Monday, November 29, 2010
a glitch in the system
So, I promise I'll post again next week. My husband and I have just moved into a new house and we have no internet access at this point. Its hard for me to get online long enough to be able to write the entire post. I hope everything is going well for you all and that God is blessing you with the ability to truly love during this holiday season!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Dare 10: Love is Unconditional
My apologies for the late post. I had every intention of getting it done yesterday, but God seems to have had some different plans in mind. He's been stirring a lot on my heart the past couple of days. A lot of uncomfortable realizations are coming to the forefront and I know God is wanting me to pursue Him in stronger ways than I have before.
This week's dare is about unconditional love. Reading over the chapter in the book, it felt as though it didn't apply much to loving our students. It dives into the different types of love (greek-- agape, phileo, eros)... and quite honestly, I would really need to dig into the meaning of those words deeper for me to feel okay with applying it to our love for our students.
But, part of what I am coming to realize is just how hard it is for me to fully accept that God's love for me is unconditional, which means that it is even harder for me to grasp what it looks like for me to love unconditionally.
I'm just going to quote what the last part of the chapter says here...
"When your enjoyment of each other as best friends [referring to a spouse here]...is based on unwavering commitment, you will experience an intimacy that cannot be achieved any other way. But you will struggle and fail to attain this kind of marriage unless you allow God to begin growing His love within you. Love that "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Corinthians 13:7) does not come from within. It can only come from God. The Scriptures say that "neither death, nor life, nor angles, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). This is God's kind of love. And thankfully--by your choice--it can become your kind of love."
So, I think what I, personally, need to work on this week, is attempting to understand, beginning to comprehend just exactly what it means that God loves us unconditionally. It is obviously the only way that I'm ever going to begin getting to love thing right. I have to learn from the only one that does it perfectly... And I need to accept it for myself, so that I can truly give it to others. It actually feels extremely overwhelming to even begin to think about it...
So, i guess my dare for you this week is to go before God and ask Him to reveal His love to you in a way so clear that the only possible thing for you to do is to go share it with someone else... everyone else. Its the only way we will ever learn to love our students the way God has called us to love them...
And I'll be praying for you, too. Praying that your hearts are open to receive love... praying that you would allow yourself to KNOW that you are worthy of His love... it may be really hard for some of us, but it will definitely be worth it...
It will be a couple weeks before I put up another post. I'm going to wait until after Thanksgiving since next week will probably be a very short and crazy week for most of us. If you feel challenged to, please take this dare and really begin working it out in your life during that time.
<3
This week's dare is about unconditional love. Reading over the chapter in the book, it felt as though it didn't apply much to loving our students. It dives into the different types of love (greek-- agape, phileo, eros)... and quite honestly, I would really need to dig into the meaning of those words deeper for me to feel okay with applying it to our love for our students.
But, part of what I am coming to realize is just how hard it is for me to fully accept that God's love for me is unconditional, which means that it is even harder for me to grasp what it looks like for me to love unconditionally.
I'm just going to quote what the last part of the chapter says here...
"When your enjoyment of each other as best friends [referring to a spouse here]...is based on unwavering commitment, you will experience an intimacy that cannot be achieved any other way. But you will struggle and fail to attain this kind of marriage unless you allow God to begin growing His love within you. Love that "bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Corinthians 13:7) does not come from within. It can only come from God. The Scriptures say that "neither death, nor life, nor angles, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). This is God's kind of love. And thankfully--by your choice--it can become your kind of love."
So, I think what I, personally, need to work on this week, is attempting to understand, beginning to comprehend just exactly what it means that God loves us unconditionally. It is obviously the only way that I'm ever going to begin getting to love thing right. I have to learn from the only one that does it perfectly... And I need to accept it for myself, so that I can truly give it to others. It actually feels extremely overwhelming to even begin to think about it...
So, i guess my dare for you this week is to go before God and ask Him to reveal His love to you in a way so clear that the only possible thing for you to do is to go share it with someone else... everyone else. Its the only way we will ever learn to love our students the way God has called us to love them...
And I'll be praying for you, too. Praying that your hearts are open to receive love... praying that you would allow yourself to KNOW that you are worthy of His love... it may be really hard for some of us, but it will definitely be worth it...
It will be a couple weeks before I put up another post. I'm going to wait until after Thanksgiving since next week will probably be a very short and crazy week for most of us. If you feel challenged to, please take this dare and really begin working it out in your life during that time.
<3
Sunday, November 14, 2010
coming soon, I promise
Hello fellow teachers, I see that the site has already had several hits today, and I'm sorry the newest dare has not been posted. I will get it up tomorrow afternoon for sure. Have a happy Monday! :)
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Dare 9: Love Makes Good Impressions
Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. 2 Corinthians 13: 11-13
Dare 9: Love Makes Good Impressions
It is interesting to me how often scripture speaks of how we should greet one another. We teased my husband a couple weeks ago when he told our LifeGroup that we should be greeting each other with a holy kiss. We decided that a group hug might be more acceptable. But the reality of it is, is that Paul has taken time out of many of his books to instruct us on how to greet each other! He even takes time at the end of Romans to ask them to individually greet 27 of his friends and loved ones for him.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus speaks about loving your enemies. He says, "And if you only greet your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Pagans do that?" (Matthew 5:47) It is easy for us to address the people we like graciously, but Jesus says we also need to address our enemies with this kindness.
Until I started working on this week's dare, I didn't realize how much attention was paid to how we should GREET each other! I think it's kind of neat actually.
So, what does that mean for us as teachers? I'd say a lot, don't you think?! In a day I have 65 possible first greetings with my students, and you can double that number because I have most of them twice a day. Not to mention my coworkers!
"When someone communicates that they are glad to see you, your personal sense of self-worth increases. You feel more important and valued. That's because a good greeting sets the stage for positive and healthy interaction. Like love, it puts wind in your sails."
Harry Wong (the First Days of School guy) always talks about the importance of greeting your students before class with energy. I think some of my better days with my students, especially when I've had a tough group of kids in the past, started with me standing outside the door and giving each student a high five or a big smile and "how are ya!?" as they walk into my classroom.
"It doesn't have to be bold and dramatic every time, but adding warmth and enthusiasm gives you the chance to touch [you students'] heart in subtle, unspoken ways."
This Week's Dare
This week is an easy dare! Think of a few ways you would like to greet your students. Remember, you probably greet your students several times a day, even if you have the same group of kids all day long. Practice greeting them with a smile and enthusiasm. Each one of them. Remember... you might be the first person who has ever shown excitement to see any particular student. You might be the first person who is truly working to love that student. Do it well.
Love you all! :)
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Dare 8: Love is Not Jealous
Dare 8: Love is Not Jealous
"Jealousy is one of the strongest drives known to man. It comes from the root word for zeal and means 'to burn with an intense fire.' The Scripture pointedly says, 'Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood, but who can stand before jealousy?' (Proverbs 27:4)"
To clear up a misconception of God and jealousy first it is important to recognize that there are two forms of jealousy: a legitimate jealousy and an illegitimate jealousy. When scripture speaks of God being a jealous God it is referring to the legitimate jealousy which means that God is longing for us, desiring that we keep Him as our first love.
Unfortunately, the jealousy that we struggle with is typically the illegitimate time. It is very clearly in opposition to love. It is rooted in selfishness. "This is to be jealous of someone, to be 'moved with envy.'"
This week's dare will focus a little more on our relations with our coworkers. While I'm sure it is possible to become jealous of our students, I imagine that jealousy of our coworkers is a far bigger issue. Jealousy happens when someone else has something, or gets something, that you want. Instead of feeling happy for them, you get angry. It's so important to harness that anger and let love win out. If that doesn't happen, that jealousy can take a deep root in your heart. The book of James says that envy leads to fighting, quarreling, and every evil thing (James 3:16, 4:1-2).
I'm going to avoid providing examples here for the sake of protecting my coworkers. I know that I could provide plenty of examples of myself, but if any of my coworkers are reading this, I don't want anyone to feel as though I'm pointing our their "failures" as well... I'm sure if we take a step back it will be easy to become aware of where jealousy has seeped into our relationships at work--whether it be work related or life related.
"Because love is not selfish and puts others first, it refuses to let jealousy in.... It is time to let love, humility, and gratefulness destroy any jealousy that springs up in your heart."
This Week's Dare
Determine to become your coworkers, and your students, biggest fans. Reject any thoughts of jealousy. Last week I asked that you make a list of the positive and negative things about some of your students. This is where you will throw out the negative list--a way of showing you are ready to only look at the good in people. Share with your coworkers and students your encouragement about successes they are encountering.
What are some positive experiences you can celebrate in the life of your coworkers and students? How can you encourage them toward future successes?
Sidenote: Sometimes I look back on a week and wonder how well I have actually done with that week's particular dare. It is easy to get caught up in the business of the day and forget to focus on one thing in particular. What I'm trying to say is, don't get to caught up in the particulars. The goal of this is to love our students better. If you are striving to love your students (and coworkers, and family, etc.) then you're striving in toward the right goal. I hope God is showing you new ways to love and is placing people in your lives that show you His love.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Dare 7: Love Believes the Best
...Love believes all things, hopes all things...1 Corinthians 13:7
Dare 7: Love Believes the Best
It can be very easy to become discouraged by our students' "failures." At points it may be hard to remember that inside our students is something good. Maybe its the desire to learn, or maybe the ability to be kind, or the desire to be good.
We can create excuses for them or possibly give up on them. And in the process we add to what the Love Dare refers to as the "Depreciation Room." It is full of weaknesses and failures of students. It can house very hateful thoughts or feelings toward students and make a teacher ready to fire when that student "fails" again.
Luckily, there is also an "Appreciation Room." This is where we keep all of the successes of our students. All things true and good about our students... ALL of our students, not just the ones who are easy to appreciate.
The items in both rooms may be true for the student, but it is important to focus on the Appreciation Room. Love lives in the Appreciation Room. Love chooses to believe the best in people. To give them the benefit of the doubt. And when our students fail us, love chooses to move forward to agree to focus on the good.
"It is time to let love lead your thoughts and your focus. The only reason you should glance in the door of the Depreciation Room is to know how to pray for your [students]. And the only reason you should ever go in this room is to write "COVERED IN LOVE" in huge letters across the walls."
It is SO important to develop the habit of throwing away your negative thoughts and focusing only on the positive ones. I know that in the process of the day, this can feel very difficult. I've experienced some very, very unlovable kids... and I know I definitely haven't always done my best in my attempts to love them. But they still deserve love.
For this week's dare, get two sheets of paper. It would be great if you could do this dare for each of your students, but I realize that is not always possible. So, if it isn't possible in your world, choose a few of the hardest to love students. On the first sheet of paper, spend a few minutes writing out positive things about the student. Then do the same with negative things on the second sheet. Place both sheets in a secret (and secure!) place for another day. There's a different purpose and plan for each. At some point throughout the remainder of the week, pick one positive attribute and thank your students for having this characteristic.
I hope you all are doing well. My apologies for not getting this dare up sooner. Life happens. :) Praying for you and hoping your week goes smoothly.
Dare 7: Love Believes the Best
It can be very easy to become discouraged by our students' "failures." At points it may be hard to remember that inside our students is something good. Maybe its the desire to learn, or maybe the ability to be kind, or the desire to be good.
We can create excuses for them or possibly give up on them. And in the process we add to what the Love Dare refers to as the "Depreciation Room." It is full of weaknesses and failures of students. It can house very hateful thoughts or feelings toward students and make a teacher ready to fire when that student "fails" again.
Luckily, there is also an "Appreciation Room." This is where we keep all of the successes of our students. All things true and good about our students... ALL of our students, not just the ones who are easy to appreciate.
The items in both rooms may be true for the student, but it is important to focus on the Appreciation Room. Love lives in the Appreciation Room. Love chooses to believe the best in people. To give them the benefit of the doubt. And when our students fail us, love chooses to move forward to agree to focus on the good.
"It is time to let love lead your thoughts and your focus. The only reason you should glance in the door of the Depreciation Room is to know how to pray for your [students]. And the only reason you should ever go in this room is to write "COVERED IN LOVE" in huge letters across the walls."
It is SO important to develop the habit of throwing away your negative thoughts and focusing only on the positive ones. I know that in the process of the day, this can feel very difficult. I've experienced some very, very unlovable kids... and I know I definitely haven't always done my best in my attempts to love them. But they still deserve love.
This Week's Dare
For this week's dare, get two sheets of paper. It would be great if you could do this dare for each of your students, but I realize that is not always possible. So, if it isn't possible in your world, choose a few of the hardest to love students. On the first sheet of paper, spend a few minutes writing out positive things about the student. Then do the same with negative things on the second sheet. Place both sheets in a secret (and secure!) place for another day. There's a different purpose and plan for each. At some point throughout the remainder of the week, pick one positive attribute and thank your students for having this characteristic.
I hope you all are doing well. My apologies for not getting this dare up sooner. Life happens. :) Praying for you and hoping your week goes smoothly.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Bye Week... kinda...
Hello all! I will not be posting a new dare this week for a couple reasons. The initial reason being that this is only a three day week for me. We have parent teacher conferences on Thursday all day and no school on Friday.
I have also felt like I need a little time to reflect on what it is that I'm wanting to happen by practicing the Love Dare on my students. I know for sure that I'm not doing a great job at all of the dares that I'm offering up every week. I have many moments of slip ups and sometimes feel slightly overwhelmed that I'm truly called to LOVE everyone... which includes each and every one one of my 65 students. Some days this feels like a daunting task.
So, this morning at church, God was softly reminding me of the reasons behind his calling for me to start the Love Dare journey....
I'm a little pressed for time at the moment, so I'm just going to hit the highlights of what was said this morning. If you care to listen to the entire sermon (which I highly suggest, our pastor does an amazing job of speaking the absolute truth of God's word, even over tough topics) you can go to www.freshwaterbolivar.com and podcasts from all of the sermons are under the media tab.
Ephesians 4
1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.
- LEAD A LIFE WORTHY OF YOUR CALLING...
- HUMILITY-- The only way to not become prideful is to be completely focused on the gospel. And if you think you are being humble by not thinking highly of yourself (ie, bad self esteem, thinking you should/could be better at something) then you are still acting out of pride, only in reverse.
- The biggest problems in our relationships typically come from a root of pride. We think we deserve to be treated a certain way or deserve the best opportunities, when in reality, the only thing we DESERVE is Hell... everything else is just a blessing. So remember.... We are nothing, God is everything.
- GENTLENESS--- Which is humbleness acted out.
- PATIENCE--- take a look back at the first dare.
- BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE--Bearing means we PUT UP WITH THEM.
- If you are avoiding those that have different personalities than you... the people that you really just have a hard time getting along with... so you don't have to deal with them... then you have some massive pride issues.
- When others see the way we treat each other they should step back and say "I can't believe it"
- The scripture says we are "eager to MAINTAIN unity" ... we already have the unity (as a body of Christ--because Christ is our ONE great Love), we don't have to build that unity... we just have to maintain it....
So our pastor's challenge to us this week was to revisit the gospel every day. Ask yourself, What has Christ done for me? And if I'm called to love as Christ has loved, then what can I do for others? Then repent and recommit.
I'm in the process of trying to wrap my mind around all of this. This particular passage was directed toward acting this way toward the body of believers... obviously not all of our students, coworkers, etc. fall into that category... but I know that we're still called to love them the same...
Anyway, I think this week, for me at least, needs to be a week of reflection.
I'm sure a lot of you are doing conferences this week. I will be praying those go well for you! And thanks to those of you who have committed to join me on this journey this year. It feels good to know I'm not in this alone.
God Bless!
So, I realize this isn't what this blog is about, but I figure teacher-teacher you all will understand :) I have a project up on donorschoose right now that really needs funding. If you donate before October 18 *tomorrow* the donation is matched... so if you give $5 the project will receive $10. Here's my site: http://www.donorschoose.org/mrsbarnoskie
I have also felt like I need a little time to reflect on what it is that I'm wanting to happen by practicing the Love Dare on my students. I know for sure that I'm not doing a great job at all of the dares that I'm offering up every week. I have many moments of slip ups and sometimes feel slightly overwhelmed that I'm truly called to LOVE everyone... which includes each and every one one of my 65 students. Some days this feels like a daunting task.
So, this morning at church, God was softly reminding me of the reasons behind his calling for me to start the Love Dare journey....
I'm a little pressed for time at the moment, so I'm just going to hit the highlights of what was said this morning. If you care to listen to the entire sermon (which I highly suggest, our pastor does an amazing job of speaking the absolute truth of God's word, even over tough topics) you can go to www.freshwaterbolivar.com and podcasts from all of the sermons are under the media tab.
Ephesians 4
1 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 and one God and Father, who is over all and in all and living through all.
- LEAD A LIFE WORTHY OF YOUR CALLING...
- HUMILITY-- The only way to not become prideful is to be completely focused on the gospel. And if you think you are being humble by not thinking highly of yourself (ie, bad self esteem, thinking you should/could be better at something) then you are still acting out of pride, only in reverse.
- The biggest problems in our relationships typically come from a root of pride. We think we deserve to be treated a certain way or deserve the best opportunities, when in reality, the only thing we DESERVE is Hell... everything else is just a blessing. So remember.... We are nothing, God is everything.
- GENTLENESS--- Which is humbleness acted out.
- PATIENCE--- take a look back at the first dare.
- BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER IN LOVE--Bearing means we PUT UP WITH THEM.
- If you are avoiding those that have different personalities than you... the people that you really just have a hard time getting along with... so you don't have to deal with them... then you have some massive pride issues.
- When others see the way we treat each other they should step back and say "I can't believe it"
- The scripture says we are "eager to MAINTAIN unity" ... we already have the unity (as a body of Christ--because Christ is our ONE great Love), we don't have to build that unity... we just have to maintain it....
So our pastor's challenge to us this week was to revisit the gospel every day. Ask yourself, What has Christ done for me? And if I'm called to love as Christ has loved, then what can I do for others? Then repent and recommit.
I'm in the process of trying to wrap my mind around all of this. This particular passage was directed toward acting this way toward the body of believers... obviously not all of our students, coworkers, etc. fall into that category... but I know that we're still called to love them the same...
Anyway, I think this week, for me at least, needs to be a week of reflection.
I'm sure a lot of you are doing conferences this week. I will be praying those go well for you! And thanks to those of you who have committed to join me on this journey this year. It feels good to know I'm not in this alone.
God Bless!
So, I realize this isn't what this blog is about, but I figure teacher-teacher you all will understand :) I have a project up on donorschoose right now that really needs funding. If you donate before October 18 *tomorrow* the donation is matched... so if you give $5 the project will receive $10. Here's my site: http://www.donorschoose.org/mrsbarnoskie
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