http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__PPF.HTM
You are never too young to do what's right. In today's reading, Jeremiah tries to make the excuse that he is too young to do what God wants him to do, but God God naturally convinces him that he can do it because God will be at his side. That is true for us as well. I am still hesitant to speak up at times because I am so much younger than some of my collegues at work. I have gained the trust of some and occasionally share my ideas with them, so that they can share the idea with others who may not consider it if it came from me. It's an effective strategy for me. I always get credit for it in the end. It's just a way around an obstacle that God provided for me. There probably isn't the same way around the obstacles facing you, but God is a way around the obstacles facing you that God is providing somehow. That way may be to wait it out, so be patient while being persistent in looking for the solution God wants you to find. God bless you.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
Time-Outs
Of course, you should do what's right because it is the right thing to do, whether you could get away with doing the wrong thing or not. It's easier for us as parents to do that than it is to make our kids do that. My girls, who are 6 and 4 often do what they are supposed to because they will get a time-out if they don't. Time-outs will used with our one-year-old when she turns two. Nevertheless, it's important for parents to instill what's right in our children, using punishment when necessary, because the rewards that come from doing good usually gets them doing the right thing for the right reasons as they get older.
It seems like God treated earlier generations like children, relying on punishments much worse than time-outs because that's what they could understand. As civilization got supposedly more sophisticated, he gave us Jesus to encourage us to do what's right out of love for him. Today's reading from the old testament reflects that truth.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__P9L.HTM
It seems like God treated earlier generations like children, relying on punishments much worse than time-outs because that's what they could understand. As civilization got supposedly more sophisticated, he gave us Jesus to encourage us to do what's right out of love for him. Today's reading from the old testament reflects that truth.
http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0839/__P9L.HTM
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Continued
The same theme of taunting continues in today's reading from Isaiah 37:21-35. Naturally, the first thing that came to my mind yesterday was personal attacks. Today, with Open House tonight, I am thinking about professional attacks. I teach 7th-8th grade math to students that struggle, whether it be because of a learning disability, mental retardation, autism, or some other reason. I have worked with a lot of great teachers over the years. Not every special education teacher is so lucky, nor is every student for that matter. Education comes under attack from some parents, some politicians, and others. Whether it is calculated or just out of ignorance, it is still upsetting that most of the accusations are unfounded, yet take time away from teaching because they still have to be addressed, especially when they come from the Governor of the state. I feel like saying, "I don't know what else to do, but pray," but I should say, "At least I know what to do: pray."
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Taunting
Today, in 2 Kings 19, those who taunted are discussed. They couldn't see a way to be saved from the taunter, but had faith that they would. That's hard to do, especially for kids. I used to get upset a lot, but I don't have to any more because I have an inner confidence that doesn't rely on what peers think. I've also come to consider people that are rude enough to taunt beneath me and not worthy of the term "peer" whether they are my age or not. That inner confidence again isn't mine, but it comes from God and is available to anyone who seeks it from him...even you if you are reading this and don't think you have what it takes. I don't have what it takes either, but God gave me the strength that it takes and can do the same for you.
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
This confidence of yours
"On what do you base this confidence of yours?"
-2 Kings 17:19
There's a fine line between arrogance and confidence that the confident walk and that the arrogant fall across. At my last confession, the priest asked me if I struggled with pride. Without much thought, I answered, "I am good at a lot of things, but I know all good things come from God, so he deserves all the credit for it." I usually regret speaking before thinking. Fortunately, this must have been divinely inspired.
-2 Kings 17:19
There's a fine line between arrogance and confidence that the confident walk and that the arrogant fall across. At my last confession, the priest asked me if I struggled with pride. Without much thought, I answered, "I am good at a lot of things, but I know all good things come from God, so he deserves all the credit for it." I usually regret speaking before thinking. Fortunately, this must have been divinely inspired.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Welcome back
I haven't posted here in a while because I wanted all visitors to see my post about my school's grant campaign and vote. However, we were not among the top ten vote-getters. So that campaign is done...and these posts return.
I have also decided to leave facebook for an indefinite period of time. I used to post links to this site on my wall, but that was all I was really using it for. This makes the communication process better for me by not replying to comments in two places and better address what I feel is my target audience: you.
Not all of my friends appreciate my faith. They have been told about the Good News from me and countless others, but reject it. These posts have never been intended to convert as much as to encourage. They were not to encourage those I already know (and already encourage in other ways), but to encourage those that I felt God was telling me were out there and needed to hear what I felt he was telling me write.
On that day the Lord called on you to weep and mourn, to shave your head and put on sackcloth. But you feast and celebrate. You eat meat and drink wine: "Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!" This reaches the ears of the Lord - You shall not be pardoned this wickedness till you die, says the Lord.
-Isaiah 22:12-14
One of my good friends, who does appreciate my enthusiasm for my faith, told me I go deeper with my reflections. The problem with that for me is that I see things as simply as I put them. I don't have any deeper to go. My faith is accurately reflected in my actions.
Deep debates surround a lot issues between Catholics and Protestants like whether Mary was the mother of God or the mother of Jesus. Catholics prefer the mother of God, while Protestants prefer the mother of Jesus. Either way, it doesn't change how I live my life.
I believe you should do what God tells you to do. If he tells you it is time to mourn, you should mourn and not party. I realize parts of scripture use figurative language and are not to be taken literally, but other parts are to be taken literally. The Church fathers and Biblical scholars can provide more thorough reasoning for why it should be interpretted one way or another, but my reflections, as simple as they may be, don't contradict what they have to say, but provide a bridge for those unfamiliar with such sources.
I wish I could be all things to all people like Paul, but that's not my role to play. Others have deeper insights that are necessary for their faith journey and others' journeys as well. There may come a time as I mature in my faith that those deeper insights will be able to fill a void that I don't even realize I have in myself right now. In the meantime, I feel I have been given a gift of putting things simply and bridging the gap from where some are to the next step they are to take.
I have also decided to leave facebook for an indefinite period of time. I used to post links to this site on my wall, but that was all I was really using it for. This makes the communication process better for me by not replying to comments in two places and better address what I feel is my target audience: you.
Not all of my friends appreciate my faith. They have been told about the Good News from me and countless others, but reject it. These posts have never been intended to convert as much as to encourage. They were not to encourage those I already know (and already encourage in other ways), but to encourage those that I felt God was telling me were out there and needed to hear what I felt he was telling me write.
On that day the Lord called on you to weep and mourn, to shave your head and put on sackcloth. But you feast and celebrate. You eat meat and drink wine: "Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!" This reaches the ears of the Lord - You shall not be pardoned this wickedness till you die, says the Lord.
-Isaiah 22:12-14
One of my good friends, who does appreciate my enthusiasm for my faith, told me I go deeper with my reflections. The problem with that for me is that I see things as simply as I put them. I don't have any deeper to go. My faith is accurately reflected in my actions.
Deep debates surround a lot issues between Catholics and Protestants like whether Mary was the mother of God or the mother of Jesus. Catholics prefer the mother of God, while Protestants prefer the mother of Jesus. Either way, it doesn't change how I live my life.
I believe you should do what God tells you to do. If he tells you it is time to mourn, you should mourn and not party. I realize parts of scripture use figurative language and are not to be taken literally, but other parts are to be taken literally. The Church fathers and Biblical scholars can provide more thorough reasoning for why it should be interpretted one way or another, but my reflections, as simple as they may be, don't contradict what they have to say, but provide a bridge for those unfamiliar with such sources.
I wish I could be all things to all people like Paul, but that's not my role to play. Others have deeper insights that are necessary for their faith journey and others' journeys as well. There may come a time as I mature in my faith that those deeper insights will be able to fill a void that I don't even realize I have in myself right now. In the meantime, I feel I have been given a gift of putting things simply and bridging the gap from where some are to the next step they are to take.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Refresh Everything
"Woe to the complacent, to the overconfident, those favored from the first!"
-Amos 6:1
When I go over the Biblical readings for the day, it's hard to say whether what I read makes me think of something that relates to my life or whether what's going on in my life makes something I read jump out at me. My intent is to read with an open mind, but I have a feeling that some of my posts stretch to find an reflection that best fits what I want to say versus being open to what God wants me to write. This is where complacency and overconfidence come into play.
After drumming up as much support for a book on faith last week, now I am drumming up as much support for a Pepsi Refresh Everything grant for my students that is voted on by the public this month. The book, which had been posted since March, tripled its audience in one week from over 200 to over 600. My students will need more than those 600 votes to secure the grant, so no one is being complacent or overconfident about promoting our cause: http://www.refresheverything.com/oblock.
So, in this case, even though I naturally want to promote the cause, I don't feel it's at the cost of denying what God wants me to say. I often pray that my will be united to his because I want to want what he wants. Of course, I have to be vigilant in discerning whether each of my desires is one from God or from my own human ambition. In this case, I feel like praying for the success of my students' cause is like praying to win a football game. It's okay to pray for success, but we won't be upset if another worthy opponent is successful over us. We even partnered with four other organizations (http://www.refresheverything.com/mobilelearninglab,
http://www.refresheverything.com/sandyrollman,
http://www.refresheverything.com/middlecreekareacommunitycenter, and
http://www.refresheverything.com/roboticslearningcenter#)since individuals get 5 votes a day, but only 1 vote per idea a day. Hopefully, we'll all win, but doing your best will always make you better down the road whether you win this particular battle or not.
-Amos 6:1
When I go over the Biblical readings for the day, it's hard to say whether what I read makes me think of something that relates to my life or whether what's going on in my life makes something I read jump out at me. My intent is to read with an open mind, but I have a feeling that some of my posts stretch to find an reflection that best fits what I want to say versus being open to what God wants me to write. This is where complacency and overconfidence come into play.
After drumming up as much support for a book on faith last week, now I am drumming up as much support for a Pepsi Refresh Everything grant for my students that is voted on by the public this month. The book, which had been posted since March, tripled its audience in one week from over 200 to over 600. My students will need more than those 600 votes to secure the grant, so no one is being complacent or overconfident about promoting our cause: http://www.refresheverything.com/oblock.
So, in this case, even though I naturally want to promote the cause, I don't feel it's at the cost of denying what God wants me to say. I often pray that my will be united to his because I want to want what he wants. Of course, I have to be vigilant in discerning whether each of my desires is one from God or from my own human ambition. In this case, I feel like praying for the success of my students' cause is like praying to win a football game. It's okay to pray for success, but we won't be upset if another worthy opponent is successful over us. We even partnered with four other organizations (http://www.refresheverything.com/mobilelearninglab,
http://www.refresheverything.com/sandyrollman,
http://www.refresheverything.com/middlecreekareacommunitycenter, and
http://www.refresheverything.com/roboticslearningcenter#)since individuals get 5 votes a day, but only 1 vote per idea a day. Hopefully, we'll all win, but doing your best will always make you better down the road whether you win this particular battle or not.
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