As you can see, I do not post very often, but I just really needed to share this with someone.
It is truly amazing how children really help put life into perspective. I do not have any of my own, but I recognize that they are most definitely a blessing from God.
I was listening to some Christmas music on Yahoo! Music LAUNCHcast today, I believe it was the “Christian Holiday” station. A child began to recite the Christmas story as written in Luke Chapter 2. I was so enthralled by her reading that I had to stop what I was doing and listen to her excited young voice. She read with such joy and wonder, that it brought tears to my eyes. I checked the LAUNCHcast player to see what “song” was playing and it turns out that it was Luke 2:7-14 as read by Shaoey (Steven Curtis Chapman’s oldest daughter). This little girl brought such great joy to my day and reminded me that children truly help us as adults to put certain aspects of our lives into perspective.
A similar situation occurred earlier this week. I went to church Wednesday night under a lot of stress with all of the party planning (amongst other things) and not in the greatest of moods. We had our class party, during which we read the Christmas story from Luke Chapter 2, had some pizza, and played a game or two. As I pulled out of the church parking lot afterward I realized my mood was completely the opposite of what it had been on the way to church. The children had touched me without even knowing it. Their pure and simple joy throughout the evening had lifted my spirits so greatly.
Interacting with these girls on a regular basis can be a challenge, but most days it is a blessing in disguise. They help me to see what is important. Family. Friends. Faith. Love. These are things we all too often take for granted and push to the back corner of our minds while petty arguments at work and self-inflicted exhaustion take over. Through the eyes of a child, life is much simpler. May the Lord help us all to be a little more like a child in this way.
Friday, December 19, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Update on the "List Issue"...and other happenings of the week.
Well, tonight is the big party and I am SO excited about it! I also cannot wait for it to be over! This thing has rented way too much space in my head for about a week and a half now (in the words of my good friend KB). I have now made a grand total of 10 lists. I have added a specific list of things that need to be done as soon as we get to the church tonight (8), a list of movies to bring (9), and finally the list of games/activities in the order they will occur tonight (10). Of course while creating new lists, several of the old ones have been removed from circulation. I am currently carrying 6 of the 10 in my purse.
I hope that everything turns out well, but more than that I hope that each of the girls gets something special from the event. I want them all to have a blast, but most of all I want them to realize that each time we gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ is an opportunity to grow in the Lord. The party definitely has a strong camping theme, but I have also tried to relate each aspect of the party back to our relationship with Christ. Especially in the class that I teach on Wednesday nights, I get the feeling that these girls sometimes view worship and service to God as a drag. I want them to realize tonight that we can serve Him and still enjoy ourselves. God does not ask us to be straight-faced and serious when we come to His house. The psalmist tells of mouths filled with laughter, lighted eyes and shouts of joy. Our God wants us to enjoy being in His presence and I hope that each girl at least learns that tonight.
We had a short church education ministries training session at our church earlier this week and I went to a class on making disciples. I wasn't too sure about the class when things started out, but by the end I was ready to start teaching my students how to serve others. When we began, the speaker asked all of us to name qualities that Christ's disciples had displayed. The list included words like obedient, faithful, trustworthy, and zealous. He then proceeded, in effect, to tell us that if our students in Sunday School or other classes were not starting to show these traits, then we were not doing our jobs properly. I was a little taken aback by this, but I sat quietly and listened to what he said. We all know the scripture in Matthew where Christ gives his disciples the commission to "go and make disciples of all nations," but I honestly had never taken that commission to heart, at least not in the context of Sunday School. He brought to light that if our students are just getting together and talking about the Bible once or twice a week and then going back home and nothing in their lives changes, then we are failing to complete the task we have been given. We should be making disciples of our students. Their lives should be drastically changed by what we are teaching them in our classes and they should be inspired to go out into the world and make more disciples. But then I thought, "I teach 10 year old girls, how are they supposed to be making disciples???" So the next portion of his talk was about how each age range (children, youth and adults) could begin to fulfill this commission. His idea for the young ones was fairly simple: teach them to start serving others. In his previous church, there was a group called 456 leader crew, consisting of 4th, 5th and 6th graders (hence the name) that were actually trained to serve in various ministries throughout the church. Some were trained to help in the nursery, some in running sound or computers, and others in greeting people as they entered the church. I was truly inspired by his ideas, especially because those are the ages that I teach. Because of these great ideas, I have made a commitment to God to try to teach my students to be more proactive in their faith and to provide ways for them to begin to minister to others. I cannot wait to see what God will do through the lives of these amazing young ladies!
I hope that everything turns out well, but more than that I hope that each of the girls gets something special from the event. I want them all to have a blast, but most of all I want them to realize that each time we gather with our brothers and sisters in Christ is an opportunity to grow in the Lord. The party definitely has a strong camping theme, but I have also tried to relate each aspect of the party back to our relationship with Christ. Especially in the class that I teach on Wednesday nights, I get the feeling that these girls sometimes view worship and service to God as a drag. I want them to realize tonight that we can serve Him and still enjoy ourselves. God does not ask us to be straight-faced and serious when we come to His house. The psalmist tells of mouths filled with laughter, lighted eyes and shouts of joy. Our God wants us to enjoy being in His presence and I hope that each girl at least learns that tonight.
We had a short church education ministries training session at our church earlier this week and I went to a class on making disciples. I wasn't too sure about the class when things started out, but by the end I was ready to start teaching my students how to serve others. When we began, the speaker asked all of us to name qualities that Christ's disciples had displayed. The list included words like obedient, faithful, trustworthy, and zealous. He then proceeded, in effect, to tell us that if our students in Sunday School or other classes were not starting to show these traits, then we were not doing our jobs properly. I was a little taken aback by this, but I sat quietly and listened to what he said. We all know the scripture in Matthew where Christ gives his disciples the commission to "go and make disciples of all nations," but I honestly had never taken that commission to heart, at least not in the context of Sunday School. He brought to light that if our students are just getting together and talking about the Bible once or twice a week and then going back home and nothing in their lives changes, then we are failing to complete the task we have been given. We should be making disciples of our students. Their lives should be drastically changed by what we are teaching them in our classes and they should be inspired to go out into the world and make more disciples. But then I thought, "I teach 10 year old girls, how are they supposed to be making disciples???" So the next portion of his talk was about how each age range (children, youth and adults) could begin to fulfill this commission. His idea for the young ones was fairly simple: teach them to start serving others. In his previous church, there was a group called 456 leader crew, consisting of 4th, 5th and 6th graders (hence the name) that were actually trained to serve in various ministries throughout the church. Some were trained to help in the nursery, some in running sound or computers, and others in greeting people as they entered the church. I was truly inspired by his ideas, especially because those are the ages that I teach. Because of these great ideas, I have made a commitment to God to try to teach my students to be more proactive in their faith and to provide ways for them to begin to minister to others. I cannot wait to see what God will do through the lives of these amazing young ladies!
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Tag...I'm it!
I have been tagged by Chelley at http://www.thelifeofchelle.blogspot.com/.
So...here are the rules:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules to your blog.
Write 6 random things about yourself.
Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog.
Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.
So here are six things you may or may not have known about me:
1. I can touch my nose with my tongue!
2. I used to work in a nursing home but decided that being the low man on the totem pole was not for me...so now I'm bound for medical school!
3. I have a very strong green personality.
4. I love cold pizza for breakfast, especially on Saturday mornings (it reminds me of weekend mornings with my dad growing up)!
5. My car is named "The Turtle" and he frequently falls in love with other cars in the parking lot where I work.
6. I used to count letters in sentences when people spoke, to determine what grouping (i.e. groups of two, three, four, or five) would divide them evenly. Yes, I have obsessive compulsive tendencies, as I have already established. But I got control of myself after several months of not hearing what other people are saying to me :)
I now tag: Joy Lin, (sorry buddy, I don't have too many blogger friends yet and you are the only who has yet to respond to Chelley tagging you!) and anyone else who sees this post and would like to tell me six random things about yourself!
So...here are the rules:
Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules to your blog.
Write 6 random things about yourself.
Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
Let each person you have tagged know by leaving a comment on their blog.
Let the tagger know when your entry is posted.
So here are six things you may or may not have known about me:
1. I can touch my nose with my tongue!
2. I used to work in a nursing home but decided that being the low man on the totem pole was not for me...so now I'm bound for medical school!
3. I have a very strong green personality.
4. I love cold pizza for breakfast, especially on Saturday mornings (it reminds me of weekend mornings with my dad growing up)!
5. My car is named "The Turtle" and he frequently falls in love with other cars in the parking lot where I work.
6. I used to count letters in sentences when people spoke, to determine what grouping (i.e. groups of two, three, four, or five) would divide them evenly. Yes, I have obsessive compulsive tendencies, as I have already established. But I got control of myself after several months of not hearing what other people are saying to me :)
I now tag: Joy Lin, (sorry buddy, I don't have too many blogger friends yet and you are the only who has yet to respond to Chelley tagging you!) and anyone else who sees this post and would like to tell me six random things about yourself!
I heart lists!
Recently, I have been planning a big camping party for about 25 girls between the ages of 8 and 12 at my church. I am so excited for the party and I have had a blast planning the whole thing! During this process though, a characteristic of my personality, which some believe borders on obsession, has been brought to light. I love, love, love to make lists! This is just how I get things done and get ideas out of my brain to keep them from driving me insane all day/night long. The total number of lists for the planning of this overnight event currently stands at 7. Each list has its own purpose and has and will continue to serve me well. I have the original list of ideas for party favors, games and food (1), the list of things needed for each of those ideas (2), the list of things that I need to do for the party, broken down by day from the time I started this until the day of the party (3), a detailed shopping list broken down by store (4), a list of questions I need to ask church administration before the event (5), a list of things that I need to take from my house to the church (6), and, finally, an updated and more detailed list of things I need to do to get ready for the party (7). Yeah, I can admit it, I have obsessive compulsive tendencies, but I absolutely cannot stand it when I have a great idea or think of something I need to do, but can't remember what it was an hour later. So, to prevent insanity, I make lists. Granted, the vast number of lists I have made for a relatively small event, is a little excessive, but I have used each one on numerous occasions. To all of my listmaking friends out there, LIST AWAY!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Hello BlogWorld!
Well, here I am, finally joining the world of the bloggers. First of all, I make no promises as to the frequency with which I will post. I am not the type of person to really get into this kind of stuff, but I am going to give it a shot and maybe it will be a nice outlet for those times when I really need to let a few things out. Secondly, I am a complete blog virgin. So if my terminology is incorrect or my blog isn't pretty, give me some time, I'm a quick learner ;) Don't ask me (at least for a while) to comment or tag someone or link to someone's blog, because I have no idea how to do those things...yet. It will be interesting to see what comes of this! I'm always up for a new adventure (I'm just not sure if I would really call this an adventure).
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