This is Bonnie speaking: So today was a crappy day. Clipped my new car (just got it last month) on a brick ledge (door is slightly bent in, and white gash), didn't do so well teaching the kids (forgot they read the article already and I told them we were gong to "finish it), got reassigned in a job im doing (and i was so excited to do the other job too), was bombarded with thoughts of past relationships gone sour, drank some juice in the fridge (it tasted weird but exp. date was 4/09/09) and know it was bad juice bc now I can't concentrate on lesson planning due to nausea...
Im thinking.. in light of my last post on my blog.. and Pastor Adam's sermon.. when crappy things happen..
God, how can you be glorified in all this? God, you can make even the most crappiest of situation an opportunity to say " I am so blessed. I have so much. I am thankful."
And it's true. I feel so entitled to so much. Entitlement is America's plight! I am entitled to anything, yet I have so much--I have a car, I'm going to a school to teach at with a friend as my guiding teacher (and I go in at 1pm everyday while everyone goes in at 8am), I get to participate in the event (and get in for free), I've had a chance to love, to be loved, and to learn about my character, and I can always remember not to drink weird tasting juice (and buy good juice asap!).
Thank you Jesus. You will turn my mourning into dancing. You will show me how powerful you are in light of these "inconveniences".
Every thought turns into an action. Be wary of how long we want to deal on thoughts of defeat or condemnation.
I rebuke that in Jesus' name!
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Friday, November 28, 2008
Walking Liberated
Almost everyday I find myself battling this anxiety within. I realized recently, that I'm am more of a controlling perfectionist than I would admit, and always am striving to be the best at anything and everything. And when I finally come to a point of exhaustion, confusion, and wondering why I feel this was, a gentle nudging from my God reminds me to be at peace. I'm reminded that I will never be the best, never be the most creative / talented / smartest / powerful / influential / prettiest / funniest / wittiest / __________ in this lifetime. And God is teaching me to "let go" of all that gets in the way of proclaiming his goodness for my life. All these attributes, when it comes down to it, springs from insecurity, jealously, and a lust for the things of this world. It's brilliant how Jesus knew this. He reminds us to "take up the cross and follow me". What seems like pain and persecution is only a bridge way to seeing God work through the circumstances. That is true freedom. There is healing for the brokenhearted, hope for the hungry, the confused, the depressed. John knew this:
15 Don't love the world and what it offers. Those who love the world don't have the Father's love in them. 16 Not everything that the world offers-physical gratification, greed, and extravagant lifestyles-comes from the Father. It comes from the world, and 17 the world and its evil desires are passing away. But the person who does what God wants lives forever. (1 John 2:16).
I'll admit. Conflict arises in my mind. I attend an institution that spews out humanistic / post modern / relative ideologies. I am tempted to compromise my beliefs because what others say seem to make sense or I don't want to offend opinions. It's not easy being in a relationship with a person (Jesus) and people hating your lover. I speak about Jesus because I know He loves me and I love Him. I speak about Him because He rescued me from so much torment, how can I not share my experience? But at times, I am conflicted. I feel very alone in my views, in my passion for Him. Then, come the moments where God shows me up. He shows me how one verse in His word is truth again.
At school, I learn about great educators, and what types of theories work. Funny enough, great educational reformers like Paulo Freire made the conclusion that it is through the characteristics of humility and love that determine the outcome of true educational transformation. I read this stuff and think, "Wow... this is a simple biblical truth." Because of this, I can't help but to feel a bit impatient with what we learn in class. The life instructions the bible offers are effective (I wouldn't be saying this if it hadn't work in my life, or others). It is tiresome when I sit in class with 3 hours of overstatements on how this technique or that strategy will or will not work.
Another example, I'm writing a paper on "deficit thinking". Now, deficit thinking is basically how a situation or condition is perceived negatively. For instance, I can walk into a room in Tibet and think "Oh my, dirt floors how sad." But to Tibetians, it isn't sad, it's normal. Under deficit thinking, there is deficit speaking. If a teacher constantly tells a student, "this is too hard for you," or "you are dumb," deficit speaking says that you have just spoken a self-fulfilling prophecy. The child will inevitably end up "dumb" or struggling with the "hard" assignments. The researchers of this deficit thinking theory have done testing after testing and found the theory to be pretty solid.
Now how does this all tie in with the bible? The bible is covered with verses about how you should watch what you say. You can bless and curse people just by the faith in the words you speak. And what you say has power. It's so simple; it boggles my mind when simple biblical truths are secularized, intellectualized, studied and concluded with evidence of its existence. And when you mention how the bible speaks of these same truths, it's disregarded, since faith is foolishness to the educated.
Although because of all shaz, class bores me to death, I must rid aside my own "deficit" thinking, and learn to be thankful. I am thankful for the opportunity to be attending UCLA. I am thankful that one day God will use me to impact lives. I am thankful that I am being challenged in my beliefs, and God keeps showing me how He is still the TRUTH. I think 2008 has been the loneliest and most painful year of my life. I'm still in a desert time with God, but 2009 is going to be different. It is definitely going to be a significant and life-altering, I can feel it coming and am excited to see what's in stored.
Yay!
15 Don't love the world and what it offers. Those who love the world don't have the Father's love in them. 16 Not everything that the world offers-physical gratification, greed, and extravagant lifestyles-comes from the Father. It comes from the world, and 17 the world and its evil desires are passing away. But the person who does what God wants lives forever. (1 John 2:16).
I'll admit. Conflict arises in my mind. I attend an institution that spews out humanistic / post modern / relative ideologies. I am tempted to compromise my beliefs because what others say seem to make sense or I don't want to offend opinions. It's not easy being in a relationship with a person (Jesus) and people hating your lover. I speak about Jesus because I know He loves me and I love Him. I speak about Him because He rescued me from so much torment, how can I not share my experience? But at times, I am conflicted. I feel very alone in my views, in my passion for Him. Then, come the moments where God shows me up. He shows me how one verse in His word is truth again.
At school, I learn about great educators, and what types of theories work. Funny enough, great educational reformers like Paulo Freire made the conclusion that it is through the characteristics of humility and love that determine the outcome of true educational transformation. I read this stuff and think, "Wow... this is a simple biblical truth." Because of this, I can't help but to feel a bit impatient with what we learn in class. The life instructions the bible offers are effective (I wouldn't be saying this if it hadn't work in my life, or others). It is tiresome when I sit in class with 3 hours of overstatements on how this technique or that strategy will or will not work.
Another example, I'm writing a paper on "deficit thinking". Now, deficit thinking is basically how a situation or condition is perceived negatively. For instance, I can walk into a room in Tibet and think "Oh my, dirt floors how sad." But to Tibetians, it isn't sad, it's normal. Under deficit thinking, there is deficit speaking. If a teacher constantly tells a student, "this is too hard for you," or "you are dumb," deficit speaking says that you have just spoken a self-fulfilling prophecy. The child will inevitably end up "dumb" or struggling with the "hard" assignments. The researchers of this deficit thinking theory have done testing after testing and found the theory to be pretty solid.
Now how does this all tie in with the bible? The bible is covered with verses about how you should watch what you say. You can bless and curse people just by the faith in the words you speak. And what you say has power. It's so simple; it boggles my mind when simple biblical truths are secularized, intellectualized, studied and concluded with evidence of its existence. And when you mention how the bible speaks of these same truths, it's disregarded, since faith is foolishness to the educated.
Although because of all shaz, class bores me to death, I must rid aside my own "deficit" thinking, and learn to be thankful. I am thankful for the opportunity to be attending UCLA. I am thankful that one day God will use me to impact lives. I am thankful that I am being challenged in my beliefs, and God keeps showing me how He is still the TRUTH. I think 2008 has been the loneliest and most painful year of my life. I'm still in a desert time with God, but 2009 is going to be different. It is definitely going to be a significant and life-altering, I can feel it coming and am excited to see what's in stored.
Yay!
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Education, Social Injustice, and Human Trafficking
It's simply amazing what has been happening for the last few days. I've been connecting with all different types of people, for different reasons. But one goal is sure- that God be glorified through the expression of love.
When reading through the 1000 pages of graduate school articles, I come across numerous historical accounts of social injustices in U.S. education. Over and over, I see people being marginalized, students given unequal opportunities, and the horrible accounts of perverse Protestantism that participated in some of these events. I am a Protestant, no, I am a follower of Jesus Christ. And he did not teach for capitalism to be on of the key interests in American politics. He did not teach that children who were less fortunate than their richer-across-town counterparts be expected to fail since they are "racially inferior". He did not teach that the poor, the fatherless, the orphaned be pushed aside since they were a nuisance to deal with. On the contrary, Jesus is the king of social justice. Did he not talk about issues of money and the dangers of loving it? Did he not tell us Christians to take care of children who have no fathers, the mothers who have no husbands? Did he not reach out to the prostitutes, the outcasts of society, the handicapped, etc?
Yes. The Jesus people see accounted through the figures in textbooks (and even in current events), is not representing the Jesus in the bible. My passion to see the oppressed free, the sex slave to know that they are worthy to be loved, to empower the next generation of children through education, to write and voice about issues that stimulate deeper thoughts of morality, are not my own. These are God's passions that are placed in me.
Digressing a bit...
The other night, I was praying and God spoke a certain calling on my life. It was very shocking since I never fully associated this calling to myself before. However, I felt the Holy Spirit move within me, and could not help but to be overwhelmed with excitement. Then the next several days, I'm meeting people who are interested in the same topic, and wants to 1. network with me 2. work together 3. learn about the subject. I see what God is doing, and it's so incredibly exciting. Living for Jesus is truly living.
When reading through the 1000 pages of graduate school articles, I come across numerous historical accounts of social injustices in U.S. education. Over and over, I see people being marginalized, students given unequal opportunities, and the horrible accounts of perverse Protestantism that participated in some of these events. I am a Protestant, no, I am a follower of Jesus Christ. And he did not teach for capitalism to be on of the key interests in American politics. He did not teach that children who were less fortunate than their richer-across-town counterparts be expected to fail since they are "racially inferior". He did not teach that the poor, the fatherless, the orphaned be pushed aside since they were a nuisance to deal with. On the contrary, Jesus is the king of social justice. Did he not talk about issues of money and the dangers of loving it? Did he not tell us Christians to take care of children who have no fathers, the mothers who have no husbands? Did he not reach out to the prostitutes, the outcasts of society, the handicapped, etc?
Yes. The Jesus people see accounted through the figures in textbooks (and even in current events), is not representing the Jesus in the bible. My passion to see the oppressed free, the sex slave to know that they are worthy to be loved, to empower the next generation of children through education, to write and voice about issues that stimulate deeper thoughts of morality, are not my own. These are God's passions that are placed in me.
Digressing a bit...
The other night, I was praying and God spoke a certain calling on my life. It was very shocking since I never fully associated this calling to myself before. However, I felt the Holy Spirit move within me, and could not help but to be overwhelmed with excitement. Then the next several days, I'm meeting people who are interested in the same topic, and wants to 1. network with me 2. work together 3. learn about the subject. I see what God is doing, and it's so incredibly exciting. Living for Jesus is truly living.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
