Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Musings from 5th Street

I had the pleasure of attending my third Erasmus lecture, at the Union League Club on 37th Street and 5th Avenue in New York City, last evening with my parents and Uncle Mark. The Erasmus lecture is sponsored by the Institute for Religious and Public Life (publisher of First Things) and serves the purpose of enhancing the religious and moral dialogue in the public square. Past lecturers have included such figures as Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, Clarence Thomas, George Weigel and Charles Colson.

Last evening’s speaker was Dr. Robert P. George, Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University. His lecture addressed the moral foundations of law and government. While Professor George believes that government should be limited and should exist to uphold the individual’s search for “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” he does not believe that morality should be left aside in the public square.

In fact, George argued that all who are involved with making political decisions engage their claims and positions with a sense of morality. George promoted the respectful and civil dialogue between those who claim a system of morality based on religious principles and those who claim to argue from a more secular perspective. The person of faith, according to Professor George, engages this discussion out of concern for the consequence of political ideas for the culture at large and for the protection of the most vulnerable members of society.

Professor George highlighted two causes of concern for the person of faith in the political arena. He believes that protecting the sanctity of all human life and defending the marriage covenant as the committed conjugal union of a man and a woman are of particular importance in forming culture and protecting those who cannot speak up for themselves. George vehemently disputed the proposal that these arenas should be left to the private sector in a libertarian political effort precisely because to do so would be to abandon the government’s role to uphold the great cause of the Declaration.

Especially eloquent, in support of this proposition, was George’s defense of the family as the building block of all society and culture. Looking to marriage as the foundation of the family, George finds no alternative but to stoically guard this ageless institution. If marriage no longer involves the committed conjugal union of one man and one woman, George argues that culture will not thrive because the family unit is disassembled at its core and cannot support the upbringing of moral citizens. In turn, the individual’s right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is compromised. George is convinced that if our aim is truly limited government, the most important political defense for continued limited government is to support healthy familial life. It is within the context of this family unit that citizens will be raised who will be a part of faith-based communities who will care for those who currently rely heavily on governmental support.

I dare not repeat George’s moral and intellectual defense of marriage, because my inept ramblings would silence not only his eloquence, but his inspired insights. For all who are interested in an intellectually thoughtful and influential read, I recommend his own essay in a book of compiled essays entitled Marriage and Same Sex Unions.

I have listened to Dr. George speak before and I am always left with a great deal of cud for chew. This time was no exception. Ideas have consequences and we must vigilantly discern our ideas, that our actions may be profitable.

Monday, October 29, 2007

From Limerick, Ireland

I am writing from an 18th century manor (which is really a castle) near Limerick, Ireland. (If you're interested you can search for Adare Manor on Google.) Unfortunately I do not have the ability to send photos... but I will try and give you a little update. Jon Keller and I left Princeton Saturday at 1:30 pm on the Dinky and 18 hours later (after flying to Frankfurt and sleeping on the floor during a one hour layover) we landed at the Dublin airport at 11:30 am. After buying 20 Euros (expensive at $1.47 per) we took the air coach to a quaint hotel near Trinity College. We were greeted by Jamie Rankin (the German professor) who was drinking tea in the hotel lobby. After waking up our other buddies, Jon and I changed out of our suits and we went to the Book of Kells exhibit in the Trinity Library. This collection is a display of early midieval manuscripts of the gospels and other books of the Bible that were painstakingly copied in calligraphy by monks and illustrated with beautiful drawings. The main historic library following the exhibit was this long cavernous room filled with two stories of books with little ladders for each book case. The room was really musty and smelled really ancient. Yesterday evening we ate a simple dinner of sandwiches at a nearby convenience store/deli and our room was asleep by 7pm.

This morning I woke up just after 6 and joined the runners in our group for an Irish (quite different than American) continental breakfast in the hotel. The thing I remember most was the grapefruit juice which was really sour. The two other non runners joined me around 7:30 and I had some eggs and sausage with them. We then walked over to the Marathon around 8:15 and we were warmed up by a drum corp and an announcer who complimented the "11000 hearty souls pursuing their dreams".

After the race started, the three of us strolled across Dublin to Saint Patrick's Cathedral. On the way I got a picture under a sign that read "Sinnott's Bar". The cathedral itself, was very beautiful, architecturally speaking and had a long spire. It was said to be built over the well where St. Patrick had baptized new converts. Inside, there were two granite gravestones from his era that were sculpted with Irish crosses. It used to be Roman Catholic but is now Anglican due to the British occupation of Ireland.

We walked back to near the finish line and cheered on our runners. They finished quite well: 2:45, 3:15, 3:55, but Ryan and I cheered for nearly 2 hours in the cold because we had only seen two of our friends and were still expecting the third. It was fun though, and we were able to lift a few spirits. We took a bus back to the airport after the race and then rented a car, albeit a very small stationwagon, where me and the luggage got to sit in the back and then drove 3 hours to our castle hotel. It is pretty amazing here, somewhat reminds me of Mohonk but more Gothic architectural style, and there is actually a wedding reception going on as I speak. Tomorrow we are going to tour the grounds, see some castle ruins and explore the place. We fly to Stanstead, England tomorrow afternoon from Shannon (which is in western Ireland).

It's been a great time so far--the weather is gorgeous, 50 degrees most often with a chance of rain, but just a really pretty, green, lush environment.
I feel very blessed to be here and miss you all. Cheers,
Nathaniel

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Vanilla


A little competition is in place for Rebecca at the upcoming county fair. Jacob's cow, Vanille, gave birth today to a heifer calf, Vanilla, today. He was so relieved that his cow had a heifer. He was formerly convinced that the odds were not in his favor for a heifer since Rebecca's cow just had a heifer calf.

Order Our Heart's Affections

I don't know if my "want to do list" grow has ever grown as long as it has in the recent weeks. I want to fit so much life into so little space. A late afternoon flight out of Boston today afforded me time to grade labs and write letters of recommendation... but I especially valued the time to think about prioritizing. In these sifting moments of life I am reminded of the ever true words of Our Lord, "Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Order our heart's affections, in the details of our lives and our priorities, that we may rightly praise You.

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Something Old is Something Beautiful

I really like the East Coast. I guess that I really like the West Coast too, but spending last weekend in Seattle and this weekend in Boston makes a phenomenal attraction about the East Coast obvious: architectural history. There is something about walking on the same road that set the stage for "the midnight ride of Paul Revere" that provides a feeling of place and a seamless passageway from the past to the present.

Dinner last evening, with an animated group of science teachers, was at the Union Oyster House which claims to be oldest restaurant in continuous service in the United States. Eating on the third floor of a building that has served guests for hundreds of years resembles the feeling of a timeless Thanksgiving - it is a feast in memory of the men and women who dreamed of creating a country that is our home today.

The creaking floors, wood slab walls and sturdy brick exterior speak of endurance and connectedness. Something old is certainly something beautiful.

The Strongest Witness

I have never read Ravi Zacharias until a friend recently passed along his book, I, Isaac, Take Thee, Rebekah. I appreciate his simplicity and wisdom. The following quote serves as a good challenge:

The single greatest lack of our time, perhaps of all time, is men and women of character, those whose lives are honest and whose transparency is real. I do not know of a stronger witness for Christ than that one be described as a person of true honor.

Thursday, October 25, 2007

Franz Jägerstätter to Be Beatified Tomorrow

Franz Jägerstätter was introduced to me early on in life by my father as an exemplary twentieth century martyr and saint. Uncle Mark brought it to my attention that the Catholic Church is beatifying Jägerstätter tomorrow. An inspiring essay about his faith and practice is written up in First Things. A portion of the article is reproduced below.

Jägerstätter... became an outspoken opponent of the Nazi regime and refused all cooperation. When a storm destroyed his crops, he declined any assistance from Germany. He stopped attending social events to avoid heated arguments with Nazi apologists.

As the takeover of Austria proceeded, Jägerstätter knew he would be asked to collaborate at some point. In early 1943, it came: He was ordered to appear at the induction center at Enns, where he declared his intention not to serve. The next day, he was hauled off to a military prison at Linz, to await his fate. “All he knew when he arrived,” writes Zahn, “was that he was subject to summary execution at any moment.”

A parade of people—relatives, friends, spiritual advisers, even his own bishop—pleaded with Jägerstätter to change his mind. Some did not disagree with his anti-Nazi convictions or his moral stance; they simply argued he could not be held guilty in the eyes of God if he offered minimal cooperation under such duress, given the extreme alternative.

Jägerstätter... believed Christians were called precisely to meet the highest possible standards—“be thou perfect,” said Our Lord—even at the cost of one’s life, if fundamental Christian principles were at stake. Serving Germany in a nonmilitary post would simply make it easier for someone else to commit war crimes. He could not participate in the Nazi death machine, even indirectly. He would not be swayed: “Since the death of Christ, almost every century has seen the persecution of Christians; there have always been heroes and martyrs who gave their lives—often in horrible ways—for Christ and their faith. If we hope to reach our goal someday, then we, too, must become heroes of the faith.” Indeed, he added, “the important thing is to fear God more than man.”

After several months of imprisonment in Linz, Jägerstätter was taken to Berlin, where he stood military trial. According to witnesses, Jägerstätter was quite eloquent in his defense, but he was sentenced to death for sedition. On August 9, 1943, Jägerstätter was informed he would be beheaded that day. His last words as he was taken to the gallows were ones of peace, testifying to his faith: “I am completely bound in inner union with the Lord.” The prison chaplain who ministered to him that day later remarked, “I can say with certainty that this simple man is the only saint I have met in my lifetime.”

During his ordeal, many of Jägerstätter’s neighbors considered his act unnecessary and foolish, a sentiment that remained long after his death. Zahn, who interviewed Jägerstätter’s critics, examines all the explanations offered to question Jägerstätter’s sacrifice—that he was selfish, reckless, spiritually vainglorious, or even disturbed—and makes a convincing case that none of them hold.

The most unfair charge is that Jägerstätter put himself above his family. “I have faith that God will still give me a sign if some other course would be better,” he wrote, as he struggled to find a solution to his dilemma. Images of the Passion filled his mind: “Christ, too, prayed on the Mount of Olives that the Heavenly Father might permit the chalice of sorrow to pass from His lips—but we must never forget this part of his prayer: ‘Lord, not my will be done but rather Thine.’”

In the end, however, after it became clear that Jägerstätter would be asked to betray his conscience, there was only one path he could take, a hard and narrow path chosen by the very few: Better to die for Christ than scandalize his faith and family by becoming a Nazi. The letters and statements he made to his wife and family at this time show the anguish his decision brought; he was overwhelmed with the sense that he was abandoning them and feared reprisals against them lay ahead. But Jägerstätter knew that God was watching and would ultimately avenge his elect, and so expressed hope of a reunion yet to come: “I will surely beg the dear God, if I am permitted to enter heaven soon, that he may also set aside a little place in heaven for all of you.” And again to his daughters: “I greet you, my dear little girls. May the child Jesus and the dear Mother of Heaven protect you until we see one another again.” (William Doino Jr.)

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

When You are Old, You Will Stretch Out Your Hands

When I was young I thought that adulthood was about making your own decisions.

And, I suppose, at some level, it is.

But somehow the last recorded words of Jesus to Peter seem more and more apropos with age. "I tell you the truth," Jesus told Peter, "when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go... Follow me."

Somehow Christ's words encapsulate my current finding that mature adulthood seems more about surrender and less about individual design. We surrender to the needs of those around us, often going where we do not wish to go, and in doing so follow Christ.

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him."

But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved. (Hebrews 10:35)

Corporal Acts of Spiritual Mercy

I borrowed the title for this post from a poster on the wall of our local Catholic church where I have been attending a little Bible study on the gospel of Matthew with my friend Emily. The poster's title reminded me of the fact that I have recently seen the gospel of love lived, bodily, in the lives of those around me in response to my Grandpa's ailing health.

What is love?

Love is Mom moving Grandpa into a wheelchair and hurting her finger so badly that she must make a trip to the Emergency Room.

Love is Dad changing his father-in-law at 12:45 in the morning.

Love is Aunt Joanne and Uncle Michael allowing Grandpa to sleep in their bedroom for the last five years so that they could hear if he needed assistance.

Love is a recycling bin full of feeding tube formula cans.

Love is the children giving Grandpa kisses in the morning even though he can't respond.

Love makes our house smell like a hospital.

Love is Uncle Mark hauling furniture half-way across the country and up stairs and hills so that accomodations could be made to welcome a big hospital bed.

Love is Aunt Joanne bringing Grandpa to a soccer game, even though he has to be transported on a stretcher, just so he can be near his grandson's exciting moments.

Love is Mom and Dad deciding that a house is never too small to become a home of nursing for the aged.

Love is Grandma and the family deciding not to put Grandpa into a nursing home so that he can live under the same roof as the bride of his youth.

Love is Aunt Joanne and Mom searching all day for a chair that might allow Grandpa to join us at 5:45am in the morning for Bible reading, even though he may never open his eyes.

Love is Mom not traveling because Grandpa cannot be left alone.

Love is Grandpa continuing to breathe and fight for life even though it may be hard to find meaning in lying in bed all day.

Love is understanding that we care for the elderly as we care for newborns - as caring ushers who prepare the frail for a new stage of life - the newborn for a finite life, the elderly for an infinite life.

Love is giving even when it furthers no personal interest of your own. Love is finding yourself surprised that when you give for no personal interest of your own, you encounter the love of God in the hidden places of diaper storage bins and beeping feeding tube monitors.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Being Alone

Earlier this year I purchased a most thought-provoking devotional entitled A Year with Dietrich Bonhoeffer. A passage from earlier this month stands out to me as significant for the description of present dynamics within our shared family life.

Simply stated, our family life together currently leaves little time for being alone. Especially our dear mother and aunt have been even sacrificing sleeping hours to change Grandpa and sustain his feeding tube. At times as such, living in community poses very real and difficult challenges, that are, of course, worth it. I think Bonhoeffer knew this when he penned the following words that currently challenge my life.

Whoever cannot stand being in community should beware of being alone. You are called into the community of faith; the call was not meant for you alone. You carry your cross, you struggle and you pray in the community of faith, the community of those who are called. If you neglect the community of other Christians, you reject the call of Jesus Christ, and thus your being alone can only become harmful for you. 'If I die, then I am not alone in death; if I suffer, they (The community of faith) suffer with me." (Luther)... Only in the community do we learn to be properly alone; and only in being alone do we learn to live properly in community. Both belong together.

Saturday, October 20, 2007

'V' Is Very, Very Extraordinary

What an beautiful time of rejoicement I was able to share with my good college friends in the greater Seattle region to celebrate the holy covenant of marriage between Kristiane (one of my senior year college roommates) and Darron. Kristiane glowed the whole weekend long!

It was an incredible weekend filled with laughter and encouraging conversations and food and beauty and realization of God's holy presence in the midst of the marital covenant. I am completely convinced that I have the most amazing friends in the whole world. The pictures tell a little story below.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Our Life Demanded

My high school students recently put on a spirited performance of the Broadway musical, Godspell. No matter how many times I have listened to the Godspell musical track or read through the Gospel of Matthew, I am always gladdened that my soul hears something new.

This most recent time, I heard Jesus tell the parable of the rich fool in a fresh way. I think I identified a little too closely to the rich fool for comfort's sake.

It's easy to just want to arrive at that place in life where I can "take life easy and be merry." It is too simple to live life in with the mindset, "I am working hard now so that tomorrow life will be without its cares." I subconciously find myself drifting away in hope to the point where life is without struggle and work and effort.

So even amidst tye died t-shirts and skin tight jeans, the words of Christ to the rich fool challenged my heart, "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded of you."

There will be a coming day when my work in the finiteness of this present life will be done. On that day all will be at rest in the infiinitude of God.

Until then, when I am weary, may I not live in false hope of the time when I can "take life easy" with the rich man because any day my life could be demanded of me. May I instead enter into the joy of this journey and be taught to sing, as my students so enthusiastically proclaimed, "Long live God!"

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Community Life

The fabric of our family life is changing! We were joined around the dinner table tonight by Aunt Joanne, Uncle Michael, Uncle Mark and Cousin Amelia! Grandpa Farmer is now all settled into his own room and unfortunately he could not join us at the full dinner table because of his bed-ridden condition. Grandma, still in Minneapolis, is weeks away from moving into her new apartment. It seems that all of Mom's family is migrating east!

The East Coast seemed to herald this Minnesota migration by ushering in the crispest of breezes, the most magnificent display of autumn colors and blue skies. I could not resist attempting to capture the moments on film.

Amelia celebrated her arrival on the East Coast by joining her cousin Rebecca at Middlevale farm to welcome the birth of a new calf.

So much excitement!



Saturday, October 13, 2007

Colors Come to the Back Yard

Today was one of the first days where it both felt like autumn and looked like autumn. What glorious moments! Browse through the photos below for a sampling of the autumn view out of our southern window.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

You Know You Homeschool When...

...You overhear your frustrated fourteen-year-old brother tell your sixteen-year-old sister who is trying to help him with his math, "You and Rebecca (twelve) both have the same philosophy of teaching."

How many sixteen and twelve-year-old kids have philosophies of teaching?!

Not an Ideal, But a Divine Reality

I just finished listening to a sermon on the Internet presented by one of my trusted professors from George Fox University. I haven't heard Paul Anderson's voice teach me in over four and a half years, and yet listening to twenty minutes of his speech opened floodgates of memories that overwhelmed me with the beautiful idealism of college study.

Today was a good day to listen to that familiar voice as it was a day that I was overwhelmed with reality - the reality of waking early, of spending ten hours of the day in the intensity of a high school classroom and of coming home to a family life that is suffering the delays and constraints of construction. Today was a really real day.

And yet that voice transported me to a different place, a place where five years ago, I was preparing for today.

Five years ago, I sat with Paul and a group of Quaker college students on the living room floor of a small beach house near Lincoln City, Oregon. We had all piled our Bibles, clothes and study notes into our backpacks for a full weekend of reflection on what living life as a sacrament truly means.

Paul taught me some meaningful lessons, including the notion that the first and primary Christian sacrament is that of a living a life that embodies the fullness of Jesus' life. The words we say and the actions that we take, Paul shared with us, are the truest form of a physical manifestation of a spiritual reality.

I thought a lot about life and the future in that small house on the Pacific shore line. I knew that I was learning lessons that would impact the future of my life - my life that I wanted to live for a purpose, for a reason, for the glory of God, for the furthering of His Kingdom.

In other words, I dreamed about today. I dreamed about this day, where it seems like my biggest accomplishment may have been teaching juniors how to convert between different units of pressure.

When I sat down to listen to Paul speak this evening, though, I wasn't so sure that teaching pressure conversions was what I was dreaming of five years ago on the Oregon coast.

But, somehow, hearing that familiar voice again reminded me that, yes, this is what I really was preparing for. I was preparing for this day when I would not be surrounded by people of faith, where I was going to put in a long day at work and wonder if it was worth it, where I would be found lacking in faith, lacking in fortitude and found strengthened only by dependency on the fullness of Christ.

Five years ago, life today was an ideal reality. Life was somehow going to include me making a difference.

I do not live today in an ideal reality. But, that is okay, because I think that I have found something even better, something that, without knowing it, was what I was really preparing for in all of the idealism of college dreams.

I find myself today, not in an ideal reality, but as Dietrich Bonhoeffer eloquently says, in a divine reality - a place where all of my idealism is surrendered to the reality that is God's will, to the place of challenge where sufficiency is found only in the merit of God's strength.

"Christian brotherhood is not an ideal which we must realize; it is rather a reality created by God in Christ in which we may participate."

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Is This the Best We Have to Offer?

The New York Times carried a thought-provoking article on Sunday: Thou Shall Not Kill Except in a Popular Video Game at Church. The article documents a growing trend in church ministry: "baiting" young people with Microsoft's violent Halo 3 (Rated M).

Mr. Barbour, the youth pastor of Colorado Community Church, says that God calls ministers to be “fishers of men.”

“Teens are our ‘fish,” the Times quotes Mr. Barbour saying, “So we’ve become creative in baiting our hooks.”

It seems as though the Church faces a crisis when we, the people of the Kingdom, no longer find the vibrancy of a life lived in faith worth sharing for its own merit. When the woman at the well of Samaria went to evangelize to her friends, she was so enamored by the person of Christ, that the only testament she needed to offer was, "Come, meet the man who told me everything that I have ever done." Christ, alone, was incredible enough.

Certainly I am so grateful for the adults in my life who crafted, with true creativity and care, an environment of wholesome enjoyment of the gifts of life and fellowship when I was young. In these environments, the purity and the excitement of the Christian life was witnessed, and I am grateful for those times and the unforgettable memories and the all-encompassing messages of faith.

However, from my humble experience as a high school teacher, I think that youth are skeptical of adults who cater to them on the basis of their own morally questionable activities. If experience is any guide, youth want the adults in their life to be mature and to impact them in such a way that they are challenged to make good decisions.

The Times reported one man saying, “If you want to connect with young teenage boys and drag them into church, free alcohol and pornographic movies would do it."

Is this the best we have to offer? Has the journey of our own discipleship left us no story more exciting than Halo 3? Did we forget that we possess access to the Almighty God of the universe? Does our own relationship with God leave us with no moral compass, such that the social mores and entertainment of the culture have become our own without question?

Solomon instructs the young, "Remember the Creator in the days of your youth, fear God, keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." Isn't this message far more important than trying to convince the culture that Christians can have fun too, even if it means pushing the limits of the sixth commandment?

God of the Hidden Places

I love that God loves us so much that He cares to know the even the depths of the hidden places of our hearts. Not only does our God say that our actions speak of Him, but also our thoughts. We are told, “Think on these things: whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is right, whatever is true, whatever is noble and whatever is admirable.”

Yesterday, I was observed in my classroom by a trusted teacher for an entire day as part of a teaching initiative that is striving to increase the quality of science education in the United States. Every word I said was recorded, every action I took was taped, and the order and logic of my presentation was analyzed. Never has so much of my professional life been so formally scrutinized for so long. It was exhausting!

Somehow, though, God’s care for the hidden places of our lives seems so unlike scrutiny and so much like comfort. When we were young, Mom taught us to memorize 2 Chronicles 16:9, “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”

God wants to know the hidden places of my heart to prove Himself true! He wants my thoughts to be right so that I might know and experience His presence. He cares that the inner man be blameless so that I can behold Him in purity.

May the depths of the hidden places of my heart be known before you, God, that the comfort of Your presence may dwell more fully in this human temple!

Monday, October 08, 2007

What is Our Aim?

To be like Christ. To displace self from the inner throne, and to enthrone Him; to make not the slightest compromise with the smallest sin. We aim at nothing less than to walk with God all day long; to abide every hour in Christ and He and His words in us, to love God with all the heart and our neighbor as ourselves. . . . It is possible to cast every care on Him daily, and to be at peace amidst pressure, to see the will of God in everything, to put away all bitterness and clamor and evil speaking, daily and hourly. It is possible by unreserved resort to divine power under divine conditions to become strongest through and through at our weakest point.

- Bishop Handley Moule qouted in A Chance to Die by Elisabeth Elliot

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Seasons of Faithfulness

It seems like life has these little turning points, from time to time, that require new commitments of faithfulness to the ways of God. Just when it seems that I have learned obedience in one season of life, a new corner is turned requiring that I discern faithfulness to a new calling. What a gift that I never am left in stagnancy!

Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave
Lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey (Steve Green)

Friday, October 05, 2007

We're So Happy


Today Nate and Isaac came home from college and vet school, respectively, for the Columbus Day weekend. We so much just enjoy being with each other and catching up on the news of the last many weeks that we have been apart. After dinner, we all squeezed on the couch for some relaxation and entertainment from the best of YouTube. Being together brings us so much contentment.

Thursday, October 04, 2007

The Common Cold

The autumn common cold season has befallen us. I have realized how unaccomodating the job of teaching is to suffering a voice deficiency. Especially unaccomodating is the common cold when it is the day of Open House and my mind wants my voice box to convey enthusiasm and excitement to parents that I may meet just this one day and my voice box only pleads for rest and silence.

Anyhow, for all the expressed discomforts and inconveniences of autumn colds, who can complain when the leaves on the trees are reaching the peak of their coloring? A stunning season in upon us now and the world appears absolutely glorious.

Wednesday, October 03, 2007

Psalm 4

Life is a journey of trust. Of all of the places that God leads us along that journey, He is so faithful to prove Himself completely and wholly worthy of our trust and complete confidence. I am so grateful.

You have filled my heart with greater joy
than when their grain and new wine abound.

I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.

Monday, October 01, 2007

Moms are the Best Invention Ever

Can I just say that my mom is incredible? Whenever I lose faith, she always maintains faith and prays during her waking hours and wakes up at night and prays more. When I think all is lost, she keeps on knocking on the doors of Heaven. (And in addition to all that, she somehow manages to keep ten people nourished and orderly.)

I'm sorry, Edison, but your lightbulb doesn't begin to compare to the invention of a mother.