Living a bold life in a timid world

Last week I went to a memorial service for a wonderful woman in our church who was promoted to Glory after struggling with leukemia for several years. Although I could not help but let the tears well up in my eyes I knew that because of the way she lived her life, her Savior was pleased with her. The sanctuary was full of people whose lives she had touched. She didn't just go about her usual business as if her faith didn't matter. She was a prayer warrior, an encourager, and a woman of faith. She lived every day as though it was her last day to make an impact for the Lord. She wasn't complacent in her faith but wanted everyone she met to know about her Savior. What an encouragement to those of us watching! Lena "Lee" Moburg will be missed but we rejoice that she is now cancer free and singing praises face to face with her Lord. I hope and pray that I can be even just half the woman of God she was...

Planning on getting a substitute?

Teachers take heed...




-Leave a lesson plan written out for your sub. If we come in and you tell us the day's plans in the 2 minutes before we leave, chances are we WON'T remember it all and it will stress us out. We have enough stress coming into an unfamiliar class as it is!

- Leave instructions for how the discipline/positive reinforcement works. If we don't know how to get them motivated to work, chances are the day is going to be hectic because they already think they can get away with stuff when a sub is there.

-Is thee a penalty for going to the restroom/getting drink during class? LET US KNOW! You don't REALLY expect kids to be honest when there is no one to hold them accountable, do you? I know it's sad... but it's the truth.

-If the sub has a duty at the beginning or end of class, tell them what to do. It might sound silly but since we've never been teachers we have NO IDEA what bus duty or pick up duty means.

-Have paper in your class for the sub to write a note on at the end of the day that is bigger than a post-it. It takes a LOT of those things to tell you about the day.

-Put suggested time frames on your lesson plan for each subject. It helps us pace so things get done. Don't just assume we know how to cram all the stuff in before lunch. Which reminds me... don't forget to tell us when lunch is!

- name tags and/or a seating chart is helpful

-Organized clutter (emphasis on the organized)


doing these things will make the sub less stressed out about being in your room, helps the students respect him or her, and makes the day run smoother. Subbing is not an ideal job for most. Sure it's a one-day thing with no committment after the bell rings, but it also leads to stress and frustration when the kids are unfamiliar, the supplies are nowhere to be found, and the discipline is lacking. We are helping you out by being there... a little help from you would be nice

quiz

I took this quiz just for fun but the results were pretty funnny... check it out!

Long-term job

Last week I was given a substituting job at the school conveniently down the street from where I live. While I was on lunch break, I ran into a teacher I know from church. She is a few months pregnant and is looking for a long-term substitute for her class starting in January. She asked if I would be interested in taking over her first grade class! I am so excited! Not only does long-term pay really well, it also is a chance for the principal to see my teaching abilities. Several people have gotten permanant teaching jobs because they worked their way up from short term to long term subbing and the principal really liked them. I am hoping and praying that everything works out. I am so thankful that this opportunity has come up. God definately knows what He is doing!

5;30 a.m. calls...

I am thoroughly enjoying the chance to substitute teach. It has given me a the chance to work with different ages at different schools. I have now been in classes from kindergarden (So exhausting!!) to 4th grade. It's been interesting to go into a classroom where you don't know the kids or how the rules are set up and try to be in charge. Some teachers leave great plans for me, which is SUPER helpful in making the day go smoothly. Others, however, not so much. Last week, I walked into a classroom where the teacher had left the day's schedule for me but no plans. I was stuck with two kindergarden classes during E.L. time with NOTHING TO DO!! Thank God for partner teachers!
The best class I have had so far was a 4th grade at Orange Elementary school. They were well behaved and actually helpful. I could ask them how their teacher wouild do something and they told me exactly how she did it. It was great! I also enjoyed the fact that they were able to work independently. (none of this "can you tie my shoe? can you wipe my nose?" stuff!!) I was supposed to sub for them again this morning... but things didn't exactly turn out.
(5:30 a.m this morning) ~RIING RIING~ I pick up my cell phone from the table next to my bed. I have to sleep with my phone always on now because who KNOWS what time the sub people will be calling... Yep it's them again. Well at least I have another day of work! It's a half-day job in the morning for the forementioned 4th grade class. Sure, I'll take it, they were good. I have to be at the school at 8:15 and will be done around noon. Sweet, I can sleep a little bit before I absolutely have to get ready...
(Somewhere around 6:30 am)~RIIING~ oh MAN! I JUST got back to sleep... The sub desk again... instead of a morning job they need me in the afternoon. Well that's fine. I don't have to be there until 11:30 so I can sleep longer. I rolled over and went back to sleep.
(What seemed like a matter of minutes although it was really a little after 9a.m) ~RIIIIIIIINNNNNGGGGG~ NOW what?!?! "Hello?" Oh, I guess they don't need you today after all... sorry about that. So you're telling me that I was woken up 3 seperate times between the hours of 5:30 and 9 in the morning and I STILL have no job? wonderful! These early morning calls are starting to get on my nerves. PLEASE let me find a real job soon!!

We Remember

Today marks the 6th year anniversary of the September 11th attack which occured in 2001. Thinking back on that horrific day, I cannot believe it has been so long. I remember the day like it was just last week. I woke up that morning in my comfortable house in California, about to begin another day of school. I turned on the radio to listen to music as I often did as I got ready. The radio DJ was saying something about a plane hitting a building in New York, but they always play phone pranks on that station. I turned to another station just to be sure. Again, they were talking about it! I ran into the bonus room of our house and flipped on the television. Every channel was saying the same thing. A plane had been hijacked by terrorists and hit the World Trade Center in New York! I was in complete disbelief. This stuff doesn't happen... not here... not to us! We weren't at war. We were living our ordinary lives, going about the usual buisiness. I ran to get my mother and tell her the news. We ran back to the t.v. together to watch the coverage. Minutes later, the terrible news emerged that another plane had crashed into the buildings! Would this horror never end?! It seemed the whole world was going to end at that very moment. The pain people felt and the cries of terror and grief seemed to reach across the world. Firefighters, police officers, and civillians alike banned together as a human race to reach out and help in anyway they could. There was no distinction between race, gender, or beliefs. Everyone was simple a human being in need of comfort. An amazing swell of patriotizm arose in the nation. People wept when the National Anthem was played, it seemed even those who had forgotten God were turning to Him for comfort and understanding. It was like the country was waking up after a great slumber.
I look back and see this time that was terrible because of the lives lost and the pain suffered, but wonderfully patriotic. Although I knew that sense of patriotism would fade over time I wonder if people forget about the day for 364 days of the year and remember only on the anniversary. And will that eventually fade until we no longer remember at all? Was the time of turning to God only limited to times of tragedy? Will our Nation ever realize the need for the Savior who came and bled for them, or will it take another terrible occurance to turn them to Him? I hope that this is not the case. I hope we will remember...




"Ah! What a sign it is of evil life, when death's approach is seen so terrible!" ~William Shakespear~









"Men's evil manners live in brass; their virtues we write in water." ~William Shakespear~












"The heart bowed down by weight of woe to weakest hope will cling" ~Alfred Bunn~










The following is a song that I sang with my college choir right before the September 11 attack. We visited Ground Zero the summer of 2001 and there was a wall where we could write messages to families who had lost loved ones. I don't know if the wall is still there or if they painted over it during the construction... but these are the words I wrote:


O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee; I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

http://911.navexpress.com/blackday.gif

"I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance"

I have been thinking lately about my level of contentment. I find myself saying "If only I had that job" or "if I could just have a boyfriend" or "a little more money please"... then I would be truly happy and content. THEN I would be okay with where I was in life and what God was doing. I mean... I know God has everything figured out for my life and knows what is best, but couldn't he just give me a FEW more good things?
Then I started to think about Paul's writtings in the New Testament book of Phillippians chapeter 4 verses 11-13. Let me inturrupt myself for a moment. This is probably one of the MOST misused verse in the Bible. People take this verse out of context to make it mean that when they are going through a difficult time such as the passing of a family member or sickness or losing a job, they say "yeah well it'll be okay because I have learned to be content in any situation. I can do ANYTHING through Christ. I will get my dream job because I believe in God." This is NOT what that verse means. Paul was saying that even though he had been imprisioned for his faith, lacked the very substance he needed to live, he knew that God was in control. Please do not be the kind of person that takes Scripture and bends it to fit what YOU want it to mean. The Word of God is not here to make you feel better about yourself or your sin. It is not a self-help book or a way to make you love yourself more. It is a way for God to speak to your heart, show you (and me) the sin in our lives, and bring us to repentence. We do not bring meaning to the Bible; rather IT brings meaning to US.
ok... that was my soap box for the evening. So, having said all of that, why do I bring this verse up? I am not being persecuted for my faith in any way. And that is just my point. This verse has helped me put into perspective my so-called "trials" or hardships in life. So often (especially in the area of contentment) I find myself thinking that just having that one thing would make me content. Yet I look at people like Paul in the Bible, like Jonathan Edwards and Jim Elliot, like the people in India and around the world being persecuted for their faith-- all of these people did great things for the Lord with what they had. They did not sit around and wait for that one thing that would make life so much easier or better. They realized that God had blessed them already, and they were responsible to use that for His glory.
I want to be the kind of Christian that, instead of waiting around for the Lord to give me that dream job or enough money or whatever else before I start to work for His glory, to use what he HAS given me right now. I may not be at the job I want to be at for the rest of my life, but I am still in a position where I come into contact with unbelievers and I can have an impact on them for the Kingdom.
What are you doing right now, where you are, with what you have? Are you sitting around waiting for that perfect opportunity to come along before you make an impact for Christ? The world is dying and so many Christians are sitting around with the cure to this awful disease called sin in their pockets. We ought to be living every minute of every day with the mindset of being surrounded by walking dead. Without a relationship with Christ, your family, friends, co-workers, bosses, and neighbors are bound for eternal seperation from God. Be content with what God has given you right now, today and use it share the Good News with the walking dead you come into contact with every day.

HOTT

I cannot beleive how icredibly HOTT it is here!! However, warmish as it is... there was rain and thunder and lighting last night/this morning! I felt like I was living somewhere in the deep south... I'm SOO ready for winter!

I got yet ANOTHER substitute job today... half-day in a first grade. The nice thing was that the school is litterally RIGHT around the corner from where I live. Very convenient for walking if it weren't so HOTTT!!!!! I am excited at the prospect of being paid in a few weeks.

This weekend is a WONDERFUL 4 day weekend. What plans might I have you ask?? Tonight... dinner and a movie... tomorrow night: starbucks (aka Scubrats) and a movie in the theaters with the "GAP", Saturday: hanging with Luke and his folks who are visiting from Norcal. Sunday-- CHURCH, Monday-- Balboa?

Phew-- Hopefully there will be sleep and relaxing in there somewhere too. At some point I would like to see "Hairspray" using the free ticket I earned with my Regal Crown card (if someone would go with me- cough cough CARRIE!)

until I blog again... umm.. HASTA LA VISTA BABY! (cuz' "I'm a COP you IDOT!")

Work...FINALLY!!

Yes I realize that I am posting at the RIDICULOUS hour of 7:30 in the morning but that is only because I'm too excited to go back to sleep. Let me start at the beginning. (A very good place to start!) A few days ago I got a phone call on my cell at 7am to be a substitute teacher that day. Unfortunately, my phone was off :( I was bummed that I missed the call because 1) I could use the money and 2) because they go down the list alphabetically so who knows when they will get back to my name. Now for the good news: I recieved a call again THIS morning (at the ungodly hour of 6:30am!) to be a half-day sub for a 2nd grade class located less than 10 minutes away! Although it's only a half day thing (which pays less) I'm still excited because it means that they are in great need of subs since they got back to me so quickly, and I will be paid like $50 to go in for a few hours and have no papers to grade when I'm done! Don't get me wrong, I am still hoping for a permanant teaching position (and man is it ever hard to be patient!) but at least this will give me a job in the mean-time.
I guess since the idea of going back to sleep for a few more hours is out of the question I should pick out what to wear for my first day!! Wish me luck! (ok I know we don't believe in luck, but it's better than saying "wish me Providence...") ;)

Pictures as promised...

Here are some pictures of India I promised to post... ENJOY!



Our team consisted of: (from left to right) Joyti, Hal, Timothy, Julie, Gerry, Debbie, and myself (not pictured)








One of the kids that hung out around school was Zion. His parents work in administration. He and his younger brother could often be seen riding their tricycles or playing with the "big kids". They thrived on the attention. Zion especially liked wearing my cool sunglasses while riding out in that hot India sun.



On the last Friday we were in Bangalore, the students performed some skits and songs as a farewell gift. This skit involved blindfolds, poles, and students who thought they were going over and underneath them. It was very entertaining!





The Spiritual warefare here was made very apparent. One could not travel anywhere without seeing some idol set up for people to bow down to. This picture was taken behind one of the restaurants at which we ate.




Every few hundred feet there was another temple, decorated on the outside with the many different gods and godesses they worship. It was sad to see the open idol worship there. It also made me remember that although idol worship is not openly seen here in America in the form of statues people bow down to, it still happens in the heart.




I have never eaten so much as I did these three weeks! I learned that when it comes to food, saying you are full is not enough. Our hostess, Lakshmama, fed us until we thought we would burst! I was so overwhelmed (in a good sense) by the hospitality that the people there showed us.




The men of our team posing for one of SEVERAL pictures with students... we felt like movie stars!





On one of our days off we visited what used to be the King's palace. It was gorgeous inside, but of course cameras weren't allowed so you all will have to settle for a view of the outside.





Oh the crazy, crazy streets of India...where left is right and right is wrong (unless, of course, you are eating!) I have so many stories of traffic and traveling that will have to wait until told in person but let's suffice it to say my prayer life has never been so strengthened as it was when I was riding in an auto rickshaw!




I cannot believe how much I will miss these students! I think about them and pray for them often. Their faith costs them much, but they have such a joy. Their faith has been such an encouragement to me.