A Puritan Prayer:
Let me learn by paradox that the way down is up. That to be low is to be high. That the broken heart is the healed heart. That the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit. That the repenting soul is the victorious soul. That to have nothing is to possess all. That to bear the cross is to wear the crown. That to give is to receive. That the valley is the place of vision.
We had a lot of fun at our good friends Kristen and Joel’s wedding back in September. It was even more fun because Jon and I were both in the wedding party. It was weird and new to experience a wedding “together” but with no stresses or worries. We definitely had a lot of fun, and their photographer Melissa Chapman was amazing. These are just a couple pictures I took throughout the night
I have received several comments about my post called Scientific Truth. I really appreciate them actually, even though the writers don’t agree with what I am saying. I can understand why some people may be upset about what I have written. In this post I am going to try and explain a little more about where I am coming from on the topic of Scientific Truth.
First of all, I have chosen to be a believer in Jesus. I believe he came to earth, lived as a man, died on the cross and rose again, justifying us before God. I also believe that the Bible is complete truth and it points us to Jesus. Now with that understood you can clearly see where I stand spiritually and maybe listen to where I am coming from. When I previously mentioned that there is no standard to measure scientific truth with, I mean that there is no “absolutely correct textbook” that has all of the correct answers in it that you can compare experiments and evidence against. For example, scientists were sure the earth was flat, but it turned out to be round. People thought the earth was the centre of the universe, but the centre ended up being the sun, chemists thought they knew all the elements of the periodic table, but there were more. Scientific “truths” continue to change and our knowledge increases, but we can base our ideas only on other ideas, not some textbook of absolute scientific truth. I believe that the Bible is in fact God’s absolute truth and we can base our ideas of the world from that.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to argue creationism and evolution right now on the blog. I know where I stand, and I know where other people stand. Both Creationism and Evolution need faith to believe. Both are theories and I do believe that neither can be proved 100% true (hence they are theories). This is why I wanted to let people know that we need to question scientific truth.
Now as a response to the suggestions that I shouldn’t be teaching, I strongly disagree. I have a desire for my students to be life long learners, and I plan on teaching children so they can grow to become that. I want to teach my children both evolution and creation so that they can understand from early on that there are critical ways of looking at things, not just from the standard point of evolution is correct. I don’t want them to just listen to what I say and take it all, I want them to study themselves and seek out their own answers. Someone wrote a response to my “Kindergarten” post that said “Do you actually believe that Kindergarten to grade 3 students can make a reasonable distinction between actual science and creation ’science’?” and my answer to that is HECK YES! I think that children are some of the only people who can really be objective because they have not had their whole lives to develop their biases. I will never underestimate the students I work with, and I am excited to teach them all subjects, including science.
Some resources that might help you understand the point I am coming from are below. They do a much better job at explaining things than I do, and I encourage you to take a look at them. And again, feel free to comment… I really do appreciate them.
The book The Limitations of Scientific Truth
Magazine Answers in Genesis
The book Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
So, it’s the third week of school and I feel more stressed out now then I did the 8th week of school last semester… right before finals. I feel like the class work is piling up wih no end in sight. Also, I feel like some of the professors don’t really understand how much work they are really piling on when they give 3 chapters to read by next class which is two days later. How do I deal? I am trying to take things one thing at a time, but even that can be overwhelming. I find it hard to focus on the children, and the reason I am teaching when I have group work and assignments piled up to the ceiling. Anyways, I better get back to homework…
Suicide, rape, drugs, alcohol, sex. These are normal words now a days. WHY?!? What kind of impact to we as teachers, youth leaders, parents and friends have on the teenagers we are in contact with? Sometimes I feel like no matter how much we care for them, or instruct them, or warn them, they still fall into trouble. When we send kids to high school, we are sometimes sending them into a waiting death trap. There is so much crap in high schools these days it makes me sick. It breaks my heart to know that beautiful young teenage girls can get walked all over by high school guys who think they have the right to do whatever they want. It makes me sick that rape is more common than we think. It makes me sick that drugs and alcohol are the NORM in high schools today. It makes me sick that majority of high schools kids can probably name one person they know who has been killed before the time they reach age 20.
Where have we gone so wrong? What can we do to fix any of this? The cheerleaders I coach, the youth group girls I work with all face the same issues… self confidence, pressures of sex, the pressure to drink. Don’t get me wrong, these were all issues I faced in high school as well, but why do they seem to be so much harder to overcome now then they were even 5 years ago?
I want teen girls to know that they are SO valuable. I want them to know that they are made in the image of God and that they are worth something! I want them to know that they don’t have to be physical with guys to be accepted. I want them to know that the way they live their life can make them unique… NOT the crazy shirt they wear to try and make a statement.
I am going to try and be an example to the teen girls I come in contact with and I pray that God will do a mighty work in high school girl’s lives.
Why is it that when I’m at work I am more hungry then when I’m at school or home. (A side note, I also sneeze more at work then anywhere else but I’m going to stick to talking about hunger.) I sit at a desk everyday and work on the computer and walk back and forth to a literature room… but is that really enough over-exertion that I am constantly hungry? I’m also really bad for walking to the lunch room and buying M&M peanuts from the little 25 cent vending machine. What is it about work that makes you hungry?!? It might be that people are so bored all they can think about is how hungry they are, or maybe there’s something in the air that does truly make you hungry. I know physical activity can make you hungry but can mental activity make you hungry? Maybe it’s all the thinking involved with a desk job. (You can read that sentence as sarcastic or literal. Make it fit you and your job.)
I have also noticed that it’s sometimes hard to eat healthy meals while at work. The people at my office go out to eat a lot. My boss is awesome for that because she puts our meal on the company credit card, but it sure makes it hard to eat healthy when you could have a free lunch. The other problem is that I only take a half hour for lunch, and I go home, so I gotta have something quick. Then when I come back to work I’m usually still hungry and it becomes a viscious cycle. If anyone else has this problem or even better, has a solution… let me know!
This week has been crazy. There’s only 4 days left until the wedding, and it’s busy busy. This week I have really begun to appreciate how God sometimes brings together husbands and wives who are completely different for good reason. As I have been “emotionaly unstable” this week, I have begun to see how Jon is and will continue to be my stability in times of need. Obviously I look to Jesus in these times for His complete strength, but God has used Jon as a blessing in my life. He has been the one beside me telling me that everything is going to be ok and that I don’t need to worry. He is the one that has brought me down to earth when I freak out thinking my life is falling apart.
Though there is so much wedding stress, I have learned to let it go and know that by the end of the day on Saturday, I am going to be married and that’s all that matters. The little things like reception decorations and flower details fall way behind in the light of the joy that will be evident on May 10th. God has brought Jon and I together and let no man (or decoration) separate us from that love. I am very excited for Saturday and I can’t wait to walk down the aisle into the arms of the one I love.
About a month ago, I found out that I need to take summer classes this summer. If I want to be able to take my third year classes this fall, I need to take at least two classes this summer. So that’s what I am doing. Now the job problem awaits. I don’t know what to do. I will have 1 class all of June, and then another class all through July and August. This fall and winter, I have taught piano lessons for that little bit of extra income. But piano lessons are just about done! Now what?
My priority this summer is spending time with my “new husband.” He works during the day, and I will be taking classes for half the day. Now here are my options
1) I go to school in the morning for half the day. I do homework in the afternoons and then my nights are free to hang out with Jon. + I get lots of Jon time – We only have his income
2) I go to school in the morning, work the afternoons at some part time job, then have nights to do homework and spend time with Jon. + We will have a little extra income – Either I will not get a lot of homework done, or I will not get a lot of time to spend with Jon
3) Go to school in the morning, do homework in the afternoons and then work a night time serving job at a restaraunt or something. +We will have quite a bit extra income due to better tips (supper hours) – Will not get hardly any time to spend with Jon
You would think that it’s an easy choice. Devote the first 4 months of your marriage to your new husband, and take the cut in the income for a couple months. But my only problem with this is that I have never been not busy. If this is the path I choose to take, I don’t know what I am going to do with myself for all day. I think I might just go crazy.
So for anyone who is reading this, I would love for you to comment and tell me what option you think I should do. It’s kind of like a survey I guess!
-danielle
