It took me a while to puzzle out what he meant, but when I got it, it made so much sense. Think about trying to plant a garden. You can't just sprinkle seeds at random in your back yard and expect to get a great harvest. No, first you have to till the soil. If you don't know what that means, lucky you. My parents had a decent sized garden when I was little. Looking back, there's no way it could be as monstrous as I remember, but I distinctly remember the exhausting, dirty work of digging up all the grass to expose the soil, picking up all the rocks, and then churning up the earth so it was a welcoming environment for the little seeds I then planted. It was hot and boring. And hard! But necessary to get a good harvest.
If you want a good relationship with God, you have to expect to do work. You can't just sprinkle a little Bible, a little prayer, and a little worship into your life and expect to come up with a massive harvest! You have to rip up the things that used to be in your life to make way for what God wants to do. It's a constant process. The weeds will always fight for space in your life; they will always try to choke out what you put so much effort into planting. If you give up and get lazy, you will find that your task only gets tougher and tougher. The roots of the weeds will just get deeper and deeper and you will find yourself overwhelmed. The initial seed-planting is only the beginning. But keep at it and wait patiently. A good garden yields nourishment and a beautiful fragrance that draws people in. And when they come, you'll have plenty to share; enough that they can take seeds from the harvest to plant their own gardens.
Speaking of nature, I was speaking to a friend about sowing and reaping the other day. Galatians 6:7 says that "A man reaps what he sows." In other words, what goes around comes around. What you do in life has results. In much the same way, the effort that you put into your relationship with God will directly affect how close you are to him. I remember God telling me my freshman year that I had to "pull the weeds to plant the seeds." It took me a while to puzzle out what he meant, but when I got it, it made so much sense. Think about trying to plant a garden. You can't just sprinkle seeds at random in your back yard and expect to get a great harvest. No, first you have to till the soil. If you don't know what that means, lucky you. My parents had a decent sized garden when I was little. Looking back, there's no way it could be as monstrous as I remember, but I distinctly remember the exhausting, dirty work of digging up all the grass to expose the soil, picking up all the rocks, and then churning up the earth so it was a welcoming environment for the little seeds I then planted. It was hot and boring. And hard! But necessary to get a good harvest.
If you want a good relationship with God, you have to expect to do work. You can't just sprinkle a little Bible, a little prayer, and a little worship into your life and expect to come up with a massive harvest! You have to rip up the things that used to be in your life to make way for what God wants to do. It's a constant process. The weeds will always fight for space in your life; they will always try to choke out what you put so much effort into planting. If you give up and get lazy, you will find that your task only gets tougher and tougher. The roots of the weeds will just get deeper and deeper and you will find yourself overwhelmed. The initial seed-planting is only the beginning. But keep at it and wait patiently. A good garden yields nourishment and a beautiful fragrance that draws people in. And when they come, you'll have plenty to share; enough that they can take seeds from the harvest to plant their own gardens.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Details
My sister and I were watching a romantic comedy on TV the other day, and I was really enjoying it. The timing of it wasn't particularly good, though, as I had to leave a little over half-way through it to go watch the Superbowl. As much as I was excited to go hang out with friends, eat good food, and enjoy a great football game, I was a little disappointed at having to miss seeing the end of the movie. On my way out, I told my sister to keep watching and tell me what happened. She laughed and called out, "you KNOW what happens!" as I shut the door.
My sister was right. I knew exactly what would happen. The guy gets the girl and they live happily ever after. But there's something so satisfying about seeing the details, watching it play out in front of you, even though you know the gist of what's going to happen. In much the same way, I know the gist of what's going to happen in my life. I'll live, then die, then go to Heaven to be with Jesus! Yay! But like with the movie, knowing the big picture is great, but seeing how you get there is even better. I get the privilege of walking out my purpose every day. As frustrating as it can often be, there is joy in going through the process.
My sister was right. I knew exactly what would happen. The guy gets the girl and they live happily ever after. But there's something so satisfying about seeing the details, watching it play out in front of you, even though you know the gist of what's going to happen. In much the same way, I know the gist of what's going to happen in my life. I'll live, then die, then go to Heaven to be with Jesus! Yay! But like with the movie, knowing the big picture is great, but seeing how you get there is even better. I get the privilege of walking out my purpose every day. As frustrating as it can often be, there is joy in going through the process.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Dreams
I have had some seriously terrifying nightmares in my life. I remember one I had after graduating high school in which my future college roommate was some kind of... killer, I guess. In my dream, I never did figure out what she did that was so awful and I never saw her, but when I told people who I'd be rooming with, each one would shudder, turn pale, and whisper something like, "oh, no" or "run!" I woke up in a cold sweat, repeating to myself that it was only a dream, but it did no good. Logic, my daytime love, was no match for my nighttime fears.
There is little that can instill terror in a man's heart like the fear of the unknown. It's been hard for many of us teachers hearing about dramatic budget cut proposals and knowing that we cannot know for sure whether or not we will be employed next year. As one teacher said, it would be so much easier if we just knew one way or another so we could plan accordingly. Yes, it is hard to sit and wait patiently and watch as our future unfolds, far beyond our ability to control it. Yet God tells us that we can trust him. He assures us that he is with us always. Our unknown is not unknown to God, and there is no need to fear.
There is little that can instill terror in a man's heart like the fear of the unknown. It's been hard for many of us teachers hearing about dramatic budget cut proposals and knowing that we cannot know for sure whether or not we will be employed next year. As one teacher said, it would be so much easier if we just knew one way or another so we could plan accordingly. Yes, it is hard to sit and wait patiently and watch as our future unfolds, far beyond our ability to control it. Yet God tells us that we can trust him. He assures us that he is with us always. Our unknown is not unknown to God, and there is no need to fear.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Go Ahead-- Look Down
"...those who hope in the Lord... will soar on wings like eagles..." (Isaiah 40:31)
"When the oceans rise and thunders roar, I will soar with you above the storm." (Hillsong)
If you've ever been flying in a plane, you know the window seat is the best. I love looking out and seeing the houses get smaller and smaller and looking down at mountains and lakes and feeling so... above everything. Even my problems.
I was flying back from a fantastic weekend with a great friend and got caught in some bad weather. It wasn't anything serious by any means. We had a little bit of turbulence and it was rainy and cloudy and generally gross when we landed, but that was the extent of the problem. Still, I was struck by the contrast. Close to the ground-- darkness, rain, turbulence. Way high up-- gorgeous fluffy clouds, blue sky, sunshine, calm. It amazed me to realize that the bad weather I experienced on the ground existed at the same time as the gorgeous weather above the clouds. The only difference was my altitude. Even as we experience storms in our lives, God's peace is there for us. We need to look past our circumstances and realize that there IS a place outside of what we're going through, a place of peace and light and beauty, a place where the God who loves us calls us to be.
"When the oceans rise and thunders roar, I will soar with you above the storm." (Hillsong)
If you've ever been flying in a plane, you know the window seat is the best. I love looking out and seeing the houses get smaller and smaller and looking down at mountains and lakes and feeling so... above everything. Even my problems.
I was flying back from a fantastic weekend with a great friend and got caught in some bad weather. It wasn't anything serious by any means. We had a little bit of turbulence and it was rainy and cloudy and generally gross when we landed, but that was the extent of the problem. Still, I was struck by the contrast. Close to the ground-- darkness, rain, turbulence. Way high up-- gorgeous fluffy clouds, blue sky, sunshine, calm. It amazed me to realize that the bad weather I experienced on the ground existed at the same time as the gorgeous weather above the clouds. The only difference was my altitude. Even as we experience storms in our lives, God's peace is there for us. We need to look past our circumstances and realize that there IS a place outside of what we're going through, a place of peace and light and beauty, a place where the God who loves us calls us to be.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Pride goeth before a fall
"God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble." (from 1 Peter 5:5)
I don't know if you've ever played games with a little kid, but it is an enlightening experience in many ways. One thing I always find amusing is their firm insistence that they are the best, the fastest, the most skilled at whatever thing they're doing. The classic childhood game of "come and get me" is the one I play most often. So far, none have challenged me to a race by saying, "I know you're faster, but let's just run around!" No, it's usually something more like, "You can't catch me!" If you have ever entered a race with a small child, you know what usually happens next. The child bolts, perhaps thinking that the element of surprise will gain him a win. Although my legs are about twice the length of the kid's, I somehow always stay about one step behind the now-squealing boy, who knows I'm right behind him and hopes that he can still pull out a victory. I often let the child win, but sometimes I go for a tie. Regardless, the outcome of the race is never in the child's hands. I am always the faster; winning or losing is entirely my choice.
There aren't many things in my life that I am completely confident about. Self-doubt creeps into all kinds of situations, even the ones where everyone else would think that I had more than enough reasons to trust that I'd do well. I can say this, though. It has never even entered my mind to doubt that I could win a race against a 3 year-old. In that, I am completely confident. In my confidence, I don't need to boast. The race I desribed could just as easily go down like this: the kid challenges me; I catch him in 2.5 seconds; I tell him I'm faster and walk away. Or I could just make some disparaging comment about how there's no way he could win. I would never do either. Obviously it's mean, but it also makes no sense. I already know I'm faster. I race for the fun of it, not to prove anything, and in my confidence, I have room to "lose" the race for the sake of the child.
God has no reason to doubt himself. Ever. Us looking at God and acting like we know better than him is like a 3 year-old looking at me thinking he is faster. It's so completely unrealistic that it's not even worth discussing! Why, then, doesn't God just let us go on thinking that we know everything, if it's not offensive to his pride? Here's the thing. I let little kids win races because it's fun and not harmful. I think that kids do understand that grown-ups are faster-- they just like the thrill of the chase. But there are times when letting a child continue in wrong thinking could be very harmful. For example, if my son ever thinks he's Superman and tries to fly or wants to be linebacker for his football team (at 20 pounds underweight), I'm going to tell him that he is wrong. My pride isn't at stake. His safety is.
When we convince ourselves that we know more than God, God cannot stand it. His ego isn't in the way, and he's not trying to be mean, but he absolutely will humble you. When you are prideful, you convince yourself that you don't need God. You don't ask for his advice or opinions. You don't seek his presence. You walk away from him and try to discontinue the relationship. You've moved on. But God is a good father. It would take a nutjob to believe a two year-old is independent just because she insists, "I do it!" I don't care that she believes herself to be independent, my love, NOT my pride, makes me take her hand when we cross the street. I insist on cooking and cutting up her food myself to keep her safe. In the same way, God will not let us continue in our pride. He wants us to be safe in his presence, not to wander around alone in the wilderness where "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8).
I don't know if you've ever played games with a little kid, but it is an enlightening experience in many ways. One thing I always find amusing is their firm insistence that they are the best, the fastest, the most skilled at whatever thing they're doing. The classic childhood game of "come and get me" is the one I play most often. So far, none have challenged me to a race by saying, "I know you're faster, but let's just run around!" No, it's usually something more like, "You can't catch me!" If you have ever entered a race with a small child, you know what usually happens next. The child bolts, perhaps thinking that the element of surprise will gain him a win. Although my legs are about twice the length of the kid's, I somehow always stay about one step behind the now-squealing boy, who knows I'm right behind him and hopes that he can still pull out a victory. I often let the child win, but sometimes I go for a tie. Regardless, the outcome of the race is never in the child's hands. I am always the faster; winning or losing is entirely my choice.
There aren't many things in my life that I am completely confident about. Self-doubt creeps into all kinds of situations, even the ones where everyone else would think that I had more than enough reasons to trust that I'd do well. I can say this, though. It has never even entered my mind to doubt that I could win a race against a 3 year-old. In that, I am completely confident. In my confidence, I don't need to boast. The race I desribed could just as easily go down like this: the kid challenges me; I catch him in 2.5 seconds; I tell him I'm faster and walk away. Or I could just make some disparaging comment about how there's no way he could win. I would never do either. Obviously it's mean, but it also makes no sense. I already know I'm faster. I race for the fun of it, not to prove anything, and in my confidence, I have room to "lose" the race for the sake of the child.
God has no reason to doubt himself. Ever. Us looking at God and acting like we know better than him is like a 3 year-old looking at me thinking he is faster. It's so completely unrealistic that it's not even worth discussing! Why, then, doesn't God just let us go on thinking that we know everything, if it's not offensive to his pride? Here's the thing. I let little kids win races because it's fun and not harmful. I think that kids do understand that grown-ups are faster-- they just like the thrill of the chase. But there are times when letting a child continue in wrong thinking could be very harmful. For example, if my son ever thinks he's Superman and tries to fly or wants to be linebacker for his football team (at 20 pounds underweight), I'm going to tell him that he is wrong. My pride isn't at stake. His safety is.
When we convince ourselves that we know more than God, God cannot stand it. His ego isn't in the way, and he's not trying to be mean, but he absolutely will humble you. When you are prideful, you convince yourself that you don't need God. You don't ask for his advice or opinions. You don't seek his presence. You walk away from him and try to discontinue the relationship. You've moved on. But God is a good father. It would take a nutjob to believe a two year-old is independent just because she insists, "I do it!" I don't care that she believes herself to be independent, my love, NOT my pride, makes me take her hand when we cross the street. I insist on cooking and cutting up her food myself to keep her safe. In the same way, God will not let us continue in our pride. He wants us to be safe in his presence, not to wander around alone in the wilderness where "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8).
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
What's in you?
It's so funny for me as a teacher to see how God teaches me things. I'm seeing such a pattern... lesson, break to absorb it, lesson, test. For example, these past couple of weeks, my pastor has been preaching on gratefulness. I was initially blown away by what he said. Wow... if Adam and Eve had focused on how grateful they were for all God gave them, they would have had no room to be ungrateful for the one thing he claimed only for himself. I tried to walk out gratefulness in my daily life, but it got a little lost in my immense to-do list. Next Sunday, same kind of thing. Wow... gratefulness, right! Yes, I need that! Then last night I was suddenly faced with a HUGE test of my ability to be grateful.
Interestingly, I had just been talking with another leader about how excited I am to be starting a small group for middle school girls. I was telling her that I couldn't wait to share an object lesson the Lord had used recently to make me think. I imagined two soda bottles: one filled and one empty. Even with a blindfold, you could pretty easily determine which was which. All you'd have to do is flick 'em both and see which one keels over.
I won't lie and say I'm super excited about the things going on in my life. Challenges are, yes, challenging. But I really saw myself in that object lesson, and I know that God is using these challenges to draw me to himself. If I'm filled with gratefulness to God for all the things I have, this circumstance, this little blip on my eternal life, will not knock me over. If, though, I don't allow God to fill me, I'm going to be thrown all over the place! I know that God is building character in me, and unlike in school, my looking to someone else for all my answers will not cause me to fail... in fact, looking to my heavenly father is the only way I can pass!
Interestingly, I had just been talking with another leader about how excited I am to be starting a small group for middle school girls. I was telling her that I couldn't wait to share an object lesson the Lord had used recently to make me think. I imagined two soda bottles: one filled and one empty. Even with a blindfold, you could pretty easily determine which was which. All you'd have to do is flick 'em both and see which one keels over.
I won't lie and say I'm super excited about the things going on in my life. Challenges are, yes, challenging. But I really saw myself in that object lesson, and I know that God is using these challenges to draw me to himself. If I'm filled with gratefulness to God for all the things I have, this circumstance, this little blip on my eternal life, will not knock me over. If, though, I don't allow God to fill me, I'm going to be thrown all over the place! I know that God is building character in me, and unlike in school, my looking to someone else for all my answers will not cause me to fail... in fact, looking to my heavenly father is the only way I can pass!
Friday, November 11, 2011
Don't flip out, flip over!
I was making French toast this morning and it started sticking to the bottom of the pan. Obviously, my first instinct was to flip it over to keep it from burning. Sadly, despite my best efforts and despite the cooking spray I'd used, the bread would NOT come up! I finally managed to flip it, but there was this layer of semi-burned eggy mess on the bottom of the pan. The French toast ended up looking mangled and tattered and lumpy. It still tasted alright, but I pride myself on presentation, and that French toast was not pretty.
How often do we do that? God looks down and says, "It's getting hot, eh? How about I flip you over?" And we say, "Um, no, thanks. I like it riiiiiight here!" God, don't change things. It's too hard right now, I'm too busy, I'm too sad, I'm too _____, and I can't take the kinds of changes you're proposing. And then we wonder why we feel burnt out.
How often do we do that? God looks down and says, "It's getting hot, eh? How about I flip you over?" And we say, "Um, no, thanks. I like it riiiiiight here!" God, don't change things. It's too hard right now, I'm too busy, I'm too sad, I'm too _____, and I can't take the kinds of changes you're proposing. And then we wonder why we feel burnt out.
Problems (mathematical and other)
I <3 words. I mean it. I can throw down a rap, spin out a story, or whip together a sonnet all without much effort. I read about 300 pages/day. I've been known to read cereal boxes at breakfast. So when images of a math book interrupted a pleasant daydream, I felt an immediate compulsion to grab some holy water and a crucifix. Begone, Devil!
Just kidding. Mostly. I really didn't hate math until we got to calculus, but I was frustrated that math never came as easily to my understanding as did pretty much everything else. My teachers would usually assign the even-numbered problems (you know, the ones that didn't have the answers in the back of the book?) so I'd have to go through and do the odd ones first, just to see if I understood. I suppose that I've just revealed myself as an overachiever. Well, I am, but really, it was the right thing to do. I had to figure out what I was doing, or I'd go through and mess up every mathematical convention known to man. For each night's homework, here's how it went. I'd do number one, check the answer, fix my work. I'd do number three, check the answer, fix my work. By then, I usually understood what I had to do, so I'd go on to numbers two and four.
As I continued thinking about that process, God showed me that that's kind of how it works with us as believers. The Bible is meant to be a tool to shape you into the you that God wants! In the Bible, you read about Jesus and various believers like Paul, Peter, John, David, Moses... you learn what to do and what not to do. The goal isn't to be Jesus, Paul etc. You can't do that, and God doesn't want you to. The goal is to learn how to live for God and then to do it yourself. Like with math, you can't just do the exact same thing for each question. Let's say the answer to number one was 32. You can't just write '32' down as the answer to number two! You have to learn the process, how you get the answer, and then take that process and apply it to the next question. Your life will not look exactly like others'. That's not the point. You should be going through the same process, but the results will often be very different.
Just kidding. Mostly. I really didn't hate math until we got to calculus, but I was frustrated that math never came as easily to my understanding as did pretty much everything else. My teachers would usually assign the even-numbered problems (you know, the ones that didn't have the answers in the back of the book?) so I'd have to go through and do the odd ones first, just to see if I understood. I suppose that I've just revealed myself as an overachiever. Well, I am, but really, it was the right thing to do. I had to figure out what I was doing, or I'd go through and mess up every mathematical convention known to man. For each night's homework, here's how it went. I'd do number one, check the answer, fix my work. I'd do number three, check the answer, fix my work. By then, I usually understood what I had to do, so I'd go on to numbers two and four.
As I continued thinking about that process, God showed me that that's kind of how it works with us as believers. The Bible is meant to be a tool to shape you into the you that God wants! In the Bible, you read about Jesus and various believers like Paul, Peter, John, David, Moses... you learn what to do and what not to do. The goal isn't to be Jesus, Paul etc. You can't do that, and God doesn't want you to. The goal is to learn how to live for God and then to do it yourself. Like with math, you can't just do the exact same thing for each question. Let's say the answer to number one was 32. You can't just write '32' down as the answer to number two! You have to learn the process, how you get the answer, and then take that process and apply it to the next question. Your life will not look exactly like others'. That's not the point. You should be going through the same process, but the results will often be very different.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Just keep swimming...
Galatians 6:9 -- Let us not grow weary of doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Sometimes life seems to me to be a very repetitive thing. I go to sleep, wake up, get tired, go to sleep, wake up, get tired... I clean my house, it gets messy, I clean my house, it gets messy... I brush my teeth, I eat, I do it again... the WORST, though, is laundry. I put on clothes and wear them for, what? 15 hours? At most 18? Or with jeans, I may wear them a few days in a row. Still. My clothes pretty much always spend more time dirty and on my floor than they do being worn. It's so annoying! I don't know why, but it bothers me that nothing I do seems to stay done. I make repairs on my house and something else breaks. I guess I kind of feel like my efforts are futile. Like nothing I do has any permanent results.
The funny thing is that I keep doing the same things even though they frustrate me. I mean, just because I'm annoyed that I have to keep going to sleep or cleaning the house or brushing my teeth doesn't mean that I stop doing all of those things! We so often take it for granted that if something is irritating us, we can just make it go away somehow. Ugh! That music is too loud, so I'll just turn it down. That person bugs me, so I'll just avoid him/her. My pastor said something I didn't like, so I'll go to another church. WHAT?! No way! We keep doing things like brushing our teeth even if they're annoying because we know they're good for us. Well, the Bible, the Holy Word of God, tells us that it's good for us to keep on doing good and to keep doing good with energy and enthusiasm. It may be difficult to keep loving that person and forgiving him/her over and over and over and over... but that's what we're supposed to do. Actually, it may be just as difficult to forgive ourselves over and over and over! But God tells us to keep up the good work and to trust that he will come through for us. Don't get fed up with the good works in your life. If you just walk away, the Bible hints that you might not get any benefit even from the effort you did put in. You'll reap IF you don't give up. So keep going! Like any decent farmer, God knows exactly how long his seeds need to grow underground before they can harvested.
Sometimes life seems to me to be a very repetitive thing. I go to sleep, wake up, get tired, go to sleep, wake up, get tired... I clean my house, it gets messy, I clean my house, it gets messy... I brush my teeth, I eat, I do it again... the WORST, though, is laundry. I put on clothes and wear them for, what? 15 hours? At most 18? Or with jeans, I may wear them a few days in a row. Still. My clothes pretty much always spend more time dirty and on my floor than they do being worn. It's so annoying! I don't know why, but it bothers me that nothing I do seems to stay done. I make repairs on my house and something else breaks. I guess I kind of feel like my efforts are futile. Like nothing I do has any permanent results.
The funny thing is that I keep doing the same things even though they frustrate me. I mean, just because I'm annoyed that I have to keep going to sleep or cleaning the house or brushing my teeth doesn't mean that I stop doing all of those things! We so often take it for granted that if something is irritating us, we can just make it go away somehow. Ugh! That music is too loud, so I'll just turn it down. That person bugs me, so I'll just avoid him/her. My pastor said something I didn't like, so I'll go to another church. WHAT?! No way! We keep doing things like brushing our teeth even if they're annoying because we know they're good for us. Well, the Bible, the Holy Word of God, tells us that it's good for us to keep on doing good and to keep doing good with energy and enthusiasm. It may be difficult to keep loving that person and forgiving him/her over and over and over and over... but that's what we're supposed to do. Actually, it may be just as difficult to forgive ourselves over and over and over! But God tells us to keep up the good work and to trust that he will come through for us. Don't get fed up with the good works in your life. If you just walk away, the Bible hints that you might not get any benefit even from the effort you did put in. You'll reap IF you don't give up. So keep going! Like any decent farmer, God knows exactly how long his seeds need to grow underground before they can harvested.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Rules
As I'm planning for the new school year, I'm thinking back to last year and trying to take what I've learned to come up with some class rules. I'm in the process of hammering out in explicit detail exactly what I expect, what I will not tolerate, and what the consequences will be for misbehavior. I know I have to be super specific and super strict the first few weeks at least, and more than likely, I'll have to continue that for the whole first semester.
I'm not a mean person. I'm usually fairly easy going, and I can be talked into all kinds of shenanigans because I love to have a good time! In fact, I've been a popular babysitter over the years because I have a strict 'say yes until you have to say no' policy. Can we blow bubbles in the kitchen? Sure! Can we build a fort using every blanket in the house? Absolutely. If it won't hurt the kids and they're willing to help me clean up whatever mess they make, I will pretty much always say yes. After hearing yes so often, the kids seem to understand that no means NO. They sometimes push me on it, but after a couple of times, they get that I only say no if I really have to and if I really mean it.
Sadly, the 'yes' policy is completely ineffective while teaching. If you say yes to the kids one time, they assume they can do that thing again, and then they'll try to push farther. Eventually, they're completely out of control, and it's impossible to teach them anything, including the important life lessons of work ethic and respect for authority. The best bet when teaching is to say no until you come to a really easy request once in a blue moon and then, after a great deal of "thought," reluctantly agree. With conditions.
I remember having a similar problem with my dog, Jake. He loved to run and play outside and I loved being able to let him! But I could only let him run in a fenced-in yard. There are lots of places I could have taken Jake to run- a nearby river, college campus, woods, jogging trails... but I couldn't take Jake anywhere without a leash. He'd always run off. It was so frustrating! If Jake could have just run around and then come back, he'd have had so much more of an opportunity to run. Instead, he was denied what he wanted, because he couldn't control himself even a little bit.
I really do want the best for my students, and I really did want the best for my dog. Unfortunately, I couldn't give them the freedom they desired, not because I was mean and controlling, but because they got in their own way. When you feel hemmed in by God, remember that he's in the same position. He wants the best for you, and he won't let anything get in the way... even you!
I'm not a mean person. I'm usually fairly easy going, and I can be talked into all kinds of shenanigans because I love to have a good time! In fact, I've been a popular babysitter over the years because I have a strict 'say yes until you have to say no' policy. Can we blow bubbles in the kitchen? Sure! Can we build a fort using every blanket in the house? Absolutely. If it won't hurt the kids and they're willing to help me clean up whatever mess they make, I will pretty much always say yes. After hearing yes so often, the kids seem to understand that no means NO. They sometimes push me on it, but after a couple of times, they get that I only say no if I really have to and if I really mean it.
Sadly, the 'yes' policy is completely ineffective while teaching. If you say yes to the kids one time, they assume they can do that thing again, and then they'll try to push farther. Eventually, they're completely out of control, and it's impossible to teach them anything, including the important life lessons of work ethic and respect for authority. The best bet when teaching is to say no until you come to a really easy request once in a blue moon and then, after a great deal of "thought," reluctantly agree. With conditions.
I remember having a similar problem with my dog, Jake. He loved to run and play outside and I loved being able to let him! But I could only let him run in a fenced-in yard. There are lots of places I could have taken Jake to run- a nearby river, college campus, woods, jogging trails... but I couldn't take Jake anywhere without a leash. He'd always run off. It was so frustrating! If Jake could have just run around and then come back, he'd have had so much more of an opportunity to run. Instead, he was denied what he wanted, because he couldn't control himself even a little bit.
I really do want the best for my students, and I really did want the best for my dog. Unfortunately, I couldn't give them the freedom they desired, not because I was mean and controlling, but because they got in their own way. When you feel hemmed in by God, remember that he's in the same position. He wants the best for you, and he won't let anything get in the way... even you!
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