I hope they eat my words

Have you seen this great website?  It’s called FreeRice and it features a vocabulary game in which your correct identification of a definition results in the donation of 20 grains of rice to the UN to eliminate world hunger. See what others have said about it here. But even better, go play! Go change the world one word at a time. 

My 9 year old is pretty furious right now. He wants to vote.

“I’m responsible and make good decisions!” he asserts, “So, why can’t I vote?”

In a country where voting is compulsory, I only wish the adult population felt the same way.  I need to find a way for a little man with a big social conscience to make a difference and be heard. Any ideas?

guess what guess what guess what guess what guess what guess what guess what !!!????

Tonight I began studying again!!!

Hehe!!!!

After lamenting the loss of study for nearly a year, I have decided to delve into the realms of discovery again! Oh how I love it!!!  Tonight I began studying a subject that will be credited towards my Masters of Christian Education and already I’m feeling indulged!

I’m soooooo excited!!!!

Life Coram Deo

This week I have been privileged to sit under the teaching of Michael Goheen from Trinity Western University, BC, Canada. If you have the opportunity to study under him do so! He has been speaking to us about the importance of Christian Education and teaching from the view of the gospel, working back to creation. One of the most poignant lessons for me has been in Mike’s challenge to abandon our often very deistic approach to life and education and become aware of living life before a God who saturates His creation with his presence, continually.

Mike’s teaching has been reinforced by many things – as well as the Bible – around me this week. For example, my oldest little man had a dream a few nights ago. In his dream, my little man says, “God came back to earth but he didn’t take us to heaven, he just made everything new.” Then, in his dream, he saw God’s arms stretched out in the corner of his bedroom. “Everywhere I went, mama, I could see God’s arms and I knew he was always with me,” explained my little man. I have to admit to being surprised at this dream. God has not ever revealed Himself to me in my dreams but the content of this dream is very Biblical and I am struck by what a beautiful gift and assurance it is to my son. God is good!

As I was sharing with my little man what I was learning at the conference, he said to me, “Mama, that’s like my dream. I know that God is in everything. He is everywhere and that’s what it meant when I could see God’s arms stretched out everywhere.”

My little man has a great awareness that God is present in His world, in His creation and he knows that God is actively involved in his life. I forget more easily. I often fall into the trap of thinking that, as Mike describes deism, God is like some master watchmaker who has created a grand work in such a way that it no longer needs his intervention to run. It can function independent of him. But the Bible paints a very different picture of God. He is not a creator who is removed from His creation. He is in it. He creates and sustains it by his word. He is actively involved in everything that happens. I need to remember this and live my life corum Deo! Before the face of God for His presence is everywhere.

Alliteration

Last term I was creating posters on figurative language to go on the walls of my classroom. In the middle of composing said posters at school I had to abandon my desk, probably to make an essential cup of tea or something. While I was away someone made a few alterations to one of my posters:

 

alliteration

al-lit’-er-a’-tion

 

 

 

Repeated consonant

sounds:

 

“Peter Piper liked to

peck and tickle lepers.”

 

Hmmmm.

There Are Too Many Chairs

The other night I went to a… actually, I’m not sure what you’d call it but it was a birthday for a magazine. An artsy event in which you stand in a mostly blank space amid piles of artistically placed newspapers, rub shoulders with artsy people and eat cheese by the wheel with big chunks of bread torn off freshly baked loaves while trying various wines,  scoring numerous freebies and generally congratulating editors etc on how fabulous their magazine is 12 issues in. At least, I think that’s what you’re supposed to do.

I was there with a couple of friends listening, looking and wondering what it all meant and as confessional presentations were given in the dark, I came to see that as well as being a celebration of the magazine, this was a celebration of philanthropy.  Many of the people speaking had given up their fancy pants jobs in fancy pants places where they earnt enough money to buy fancy pants so that they could make a difference to the world beyond. In the words of one of the speakers who was a furniture designer, he had come to realise that “the world really didn’t need another chair.” And you know what, it is true: there are already lots of chairs.