A season of brokenness has let me into a season of deep study and dependence on God and His word. As we walk out of this season of brokenness I have been influenced by many women who have poured their lives into the study of His word. Rebekah Lyons writes that meaning follows surrender. I have found that surrender happens when the brokenness is insurmountable. This is what has lead to this period of deep meaning in my life. 

Through brokenness, we can become one of two things, bitter or better. We either look completely inward at how the things said and done are personal attacks on us creating a victim mentality that we can be easily led into believing is our identity or we can look outward to how we can take the things that have happened in our lives and use them to minister to others. How can our story help others continue to write their stories. We are not victims in Christ. We are overcomers 1 John 4:4. 

When we consider the parable Jesus tells in Luke 10: 25 - 37, although it is extremely familiar to anyone who has grown up in the Christian faith, there is a truth here that is easy to overlook. The Samaritans at the time were a mixed breed of people between those the Assyrian king had brought into the land and Jews. The Samaritans were considered so dirty that if one touched a Jew that Jew was considered unclean. The Jews would walk miles and miles out of their way to avoid traveling through Samaria. Yet as Jesus is talking to this lawyer, undoubtedly a lawyer of the Mosaic law, he chooses the Samaritan to act with compassion. This parable is so rich and full of meaning for us today. 

The Samaritan doesn't just have compassion, which in and of itself is sometimes a difficult thing to do. Having compassion for someone means seeing what it is they are going through. It means setting our own agendas, perceptions, and biases aside to discover what needs they have, to discover how they are hurting, to discover how their heart needs healing. It means stepping out of who we are and what we think is expected of us. It means not worrying about what others with think and say about us. Having compassion is not about us!

But the Samaritan in Jesus's story did not just end there. No, he took the compassion that filled him for the traveler and then took action. Without action, our hearts of compassion are just empty words. They are just feelings. There is no real meaning behind it. Jesus was a Savior of action. He healed, taught, moved, served, and ultimately He sacrificed. Jesus did not just come to Earth and have a heart of compassion for man. He sought out man in our lost state and saved us by his crucifixion and resurrection. He is a Savior of action. How can we justify ourselves when all we do is talk about how badly we feel for people? I am talking to myself here. Sometimes my hurt and compassion for others are so deep, I do not even know how to encourage them, to begin to help heal, how to take action. But that is no excuse. The smallest note of encouragement. A word of encouragement. A smile.  Anything we can do to take action and help those who have "fallen among robbers". Robbers today can rob us of our joy, zeal, and our passion. We need to look at those among us who have fallen among such robbers. 

When Jesus finishes explaining who the neighbor is to the lawyer and asks, "Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" It is interesting that the lawyer still cannot bring himself to even say the word Samaritan. He is not going to admit that this filthy person could possibly have chosen to do the right thing over the priest and the Levite, both of which held great significance at the time among the Jews. He could still not set his prejudices aside long enough to see the point Jesus was trying to make. Maybe it was because he was so self-righteous, to begin with, after all, he was asking this question to justify himself. Or maybe it was because of his background. You know, "He was just raised that way." Whatever the reason, if we are not broken enough to hear what Jesus is saying, and use the lessons to strive to live life abundantly, then we are seeking help for our brokenness in the wrong place and maybe we haven't been broken enough. 

Being drawn to Jesus out of a spirit that needs the healing relationship God offers, will lead us to accept His truths without excuses. I have found that the brokenness I felt has led me to dependence upon Jesus which doesn't question his truths, but accepts them into my heart because my truths have failed. 

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Eve

Jan. 2 2019

Five years since my last post. It isn't that I haven't had anything to post about, I just haven't expressed what I have learned in this platform. 

This year, I am already involved in two different studies with two different groups and both start in Genesis; one the events from creation through the Tower of Babel, and the other a study of Eve. I have learned so many new things by looking at this scripture again. The chapters at the beginning of Genesis have been read many, many times and are quoted at weddings, worship services, Bible classes, etc. So to go back and look and examine and apply them, is absolutely surprising and refreshing!!

One insight that I must talk about is in chapter 2 verses 21 - 25. There we are told about how Adam had named all the animals and had not found a helper suitable to him. So why a woman? There are so many reasons that this makes perfect sense, not just the obvious physically intimate reasons but emotional, spiritual and social as well. In the book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus the differences are outlined pretty clearly and the one is not complete or whole without the attributes of the other. For this reason among many others is why a world where homosexual lifestyles are accepted will fail. There is a balance with men and women and when a home, a community, a society disrupts that balance, chaos will surely come. 

Another thing I had never thought about is what God does after the fall. In Genesis 3: 1-13, we read about when Satan came and tempted Eve with the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She ate and then offered it to Adam. When God comes to walk with them that evening, and gets to the bottom of the matter, He passes consequences and then, then he demonstrates His unconditional love for them by covering them. His first act after cursing the serpent and decreeing pain in child bearing, and creating a need to cultivating the Earth, declaring death to them, right before forcing them from the garden is to make garments for them from skins and clothe them. He saw to their needs. He wanted to continue His relationship with them and knew that they were now uncomfortable in their naked state. So he covered them. He was still with them. In the beginning of the very next chapter, as Eve begins the process of having their family by bearing Cain and Able, she credits him for being with her during the process. So the relationship continued in spite of the sin. He wants the same for us. When we come before him with a penitent heart and accept the punishment and consequences, He still desires a relationship with us and will take care of us by meeting our needs in order for our relationship to continue. 

Also, when Satan comes to Eve, we are not told if he approached her over time or only this once. I believe he only approached her this once. When he did he knew her well enough to know what sense he needed to appeal to to cause her to fall. When she considered the fruit she thinks it is good for food, a delight to the eye, and desirable to make one wise. She rationalized the act before committing the sin. We do the same! We have good reasons for the things we say, think and do. "It is just the way I am" we think to justify a negative or discouraging word or attitude. "The problem isn't with me, but with the other person." we think during a time of conflict in a relationship. "It won't matter to anyone," we think as we agree to go somewhere we know better than to be, or do something we know better than to do. No matter our reason rationalizing the act doesn't make it any more right. It won't change the consequences or the effects our actions have on those who look to us as an example, whether they are a Christian or not. 

Finally the word used as Abel's name is the same as the word used by Solomon when he wrote Ecclesiastes. It means " breath", "temporary", or "meaningless". While in both instances it is used to describe something that does not last either upon this earth or into eternity. Abel's life did have some meaning, as we still learn from how he pleased God with his sacrifices even today. Where as Solomon was describing what he found everywhere he looked for purpose or completion to his life. 

It is always good to begin the new year with new habits including a more diligent study of God's word. It is also always good to reread passages we are already familiar with to gain now insights and to apply what we learn. 

Rotation Schedule

Finally Back at Blogging!!!
Since my last post, years ago, I have had a job change and learned MANY things about classroom life. One area I am hoping to better in is posting my created materials to this page for sharing and collaboration purposes.

Here is the latest. Recently after spending a half an hour a day in a first grade room with students who have not learned how to manage themselves during rotations, I saw the need for this ppt. It is set up to run on an 8 min group time with 1 minute for rotation time. I will post the adjusted ppt later that has a 9.5 min group time with .5 min rotation. There are also names in this ppt. If you choose to download it feel free to edit it as necessary. It is just a good bare bones starting place.

Rotation PowerPoint

Grief!

Tonight I have in my heart an ache that over the last 6 months has become too familiar. Tonight I will bury my precious Cooper. We got him almost 4 years ago for my birthday. We adopted him from New Leash on Life and he had obviously had been in some type of abusive home. He had little to no trust of men or children, and would run and hide anytime a household item such as a mop or broom was taken out of the closet. But over the last four years he had become the most loyal, loving friend I could have asked for. And, then, there was a freak accident while I took him on his evening walk, and now he is gone. Once again the pain of loss grips my heart.

Within the last six months our family has lost 4 beloved dogs, an elder and dear friend at church, my last grandparent (Grandpa Z), and Jeff's mom (my mother-in-law). I know people mean well when they try and encourage you through difficult times like this. We tell each other things like, "They were ____ years old. Well, at least they had a wonderful long life.", "You have such precious memories to  hang on to.", "I know it hurts, I lost several loved ones in a short time as well.".  I realize we all mean well, but I am not sure our words are what those who are grieving need during the immediate heartbreaking moments.

Jesus knew what it was like to lose those he loved. He lost his dear friend John and he also mourned for Jerusalem. According to the gospels he also had great heartache when considering his own death, knowing the extent of His suffering. He knows our every heartache, and that is more reassuring than anything said on this Earth.

I appreciate so much those, "I love you."'s and "I know how much they loved you." It is in times like this we are most thankful for the simplest of sentiments rather than the over analyzations of our grief.

I know we are to lean more heavily upon God during times like this. I do believe it is because he understands our heartache so well. And, I know he has a plan for all of this pain. I pray that through this immense pain in my chest I can turn it into praise for Him. I know I have a lot of blessings, I know He loves me, I know this heartache will get less intense. I know all of that, but for now I need to just cry, hurt and be loved. I also know He wouldn't allow it if there were no purpose behind it. In time I will find that purpose. Praying I can fulfill His purpose.

Had a fantastic New Year's Celebration with our new family at Clearview Church of Christ! There was great fellowship, great fun and of course, great food! I took a new recipe which is now going to become a staple take-along. It was a Peaches & Cream Cake! So easy and so yummy!!! Also a very versatile recipe. you can change the cake mix and pie filling to meet your likes. We chose the peach for something a little lighter.

Peaches & Cream Cake

1 box Butter Flavored Cake mix
3 large eggs
1 can peach pie filling

Mix ingredients well and pour into cake pan. Bake at 350 for 35 min. When cooled, top with cream cheese icing (1 block cream cheese mixed well with about 4 cups powdered sugar or however much is needed to create the desired consistency).

If you change the flavor of cake mix and pie filling you may want to change the type of icing used.

Enjoy!!

The end of a long weekend! Bitter-Sweet. Actually more sweet than bitter as this afternoon and this evening I will have the opportunity to meet with the parents of my students at Parent Teacher Conferences. The face and format of these meetings have changed so much over the many years I have been a part of this process. Tonight I hope to set short term goals in order for my students to end this year on the best possible note and to make the transition into middle school a smooth one. The following is a link to several strategies I hope to implement with my students at school and encourage parents to implement at home. Take a look and provide feed back as well as any other fantastic resources you may have found to achieve this goal.

http://www.greatschools.org/special-education/health/980-smoothing-your-childs-transition-to-middle-school.gs?page=3

Wonderful run this morning! Extremely fitting that Mandisa's Stronger came on as the last song of the run (which is entirely an uphill stretch). Made me reflect on all that we do which makes us stronger. I am 44 years young and I remember as a teenager thinking about how old people in their 40's were. Boy, was I wrong. By pursuing a lifestyle which makes us stronger (stronger in mind and body and also spiritually) we are creating a lifestyle which will create in us a greater ability to endure and therefore a greater ability to encourage others and push them to meet their goals and become stronger as well. Those we encourage could be our own family members, or complete strangers. It is only dependent upon the opportunity. The main point is that we have strive to become the strongest we can be (physically, mentally, and spiritually) in order to build stronger community/families.