Blessings #643 to 673

643. Our home as a place of refuge for friends
644. The ability to make the occasional home repair despite my limited "handyman" abilities
645. A "random" contact for Colby with Partners International 
646. Emily and Kellie sitting with my mom on Sunday
647. Dumplings at Linda's

Blessings #615 to #642

615.  Having the words flow easily when teaching
616.  Engaged listeners when I am teaching
617.  Sandy passing the NES with flying colors
618.  Being considered worthy of being a pastor (is it too late to change careers?)
619.  Dinner with Greg and Jenna

Another Pointless Attack

I will probably get a lot of grief for this from some people, but I will go ahead and say it - I actually liked most of what President Obama said at the recent National Prayer Breakfast and I am having a hard time understanding the outrage over his comments.

Go ahead and lecture me about the Crusades and how they were a "necessary" response to the Muslim invasions in prior years. Tell me how ignorant I am of the historical facts. Give me the details of the brutality of the Muslims.  Lay out all the reasons why the Crusades were justified. It doesn't really matter to me, because that just tells me you missed the point.

Blessings #587 to 614

587. A simple Christmas Eve message that makes me think
588. Christmas
589. Conversations with Grecia about faith, church, reading and life
590. The birth of a new baby in the family - officially being a great-uncle!
591. The smiles of new parents

The Perfectness of Bad Timing

I was at a Christmas Eve service last night, where the pastor referred to Galatians 4:4-5 as "the Christmas story." I had never heard a passage outside of the gospels talked about as the Christmas story before, but as I read the verses, it made perfect sense. Granted, there are not the same details and elaboration as there are in the gospels, but the basic elements of the story are there - God sending his Son to earth to be born as a human, for the purpose of rescuing man. That really is the Christmas story! 

Blessings #561-586

561. Safety coming home from Seattle on treacherous roads
562. Books that make me think
563. Being able to take a sick day without losing pay
564. A para-educator working in my classroom who has a tremendous heart for our students
565. Alex's generosity helping Colby

What Goes Unsaid in Education Reform - Part 1

She was there after school again, just hanging out and talking. She visited a couple of other teachers, but my room was one that she invariably came into after school. She didn't stay every day, but she stayed after school frequently, just to talk or kill time. After several weeks I finally joked with her about how much she must like school, since she stayed there for so long after the school day was over. Then I asked, "why don't you go home?" It was an ignorant question and I had been teaching long enough to know better than to ask such a question so flippantly, but I did.

"Why would I want to go home?" she answered. "My grandma is probably drunk and my grandpa is probably in the garage getting high."

Blessings #534 to #560

534.  Eager babysitters for Beka
535.  A parent's "thank you" for a phone call and for making a difference in their child's life
536.  Students coming after school for help with math and having fun
537.  Fun conversations with my students
538.  Exceeding expectations at the Gifts of Hope Open House

Obedient Faith

This is a much longer post than normal, but I thought I would post the transcript for today's sermon, in case anyone might be interested.

Awhile back I was enjoying one of my favorite hobbies - looking at books on a popular book seller's website - and I came across a book by John Piper titled, "What Jesus Demands from the World." The title caught my attention, so I started to read some of the reviews. Not surprisingly, some of them were not so positive - John Piper seems to have that affect on some people, sometimes even me. So I skipped to the one star ratings, because I was curious what people found wrong with this book. What I read was a little startling. Some of the criticism was based solely on the premise of the title. Some reviewers were incensed with the idea that Jesus made demands on us, insisting that Piper was promoting a "works" based theology and ignoring salvation by grace. One writer insisted that Jesus makes no demands on any of us and to teach that he does is wrong. After-all, Jesus is all about love and mercy and grace, not about expectations, or works.

An Awesome Gift

It has been a dry couple of months. It has been a time where problems seems to multiply and one problem leads to another before the first has been solved. For that matter, some problems seem to have no good solution with no end in sight. It has been a time where I have felt inept and ineffective as a church leader and as an educator. I have felt unappreciated, and often like I am in the way, like I have been more a bother or hindrance, than a help.

It has been a great time to beat up on myself and feel sorry for myself. A great time to hang my head and mope. I have daily thoughts of wanting to quit (a variety of things and almost everything), or to at least make minimal efforts in the things that I do. I have wondered what those I am suppose to be mentoring and leading and teaching could possibly be gaining from their relationship with me. I have wondered why they would want to continue meeting with me. I have wondered how much damage I have done.