Paul started his next doctoral class this week and is already quite busy with his studies. On the other hand, I am enjoying my break from grad school, for the time being. I finished up my summer courses with two A's -- starting out grad school with a 4.0 GPA! I'm going to enjoy it while it lasts. :)
We also started back tutoring this week at the Inner City. Those kids are truly our heart right now (esp since we don't have children of our own - and won't for hopefully a couple more years), and we cannot wait to meet our new kinderbabies for this year's Bible class for the Tuesday night Bus Ministry at Inner City.
I also survived my first week back in the classroom as a teacher. It was a great week, and I have wonderful students. For the first week, we have been reading "The Parable of the Dream Giver." I abstracted it from The Dream Giver by Bruce Wilkinson and edited certain parts to make it appropriate for use in the public school system, and the students have LOVED it! It is about a boy named Ordinary who lives in the Land of Familiar. One day he discovers his BIG DREAM, and he realizes that he is made to be a Somebody and destined to achieve great things! It has been so awesome and humbling to hear all about my students' big dreams and to encourage them to strive for their goals. It is my goal that all my students learn to believe like Ordinary, that they are made to be Somebody and destined to achieve great things! I have this posted on my lectern for them to see every single day. (Yes, my students already know the appropriate difference between a lectern and a podium. In case you do not know, a podium is something you stand on; a lectern is something you stand behind. That is one of my big pet peeves. lol)
All in all, I had a great week back as a teacher! I am apparently "cool" because I painted my fingernails in "hip colors," and I enjoyed a SUPER CUTE apple cupcake from one of my sweet students.
We have also thoroughly enjoyed our study of the Bible at church over the past week. We have been blessed to be able to listen to Earl Lavender (a professor at Lipscomb University), and he always has such a great message. It is truly like drinking water from a fire hose because he has so much knowledge of the Scriptures and always provides interesting ways of viewing ideas, but it is WONDERFUL! A few of the pearls of wisdom from his lessons lately include the following:
- The universal function of faith is that everyone believes in something. Faith is the living out of that reality. Faith should not be an "app" but our entire "operating system."
- Be Transmissional - transformed into the mission of Christ.
- It is not about how to apply the Bible to our lives but how to adapt our lives to the Biblical story.
- Don't let a plan ride be what dictates you as a missionary. (As I always say, we are entering the mission field the moment we walk out our door. We have to take it seriously and realize that God appoints each moment of our lives for such a time as this.
Today was also a wonderful time with our church family for our Big Day! Earl Lavender spoke, and we had two different services (both full!). Then, we enjoyed good eating with a barbecue picnic with our church family, complete with a quartet. LOVED IT!
To hear Earl Lavender's lessons (or more from our studies of the Bible throughout this year), please click this link. http://www.mayfair.org/#/media
Last but not least, I have a huge PRAISE REPORT! After a week-and-a-half, the kidney stone if is finally gone! Over the past week, I had minor discomfort on several days; however, Friday was horrible. I was not sure that I was going to make it through the school day, but God gave me strength. My students were angels and worked so well for me. I think they knew I was not feeling well. In fact, one of my sweet students said, "Mrs. Lanza, you sure look pretty today, but you haven't smiled at all." This is so uncharacteristic of me, and they knew it. I was also told throughout the day that my complexion seemed green, and the pain and lack of nutrition ultimately made me sick on Friday. Needless to say, I made it through the day (including my CPR re-certification after school) and came home to crash. I can definitely say that I have learned to say "I'm fine", even when I'm totally not, from my grandmother. What can I say?
I continued the weekend by resting (if that includes sitting on the couch working on tons of lesson plans - I'm not very good at doing nothing, haha) and drinking as much water as my body could hold. Saturday turned into Sunday, and I was starting to wonder whether I would have to face another teaching week with this silly thing. Nevertheless, I had lots of people praying for me throughout this weekend. I am so appreciative for those! I was able to pass the kidneystone today, and I was ready to throw a party! It is such a relief. Yes, I did save it, and I will be turning it in to my urologist at my appointment in a little over a week. Hopefully, we can find out why I get them so often and take precautions to hopefully not let it happen again. (FULL DISCLOSURE - This is probably the nastiest picture I will ever post.) Just to let you all know that kidneystones are not a joke, this thing is spiky! Here is a picture of it, and yes, it hurt very much badly. Thank you all for the prayers.
On a totally different note, I will be posting my research on helping the homeless soon. I know that many will not care to read it, but it is very enlightening as to how we can reach out (both big and small) to those less fortunate. It is time that we show Jesus to even those that are considered the "lease of these."
I hope this post finds you all well. Paul and I will be visiting my hometown soon, and we cannot wait to see everyone! Until next time...
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