Ordinary Dreams

Excitement

elim8460 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 23:50:36 +0000

Tonight I went to camp. I love that place, and I mean I love it in the way that it feels like I have reconnected with apart of myself that I thought was lost to me. It is a place where I feel new and whole and clean again. I missed that part of myself. I don’t mean this post to be about me and my old new found longings but about an encounter I had there. I saw an old friend. She is in charge of the horse barn and does an amazing job at it. We had worked together for several years and she and her husband have a little boy that they love and cherish! I am not really very good at catching up at a moments notice but that was ok. Her first words to me after the obligatory “hi how are you” and such were “guess what?!?” She is generally excited about stuff in the barn and such and so the last thing I expected was what she said. “Josiah got saved last night!!!” This totally floored me because after all what is more exciting than someone especially a person you care a great deal about accepting Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I guess I have lost that excitement about my faith and I am saddened by this greatly. I miss that and thanks to Hannah I got a renewed look on what is most important. Not the horses, not my new things, not ever the beauty of life but knowing Jesus surpasses all even the really good things!! Thanks Hannah!

Success

elim8460 — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 16:25:13 +0000

Lately, I am interested in how we measure success in our world. I work in the world of education and there are many different ways we measure success in learning in children. In the world at large there are so many standards, some are to do with academics, some with money and fame and achievement in every area. But what is it that makes a successful life. Is it how many people you know, how many friends you make, how much you change the world, how much money or influence you have, how famous you become in whatever circle you are involved, how much you know, how fast you can talk, how horrific you can appear, where you go or how much influence you have? In education we discuss universal standards of what we teach and what we expect students to learn in every area; math, reading, writing, science, history, music, art, and others. But what if this idea could be transferred to more areas of life. What if success in life could be measured much the same way? What if there was a rubric or a combination or rubrics that would tell you if you have been successful.

This is a huge can of worms… I realize that the standards aren’t there….

But if they were….could we measure success by the amount of good a person does. But then we must define the word good. Which things are considered good and who decides. I seem to be coming up with more questions….So I decide that doing good means sharing what i have with others. My money, my goods, my talents, my ideas, my heart. And I think all people should do this, in fact they should have to do this. Now I have described socialism…

Or maybe we should measure success by the amount of money we have. So, I am amass a large estate and am able to buy anything I could ever want or need. I have large amounts of influence over my corner of the world. But I am alone with my wealth or maybe not exactly alone but the friends I have are only interested in my wealth. Maybe they are real friends but only through them am I finding happiness. not through all the things I have.

Perhaps success is measured by fame, how many people know my name and look up to me for something I am really good at. My life is a success because I excel at Baseball or singing or writing amazing stories. Fame is a tricky thing though as we observe the ins and outs of famous people. What makes you famous changes and you can be famous one day but the next be almost a no body. Which is why we have 1 hit wonders and people who live out their 15 minutes of fame. Even then not all of us can be famous and so there ends up being now way to live a successful life for those who do not excel in some way or another. But, though we would wish it, not everyone can be number 1. This idea of a successful life leaves most unable to attain it. Which leaves nothing for the rest of us…but failure…and who wants that?

Maybe success should be measured by how much you know, how smart you become or the academic honors you achieve….sure we could have a world of egg heads. Everyone working for high test scores. Amounts of knowledge and understanding…but then at the end of the day how much you know and understand something doesn’t necessarily equally happiness…and then if your not happy at least in some part….is there actually success….

So maybe there I’ve answered my question. Maybe how successful you are depends on how much what you are doing makes you happy…its a good idea but like all the other things I have posed they are based one a sliding scale of what each individual person thinks happiness is. For one person the ultimate happiness is spending time with their family. What they do for a job doesn’t need to be significant other than that it provides for what brings them the most happiness; their family.

at times I feel that everything in the world is held together by such a thin thread….then again I know its held together but something mug more strong, by God Himself who likes to appear as background though He is over all and maker of all. Pretty amazing that He allows us to wonder at times if He really is there. All this posturing about success becomes clear when examined through His eyes. A successful life is one lived so that others see Him more clearly. I can think of no greater object or achievement. If I spend each day pointing to the Maker of all then I have spent it well. No money or fame or achievement could compare to such a thing. To God be the Glory! There is the true measure.

Up all night adventures with Teens

elim8460 — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 04:06:54 +0000

I had forgotten, again, how terrible teenagers are when they have been up all night and are tired. There is not a thing you can say or do it seems to get them moving and energetic again. I had this experience again, you would think I’d have learned this reality fully by now, this past weekend. I know and trust God does and is doing big things through this kind of obedience and this event, it was definitely a time where His word went forth, still… I willingly stayed up all night with a ton of teens, really it wasn’t that bad. They had fun or they slept and were harassed all night by all of us trying to keep them awake. So interesting how they respond, interesting and in retrospect probably no different than would have been at their age. The funniest event of the night, in respect to the sleep/no sleep issue, was when two boys locked themselves int he bathroom and slept on the floor . It only lasted as long as they could manage to ignore the persistent banging others dealt to the door. I have to say I never would have been desperate enough for sleep to barricade myself in a relatively public bathroom. But then I’ve never been a teenage boy…

To teach….

elim8460 — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 23:28:15 +0000

Sitting in class right now doing some heavy thinking about myself and teaching. I realize as I sit here listening to all the passion these individuals have for teaching phonics and reading, that my passion is teaching but about Christ, about the christian life. This is where my passion lies. I don’t get all excited about teaching the pieces of words, I understand and agree about their importance but for me I feel like this is a drudgery! I don’t care to be anything approaching an expert on this topic, I will learn this so that I can effectively teach but I don’t know that I will ever feel the passion these people seem to have. I could and would go on like this about the Bible, about God and about that life, and I think I would love to teach in that place.

But I am here and this is my job, so here I will learn this but I will translate what I need over to my real passion. I gathered tonight that I need to repeat and repeat the same lessons over and over. I understand now why the Live curriculum repeats the same lessons. And God know us better than any educator other than his Son realizes that we need these repeated lessons. No wonder we are always learning the same lesson over again the hard way. Huh! So this class that I wasn’t dreading has taught me something valuable outside the somewhat less than inspiring content area. YAY! Bridget said to me this morning that I needed to work on attitude, looks like God took care of that for me!!!! Waaahooooo!

Lesson Learning

elim8460 — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:32:28 +0000

It occurred to me recently, teaching is a catch 22 really. At least when teaching about God. He seems to want me to learn as much from what I am teaching as the ones receiving the teaching will. I almost gave up yesterday because of this. I tire of learning lessons I thought I already knew. Yup, there’s my pride and arrogance getting the better of me again. Learning is one of my favorite things!

So I had decided to teach on the topic of finding our identity in God, and protecting it as David did when anointed and then later faced with an immense foe. Knowing who we are based on how God sees us, not how all the other inputs in our life see us. Trust God to make something of our future instead of conjuring it all up on our own. So these are all good and right lessons, but it appears my identity is not as secure in God as I had once thought. I am as susceptible to all the falsehood and bribery of the world, I can get bogged down and messed up just by simply allowing my eyes to drift from Gods face. So though, I know through and through that I am his, I find that my identity is a tough thing to keep a handle on. I know it but do I feel it all the time, and do I do what is needed…the answer no…or at least not always. Occasionally I get out of the way long enough to see where God is at work, and sometime I even let him lead me. But trusting Him with all of me is an ongoing battle.

So perhaps I will stop teaching…its so hard…nah, difficult as it is, nothing is more rewarding, and hey I just might learn a thing a two from my own meanderings.

After God’s Heart

elim8460 — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 17:59:26 +0000

Lately I have been learing a long about King David from the Bible.

The boy who God chose as the leader of His nation.

The boy who, with God’s power, killed Goliath.

The boy who was the youngest son and who for the most part tended sheep.

The boy who knew God personally and chose to follow him through all of his life.

The boy who played and served the King of his Nation.

The man who fled his homeland.

The man who became King!

The King who led battles.

The King who led his people to follow God.

The King who began the work of returning the Ark of the Lord to His people.

The man who feared, who doubted, who danced and rejoiced, and praised his God.

The Husband to many wives, the father to many children.

The man who took another mans wife.

The man who sinned.

The one who God called a “man after His own heart”.

The father many greats back to Jesus.

I stand in Awe of all that God does in the lives of His people. He lifts them up, He leads them, and He makes from their small messy lives something miraculous. It gives me great faith and great hope! That from this messy crazy life he brought from the line of his people through to the birth of His son. Thank you God for giving us examples people through whom You do Great works!!

My Daddy’s Married to a Bossy Woman!

elim8460 — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 02:51:54 +0000

I laugh so much at the things kids say! So a few weekends ago Hannah is at the house. She is going for a day trip with her Meme and Papa, Debbie and Bill. Debbie and Hannah are waiting for Bill to do his running around before he is ready to go. Debbie is commenting on his state of unreadiness…his response and Hannah’s comments follow.

Bill:(while running out the door to the garage) “Oy, I am married to a bossy woman!”
Hannah:(without missing a single beat) “My daddy’s married to a bossy woman.”
Debbie & I: “LOL”

It was a great moment that followed with Debbie asking Hannah what kind of woman her mommy’s daughter is (meaning Hannah herself but worded funny).

Hannah:(proudly) “I’m gonna be a bossy woman!”
Debbie & I: “Gonna??”

Oh, boy. Watch out for this one!!!

Update

elim8460 — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 02:44:06 +0000

Baby showers are wonderful, and they now officially, no longer make me want my own. I in now way want a child right now. Everyone around me is having them, there are plenty to hold and play with I don’t need my own.

I am TIRED OF SNOW! Aprils fools being the day we get a ton of snow was not fun!!! Grrrrowl to the weather man…school in July will be fun.

I am feeling sinical. Not unusual for me in general but lately I have had a better attitude than this. I am just tired I think. Not feeling right and I chased teenagers around the church with Nerf guns tonight.

SOOOOOOOooooo fun, except the part where the sweaty one decided he needed to bear hug me….ick teenage boy sweat!!!!! Oh, well.

This is life….beautiful, hard, messy, and directed by God. Nothing is better than this!!!

In the Middle of the Night

elim8460 — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 19:42:19 +0000

It all became clear last night. I am still very much in love though the feelings are somewhat subdued right now…but the future became a clear mess. I know complete confusion is all you understand from this but to me it is finally clear. There is a good reason I can’t picture myself as a house wife in the suburbes, with a garage and a picket fence. I am not meant for a life like that. We had this discussion in the car on the way home and it makes sense. I am made for another country where the need is high and I will be used of God to help. So in the middle of the night it became clear. Just had to get that out there, I won’t live the American dream. I can’t wait!!!

Bible Memorization

elim8460 — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 01:50:12 +0000

Soooooooo…

There are so many things we have memorized without even thinking about it…how many of you can name all the states in the USA, or sing all the lyrics in some song, how about video games how many could you name, phone numbers, restaurants, pizza toppings. The human brain has an amazing capacity to retain info. Are we using this to God’s glory? Can you name all the books of the Bible, how many verses have you committed to memory?

Psalm 119:11
Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Gods word is:
1. A treasure: in tough times and tight spaces it rescues us, gives us comfort and saves us.
2. Is easily accessible: we have Bibles all around us, most of us have multiple in our homes. But in other places and times the Bible has been and is illegal. When it’s memorized it can never be taken from us.
3. A love letter from God: This is his word on how he takes care of us, loves us unconditionally, how he made us, has plans for us and ultimately how he has saved us. We thought about how when we receive a love letter is it something we read over and over, how we cherish it and go back to it all the time. This is Gods word!

Some pointers for Bible memorization:
-Pray and as God to help as you commit his word to your memory
-Spend a little time each day memorizing, train your memory.
-Don’t overwhelm yourself, start with short verses and add over time.
-Enjoy the experience, See the Bible as something beneficial to learn and understand and experience.
-St the goal of never forgetting the Scripture ou learn, Don’t cram content just to be able to quote a verse to someone, know it for you!

Some other verses to look at: Deuteronomy 6:6-9, Psalm 119:111, Matthew 4:1-11(Where Satan tempts Jesus), 2 Timothy 3:14-17, and Hebrews 4:12.

Consider memorizing one or more of these in the coming week!