My Philosophy of Education

(Imagine the large purple font on a Powerpoint. The yellow font is what was spoken.)

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.

Prov 22:6 (ESV)

I believe the purposes of education are to prepare the next generation. Education, by definition, means "to develop the knowledge, skill, or character of..." Those committing to a future in education should have a passion for 'training up a child the way he should go' Prov 22:6 (ESV). For the purposes of this presentation, I will discuss my philosophy as it would pertain to a 10th grade English class in a small southern town.

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Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance

Prov 1:5 (ESV)

Students do learn differently. Auditory, visual or tactile learners all require a common link for processing knowledge; lesson plans should be meaningful. As teachers, we should pay careful attention to the feedback each child provides us. If I were to present a Shakespearean drama to my 10th grade English class, I would pause often to apply the theatrics to a real-life situation. After a while, the students should be able to see past the flowery verse to gather the relevant information and actually visualize the play in front of them. Lesson plans must be meaningful and tangible and students must be able to relate to the information.

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Students should be taught the basics and taught them well. There is nothing new under the sun and everything builds on top of something else. In our society, we complicate things. We try to over-analyze and find a perfect fit for every abnormality. This causes us to lose sight of the bigger picture. I believe there is a high demand for simplicity and if we can teach our students to build on fundamental knowledge, I believe we will inspire them to continue as lifelong learners. Conquer the basics, then move forward.

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I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Phil 4:13 (ESV)

Students should be taught in a learning environment. As teachers, we should encourage open participation. I believe that every student has something valuable to bring to a discussion and the format of my classroom will be primarily discussion. I believe that every student should be able to relate their life experience with the curriculum. I believe positive and negative feedback to the students should always be critical and students should be encouraged to learn from each other. I believe this teaching method is essential to prepare this age group because it helps the children with social interaction. This shows the students that it is okay to disagree and they should be willing to listen to opposing viewpoints.

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The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.

Psalms 111:10 (ESV)

As mentioned previously, I believe students learn best when the subject matter and the presentation of the subject matter is meaningful. It creates understanding.

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Now may the God of peace … equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight...

Heb 13:20-21 (ESV)

Teachers wear many hats. We are the source of knowledge, mentors, counselors and friends. We must enter the classroom every day with light spirits and firm beliefs and we must be consistent in our practice. We must equip each child with the tools necessary for character and intellectual growth. The rewards of teaching do not come on a daily basis and many days there will be struggles. We must have the passion to pursue because we might be the only Jesus those children see that day.

Jesus is in the doctor's office

i find myself in peace as this world crumbles away. Sanctification is a process that takes time and it is often hard to see past the moment. We tend to feel that our problems will always be our problems, and instead of conquering them, we make accommodations for them. We are spoiled by instant gratification and we look for short solutions and temporary fixes instead of waiting for opportunities at lasting resolve. I love those moments when I see how God has worked out a problem while I was completely unaware of the process. Doors and windows are constantly opened and closed. In our stubbornness, we sometimes force our desires into fruition prematurely. Ah, the ease of fast food and texting... Things come so easily to us that we are now spoiled by the system. Times are 'hard' and will only get harder because we don't know how to work for anything. Im soooo guilty of this. Maybe this is why I sometimes thirst for suffering. I don't want to be numb. I don't want to just slide by. I want to pick up the cross and carry it and feel the burden on my shoulders. I don't want easy, I have had that and it drove me to temporary satisfaction and pleasure. I don't want to be of this world, i've had it and it and it brought me nothing but superficial pain, pain that was rooted in longings of the world. I want to die living so i can live forever singing praises to the One who delivered me from my sins. Jesus is everywhere, He will even sing to you if you pick the right music. Find Jesus in everything, He is more real than Waldo. He is even in you, all you gotta do is ask.

Human Trinity

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"As far as the soul has been traced and followed from the body,
it is found to be thinking.
It thinks in death, and, according to Christ, thinks after death"
- Carradine
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I am a firm believer that I know nothing.
How comforting!!

I am a firm believer that I did not command my presence.
How sweet to know I am loved!!

I am a firm believer that my purpose is far greater than I can imagine.
How humbling to know I am used!!

I am a firm believer that my Lord is with me.
I am a firm believer that I will one day sit at His feet
and praise Him for His Greatness.
I am a firm believer that the Glory of living with Him for eternity
is more than enough for me.

We have our own very own Trinity. Let's look at it...

1. The body. The body includes the obvious. (And I just look like this.)

"My frame was not hidden from thee,
When I was made in secret,
And curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Thine eyes did see mine unformed substance;
And in thy book they were all written,
Even the days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was none of them."
Psalms 139:15-16 (ASV)

2. The mind. The mind is knowledge.

Let's think about that. In Genesis, which tree was forbidden? And which fruit did the serpent, aka Satan, convince Eve to eat? Perhaps knowledge isn't the most desirable attribute of one's character. Perhaps God wanted to keep us from knowledge. Perhaps knowledge is a tool of evil. Perhaps when we know too much we try to play God. Perhaps this is why God confused the language at the Tower of Babel. Knowledge is power and power is pride and pride is... well, you know the story.

"Search me, O God, and know my heart:
Try me, and know my thoughts;
And see if there be any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting."
Psalms 139:23-24 (ASV)

3. The soul. Ah, the soul. The most mysterious aspect of humanity. The thing that distinguishes us from all the other life on earth. The thing God gave us from His very being. The actual representation of God, in us. The thing God made in His image (you didn't think it was the body, did you? It can be confusing..)

Now these three things have proportion. They total 100 percent of you. There are no bonus points, so you get what you get. You are what you are. You can tweak and re-configure, but there will never be more than 100 percent.

So, you can probably see where I am going with this...

We can work out all day and try to perfect our physique. We can become obsessed with knowledge and strive to be the smartest or the most successful or whatever we wish to gain from knowing. Or we can develop our spirit, our soul, the very thing that serves as our connection to our Creator.
Im voting on the latter.


You may ask, "What is there to gain by being close to God?"

Welll.... Imagine yourself as an artist. Or carpenter. Or gardener. Or a Farmville playa.
Who else is going to appreciate your creation more than you? Whomever will love your creation more than you? You can sit all day long and explain the details and tell the stories about how you made it or show off your ability with hay bales, but noone else gets it. They don't understand.

I'll bet you, being the creation, don't even understand. It's impossible to fully understand. But the Creator does. He knows. He knows you intimately. He is with you even if you aren't with Him. Why would you not want to be with Him?

" I will give thanks unto thee; For I am fearfully and wonderfully made:
Wonderful are thy works; And that my soul knoweth right well."
Psalms 139:14 (ASV)


And when we do remember Him, let us remember Him in thanksgiving.
Let us remember Him in humility.
Let us remember the Hands that crafted us, and our hands that serve as His.
And let us sit at His feet and rest against Him.
And let us sing to Him in praise-
For loving us so much, with sacrificial love, love that we do not understand.

Love that shows us no wrath, Love that transcends this world.
Love that died so that we may live forever. FOREVER.

Every hope we have now came when Jesus came. There must be atonement for sin. As Newton once explained, for every action there is equal and opposite reaction.

When Jesus came, He was the Body. He was the missing link for all creation's purpose. He fulfilled that which was promised in the beginning. When He left earth, His spirit entered man. God is with man, closer than your own skin.

So when you pray, imagine your vision of Jesus sitting beside you, listening to you. Or better yet, just focus on Him. I'm pretty sure there isn't a whole lot He doesn't already know.

Fly with Christ!

Do not let life pass us by...

Do not let life pass us by without:

Taking the time to breathe before words escape our mouth in anger. The awareness of our emotions as they run so close to our skin can become our greatest strength. A valued relationship can be destroyed with one word.

Realizing when we are at our worst, God is at His best. Remember the Footprints poem?

Kissing every baby we meet. More than once.

Reaching out a hand to help someone when we can. We all experience opportunities to give of ourselves. Fear of rejection is simply not a good excuse anymore. Christ faced rejection the entire time He was on earth. He even faces it in Heaven. Hmm... We won't have to worry about rejection in Heaven, will we?

Understanding there are so many things that we cannot control. As soon as these situations become present in our lives, let us focus on our adaptability. The ability to adapt has kept mankind in existence.

In addition to the above, we should realize certain issues allow for no compromise. When we face our convictions, let us stand firm. When presenting our convictions, let us not pass judgement.

Opening our own hearts whenever there is a tug. A cold heart dies a lonely heart.

Praising God every opportunity we have. We all have a hard time understanding God's holiness. This means He is whole. He is the only one of us who will ever be complete. And let us praise Him for being a God of grace.

I mean.... What Im trying to say is... I pray we all reach a point when today doesn't matter as much as eternity does. I pray we all focus on the big picture and not what our neighbors are doing. Judgement is so easy. I'm guilty and I am sure at one point you have judged me. I expect it. Why else would I ask your opinion?

At some point, we all see a beautiful sunset. Or a butterfly land on a flower. Or a rainstorm in the middle of a drought. Or a baby smile. Or a friend after it has been years. Perhaps we experience a peace among chaos or a good day among a hundred days of torture.

Every person walking among us has a gift. EVERY person. Let us embrace those gifts and not shun what we perceive as flaws.

Every person has an opinion. Let us listen to it and if we do not agree, at least respect it.

Every person has worth. Even if we do not see it, let us understand it is there. Furthermore, if we do not see it, let us not question our God by doubting our neighbor's worth. God is especially fond of them.

When we open our eyes to the world, what do we see? The headlines in our news? The images flashing across the news? The destruction and the chaos and the hate and the sin that floats into our lives like poison in a stream???

When we open our eyes to our communities, what do we see?? The drugs and sex and violence and apparent hopelessness within our generation? I tell you this, people usually become what is expected of them.

The images I have just described are a lot of what I see. I don't like it. At times, I have played the role of the culprit. We all have. Action and inaction are both damaging. Do we beat the crowd, join it, or ignore it?

When the day becomes the worst day ever, it usually begins that way. Wake up, thank God you woke up, praise God for His greatness, and don't stop talking to Him until the day has gone. While you communicate with Him, however that may be (there is no wrong way) try to find things to smile about.

Let us allow change within us. Let us become a catalyst for a friend in need. Let us offer ourselves as hands and feet to God. We can make a difference. I believe that- I have too many AMAZING friends on facebook who have impacted my life in ways they don't even realize. If you are reading this, you are probably one of them. I thank you for that, until you are better paid ;-)

Much love in Christ!

Fly With Christ!

Imagine a little girl about the age of four. Her auburn ringlets frame her innocent face and her cuepie smile always brings about your own smile. Imagine her in her bedroom full of pink and lace. The room is orderly and filled with the desires of any four year old angel. Imagine her lying on her belly on the floor as she chooses her red crayon to scribble into the heart on her coloring book page. She is a child who chooses silence over complaint. You often catch her gazing about in wonder, as if she is putting together the pieces of the puzzle. When there are storms of lightning, thunder and rain, she credits our God.

This child you imagine lies within you. Change some physical features and this child is all of us.
We are all born with depth and insight and perception.
We are all born because God had a plan for our existance.

As soon as the seed was planted, Angels rejoiced at our arrival.
As soon as our time came to be born, tears of joy flooded Heaven's floor.
When our first cries penetrated the delivery room, the ones who were present felt the presence of God.

As we developed and passed each milestone, our loved ones praised us.
As we grew up, we grew into the world.
We became jaded and began to lose the innocense.


The coloring book page, outlined for us to fill in our own expression of life, is symbolic of God's intention for us. He placed the path before us, and all we had to do was stay in the lines.

At some point, we made a mess of the page and it did not measure up to God's expectation.
Perhaps it did not meet our own expectations, either.

The most perfect way to finish the picture is to end up with the image of our own imagination. How many times have we began to fill in the colors, only to find flaws in the finished product?

Ask an artist or an author or a musician to critique his own masterpiece, and you will be given the flaws or the opportunities.

A teacher pointed out recently that a book is never finished. This statement alone provided me with so much relief; I am the master of starting something, only to put it aside. I realize now that I have done this time and time again because the progress does not measure up to my own expectations.


I once made the decision not to proofread my own writing. I have stuck with this strategy because it enables me to be free in creativity and removes my self doubt.

As sinners, we are often shaped by negative experiences and actions we just can't erase. We often have regrets about decisions we have made. We often carry these burdens for a long time; even if we find the way to forgive ourselves, others are quick to remind us of our errors.

Fortunately, we were not given life to please man. We were not even given life to please ourselves. We were given life to please God.

Think about that.

Why else would we be here?

God began to create out of a longing. He created the Heavens. There were angels and spirits and God rejoiced in their company and they praised Him.

Then the most beautiful angel equated himself to God. We all know the story.

God then commanded the Earth into existence to make a home for us. We all know the story.

Upon the original sin, the hope for a perfect man was gone. We all know the story.

Because God's love self-sacrificing Agape love, He put on some skin and came to earth so that His creation would follow Him and join Him in Heaven. He did not come to die, He came so that we may live. Caught up in the world view of righteousness, Christ's persecutors could not see the Father in Him.

Maybe we have been looking in the wrong places, too.

God does not seek out the righteous, He seeks out the sinners. He uses our lives to reach out to those like us. His faithfulness is neverending and He will never stop calling.

We should all seek His Beauty, and not the appearances of the world.

I will end by quoting my new great friend, Brittany Gilmore. I don't think she will mind...



....but the most breathtaking beauty of all is the Beauty where every other kind of true beauty finds its form. unwavering love—deep and wild. a hope that sometimes seems so dangerous… because it seems at times too good to be true, and at others too crazy to be real (as if amongst all of the religions, one was ambiguously labeled true). but this Beauty is not confined to the traditions that we have built around Him, or the minds that try to grasp Him. …most of the time i do not understand such Beauty, but it answers all of the questions where other beauties have always failed.

He is. He made all the beauty that is. it flows from His very being.





Fly with Christ. It will be the best decision you could ever make.

Emilie

Healthcare is a Privilege

I didn't proofread, so forgive me for errors.


“Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof."

That is Article IV of the Constitution. Note the second sentence. And the Congress may by GENERAL LAWS prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. What does this mean? Well, I will offer my interpretation. The Congress is to guide the states in a general manner. This simple sentence should resolve any and all issues regarding the power of the government vs. the power of the state. As it is, governmental restrictions prevent insurance companies from competing across state lines. Results of this limitation are the primary downfall of the insurance companies. The free market system prevents monopolies and encourages competetive trade, ensuring lowest possible cost to the consumer. The 'big bad insurance companies' fluff consumer cost simply because they can. Wouldn't you?

Other factors contribute to the high cost of healthcare. Outrageous malpractice lawsuits against doctors inflate the cost of services to cover the risk of error, or the perception of error. Doesn't this fact seem to be a bit reflective? Wouldn't preventitive measures be more feasable? Perhaps a more prevalent Joint Commission? I am not sure of how their audits work, but paperwork is not the same as proceedure. I will borrow the term 'doctor panel' and implement it into a hypothetical situation... There are state hospitals, federal hospitals, private hospitals, outpatient clinics, etc. Let's take it even farther back than that; there are universities that educate our medical professionals. Would it not be feasable to create a business model, based on checks and balances, that OBSERVES, ANALYZES, and REACTS to the medical, ethical and moral protocol implemented by our caregivers? I could probably ace my way through med school, but I would also give some ugly scars if I were a surgeon. Just sayin.. Anyway, the business model I was referring to would create a system in which the medical professionals were held accountable for their practice. There would be panel of specialists, moralists, scientists, etc. I'm gonna leave this point alone because I would get off track and attach a diagram and I really don't have time for that.

My point on this: There are too many options to revise the current system and the government has no place in the dictation of this aspect of my life. Should healthcare be mandated just because people can't afford it, driving up the cost for those who can? No. Should preexisting conditions limit the care someone receives? No, that sounds too much like discrimination. Should healthcare be a luxury? No. Is healthcare a right? No, its a priviledge. Priviledges are those things we work to attain. I'm without healthcare now. Do I like it? No. Have I asked the government for help? No. For those people who are unable to work due to disability, let's make sure the disability is real. Let's screen the people receiving all government benefits and perform random audits as a price for our help. Let's encourage a free market system and keep our jobs at home. Service jobs do not last in a failing economy. During a war, the economy only prospers when there is manufacturing of goods used to support the war. Duh.

I am getting a bit off the subject here. Sorry.

Ok. Let's consider Jesus. What would He do? There is a story or two in the bible about Lepers and such coming to Jesus to ask for help. How many times did he say, 'Im sorry dude, its not my job. King Herod Antipas is your ruler and he is responsible for your health. Talk to him.' I'm tellin you, if He had, we would all be nailed to a cross. On that note, shouldn't WE be more responsible for our health???? Shouldn't we be protesting McDonalds for serving us french fries? Or should we just stop eating them? Hmm... Let's be accountable for ourselves.

I used to think we needed healthcare controlled by the government. I used to make jokes about moving to Canada for that very purpose. Check out their standards. Check out their survival rate for prostate cancer, one of the easiest cancers to treat. I would share the numbers, but I can't remember them exactly. The prognosis isn't good. The treatment is subpar. Healthcare is something one expects to see quality of service, not a game of chance...

The government should not bulldoze this issue to fruition because the risks are too great. FDR was the first major proponent, but he couldn't get it passed along with the New Deal. He did, however, pass Social Security. It worked til now. Apparently he did not realize his time in office was a simulated aphrodesiac, producing an increase in population. Yes, you can laugh :-)

The provisions for abortion allow too many loopholes, creating an unseen genocide. The care measures provided for our elderly are a few steps above hospice- if you give them pain management, my generation will exploit it into a trade. If facilities become free-for-all's, can you imagine what it will look like when rationing begins???? Can you imagine the shortcuts that will be used??? Can you see how many illnesses will go untreated until persistance finally gets that other test done, only to find out the cancer has spread to the major organs and your loved one has just enough time to say goodbye?? Can you see how much Research and Development will suffer for Alzheimer's patients? Alzheimer's is getting younger and younger... What about autism?

I hope this helped raise awareness. I am not trying to sway an opinion if you have one already; I am simply sharing something I feel passionately about. I have too many loved ones in the healthcare industry who have expressed concern over the years. I will agree that there does need to be a revision of current regulation, but only to allow economics to work. There are certain principles that cannot be manipulated, in order for this nation to continue to succeed. I am sacrificing personal viewpoints in favor of a Republican agenda because I care too much about the future of our nation. Yes, there is corruption in government. Yes, there is probably a puppet master controlling issues such as these. Yes, I believe in the good of man. I believe in the 80/20 principle, and the 20% has caused the other 80% to suffer long enough. Above all, I believe in my faith. My God gave man free-will, because it is the true measure of man. Where his heart lies, he shall be also.

Much love,
Em


P.S. Look for the next edition in my ‘Soapbox’ Series. It will be entitled: Stop Jerking Around the Interest Rate!!

Happiness

I asked a friend to give me a word.
'Happiness,' she said.

Happiness- a state of momentary bliss.
A feather floating free...
An opportunity to stop searching
and for a moment just to be-
Still.
As the moment subsides
and life comes into view,
the quest begins again.