RUNNING LIKE CRAZY!

I haven't had time to write today but God is good, He is in charge and I know it and plan to go home and love on my kids tonight!

God....why me for this job?

I have often wondered why me and more specifically why me in education and with teenagers? When I was in high school and then in college (up until my sophomore year), I always felt like the ugly duckling that could not craft a snappy come back if her life depended on it. I was frizzy headed and very introverted. It was not until my sophomore year at Trevecca that I realized I wasn't that bad and that with a little effort and laughter at myself, I could become more of a people person. So in that light... not being 'together' for very long..... what makes God so determined to put me in education (which I am good at but find draining and dull at times) and with teenagers who are all about 'cool'. I am really struggling with this in myself.



Throughout my years at Trevecca (on the PR team) and with teens most of the time (see God was at it then and I was oblivious) I always felt like the filler member. Let me explain! I wasn't talented like Andrea. I wasn't beautiful and athletic like Jenni. And I wasn't talkative and outgoing like Jana. So why? The same question I find today............I still found myself at church camps with teens for three long summers in PR. Then.....I found myself after college at a street school for high school teenagers who were drop outs. Then on to 2 years in full time youth ministry and now back at the street school for 4 year. AND TO BOOT.......NOW I AM PLANNING TO GET A MASTERS IN EDUCATION IN THE AREA OF AT RISK YOUTH! WWWHHAATTTTTTTTTTTTTT?



OK, take a deep breath and expound. Not to be dramatic but .....When I graduated from Trevecca I thougth medicine was the avenue to make an impact for Christ. I received my PA degree and was medicine bound but God is good to us in that He will accomplish His work through us dispite our misunderstanding of the goal. I am reminded of Moses (exodus 4:10) and how his immediate response to God's calling was, "Master, please, I don't talk well. I've never been good with words, neither before nor after you spoke to me. I stutter and stammer." I think I feel convicted now ;( IT SOUNDS JUST LIKE MY FIRST PARAGRAPH!!!!! Then it gets so intimate when God says to Moses......."I'll be right there with you as you speak!" How can it get any more reassuring than that.

"Father.......Help me accept how you have made me and rest in the confidence that you will 'be right there with me as I speak'. Help me cultivate that holy confidence and take that into my personal and professional life. "

I love my kids!

Recently my church has been doing a series on parenting and what that really means. The premise is that our children have three major relationship arenas that influence how they view God. I must admit I am so convicted about this topic!!!!!! It's not that I don't exhibit God infront of them or talk about God with them but I am not nearly as intentional as I should be in this regard. Taylor, my oldest, is 6 and is very sensitive to matters of the spiritual nature. (I think he has a pastorial calling on his life but I will let him figure that out.) I want to publically make a commitment to read with them out of the Bible at least 3 night a week. Now, I have always prayed with them before bed and now that there are 3 of them I think some corporate prayer is in order.

"Lord Jesus........I want my children to know You and be known by You! That is my prayer and now... this day.... I pray....God....continually stimulate my mind with ways to teach my angels about You and what it means to live this Holiness life in front of them. I am thankful for the child blessings you have given me in form of Taylor, Izzy and Ethan and pledge to you to bring them up to know You and be known by You."

Fish and birds!

When we look at students academically there are a lot of factors that play into how we operate in our classrooms and how we teach the knowledge they so need to learn. No child is the same in regards to how they learn. There are 9 learning profiles that I like to consider when creating lesson plans for my classes. All of my students have taken the CAPSOL Style of Learning Assessment and we as teachers are encouraged to review their score at the beginning of the year. I have grown to really rely on this assessment. The 9 learning profiles are Visual, Auditory, Bodily-Kinetic, Individual, Group, Oral Expressive, Written Expressive, Sequential and Global. In the interest of writing space I will not go into the definitions or descriptions of each. In my classes this information is invaluable to know how to write my lessons and what techniques I should use to convey the information they need to know.

In order to characterize my point I would like to offer an example. This year in my Anatomy/Physiology class I had a large percentage of written expressive students. When studying the topic of AIDS/HIV, I let them choose an issue relative to that topic. Then, I organized a contest where the best article got front page placement in our A/P Chronicle for the whole school to read. I also put a grade component behind it and they all received a test grade for their submissions. I observed that this really sparked the interest of all the students and gave students that are not traditional “note and test” students the opportunity to learn in a different fashion and practice another skill. Ignacio Estrada, author and educator recently wrote…… “If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.” This summarizes my approach to the responsibility as a teacher. This approach also gives me great assurance that I can teach a vast array of students not just those that excel at learning but those that are at risk and have educational difficulties.