Five Things That Make Me Think, “Really?”

May16

upside-down-eagle_1842013iThere are so many upside down and backwards things happening in America these days, I don’t know what bothers me more; the fact that sinners keep sinning, or the fact that I’m bothered by that. If I want things to run smoothly, I’m just going to have to wait for heaven. Meanwhile, I thought I’d just vent a little bit about those things that just make me shake my head.

1. “The pro-choice” movement  justifies their stance that a baby in utero is not human–unless it’s wanted by its mother. There’s a man in Florida right now accused of murder for tricking his girlfriend into taking the abortion pill (misoprostol) causing her to lose their 6-week-old fetus to miscarriage. Had she gone to a doctor or a Planned Parenthood location and gotten the same drug and taken it willingly and knowingly–with or without the father’s knowledge–it would have been deemed her choice. The father basically does the same thing–wants to get rid of the “contents of the uterus” that he helped put there–but because the mother wanted it, the father is accused of murder. That’s patently ridiculous.

2. The IRS is involved with health care. What in the world have they got to do with health care? And why are they being allowed to do the things they’re doing? Again, ridiculous to the point of incredulity.

3. The present administration thinks that it’s OK to invoke this sequestration thing to supposedly reduce spending while still spending into the billions if not trillions of dollars. I have no words for the futility of their thinking.

4. The president calls a former basketball player congratulating him on “coming out” yet sends not one official, in office, serving politician to the funeral for Margaret Thatcher. I’m sorry, Mr. President, but your priorities, in my opinion, are screwed up.

5. People turn a deaf ear to the hypocrisy of our leaders. And I’m not pointing fingers at just one political party. I used to be a very trusting person, but years of hearing rhetoric spouted has made me very suspicious of anything any politician says. It appears that anyone will say anything to get people to vote for them. Power corrupts. That is an age-old truth.

Oh, how I long for heaven. And how I pray for our country and our leaders. God have mercy on us all.

What would you add to this list? What are some times you think people are just downright crazy and blind to think the way they do? I’d love to hear your respectful opinions. No personal bashing or name calling allowed.

 

Ride Into The Danger Zone–Or What Teaching Seemed To Me To Be

May5

schoolhouseAt the beginning of last year, I set out to list 1,000 things for which I was thankful. I stalled out at 860. As we approach the end of the school year–and my first year of teaching 6th grade–I want to work on completing that list. Today’s are all school related, but the rest won’t necessarily be. Better late than never, so here goes the first of the last:

861. Jenni, my fun and capable co-teacher who has owned the science curriculum
862. Iris, my math teacher, because I would be totally unable to teach that subject, but she loves it
863. An hour at the beginning of each school day to gather my thoughts and consult with the teacher who has taught this curriculum for 16 years
864. 10 bright, happy students who have given their all this year
865. A grace-filled school that understands my limitations but entrusted me with this job anyway
866. That our school is right across the street from my house
867. For relatively little drama in my own house so that I could have the emotional energy to tackle this job
868. The Internet, which allows me to look up information on the fly when I have very little knowledge of the subject I’m teaching
869. My education, which taught me more than I thought about things like ancient civilizations
870. Julie, Michele, Sheryl, Christine, Gigi, Sheri, Cristina, Jo and Jill–my students’ moms who are also my friends
871. Carol, my stupendous teacher’s assistant
873. Mary Alice, the aforementioned previous teacher of this curriculum. Her input saved me many, many times
874. A management team who believed I could do the job
875. My husband, who put up with my hours of lesson planning and paper grading
876. Grace, both to do what I feel incapable of doing and to cover my many mistakes
878. Recess
879. Field trips
880. Latin curriculum so that I have tracks to run on
881. My iPad and Apple TV, which way rock over overhead projectors
882. Shari, our teacher mentor, for her input
883. Flexibility
884. Starting each week with teacher prayer
885. My students, because they’re engaged, fun, good kids with good attitudes and good hearts

That’s all for today. It’s good to look back and remember all the good that has happened. It gives me a renewed breath for looking ahead to next year.

Free Indeed

Apr27

Basketball_3_5Pastor Ed Young wrote of a time when he would take his two sons around to different parks to look for pick-up basketball games. One day they settled in to play a half-court game while another game was being played on the other half court. As Pastor Young watched, the difference in the two games was astoundingly clear: In one, there were no rules, and it was a free for all. In the other, a clear set of rules was being followed, and boy, did he see some great ball being played. The players clearly knew what they could and could not do, and some were even calling fouls on themselves. The rules set them free to shine with some amazing b-ball skills. On the other half court, no rules created mayhem. In volleyball terms, we call that “jungle ball.”

The same applies to the road: If drivers aren’t following the rules, accidents happen. If you drive the wrong way on a one-way street, you’re going to crash into someone sooner or later. If you don’t stay on your side of the white line, again, an accident is likely to occur. There is only freedom to get where you’re going safely if everyone abides by the rules.

Yes, we want freedom, but that comes with a responsibility to be aware of those around us and to live by, yes, rules. Galatians 5:13 says, “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”

We’re so big into “rights” in America. But really, so much of what we call “rights” is really “privileges.” If we put other people before ourselves in every circumstance, then we are truly practicing freedom; the freedom to love people the way Jesus called us to love. And boy, will we see some life being lived.

John 8:36 reminds us, “So if the Son has set you free, you are free indeed.” Because He set me free, I am His bondslave, bound to do what He wants me to do, and that is to not put myself before others.

 

Image courtesy of bayoupreps.com

A Fishy Lesson For Parents

Apr21

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(I had the privilege last week of having this article posted on the website for Campus Crusade’s global women’s ministry, after it first appeared on a blog for hurting parents (see Hope for Hurting Parents). I wanted to share it with you all. The second part about Romans 12:12 I posted several months ago here.)

A few months ago, my family and I purchased two angelfish for our aquarium. My kids named them Michael and Gabriel, of course. They have been a beautiful addition to our community tank.

Well, about a month later, we got the surprise of the week: angelfish eggs! We had no idea. Evidently, Gabriel needed to be renamed Gabriella. I texted my fish-guru friend and got some advice, and we hoped for the best from this batch.

There was advice aplenty on the internet, and most people said to expect these first-time parents to eat their fry. They’d get better with each spawning. They laid the eggs on the filter intake tube, so chances were the tiny fry would get sucked up in the filter, if the parents didn’t eat them first. Or the other fish. There was danger everywhere in the tank. Why didn’t we know this? We were so unprepared to be fish parents.

Sixteen years ago we were also unprepared to be actual parents. Kids don’t come with owner’s manuals. All we could do was pray and trust that God loved our kids more than we ever could.

 Things didn’t work out so well for our fishies. One morning, all the eggs were gone. And sometimes, in our own parenting, things don’t work out as we hope and pray they will. But God is still God, and we have a hope to hold onto.

May Romans 12:12 give you hope that God is there.  He hears you and He’s holding your wandering child close to His heart, whether they like it or not.

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12).

Joyful: full of joy, as a person or one’s heart; glad; delighted.

Hope: The feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best.

“But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful. Sing to God, sing praise to His name, extol Him who rides on the clouds – His name is the Lord rejoice – before Him (Psalm 68:3,4).

Patient: bearing provocation, annoyance, misfortune, delay, hardship, pain, etc., with fortitude and calm and without complaint, anger, or the like.

Affliction: a state of pain, distress, or grief; misery

“I wait patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord” (Psalm 40: 1-3).

Faithful: steady in allegiance or affection; loyal; constant

Prayer: a spiritual communion with God . . . as in supplication, thanksgiving, adoration, or confession.

“To the faithful You show Yourself faithful, to the blameless You show Yourself blameless, to the pure You show Yourself pure” (Psalm 18: 25, 26).

Which of the three: Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer” (Romans 12:12) is hardest for you?

Why do you think that is? Where have you seen God’s faithfulness in the midst of your struggle?

 

Life is Precious, Life is Sweet

Apr17

life

“Life is sacred, that is to say, it is the supreme value, to which all other values are subordinate.”

― Albert Einstein

When life isn’t held sacred, as Einstein says, we really shouldn’t be surprised when it is taken so casually. Bombs, abortions, mass shootings, stabbings and the like. My soul is weary of the turmoil it encounters every day. But we don’t consider life sacred in this country. When people get too old to be “useful,” we forget them in nursing homes. When someone is severely handicapped, we speak of euthanasia. If a child is unwanted by its mother, we do away with it.

I, along with many, have been appalled at the revelations coming out of the Kermit Gosnell case in Philadelphia. It’s horrific. And on top of that, we struggle to understand the motivations of those who would plant bombs at the finish line of the Boston Marathon. Did you know that a group of families from Newtown, Conn., all touched by the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, was there participating? Thank God they had all finished the race, and their families were out of the grandstands and back at their hotel, before the bombs went off. I can’t even imagine what was going through their minds.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

— Jesus of Nazareth (as recorded in the Gospel of John, chap. 10, verse 10).

Satan is a thief, and a liar. He steals everything that is of value to us, and the chief of that is life.

Outlawing guns won’t help. Tighter controls on abortion clinics won’t help. The Boston bomber used pressure cookers, for crying out loud! Only Jesus will cause all things to be new. Only Jesus will turn hearts from evil.

My heart is heavy for those who lost loved ones, limbs and eventually, if we keep going the way we are, their liberty.

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:35-37).

My prayers go out to all those affected by tragedies, conspiracies, the hand of evil and the acts of someone else’s will. That covers just about everyone, doesn’t it?