Seasons Change

It's been 6 years since I wrote the passage below.  I have remembered on and off that I never published it but never got back to it to complete. What that passage doesn't talk about is the experience I had that a few years earlier when I traveled home to be with her for her surgery when we received the first diagnosis of breast cancer. I had been talking with God all the way, about fears, about healing for her, all the things associated with loving someone with such a diagnosis.  Somewhere between Paducah and Saint Louis a song came on the radio.  I remember it like it was yesterday.  It was Mercy Me's "Even If" when the following lyrics were sung I just, I don't even know how to say it, just knew it was God...

I know You're able and I know You can

Save through the fire with Your mighty hand

But even if You don't

My hope is You alone

I know the sorrow, and I know the hurt

Would all go away if You'd just say the word

But even if You don't

My hope is You alone

I felt him saying, what are you going to do if I don't heal her?  Are you still going to serve me?  Love me?  Trust me?  My answer then was it is now, Yes, Lord I will trust you, serve you, love you.  Though we might not always like the answer, God is still in control.  He works things out for our good (Romans 8:28), even though we may not see it at the moment. We will go through hard times, Jesus promised that. John 16:33 says 

 In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world

He made this statement to his disciples to prepare them for what lay ahead.  But he also tells us that today.  We will have troubles.  We will have sicknesses.  It's part of living in this fallen world. A scripture a lot of people quote is Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."  We see it at sporting events.  And, of course, it's true.  But when Paul said that, he wasn't talking about God being with us as we succeed.  In the verses prior to 13, Paul is telling of his struggles (vs 10-13)

 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. 

Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content 

whatever the circumstances.

 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. 

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, 

whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 

I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Paul wasn't talking about God giving him strength to be successful, he was saying that no matter the situation, God gives him the strength to do what ever he is called to do.  Maybe that is scoring the winning touchdown, but more likely it's to withstand the struggles of this life. So, if you find yourself in a struggle of some sort, know that God is there for you.  Call on Him.  He provides the peace that surpasses understanding.  I don't know why he didn't cure my mom on this earth.  But she is cured now. Though I still miss her everyday, I know that she has complete healing and is no longer hurting or sick.  Her legacy of servanthood still lives on in those who loved her and is being passed on to others.  

October 2019

 As I sit here at the beach on a beautiful October morning, I watch the waves come crashing into the shoreline.  I think this is one of the most beautiful sounds God ever created.  I call this my happy place because this is where I feel the most peace and calm and hear God's voice the best.  I'm not sure whether it's the place or just the fact that I slow down enough that I can hear God's voice.  Maybe both!  I love all of nature.  Being at the lake is beautiful.  I love hiking to a waterfall.  I love visiting gardens and working in my own.  But it's something about the beach that calls me to be still and listen.  One of my favorite verses in the bible is Psalms 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."  God has blessed me with a few days to be still and listen to Him.
     In a few short hours, storms are scheduled to roll in.  The sun will be covered by clouds and rain will fall.  Maybe even a few thunderstorms.  That's kind of like the seasons of life, isn't it?  We have days that will be calm, everything beautiful and going our way.  Then, sometimes without warning, the clouds roll in and we are in a season where things are tough. 
     I had this tripped planned for a few weeks.  I knew I needed some rest from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.  You see, my life gets kind of crazy in the fall.  I love it, but it's crazy.  School starts back (I am a teacher) as well as cross country is in full swing (which I coach).  Long days and weeks from the beginning of school until mid November when xc season ends.  But then we go into the holiday season so it really doesn't slow down a whole lot! Always, go, go go!  The spring really is not much better because competition season begins for Culinary and FCCLA as well as prom.  It's really hard to "be still" and find time to listen to God. So I really felt like I needed this break. 
    It has been a good restful few days.  Time in God's word.  Time enjoying His creation.  Time to reflect and get re-centered.  And just in time.  You remember at the beginning of this I mentioned how seasons change.  Well, it's that time.  Not only are we moving from summer into fall (the weather in Alabama is just now figuring out it is supposed to be fall!!) but my family will be moving into a new season as well.  You see, we just got news that a beloved member of our family, our matriarch, has been diagnosed with cancer again.  The prognosis is not what we would hope for.   But we are still believing in a miracle.  Our God can cure whatever he wants to.  He is bigger than cancer.  But sometimes he chooses not too.  We don't understand why.  As I was listening to Him this morning, my spirit spoke to me that "I gave you this time of rest to prepare you for the fight ahead."  I don't know what that will entail, but I do know that my God goes with me.  It has been said God doesn't waste a hurt.  As we walk through this battle I will be adding my thoughts, prayers, struggles and whatever else we face.  Maybe it will be able to help someone else.  Maybe it's just a release for me.  Either way I am following His lead.
 

Am I Saul or Am I Paul

I've been wrestling with something God put on my hear a couple of years ago.  I felt God prompt me to post what I learning through my discipleship class as well as in my own personal time with him.  I've been fighting the insecurities of opening my heart and putting words down on paper.  But Sunday, my pastor was preaching on obedience.  He said a lot of  things I have been thinking and praying on, but two things really stood out.  The first was "Delayed obedience is still disobedience." It's not the first time he has said that, but this time it hit different.  It was like God was saying "I have told you to do this, and you still are not doing it.  You are being disobedient." Ouch!  I have had several topics that come across my heart that I feel He is saying, "you need to write about this". I just keep putting it off until I felt more qualified to write/talk about it. But I'm learning I really am never qualified because I don't know it all and never will, but also I am very qualified because I can speak of what He has done in my life. So bear with me, as my mentor often says, "I may not always get it right, but my heart is to get it right."  As I start this journey, I may not always say things right, but I feel as long as I am allowing God to give me the words, it will speak to those who need to hear it. 

The second thing that my pastor said was, "If there is no change, there is no Jesus."  He was speaking to how when one becomes a believer, there should be evidence in their life that there is change.  That doesn't mean we won't sin, because we are human and humans are flawed creatures, but that does mean that we should be striving to be more like Jesus everyday.  I do think that means that we should overcome habitual sins.  The Bible addresses this in several versus, but two of the are:

Romans 6:1-2, "Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who have died to sin still live in it?" 

and Galatians 2:21, stating, "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain". 

One of the main writers of the new testament was Paul.  In short, Paul was born with the name Saul.  He was a religious leader in the Jewish faith.  He hated Christians and was instrumental in killing many in the early days after Christs death, burial and resurrection. To make a long story short, God got a hold of Saul's heart and he made a radical change and began being a missionary of the gospel of Christ.  So radical, in fact, that he even changed his name to Paul. Many Christians were scared of him because of his past.  They had a hard time accepting the life change that happened to him. So my reluctance has been that many people knew me before I accepted Christ (my Saul era) and honestly , I was afraid of what some of them might think. You see, I have not always been a believer of Christ.  In my high school days, I knew I was searching for something.  I just didn't know what it was.  I turned to alcohol and relationships, but nothing ever filled the void.  In fact, looking back on it now, it left me in a deeper pit of despair.  Oh yes, I covered it up.  Acted like I was having fun, but in reality, I was miserable and didn't know why.  I had always gone to church, but never had a personal relationship with Jesus.  It was more about history and do's and don'ts. I continued to search for what was missing when I went to college.  A lot of the same, the first semester.  But then towards the end of my freshman year, I was introduced to Jesus the Savior.  I do not ever remember hearing a sermon on salvation before that and what it meant to not only believe there was a God, but to actually believe in Him.  I accepted Christ when I was 19.  This was my Paul moment.  I am not saying that I have it all together the way Paul did, but I am saying that God changed me.  I will never write half the new testament  or go down in history like Paul has, but maybe something I write can help someone come to know or at least seek out this thing called Salvation. Salvation is simple. Believe in God the Father, that he sent his son to die for us on the cross, and accept that gift of salvation by acknowledging that you are a sinner (we all are!), repent of that sin by asking for forgiveness and turning from it, and accepting Jesus as your savior. 

John 3:16 (NIV):

• "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life". 
• "That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved". 

• Romans 10:9-10:

• "For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast". 

• Ephesians 2:8-9:

• "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved". 

• Acts 4:12:

• John 3:36:"He who believes in the Son has eternal life; he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him

See, simple!  You notice I didn't say easy.   There is nothing easy about accepting Christ as your Savior. It takes a lot guts to acknowledge you have blown it.  It takes a lot of discipline to not go back to what is comfortable and usual for your life, to live how you have always lived (habits). But it is a blessing that until you experience it, you will never understand.  I hope if you have not ever taken this step that you will let God speak to your heart.  He's calling you unto himself.  He wants everyone to come to know Him and have a relationship with him. It's not about religion, it's about a relationship.  It's not about going to church (though finding a good church will help you on your journey), it's about going to Him. Humans are flawed (yes even Christians), He is not.  He is loving.

Gamification Delivery Systems

   For those of you who have been following my blog this semester you have seen a transformation in my ideas about gamification in the classroom.  I first started by thinking that games in the classroom were a waste of time.  As I have processed information throughout the semester I have become excited about trying some gamification in my class next year.  In fact, most of my summer will be taken up by getting this in place for school to start in the fall.  I could buy some already created simulation type games.  And I still may.  But my focus right now is to set up a system like what I have been doing for my grad class.  It's not so much a game to play, but a series of activities where points and badges are earned.  And to some extent, a competition between classmates.  I have become a bit envious of other students who have completed levels before I have and that has propelled me to keep working to achieve.  I hope that will be the case for my students when school starts in August. 

   This assignment for this blog was to compare different gamification systems.  What type of features do they have?  How much do they cost?   I choose to compare Reezly (what we are using for our grad class), CANVAS (the LMS my school system provides), and Schoology (suggested by another grad class I have taken). 

   Reezly is a 3D game simulation platform.  The quests are teacher designed and students can earn badges and points as they level up through the activities.  Activities can be anything from readings, to blog posts to creating presentations.  Because it is all teacher created it can be used for any content area.  Students work through at their own pace and new activities can be accessed as quests are completed.  There different features that can be accessed.  The basic edition is free.  More features and number of students can be added for a price.

   CANVAS is a learning management system that can be used for many different tasks for teachers and students.  Teachers can create "cards" for each class that will allow for assignments, announcements, tests, etc.  It can be used for delivering content in a more traditional sense or in a gamification mode.  CANVAS provides access to badges and other applications work with CANVAS to add badges.  It is free to teachers and students who are in a district that has a contract with Instructure, the provider of CANVAS.  Pricing for that was not available.  

   Schoology is also a learning management system like CANVAS except that it does not require a school system to purchase a contract.  It is designed to easily accommodate gamification into its use. Its base applications are free, but additional applications that would mainly be used by administration may be purchased.

   All three systems are teacher and student friendly.  All would be good choices for teachers wanting to implement gamification into their classes.  I am choosing to work with CANVAS.  Mainly because my district already has access to it.  I know from limited experience with it that I can have assessments directly added into the lessons and the program will grade the activity itself.  It also is synced with our grading system so my rosters will be automatically uploaded.  This will make much of my administrative duties with it easier that starting from scratch.  

The Work of Discipling

   As I started this blog I mentioned that I was reading a book and these posts would reflect what I was reading.  This chapter was tough as you will read below.  In fact, I had to read it a couple of times over the last week to really let it set in.  At times I was mad, confused and even relieved.  I know...I am sounding a little bi-polar at the moment.  But I think with this chapter that is what I was feeling.

INITIATING
   So this is the section that really had my emotions rolling.  The author suggested that we have to "discern not just who needs help, but who knows they need help and is willing to receive it.  In general, you don't want to waste time with people who are not teachable."  WHAT???....WASTE TIME WITH PEOPLE???....This was the section that made me mad.  How could we possibly be wasting our time if we are discipling?  Doesn't it say in the Word to make disciples of ALL....  How dare he say not all people are worthy of our time?
   Well, the more I pondered it, the more I understood what he was saying.  As I reflected through my own discipleship I thought about times that I was more accepting of the Word.  There were times in my life that I did not want to hear about what I was doing or what I needed to change.  I wouldn't have accepted anyone telling me anything.  It would have fallen on deaf ears and maybe even sent me more in the wrong direction just because of my rebellious nature.  Then fast forward to when I was really ready to hear what God had to say.  I became hungry for the Word.  Then I was ready.  I had to be in the right place to really be discipled.  Does that mean that I didn't need people around me who were Christians?  Absolutely not.  I still needed people to pray for me, whether I knew it or not. Whether I wanted it or not!
   So what does that mean for us when we are called to disciple others?  What I feel like God was saying to me was this.  Live your life as a testimony.  Let all see what He has done in your life.  This will affect those around you.  Pray for those who are not saved or are living away from God.  Stay in touch with them.  Don't give up on them.  When they are ready for real discipleship you will know. Listen, discipleship is not for the unbeliever.  It is for the one that wants to grow closer to God. Understanding this is where the relief came in.  That actually takes a lot of the "pressure" off discipling.  We don't have to disciple every one we know.  God knows the time, place and person to disciple each of us in His time.

Oriented Towards Others

Let me ask you a question?  Do you think of others needs before your own?  No, really?  Do you?  

Answer these quick questions

Do you have to be first in line, middle, or are you content being last to the buffet line?

If it's your turn to do laundry but your sister didn't finish hers yesterday are you going to take all her stuff out of the way and do yours?

If there is only one serving of chocolate cake left, do you call dibs?

Do you have to have shotgun when riding in a car?

If you a full shopping basket of stuff will you let someone who only has three items get in line before you?

If your mom is having a really busy week do you bless her by doing some of the chores she normally does without being asked?

Answer honestly!  You are the only one who knows your answers.  Or are you?  People see what you do.  They hear what you say.  What kind of character are you portraying?  

   We are called to serve others.  To think of others better than ourselves.  

Phillipians 2:3 (NIV)

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,

But do we actually do this? Our culture tells us to take care of ourselves because no one else will.  This is not what God tells us.  Paul, the apostle, tells us in Phillipians 4:19 (NIV)

And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ

Jesus.

One way to serve others is to disciple them.  If you had the cure for cancer would you not share that with someone who has cancer?  As a believer in Christ you have the cure for everyone's spiritual health.  So why wouldn't you share that with everyone?  We are called to share the gospel and make disciples.

Matthew 28:19 (NIV) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

   The model has been set before us.  Jesus discipled his apostles.  They in turn discipled others, including Paul.  Paul discipled Timothy, then Timothy was charged to disciple others and so on.  In fact, if these men had ignored what command had been given to them where would we be today?  Would someone had introduced you to Christ?  Take that whole idea and move it into the future.  Who will not hear about Christ if YOU don't share and disciple.  Who after that will not hear?  No, it's not always comfortable to live for Christ but the ultimate prize is worth it. 

Phillipians 3:14  NIV) I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

What is Discipling?

   We have heard the term but what does it mean?  Discipling.  Basically, it is how we influence others.  Whether in actual word or in action.  Who are you discipling?  Well, with that definition you are discipling everyone in your life.  The question is how are you discipling?  Are you a good influence or maybe not so much?  

   If you are a Christian, you should be influencing people towards Christ.  But how do you do that? It may sound very basic but you need to know what God says and apply it to your life.  God's word never changes.  

Numbers 23:19New International Version (NIV)

19 God is not human, that he should lie,
not a human being, that he should change his mind.
Does he speak and then not act?
Does he promise and not fulfill?

Hebrews 13:8New International Version (NIV)

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

   This should make our role simpler don't you think???  Well, it sure will help us understand how we should live.  As we learn what God has to say and we apply it to our lives, life should be a breeze.  Well not so fast!  There are others who may try to influence you while you are attempting to influence them.  There are those who will take scripture and make it into what they want.  Even Satan knows scripture....and knows how to twist it.  In our service on Sunday our pastor spoke to this.  Satan even tried to tempt Jesus to move away from the true meaning of scripture by taking one single verse and using it out of context to trap him.  Jesus knew scripture.  Jesus knew the true meaning of the words.  He could combat Satan's attempt.  How well do you know scripture?

   I want to tell you a story that may help put this in perspective.  A few years ago, I was having a conversation with someone who was soon to be married.  The conversation turned to purity in the relationship.  This person confessed to me that they had had premarital sex.  The conversation continued as this person explained that a pastor had told them it was ok because of the culture we lived in.  The justification was that because as a society we wait until our 20's or longer to get married that it is ok. In the day that scripture was written people got married in their mid-teens and so this part of scripture was out of date.  The pastor had evidently gone on to say God didn't expect people to wait that long.  As we debated the situation I used the above scriptures.  God's word doesn't change.  God knew where our society was going.  He knew this was coming and he didn't say “ok, in the 20th century when people are getting married later in life they can go ahead and have premarital sex and it will be ok.”  It's probably even more reason why we should wait.  He knew the future and could predict all the trouble that intimacy before marriage could create.  Unwanted pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, heartbreak, trust issues, and the list goes on and on.  His design is to protect us and he wants the best for us.

   Well, that got off a little bit on a tangent!  But my point is we must know scripture.  Even people with the best intent at heart can lead us astray if we do not know and understand scripture.  That responsibility lies with us.  So how do you learn what scripture says?  Well, first you must read it.  Get yourself a bible or bible app in a version that you can understand the terminology.  Secondly, find yourself someone older in the faith that can lead you along the way, answer questions and be a Godly role model.  Pray about who that should be.  It is important to find someone who will love you enough to tell you the truth....and you need to be open enough to accept the truth.  Look, none of us are perfect.  We all make mistakes and bad choices.  We need someone who can come along and help us to readjust and refocus.  Thirdly, share what you are learning with those around you.  In other words, disciple those around you.  Live out what you believe in a loving manner.

Matthew 22: 37-39 New International Version (NIV).

 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

   So, here’s your challenge.  Start today with the above steps.  Start reading and memorizing scripture.  Find someone who can help explain and be a role model, and live out your faith with your family and friends.  Love those around you! 

Until next time!  Have a blessed day!