On Politics and Equality

Tags

Do You Want My Vote?, equality, expectations, Genesis 1:26-27, in God's image, politics, stealingfaith.com

Do You Want My Vote? – stealingfaith.com

Above, there is a link that you should click on. Go ahead, do it. The author of this blog, Juggler, has hit on a few points that are very dear to my own heart. Generally, I steer clear of anything political because I know that I simply do not have enough information to say anything of note. However, this blog comes down to the basics of what is important not only when we are voting for given politicians, but also when we encounter people on a daily basis.

Juggler primarily directs her words toward politicians who are catering toward women. Previously, I have mentioned how I feel about people making assumptions and expectations based on observed characteristics, and Juggler makes an even stronger point.

Politicians are telling women that we ought to fight for equality, and they are telling men to stand aside and let us have that equality. Yet, in God’s eyes, we are already created equal. Genesis 1:26-27 says “²⁶ Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings^[b] in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.’ ²⁷ So God created human beings^[c] in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” God, who was neither male nor female, created both in His image to be just like Him. In God, there is no glass ceiling, only salvation. God does not distinguish our abilities based on male and female characteristics because He sees each of us, individually, for exactly who we are and who we can be in Him.

I am not going to offer any political advice because I still do not feel that I am qualified to give it, but please consider, once again, how you treat people. Treat people equally, but not based on race, gender, age, or religion. Treat people fairly and equally because that is how God calls His children to treat all people.

On Obedience and Humility

Tags

authority, control, God, humility, Joshua 5:13-15, obedience, The Battle of Jericho, The Lord's commander, trust

Joshua 5:13 – 15 (NLT)

The Lord’s Commander Confronts Joshua

¹³ When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to him and demanded, “Are you friend or foe?”

¹⁴ “Neither one,” he replied. “I am the commander of the Lord’s army.”

At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. “I am at your command,” Joshua said. “What do you want your servant to do?”

¹⁵ The commander of the Lord’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did as he was told.

 

I was reading Joshua 5 last night, and when I came to this passage I nearly felt as if I had been hit over the head. Joshua and the Israelites have just crossed the Jordan River (Moses-at-the-Red-Sea fashion) on their way to Jericho when – out of nowhere! – a man is standing in front of Joshua with a sword. At first sight, I would have reacted as Joshua had, probably drawing my own sword. Yet, would I have fallen to the ground when the man told me who he was? No. I can say assuredly that I would have questioned this man. I would have asked for proof, preferably in the form of a signed affidavit from God Himself. I certainly would not have told this strange man that I was a servant under his command. And who does he think he is, anyway, calling himself the Lord’s commander?

I like to think that I am a very practical and logical person, and I insist on having facts and proofs set before me before I believe anything. I’m not going to lie – sometimes this makes believing in God a daily struggle. I usually have no problem obeying my parents, trusted professors, or even the government because they have established their authority over me in many ways and on many occasions. When it comes to other people, though, I have a difficult time adjusting to their authority and trusting their judgment. Clearly, in the position of Joshua, I’d have found myself in a great deal of trouble. Even as I was reading this passage, I only wanted to know why this person had presented himself to Joshua, and my question was never answered. As I was thinking about it, though, I could see that all God wanted was Joshua’s unerring respect and obedience. God was about to send Joshua on an insane mission to take over Jericho, and He needed to know that Joshua would do exactly as he was told.

How many times have I questioned God’s authority in my life? When I get to my own Jericho, will I ask God why He insists on making me dizzy and tired walking around the walls? Will I humble myself to His greatness? Right now, I don’t know, but I do know that if I keep working to Him first in my life EVERY SINGLE DAY that it will be easier to keep Him first when I meet my Jericho.

How do you submit to God’s power and authority? Do you, too, struggle with the need for proof and reasons?

On Education and Student Teaching

Tags

adventure, elementary school, experience, growing, my own classroom, practicums, Pray for me!, relief, student teaching

It’s official! (Actually, it was official almost two weeks, but we all know that I should never be responsible for The Breaking News Report.) I have finished my education practicums!

I wrote about my first practicum, but I never described anything after that, so I’ll give you a bit of background. I, along with four other girls in my class, had to take six methods and practicum courses. This meant that for two weeks I would go to class and learn how to teach a subject, then for the next two weeks I would be assigned to an elementary/middle school classroom where I was expected to teach that subject. Needless to say, it was a whole year of switching back and forth.

What I Learned and What I Taught:

• Primary Math Methods – 2^nd grade Math Practicum
• Intermediate Math Methods – 6^th grade Math Practicum
• Social Studies Methods – 6^th grade Social Studies Practicum
• Science Methods – 6^th grade Science Practicum
• Primary Literacy Methods – 3^rd grade Literacy (Guided Reading) Practicum
• Intermediate Literacy Methods – 5^th grade Literacy (Writing) Practicum

You might be able to guess that I am a little tired of 6^th grade. However, I did learn throughout all of this that I think I would prefer teaching older students. I have always worked with very young children, but I know now that I am more adept at teaching older students. I find it much easier to use a student’s background knowledge to build new knowledge than to lay the foundation for future learning.

Anyway, the most exciting thing is that I am finished! In a few weeks (or more, who knows) I should have my student teaching assignment, and in August I will have my own classroom (sort of). I am most relieved that I will only need to meet about 25 students next year, rather than the 200 or so I met this year. I will be able to create my own classroom and jump right into the school year with these students. I’ll have the guidance and assistance of the classroom teacher, but I will be expected to take full reign of the daily instruction and discipline. Just think – I can create my own routines! I am truly thankful for the experiences I had during the practicums, but I am not going to miss the ever-changing schedule. Please pray for me as I venture further into the great frontier of education!

On Judgments and Expectations

Tags

1 Corinthians 4:1-13, 1 Timothy 4:12, 21 years old, appearances, driving, expectations, judgments

“Are you old enough to be driving?”

“Yes sir, I’m 21.”

Do I really look so young? I am five years past the minimum legal driving age. Was it a judgment on my driving technique? I had just expertly maneuvered my mother’s minivan into a parking space. Was he teasing? I don’t think so. Even though he laughed, it’s generally accepted that you only tease people you know. I did not know this man. So, I know that I’ve already talked about “age assumptions,” but even if it is not something that is terribly important, it sure does get under my skin.

As humans, I know that we judge based on appearances. It is a shortcoming that seems to be hardwired into our personalities. Certainly, I have been guilty of it myself. However, God calls us to look beyond appearances.

• 1 Timothy 4:12, which has been quoted to us at graduations: “Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.” My part in this, of course, is to be the example. Yet, it would certainly help if others would take care of the first sentence.
• 1 Corinthians 4:1 -13 – Paul wrote this passage to the Corinthians to condemn their self-righteousness, but he also told them to stop judging others. Paul declares that God will be the only judge of character because He can see a person’s motives in addition to actions and appearances.

Obviously, this man had every right to be concerned when he thought that I was too young to be driving. I would have been putting him, his family, and myself at risk if I were driving when I was not allowed. However, his rude behavior was entirely unnecessary.

Dear readers, please consider how you treat other people. Do not admonish the people you meet for their age, whether you believe they are too young or too old. Every stage of life is a gift from God with ample opportunities to learn and grow into exactly who He wants you to be. We should never judge someone or try to change someone to fit our own expectations.

On My Birthday

Tags

birthday, clay in the potter's hand, college life, God's will, growing up, Jeremiah 18:1-6

Today has been a pretty big day for me, in a couple of ways, but one particularly: I am now 21 years old. (Please do not tell me that you thought I was so much older/younger/you can’t believe it. I already know, I promise. However, thank you for the sentiment.) Honestly, it brings up some frightening thoughts.

I was driving this afternoon, and for a few minutes I was thoroughly happy. Everything seemed like it was right. I finally felt like I was growing up and doing what I needed to do. But, as I started thinking more about this, I realized that I really have no idea what I am doing. What, exactly, is right? What does it mean to be growing up? What do I need to do? I am in college! I am legally allowed to intoxicate myself should I so choose! Don’t I have everything figured out?

No. I don’t. I am finishing the third year toward my education degree, but I still have no idea what I will actually do with it. I have dreams of writing books, but I have no idea when I will have time to write. I want to see the world and all that God has created, but I have no idea how to start moving.

I began to realize all of this as I was listening to the radio and the song “Outta My Mind” by Anthem Lights was playing. The lyrics that particularly stuck out to me said “Get me outta my mind and into Your heart/It’s not about me, it’s not about me” and “If anybody asks me what have I been up to/This is what I’m gonna say/I’ve been spending my time, outta my mind/And I’m really lovin’ livin’ this way.” Once again, I was hearing someone tell me that everything really was okay! I don’t need to have any idea what I will do with my life! Truly, this isn’t the first time have heard this, but today it finally began to make an impression.

God does have a will for my life, but it not to turn me into a teacher, author, or world explorer. God wants me to seek Him with all my heart. I may be 21 years old, but I am still naïve and immature. I don’t have answers to my questions, and God won’t give them to me until I have completely turned myself over to Him. This truly is a simple thought, but I forget it so often. I begin to see life as a game board. I am a pawn that must always move forward to the next destination. But God tells me that I am a lump of clay, always changing (Jeremiah 18:1-6). I cannot change myself or fulfill my life on my own – only God can do that.

On Snakes and Easter Sunday

Tags

Adam and Eve, black rat snake, Easter Sunday, Garden of Eden, Jesus Christ, snakes

At this very moment, I am sitting in my grandparent’s living room, looking out the small bay window. There is a small evergreen tree outside this window. I was sitting in an armchair when I turned to look out the window at the tree, and what should I see but a pair of eyes looking right back at me! Snake eyes, to be exact. I have never been truly frightened by snakes, but I certainly don’t care to meet them. Anyway, this snake was simply curled up on a couple of the branches, looking in the window at me. About ten minutes ago, he had started crawling away up the tree, and now I can only see about the last foot of him unless I stand up. He seems to be having a difficult time finding a way out of the flimsy branches and bushes. I did a Google search for snakes in Missouri, and I believe that this snake is a Black Rat Snake. He has shiny black scales and a white underbelly and is about 3.5 or 4 feet long. The handbook I found also mentioned that these snakes are very good at climbing trees. This snake certainly seems to be enjoying my grandfather’s tree!

In my short lifetime, I have happened to meet a few snakes (and I mean that literally). I met a garden snake under a tree, and that time I was terrified. Another time, my sister and cousin found a whole nest of little baby racers (I can’t remember what species, but I think they were black with red stripes and yellow spots). At camp one year, I had to assure a group of second graders that the green garden snake they saw was, in fact, not venomous and would not attack them. Another summer, my dad found a small gray garden snake under a cement block – unfortunately, we accidentally dropped the cement block on it. However, this snake is a lot bigger than I have ever seen in the wild before, and I am not going to try to go out and see it. Yet, on this Easter afternoon, it has made me think.

In the Garden of Eden, when Eve met the serpent, she met him in the tree. The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, actually. Certainly, Eve didn’t think that snake was very scary, but I also don’t think it was any small garden snake or even a Black Rat Snake. That snake would have looked like it held all the power he was telling Eve she could have after she ate the fruit. I know that in life, we often meet our snakes just like the one Satan impersonated. These “snakes” are evil, yet they aren’t frightening. Their power and strength are enticing, and we feel as if we cannot turn away, just as Eve did not turn away. Yet, that is why God sent His son Jesus Christ for us. Jesus came to repair the mistakes of Adam and Eve and to forgive the sins that separate all people from God. It was on Easter Sunday that Jesus completed his great task and allows me to have a personal relationship with God, my Heavenly Father. I don’t think that I will ever forget this Easter when I was able to meet the snake in the garden (outside the living room, I suppose) and face him without fear.

On Distractions and Keeping Your Mouth Shut

Tags

Albert Einstein, distractions, lesson plans, success

“If A is a success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut.”  -Albert Einstein

I could stand to remember this. Too often have I “put my foot in my mouth” after I said something insolent, ignorant, or inconsiderate. Also, it wouldn’t hurt to make sure that I am not multiplying my y by 2 (or 3). At this very moment, I am supposed to be writing lesson plans for my Intermediate Literacy Methods course. Instead, I am browsing dictionary.com and paying more attention to the quotes and “related” articles. Some people would say that it is wonderful that I am so fascinated by words, but I think that all of my past and present teachers would agree that researching words has always brought me more distractions than assistance. Anyway, it started out innocently enough. I really was looking into suffixes for my word study lesson plan.

On Time and Wasting Time

Tags

don't waste your life, God, it takes courage to live, Matthew 25, Parable of the Three Servants, serving God

God does not exist in time. For that reason, He has the ability to utilize all time. He chooses to give each and every one of us some of His time. He expects us to use it wisely. This reminds me of the Parable of the Three Servants (NLT), or the Parable of the Talents (NKJV), in Matthew 25:14-30. This parable tells the story of three servants who are each given a portion of their master’s money while he is away. Two of the servants invest their money and double it by the time the master returns. However, one servant has simply hidden the money with which he was entrusted. He was afraid to lose it and upset the master, but his master was even more upset that the servant had not even tried to do anything. In verses 29 and 30, Jesus says that those who do nothing will lose everything, and they will be separated from God.

God has given us time, some more than others, but that time has been given to us in order that we may serve God and love Him. We are called to grow closer to Him and trust Him more every day. We can only gain more by using our time for Him, but we can lose everything by wasting time and doing nothing for Him.

On Achievements and Being Unprofessional

Tags

Alpha Chi Honor Society, being unprofessional, college life, future, learning, life goals, National Honor Society

Good afternoon, my dear readers. I do not know if you have ever noticed while reading my various writings, but it is true that I am not generally prone to excessive use of punctuation and capitalization, particularly of the exclamatory style. I think it is unnecessary and looks unprofessional. Then again, I have never been unnecessarily and unprofessionally excited on this blog. But, I do not think that I will cause any damage by being unnecessarily and unprofessionally excited just this once. I do have a good reason. Would you like to hear about it? I will tell you anyways.

I HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED INTO MY UNIVERSITY’S CHAPTER OF ALPHA CHI!!! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!

(Whew! Thanks for letting me do that.)

It’s true! I am now a member of the Alpha Chi Honor Society! Just last night, I found the email telling me that I had been accepted, and just a few hours ago, I registered and paid my dues to become a member. There will be an induction ceremony later this semester when I will be officially inducted (I suppose), but otherwise, I’m in! This means that I will be a lifelong member of the honor society, and I will receive an additional seal on my diploma, and I will have my name put on the plaque containing all the names of previous Alpha Chi members from my school. In my mind, the best part of this honor is the very fact that I was chosen to be admitted. Certainly, my grades were the primary deciding factor, but even that makes this honor society
different from my National Honor Society membership in junior high and high school. Those memberships were solely dependent on my community service hours, and even if we did not make all of our hours, we were admitted. In high school, honor society just had to be something you tried to earn. Our teachers told us that it was something very important to our futures, but we all knew that it was just a piece of paper at the end of the year. (When we graduated, we did not even get to wear the really cool NHS
stoles that every other high school in the nation wears.) Alpha Chi, on the other hand, is not something that I could simply have earned if I wanted it. I had to work hard. I kept my grades up, and I learned all that I could. And it means even more because the courses I have been studying the past two years are going to determine the future of my career, my life goals, if you will. So far, I have proven myself worthy enough to continue. Now all I have to do is pass that OGET, and I will be on my way!

On Perceptions and the First Day

Tags

bond elections, childhood perceptions, low-income schools, public school system, student teaching, teaching second grade math

Today marks the very first day of my teaching career. Sort of. It was the very first day of my very first practicum. (But soon I will be finished with all six practicums, I’ll move on to student teaching, and then I will be a real teacher!) Since it was my first day, I was not able to do anything but sit and observe the classroom for three hours, but tomorrow, I will walk in there with my second grade mathematics lesson plan and teach my little heart out! Hip hip hooray!

I really am excited about this. I’ve always liked the idea of second grade and (lucky me) the kids seem really great and well-behaved. We’ll see how that pans out during the next two weeks. The teacher, also, seems like she is going to be great to work with. She was very helpful this morning trying to help me understand what the students were learning and how to teach them. I am definitely excited. But I am oh-so-nervous! I have to write real lesson plans! And teach real students! And it’s MATH!! Actually, I really enjoy math, but I never enjoyed learning math and I never really liked my math teachers. So how on Earth am I going to know how to teach math! It’s so overwhelming.

Other than my own personal dilemmas, I was intrigued by the school where I will be teaching. This is a very small school in a very small district. Small, as in: one grade school, one middle school, and one high school. And the middle school and high school share a building. I have seen these school districts on my numerous drives to my grandmother’s house, but I have never been a part of them. I am definitely more accustomed to three high schools, five middle schools, and a couple dozen grade schools. Or a district with one very large 6A high school. Then, while I was talking to my mentor teacher, I learned that the district is trying to pass a bond issue. I didn’t think much of this until she said that this would be the third time they have tried to pass this bond issue. Hearing that, I assumed that it must have been something crazy building a new field house and sports fields or a few new elementary schools, or maybe they wanted to buy laptop computers for every student in the district. Those would be the kind of bond issues even my home school district would have trouble passing. So, I asked the teacher what the district was voting to do. She said that they just wanted some money to update the schools a bit (a new computer lab? I thought) with some new carpet, new windows, and new air conditioning (!!!). I was shocked! I had already been informed that the school’s air conditioning did not work, and I could see that the carpet had been worn out since the day the building was built. This school needed to be updated! So why had the bond issue not passed?

This was the first time I had ever understood what it really meant to be in a low-income school district. My district at home is considered low-income, but I suppose that it is also large enough and diverse enough that it doesn’t matter. This school district where I will be teaching for the next two weeks is definitely in more dire straits than what I am used to. This is not to say that I have any problems with my practicum placement, but things will simply be a little different. It’s been a long time since I was in elementary school, and, really, no matter where I teach nothing will be the same. For nothing is ever the same as your childhood perceptions.