Posts Tagged ‘School’
Running the Race
Posted on: 7-15-112014
My middle child has always been very self-motivated. She is very hard on herself and always wants to do her best in anything she does. Since she started school, I have never had to prompt her to do her homework or to study for tests because I am 100% positive that she has it taken care of. She is now in her first year of nursing school with her sights set on being a nurse practitioner or a nurse anesthetist. A few days ago she came home grinning ear to ear, bursting with good news. She found out that day that she was the top ranking level one nursing student in her school and therefore had earned the privilege of being able to attend the National Nursing convention being held this weekend. All of the hours of studying and preparing had paid off for her in a very big way. Her dedication and devotion to whatever she is focused on reminds me of this verse:
“Don’t you know that in a race all runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.” 1 Corinthians 9:24
Just as my daughter is dedicated to her education, we need to be dedicated to run the race God has chosen us to run. We need to give 100% every single day for the kingdom of God. Jesus gave His all for us…how can we give Him any less?
Better Than Duct Tape
Posted on: 7-15-112014
- In: God | Jesus | Uncategorized
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I taught 4th grade for several years. As a teacher, I was always on the lookout for “teacher” supplies. One day as I prepared my classroom for the upcoming year, I came across a metal stand that you could hang chart paper from which had been thrown out by another teacher. “I can use this,” I thought. Her trash was going to become my treasure. When I retrieved it from the trash, I discovered that most of the metal was quite rusted. However, I wasn’t ready to give up on this “treasure” just yet. I was very blessed to have an amazing friend who helped me set up my classroom each year and she had a brilliant idea. “We can just wrap all the metal in duct tape. You won’t even be able to tell it’s rusted!” So, duct tape it was to the rescue! Yellow duct tape, might I add, because that was my yellow year…all the bulletin boards had yellow paper, the take home folders were yellow, and even the truck I drove was yellow. Anyway, the duct tape worked beautifully and I got a lot of use out of that metal stand. I’ve often heard people say you can fix anything with duct tape, and it certainly fixed the rusting metal stand. Even though it worked so well in this instance, I can’t agree that duct tape can fix everything. No matter how handy it is, it can’t fix some of the problems we face every day. It can’t fix our lonely hearts, our mountain of debt, our failing health, our loss of a loved one, our empty womb, our empty nest, our hurts, our heartaches, our failures, our addictions…the list is endless. Now, while we may not actually try to use literal duct tape to solve our problems, we use things that are just about as effective. Just as duct tape won’t help us, neither will alcohol, drugs, food, affairs, shopping, busyness, burying ourselves in anything but our problem…you get my drift. We try to solve our problems with so many things that will never work…in fact, they do just the opposite…they make things worse. There is only one thing we can count on to solve our problems and that is Jesus. He is the answer to any difficulty we face. Now, please don’t get this message wrong…I’m not saying that we will not have any difficulties if we follow Jesus…I’m saying that He is the answer to every difficulty we face! His Word even tells us that we will face trials, tribulations, distress, and frustration, but it also gives us the answer to those things…the One who overcame the world.
“In this world, you WILL have trials, tribulations, distress, and frustration, but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 (emphasis mine)
Impossible to Separate
Posted on: 7-15-112012
- In: God | Jesus | Uncategorized
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One of my favorite lessons I taught to my fourth grade class was on mixtures and solutions. In order to help them understand the difference between a mixture and a solution, we did an experiment that they really liked. In order to portray a mixture, I set out various items such as Chex cereal, marshmallows, raisins, M&Ms, and pretzels on a table. They were allowed to fill their bowl with a combination of these ingredients. In order to portray the solution, they received a bottle of water and a single serving pack of Kool-Aid. They added the Kool-Aid powder to the water and then shook it up to their heart’s content. When they had both of these tasks completed, we talked about the definition of a mixture which is basically something that can be put together and taken apart. I had them demonstrate the definition by taking the items in their bowl and separating them back into like piles. They learned that no matter how mixed up the ingredients were in their bowl, they could still be easily separated. Then, to teach them what a solution is, I told them to separate the Kool-Aid powder and water. When they realized that what I was asking them was almost impossible, they understood that a solution was something that was put together and then could not be easily taken back apart. It was such a fun lesson and the students never forgot what a mixture and a solution were. When I was thinking about this lesson today, I thought about the fact that we, as Christians, should be solutions and not mixtures. What I mean by that is that we should live out of faith in such a way that, no matter what we’re doing, who we’re with, or where we are, we are reflecting our Savior. We should not live in such a way that we can easily separate our lives into areas that are “areas when I live for Christ” and “areas when I do not live for Christ.” We’ve probably all heard the term “Sunday morning Christians”…these are the people who come to church on Sunday morning with a heart for Christ, but leave that heart for Him at the church after the service. They live for themselves for the rest of the week and feel like they’ve done their “Christian” duty by coming to church on Sunday. This is not how God intended for us to live. He intended for us to live for Him 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. We should be so infused with Christ that it would be practically impossible to separate us from Him. Jesus said:
“I and My Father are one.” John 10:30
We should strive to live in such a way that when people look at us, they no longer see us…they only see Him.
shani4jc 