August 31: The start of an adventure

“Before you came along, we Bagginses were very well thought of.”
“Indeed?”
“Never had any adventures or did anything unexpected.”
“If you’re referring to the incident with the Dragon, I was barely involved. All I did was give your uncle a little nudge out of the door.”

– Frodo Baggins and Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings

Ten years ago today, I was a college junior on a plane heading across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe with a class of Cedarville students and our two Biblical Archaeology professors.  I was excited, nervous, and tired all at once.  I wasn’t the sort of person who went on trips like this, I thought.  I found it intimidating just trying to cross the street in tiny Cedarville, Ohio.  Whenever I could, I drove home to my parents’ house for the weekend.  So how did I end up setting off on a two-week tour of another continent?

It started with a course I took my sophomore year about the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  We studied the organization and major themes of these books as we also learned about their historical and cultural background– the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt.  What made the class special was our professor, Dr. B., who taught with great enthusiasm for the subject matter.  He summarized the prevailing opinions of scholars, along with his own theories on questions like which Pharaoh was the ruler of Egypt during Moses’ time.

It was a demanding course– struggling with the final essay had me in tears at one point– but there were two things about it that I really liked.  One was our weekend field trip to visit the museum at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.  Both museums had 4000-year-old artifacts from the civilizations we had been learning about.  One of the students would ask Dr. B. a question about one of the artifacts, and as he answered it, a small crowd would form.  Before long, we had a large group of people following us, but Dr. B. wasn’t fazed at all.

Being from the New Jersey area himself, Dr. B. seemed at home in a city environment where a little boldness is necessary in order to be noticed.  He made sure we saw all of the major New York landmarks, taking us on a ferry ride and eating at a little restaurant that specialized in New York-style cheesecake.  I decided to be “bold” myself and order a slice, even though I was pretty sure I wouldn’t like it, since I didn’t like cheese.  It turned out to be one of the best desserts I’d ever had.

I also found that even though I didn’t know what to do with free time, most of my classmates did, and it was a lot of fun following them, listening to what they talked about, and laughing with them.

The second thing I really enjoyed about the Pentateuch class was working on a Powerpoint presentation for a group project.  I hated written assignments, but this was different.  I found myself pouring a lot of work into making a set of timelines showing the reigns of various rulers and the rise and fall of civilizations.  I could plan out every aspect of the graphic:  One pixel horizontally represented one year.  I used different color combinations for the different civilizations– sandy yellow for Egypt, clay red for Mesopotamia, blue for Israel that matched the color of their present-day flag.  It was more work than I needed to do for the assignment, but it didn’t feel like work.

So, anyway, I finished the Pentateuch course and went on with school as normal.  Then one day I saw an e-mail announcement about a spring course in Biblical Archaeology taught by Dr. B. along with a New Testament professor, Dr. H.  This course would focus on the historical and archaeological record for the entire Bible, and it would include a repeat of the New York trip from the Pentateuch class.  But the big deal was that it led into a trip to Europe at the end of the summer to visit museums in London, Paris, Berlin, and Rome!

My initial reaction was “That sounds neat, but I don’t think it’s for me.”  Two weeks was a long time to spend so far away from home.  What if I hated it?  The trip wasn’t cheap, and it would be a waste if I didn’t enjoy it.  I never did things like this, but for some reason, I printed out the e-mail and showed it to my mother.  She told me that it sounded like the opportunity of a lifetime, and if I had any interest at all in going, I should consider it.

The deadline for signing up for the trip came and went, and I was fine with that.  Other people went on this sort of trip, not me.  And that seemed like the end of the story until Dr. B. called me to his office.

“Nathan,” he said, “why didn’t you sign up for the Biblical Archaeology trip?”  I told him I just wasn’t sure I wanted to go.  He told me that he didn’t want affordability to be the reason I couldn’t go, because he had a job for me that would allow me to come along as a teacher’s assistant.  He told me that he was really impressed with the PowerPoint presentation I had done for the Pentateuch class, and he wanted me to help him put together the PowerPoint files for the new Biblical Archaeology course.  He also wanted someone to come along on the trip to take digital photos of the artifacts in the museums so that they could be incorporated into the course material.  I could do that instead of the paper the students would have to write on the trip, he said.

With an invitation like that, how could I say no?  Some people talk about God “opening a door” for them to make a decision– well, this seemed to qualify if anything did.  I decided to be bold again and give it a try.

So that’s how I ended up meeting the rest of my classmates (about forty in all) in a Cedarville parking lot in the very early morning on August 31, 2001.  We sleepily rode the bus to the Columbus airport, caught a connecting flight to Newark, New Jersey, and finally took off for Heathrow Airport in London.

At the time, all I could think about was how good it would feel to get home after it was all done.  And it was!  But I’m also glad I had the experience.

If this sounds interesting, be sure to check back here tomorrow; I’m planning to add a new post every day about my memories from each day of the trip!

http://landofmysojourn.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/august-31-the-start-of-an-adventure/

Back-To-School Tip #1 - Time to Connect with the School

The back-to-school night gives you the opportunity to tour the school, see your child’s classroom, and meet teachers and classmates. When you attend events like this, it fosters an added level of security and assurance in your child. The first day of school does not tend to be as overwhelming for students who attend this event.

Actually, there will be many opportunities during the school year to attend programs and help in the classroom. While we do not have a required parental work program at Heritage, it is always a great blessing when parents volunteer their time.

http://heritageantioch.com/2011/08/31/back-to-school-tip-1-time-to-connect-with-the-school/

Back to School Night Meeting for 6-12th Grade

If you missed the back-to-school night meeting for the 6-12th grade, please listen to the talk Pastor Oesterwind gave last night. There will be a form to sign acknowledging that you heard this message.

http://heritageantioch.com/2011/08/31/back-to-school-night-meeting-for-6-12th-grade-students-and-parents/

Christian teachers: Required to model a Christian lifestyle?

The decision of Happy Time Daycare and Preschool, a daycare in Waukee, Iowa requiring its teachers to abide to a new agreement resulted into a local controversy, Eryn Sun of Christian Post reports. Some receive the change positively seeing it as part of the daycare’s mission to enhance the spiritual and academic experience of the children. Others are unhappy about this change.

The new agreement includes questions about faith, spiritual gifts, and evangelism and highlights the importance of maintaining a Christian lifestyle:

“Point of Grace Children’s Academy requires every employee accept and follow a lifestyle commitment based upon Biblical principles. As a Christian School representing Jesus Christ in our community, we require employees to be born-again Christians and to live their lives as Christian role models.”

You can read more about this story at The Christian Post.

http://myportfoliorzc.wordpress.com/2011/08/29/christian-teachers-required-to-model-a-christian-lifestyle/

Why poor kids fail in school and how Christians respond: a random sidetrack

As you know, at The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club we work with low-income (“at-risk”) children to help them succeed in life. And since I read a lot about learning, I could not resist sharing a couple of items I found today:

First, from 30-year-old Harvard economics professor Roland G. Fryer and the Education Innovation Lab there: It turns out that poor kids are susceptible to “bribes” for academic success. Just like middle class kids. Imagine that. Read all about it in Time magazine. The amazing thing is it costs way less to incentivize kids to succeed than to focus on the preschools for the birth-to-5 window, to transform communities into “pipelines for success”, or whatever the latest trendy strategy may be. Read more

Students ‘Fess Up To Teacher 15 Years Later

Summer re-runs; what can I say? But a great link list tomorrow, I promise!

A decade and a half ago I was just finishing a one-year part-time contract at the local Christian school, teaching Bible, art, music, language and spelling.

Split grade seven and eight spelling to be precise. A weekly list. A weekly test. The one piece of the job I could farm out to my wife, whose spelling is dead-on accurate. (And proofreading, if you have anything that needs doing.)

This morning we visited the church where, at the time, half of the students in the Christian school attended; and one of them, who was not in my class, informed me that both my wife and I had been had.

Turns out, if they didn’t know how to spell a word, they would simply write down some other correctly spelled word. My wife would mark the word as correct, never suspecting that they were up to something. (And not noticing the variation in words, since she was doing two grades at once.)

Isn’t church like that. We give right answers, not so much to direct questions, but insofar as we say the right things and use the right words and phrases. Even if we’re giving the answer to a question that’s not being asked. (“It sure sounds like a “squirrel” but I think I’m supposed to say “Jesus.” *)

As long as we’re providing responses that are not stained by the messiness of misspellings, we’re given the proverbial red check mark by our church peers. Nobody ever suspects the possibility that they are being had.

We’ve lost the ability to say, “I’m not sure;” or “I don’t know;” or “That’s an issue I’m wrestling with in my own spiritual life.” We’re too proud to say, when we don’t know a particular ‘word,’ something like, “That’s a part of the Bible I’ve never studied;” or “That’s an area of theology I’ve never considered;” or “That’s a particular spiritual discipline that isn’t part of my personal experience.”

So we just give the so-called “right” answers that will get us by. Or we change the subject. Or we say something incredibly complex that has an air of depth to it.

Today I read an article in a newspaper, The Christian Courier which quotes Rob Bell as saying, in reference to his church and preaching style, “…We want to embrace mystery rather than conquer it.” In many churches they want the latter. And if someone does “conquer” all things spiritual, we give them some letters after their name which mean Master of Theology, or Master of Divinity.

Years ago, when our youngest son didn’t know the answer to a question I would ask at our family Bible study, he would just say, “Love?” It was a good guess. (One night it was the right answer.) He figured he couldn’t go wrong with “Love” as the possible answer, though he always raised his voice at the end admitting he wasn’t quite sure.

Well guess what? I haven’t mastered it. I’m working on it. I don’t know.

And I have one more thing to say to all of you: Love?

* One Sunday a pastor was using squirrels for an object lesson for the children. He started, “I’m going to describe something, and I want you to raise your hand when you know what it is.” The children nodded eagerly.

“This thing lives in trees (pause) and eats nuts (pause)…” No hands went up. “And it is gray (pause) and has a long bushy tail (pause)…” The children were looking at each other nervously, but still no hands raised. “It jumps from branch to branch (pause) and chatters and flips its tail when it’s excited (pause)…”

Finally one little boy tentatively raised his hand. The pastor quickly called on him. “Well,” said the boy, “I know the answer must be ‘Jesus’ … but it sure sounds like a squirrel!”

http://paulwilkinson.wordpress.com/2011/08/23/students-fess-up-to-teacher-15-years-later/

Words Left Unsaid: Why I’ll Never Regret my Christian Education

It was Christian School night at Grace Baptist Church and my first Sunday as an actual employee of H

http://idlethoughtsblog.wordpress.com/2011/08/21/words-left-unsaid-why-ill-never-regret-my-christian-education/

Getting To Know…Oakland Christian School - @OCSchool

Today’s Getting To Know isn’t a person but a place.  Take a look at the video below…

We’ve been sending our kids to Oakland Christian School since Gina (my oldest) was in pre-school.  This place has been such a blessing to our family and to the many others that attend there.  The school has gone through some changes over the last year and I hope everyone is better for it.  As a new school year is now upon us and I know that my kids will benefit from God’s blessing us with the financial means to send them there.  If you want to learn more about OCS, you can check out their website.  There are 2 campuses, Auburn Hills, MI and Clarkston, MI.  You can also follow their twitter stream too!

Happy Friday folks.  Here’s Getting To Know…Oakland Christian School

http://patrickreyes.net/2011/08/19/getting-to-know-oakland-christian-school-ocschool/

August 17, 2011

Is it just me or is this messed up?

This is not cute, this is very unsettling.

http://freesundays.org/2011/08/17/august-17-2011/

Godly mindfulness

Mindfulness has become a popular topic these days.  I hear many people recommend it, from friends to talk show guests.   As being understood today, it comes out of the Buddhist tradition and, according to Wikipedia, can be defined as :  an attentive awareness of the reality of things (especially of the present moment) .  Even before I knew that it was part of the Buddhist tradition, I found that I enjoyed practising it.  For me it has meant attending closely to the task of the moment.  Pushing everything else out of my  mind, and concentrating fully on whatever is in front of me.   Losing myself in the task, without losing awareness of the larger field of vision.   I think in the more recent Western tradition, this has been the role of a hobby.  Something to distract your thoughts from the worries of the day.   I know that for me,when I am in the woodshop, time stops.

These last few weeks, I have been reading parts from the Bible book of Matthew, chapters 5, 6 or 7.  Traditionally, these chapters have been known as the Sermon on the Mount.   Jesus said that if you build your life on these words, it is like building on solid rock and you will be able to survive the storms of life.

These last few weeks, coincidentally have been very stormy with many problems popping up at work related to lining up all of the resources we need to serve a growing school population.  My hobbies have helped as I have been restoring antique clocks.  But then I re-read Matthew chapter 6 verse 34 in the paraphrase called the Message. ” Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow.  God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.”

Sounds like a variation on mindfulness –  “Give your entire attention to ….” but instead of “to what you are doing right now,” it continues “to what God is doing right now.”  So I guess we could call it “Godly  mindfulness!”

And it really has been a big help. I could get lost in the details of whether or not we can get the schedules done to suit everyone, or of whether or not the parents will approve of their children’s class placements, or of whether or not the portables will arrive on time, or whether or not we can get hydro connected to the portables.  Details, details, details.

What is God doing right now? He is restoring this planet and its inhabitants to their intended purpose as respondents to His love and attention.   Structures for accomplishing his purpose include the family, the church and the school.  Since He is doing this big thing right now, and is moving the Christian school forward, why should I get worried about the details?  I have to do my job as a Christian school administrator, but I have to do it while being mindful of what God is doing right now.  Being mindful of what God is doing right now both fuels and filters my actions and decisions.

Godly mindfulness! try it!

http://newatgccs.wordpress.com/2011/08/13/godly-mindfulness/

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