Sunday, December 8, 2013

When Snow Falls

There is no element of nature so lovely and familiar to me as snow. To watch soft, white flakes drift quietly down in great clouds, to feel the rubbery impact underfoot, to almost hear the nothingness that accompanies the silent accumulation is like a tangible dream. It covers the familiar with a glittering white veil.

When I was young, snow was the inspiration for my poetry. It was diamonds sparkling along the road. It was a tiny celebration of Christmas. It was freedom from routine. It was lovely. Day or night, snow was a thing to be admired. It had no flaws.

If only I would see Christ with the same constant awe that I had for snow as a child--all beauty and fascination and wonder. But for Christ I have alternatives, things that receive my attention before Him, decisions made apart from Him, solutions disregarding Him.

Christ's disciples once asked Him what kind of person He considered great in His kingdom, and to answer...
Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  (Matthew 19:2-4)
To truly love Him, to trust Him, to obey Him, I should love Him as a little child loves, seeing no flaws, no other help, no other interest. Of Christ, those things are all true. How am I seeing?

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Pampered Chefs

My friend Rachel and I were on our way to a Pampered Chef party tonight when we both looked at each other and asked, "The party IS at their house right?" We decided if we didn't find the right place...we would go to Culver's. There's nothing more pampered than eating out, right?

We made it to the party after all, wrote our Christmas wishlists from the catalogs and acted out animal charades. Later we enjoyed Melinda's flambeed s'more cake, apples with caramel dip, and Christmas tree brownies. Oh yeah, there were carrots and celery there, too. We went home with nothing more than a few treats for our "friends who weren't able to come." *wink wink*

Maybe next time we'll plan to pamper ourselves with products.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

The Reset Button

This morning I arrived at school to no internet. Those first moments had me scrambling to figure out what to do without the resources I need. It happened to be a simple fix of turning the wireless off and on again. Thank goodness!

My students came in with a not-so-easily-resolved problem—half of them woke up on the wrong side of the bed and the other half on the right side! (When 7th graders wake up on the right side of the bed they act all goofy.)

When smoke started coming out of ears (mine included), I resorted to something a former teacher used to do—two laps around the parking lot! Fresh cold air, competition, exercise—Thank goodness, people come with reset buttons too.

When I can’t go forward until I’m reset, the best way to reset myself is by calling out to God. How wonderful to experience His ability when I had none!

While “every new duty calls for more grace than I possess, it’s not more than is found in Him.” Valley of Vision

Friday, November 1, 2013

Where Better to Begin

Where does one start a blog? I suppose it's appropriate to start right in the middle of what I do every week.
1. Teaching 5th-8th grade students that know each other and the school building way too well
2. Supervising the food part of a church fellowship
3. Making a winter promotional video at Camp Joy
4. Cleaning up after dinner during a retreat

Fortunately, this weekend I don't have to do soundbooth for the service. I say fortunately because the service that usually starts at 6:00 or 7:00 started at 9:00 tonight. Instead I spent another hour after dinner working on the winter promo video and then headed home to a couple of hours of schoolwork. This weekend I have to finish entering grades for report cards which go out on Monday in addition to the lesson plans I have to prepare for next week.

Never a dull moment!