Education part 2

I have a little time right now, so I'll see if I can add to my latest post. To review, I was beginning to compare and contrast public, private and home-school. Here are some of the listed pros and cons for public school that I previously listed, and I will go on from there.

Public school....
Arguments for it include:
1. It's a good financial decision. Going into debt to pay for your child's elementary school doesn't seem like good stewardship (which we are Biblical called to have). Public education is "free" and may give the mom time for a part-time job while the kids are in school to supplement their income without taking time from the kids.
2. The mother and/or father are not good teachers or would be miserable or terribly stressed trying to teach. The kids would get a better education at public school and their parents might be more emotionally stable after having a little break.
3. It's a great opportunity to teach children to apply what they learned in church in witnessing to their unsaved friends. The public schools are huge mission fields and we can send little missionaries there free.

Arguments against it include:
1. World-view matters in every subject. If we want them to truly think like Christians we must educate them as Christians in all areas of life.
2. Negative peer pressure can draw them away and cause them to abandon their faith, or at least get caught up in sin for long periods of time.
3. Standards are dropping, and children will not get a really good education in most public schools.

Private Schools....
Before I list pros and cons of this specific choice, I should perhaps again talk about what I am familiar with. The private school I teach at is a classical, Christ-centered school. I have seen "Christian" schools that are poor examples of Christianity, as well as being equally terrible academically. Such schools are unfortunate. Those are two faults that my school strives to avoid, with what I think is a great deal of success. Again, we will try to consider the "ideal" private Christian school.

Arguments for private schools:
1. Good for training students in a Christian world-view. Ideally the students who graduate would be able to understand all subjects in light of Christ and His word, and would be able to impact their culture better because they understand how Christianity differs from the culture.
2. Higher educational standards combined with more classical techniques can help students achieve excellence.
3. Students are daily encouraged to grow in Christ by teachers as well as other students. The positive peer pressure can have a great impact on their lives.
Arguments against them:
1. Can be very expensive. If parents do not have the resources to pay for it, it can be financially irresponsible.
2. Can produce prideful and arrogant students who know too much and love too little.
3. We as Christians are called to make disciples of the nations, and there is no age limit on that call. By taking Christian children out of a public environment we are arguably denying them the opportunity of contributing to the accomplishment of the Great Commission.

Arguments for and against home school are generally pretty similar to those for and against private schools, so I will only list a couple additional points.
For Home school:
1. Parents are responsible for the training of their children as they are the only ones actually commanded to train their children. They can still train them if they are not home schooled, but they will definitely have more control over the teaching and training of their children by homeschooling them than they would in either private or public schools.
Against Home school:
1. There is not enough social interaction and home schooled children will no be able to properly relate to their peers. It is argued that home school does not properly prepare children for what they will face in "real life."
2. This could take a considerable toll on the time and the energy of the mother. Not all mothers are up to this.
3. The education that the father and mother are able to provide could be inferior to that provided by a school. For example, if parents who struggled in algebra attempt to teach it to their children, well, chances are good the children won't understand it either.

That's what I have for arguments off the top of my head -- the most common and most reasonable ones I have heard. (Feel free to leave comments with any other reasoning you've heard.) I can see the point of many of them, and I can give a response to many. Its the ones that seem to be contradictory and yet both good points that I have the problem with.

As this post is rather long already, I'll post it now and in the next post start going through some of my responses to the aforementioned reasons.

Oh, and Happy New Year!

education

Midnight is drawing nearer here in Kentucky...I think I must still be on Bozeman time. :) Oh well. It's been a while since I posted anything, and I was having some thoughts today that I want to write out, in hopes that I will at least clarify them for myself.

The subject of education is one I've been, well, wrestling with for some time. I personally went to public school all my life, and I now teach at a private school. Most of my cousins and many of my friends were homeschooled (or are homeschooling their children). I don't know that my perspective is therefore unique, but it is rather broad. The thing is, unfortunately the Bible never says anything like, "You must educate your children in a Biblical setting" or "Children should be educated so as to best impact culture" or "In their education, children should seek to witness to their classmates." All of those are probably good things, and may be partly implied by some things in the Bible, but they are never stated out-right, and therefore it is difficult to determine what is best and what is Biblical. And their are certainly a number of opposing views among even orthodox Christians.

Let's start with a few key verses. Every side will, of course, have different ones (or the same ones applied differently), so let me attempt to just give a few that are fairly clear in meaning.

Deut. 4:9
Only take heed to yourself, and diligently keep yourself, lest you forget the things your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. And teach them to your children and your grandchildren,

Psalm 34:11
Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.

Ephesians 6:4
And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

Having searched my concordance, these are just about the only verses that refer to teaching or training children specifically. Of course there would be others that would apply (especially in Proverbs), but these are a good start. And the only thing that they say is that parents are to teach their children about God -- who He is, what He has done, how we should respond, etc. Our government (which we are supposed to obey) says that all children should be educated in "the 3 R's" and such. So we need to educate children about God as well as teaching them to read and write and such. That is about all that I can draw directly from the Bible, along with the fact that responsibility does rest on the parents. From here on it gets more difficult, and more divisive.

Let's consider pro's and con's of our choices, starting with public school, since that's where I started. I should preface these statements by making it clear that I went to fairly good public schools. In elementary school I think that many of my teachers were believers, and my high school is rated fairly high. That is the sort of situation I'm familiar with, and my thoughts might be different if we were discussing a school in the inner city where very little real education happens. Perhaps for this discussion we will assume that all our options are as ideal as they can be. All three can be very bad, so we will assume we get them at their best.

Public school....
Arguments for it include:
1. It's a good financial decision. Going into debt to pay for your child's elementary school doesn't seem like good stewardship (which we are Biblically called to have). Public education is "free" and may give the mom time for a part-time job while the kids are in school to supplement their income without taking time from the kids.
2. The mother and/or father are not good teachers or would be miserable or terribly stressed trying to teach. The kids would get a better education at public school and their parents might be more emotionally stable after having a little break.
3. It's a great opportunity to teach children to apply what they learned in church in witnessing to their unsaved friends. The public schools are huge mission fields and we can send little missionaries there free.

Arguments against it include:
1. World-view matters in every subject. If we want them to truly think like Christians we must educate them as Christians in all areas of life.
2. Negative peer pressure can draw them away and cause them to abandon their faith, or at least get caught up in sin for long periods of time.
3. Standards are dropping, and children will not get a really good education in most public schools.

*******************************************************
It's pretty late and I'm not thinking too clearly, so I'm going to
pause here and hopefully post again on this topic in the near
future. :)
*******************************************************

Merry Christmas!

I am so blessed, to live where I do, to have the family I have, to have the job I have, to be redeemed and have the promise of heaven. God is so good to me!

If anyone who might read this wants to see some pictures of my activities this month, check out this link:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=78427&l=f7afd&id=537220443

We're leaving for Kentucky tomorrow morning (yay!) and I should be adding a few more pictures in the next week or two.

Merry Christmas!!

Knowledge

I've been reading some of Jane Austin's novels lately, and I happened to start re-reading Northanger Abbey. If you have never happened to read it, you really should pick it up someday. Its quite different from Austin's 'normal' style...rather tongue-in-cheek. Anyway, while reading, I came across this quote:
"Where people wish to attach, they should always be ignorant. To come with a well-informed mind, is to come with an inability of administering to the vanity of others, which a sensible person would always wish to avoid. A woman, especially, if she have the misfortune of knowing anything, should conceal it as well as she can."

My first reaction was to laugh. My second reaction after the first mirth had passed was to ponder this a bit more. How intimidating is intelligence, especially in a woman? My own father, who is quite intelligent, said that in high school he was 'afraid' of the intelligent girls, thinking he'd never have a chance. This quote and my dad's recent comment made me wonder, first about human nature, and then about my own nature.

I must admit that I consider myself rather intelligent. I think that is an area that, for whatever reason, God has gifted me in. In my pride I like to think that I am more intelligent than I really am, and I wonder if I try to appear intelligent. I can't say that I intentionally try to appear really intelligent when I first meet someone, as far as I know, but perhaps after that? My actions will bear watching. There is nothing wrong with being intelligent, and there is nothing wrong with it showing, but there is something wrong if I am purposely showing, especially if it makes other uncomfortable.

Explanation

A couple comments/notes of explanation on the two posted poems.

The first I heard on NPR and found it rather amusing, and a bit convicting. The attitude of the little boy who made the lanyard is very similar to all of us at times -- we have been given so much by various people: friends, parents, grandparents, and of course, God. Yet we easily take these things for granted and believe that some simple act will pay back all that we've been given. "Look God, I've been such a good little girl, praying, reading my Bible, and I even gave my brother the bigger cookie. I know you saved me from death and damnation, and now I think we're pretty even."

The second, while I don't really agree with philosophically, I do like, mostly because it was made into a song that I sang in choir my senior year. That was also the year my family went to Israel, specifically while I was learning that song. I remember sitting by the Sea of Galilee at night, on the east side, with that song stuck in my head, looking over at the lights of Tiberias "along the shore." I may not have been there before, but I do certainly want to go back now!

"Sudden Light" by Dante Gabriel Rossetti

I have been here before,
But when or how I cannot tell:
I know the grass beyond the door,
The sweet keen smell,
The sighing sound, the lights around the shore.

You have been mine before,—
How long ago I may not know:
But just when at that swallow's soar
Your neck turned so,
Some veil did fall,—I knew it all of yore.

Has this been thus before?
And shall not thus time's eddying flight
Still with our lives our love restore
In death's despite,
And day and night yield one delight once more?

Or, an alternate final stanza:

Then, now,—perchance again! . . . .
O round mine eyes your tresses shake!
Shall we not lie as we have lain
Thus for Love's sake,
And sleep, and wake, yet never break the chain?

"The Lanyard" by Billy Collins

The other day as I was ricocheting slowly
off the pale blue walls of this room,
bouncing from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.

No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one more suddenly into the past --
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.

I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that’s what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.

She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sickroom,
lifted teaspoons of medicine to my lips,
set cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light

and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.

Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift--not the archaic truth

that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hands,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.

Vapor

A couple circumstances recently have impressed on me the fleetingness of life. I just heard today that the father of one of my good friends from high school had recently and unexpectedly passed away. Last spring the father of another childhood friend also went home to Jesus. These men were not much older than my own father. I also realized that my mother's father died when she was about my age. I am so thankful for my father and that I have had him as long as I have. I pray that I will have many more years to enjoy him, and that I would make the most of any time with him (and my mother and the rest of my family and friends) that I am given.

Another circumstance was my Grandmother's getting into a car accident right before Thanksgiving. She is recovering as well as can be expected now, but had a few minor things gone differently, she probably would not still be alive.

Fortunately, I serve a God who controls life and death, who has even conquered death. I have seen times when someone who should have died was miraculously preserved, and I have seen others cut down unexpectedly in some "freak" accident. None of us can live a minute more or less than what God has mapped out for us, which is comforting. Whenever I die, it will be my time. Whenever a friend or family member dies, it will be his or her turn -- and, for the most part, I know I will see him or her again in heaven someday.

For now, seeing that life is fleeting and the end unexpected, Lord help me to live in light of eternity. Keep me from wasting my life, whatever its length. Be glorified in me.


"See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." ~Ephesians 5:15-16

Causes

Today someone made a passing comment about the "cause of Christ" and that phrase caught my attention. For the facebook unenlightened, there is a facebook application that allows to to join different "causes", invite your friends to join, and even give money. Not sure what the point is...maybe to make sure your friends know what sort of good causes you support? At any rate, my thought was that someone should make the cause of Christ one of the causes that can be joined--that is a cause worthy of support.

It often bothers me when people talk about different problems in various place of this world and in all their hopeful solutions they completely leave out the gospel. They support causes to end world hunger or to bring peace to Sudan or to care for orphans in Tanzania, none of which are bad in themselves. But they completely fail to realize that none of those dreams can possibly be realized without the gospel of Christ. Trying to stamp out world hunger without the Christ is like trying heal leprosy with a bandaid. Such a "cure" might possibly heal an open sore on the arm, but when there are sores all over the body and more all the time, that will hardly help. Rather than band-aids you need to deal with the bacteria causing this disease (namely, sin.)

As long as sin is in this world there will be hunger, and war, and pain, and death. The only solution to sin is the atoning blood of Christ. Only in Him, therefore, is the final solution. Only in Him is there really any solution (even relatively small solutions.)

Oh Lord, come soon! And until then find us laboring for the cause of Christ.

The Klein Four - Finite Simple Group

Ran across this video the other day, and since I'm a complete geek, found it rather amusing. :)

Weddings and such

Note to self: weddings are more trouble than they're worth!

Ok, ok, before someone jumps all over me for that one, I really am a great fan of marriage. It's just this whole production that is called a "wedding" that I'm not so sure about.

Here's the story. For as old as I am, I actually have never really been intimately involved in planning a wedding. Well, I was a flower girl 4 times, but that was a while ago, and I was hardly old enough to do more than get in the way that that time. But now, my ex-roommate is getting married and asked me to be a bridesmaid, which is really exciting. I've always sort of wanted to be a bridesmaid, and I was afraid I would never get the chance. So, I really am excited. But I must admit that it's opened my eyes to the whole world of "THE WEDDING."

The first thing that I realized was that attractive, modest, and inexpensive bridesmaid dresses are not really readily available. There are a few that could be considered attractive, but of the ones we could choose from, none of them were really modest OR inexpensive. Plus, they must be ordered about 10 weeks in advance, and then modified to fit you. Personally hoping to modify mine to make it a bit more modest. With the wedding rapidly approaching, this process was a little more hurried than we would like it.
Lesson learned: If I ever get married and have bridesmaids, attempt to be very considerate of them. Try to find modest, relatively inexpensive dresses in a color or colors that will look decent on all of them. Try to give them enough time to order them and get modifications. There are a few websites that look rather promising for this, such as http://www.beautifullymodest.com.

Next, I was struck by the difficulties involved with planning the bridal shower. The bride now lives out of town, but still wanted the shower here since most of her friends are her. This means that the shower must be planned for a weekend when she is available to come down here, and when the four bridesmaids here in town are available to do it. Even with the weekend decided upon we then had to decide what time and where it was to be held, as well as any special requests to make of the guests, how to word invitations, what sort of refreshments to serve, and what sort of goofy activities and games must take place. I don't wish to imply that this whole process was miserable. On the contrary, it really was rather fun, it just added a bit to my stress level. :) Actually, one of the hardest parts is keeping our plans reasonable. There are four bridesmaids involved in planning this, all of different ages, different experiences, and very different ideas of what happens at wedding showers. Lots of good ideas, but we can't do all of them...how to narrow it down and keep it practical?
Lesson learned: Um...just elope. :) Other than that, um...not really sure how to make that process more efficient.

Finally, I'm amazed by how much weddings cost in general. The expenses incurred by only the bridesmaids is considerable-- $100-$200 for the dress, uncertain amount for the shower, $40 to get hair done, plus make-up, shoes, and travel expenses. And then there's what the bride and groom and family's pay for the dress, rental of facilities, reception food, the cake, rings, etc, etc. Is it really all worth it?
Lesson learned: Again, IF I ever get married, I need to make a conscious effort to cut down on costs. I've never really been enraptured by dreams of the perfect, traditional wedding, so it might be easier for me. I want to marry a good man, and I want as many of my family members and friends to be there as possible, and other than that, I'm not sure that I care much. Actually, what I'd like is a very simple ring that has a tiny diamond if any so it won't get in my way, an orange dress :), my students to sing "The Mathematics of Love", and tea and cookies for the reception. Yup, that sounds good.

More seriously, though, if I ever am a bride, I want to be a considerate one. I suppose any wedding will inconvenience someone a little. I would hope, however, to make that inconvenience as small as possible. We all tend to be selfish creatures, and I think brides are unfortunatly known for having a corner on that particular vice. I would hope to remember to be considerate of others -- even if that means that I have to have a white dress and a huge ring (though I'm not sure how that would help anyone, but at any rate....)

Ok, enough conjecture tonight. I'm not getting married any time soon, but I do have a shower to give tomorrow, so I should head to bed and get my beauty sleep so I don't scare the bride tomorrow. :)

Math in hymns

Verse 1:
He giveth more grace as our burdens grow greater,
He sendeth more strength as our labors increase;
To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials He multiplies peace.

Chorus:
His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
His power no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

Verse 2:
When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving is only begun.

Jane

"I have nothing either to hope or fear, and nothing to reproach him with. Thank God! I have not had that pain." ~Jane Bennet

This is a statement made by Jane when she hears for certain that Mr. Bingley will spend the winter in London, effectively crushing all her hopes for returned affection and marriage. I don't know that this statement struck me much the first time I heard it, but I have had reason to ponder it since, and I really think it gives a good hint to what romantic relationships (dating, courting, whatever) should be like.

Jane had the good fortune to be pursued by a "young man of large fortune from the north of England." She then has the misfortune to 'lose' him, through the interference of his friends and sisters. Obviously a painful happening under the best of circumstances. What interests me is that Jane takes comfort in the fact that Bingley never misbehaved or improperly lead her on. He didn't purposely defraud her in anyway.

This contrasts strongly with the behavior of many young men (and women) today. They ask for emotional (and physical) involvement without any commitment. They are out to get, not to give. There is no concern for protecting or blessing their boy friend or girl friend. Its all about the pleasure of the moment. And then the moment ends. They break up, and unlike Jane, they do have something to reproach each other with. That anger and regretfulness can make a break up that much worse...I've seen it time and again.

Fortunately, not all young couples follow this destructive pattern. I know of one couple where the young man, while pursuing this young woman, was very concerned with how to help her protect her heart. If for one reason or another their relationship did not end with marriage, he did not want their break up to hurt her more than absolutely necessary. What a contrast! Instead of looking for the affirmation of a full emotional commitment without the promise of a life together, he sought to help both of them protect their hearts.

That's the sort of man I'm looking for.

Culture and education

Apparently I like to start my posts with questions, so here's another one:

Have you ever considered the effect of culture on our lives -- actions and thoughts? For that matter, have you ever thought about the relationship between language and culture? This is a recurring subject in my mind, and most recently I was reminded of it by a visiting missionary. (Specifically, I started wondering if our tendency to pick up sayings and habits of people around us is an innate ability to adjust to the culture in which we find ourselves...but that's not my main subject today.) Since becoming a teacher my mind has also often been occupied with the idea of education. The combination of the two produces the question, "How does culture influence education, and vice versa?"

I personally have been trained in a more "classical" methodology that most contemporary teachers, and have come to believe in its effectiveness, and to understand some of the reasons behind why it works. These ideas, developed through the ages, but mostly in "western" cultures, are very effective in teaching and training the American children of today. And ideally, these educational ideals should transfer with few modifications to other cultures...but do they? Could you use the classical method to teach in rural Africa, China, or the jungles of Papua New Guinea? Perhaps, though you would certainly have to do a lot of ground work first (learning the language, translating texts, etc.) And then you would have to take into account that they have absolutely no idea of all the history we take for granted. They've never heard of the Greeks, or Zeus, or Babylon. How do you even begin preaching the gospel to people who have no idea who the Hebrews were or why there was a promise Messiah? These are just subjects, however, and don't really deal with the methodology.

As I understand it, classical methodology requires a constant questioning, attempting to lead pupils to truth without telling them they can find out for themselves. What if there were a culture where asking questions of this form was considered offensive? I don't know if such a culture exists, but I would not be at all surprised to find something similar. What then? Can the methodology be adjusted? And how, without losing its distinctive features?

America is a culture where individualism is exalted and thinking is linear. How would our education system transfer to a culture where the group is more important than the individual and the thinking is circular? What if you were trying to teach to a culture that knew nothing of abstract ideas? I know so little of cultures outside my own, I can't even begin to think how education would need to be adjusted. Would the "classical method" as we know it still work with some modifications, or would it need to be fundamentally changed?

Maybe someday I'll have answers. For now, these are just questions I ask myself when I am avoiding writing a physics test. :)

Casting

Have you ever tried to cast a play? If not, take my advice and don't do it. It's more trouble than its worth! Consider this:
Play: "The Rivals"
Parts:6 minor parts, 4 mediumish parts, and 8 larger parts (18 total, of which only 5 are specifically female roles)
Actors: 18, 7 male, 11 female, various ages, sizes, and abilities
Other considerations: Each actor has (of course) certain preferences for the parts they want to play. Actor A says she wants to play parts X or Z, but then isn't really willing to audition for either of those roles. Instead, she auditions for part Y. What am I to make of that? Actor B is afraid of boys and wants nothing to do with a part wherein she might have to pretend to be in love with a boy, or, heaven forbid, touch one. Actor C wants part Q but would probably be better at part R. Actor D would do well in part P but only if Actor E has part M. Actors F and G could probably do a good job, but F is only interested in small roles, and I don't know G's abilities well enough to judge if they would do a good job.

Did I mention that we have to all get along and work together to produce this play, even if people don't get their first choice?

Did I mention that we are doing this as a fund raiser for our school, so it actually needs to be good?

Ok, so, it's really not that bad. I think I have most of the parts assigned, and I think that my students will do an amazing job, and have a lot of fun. Nevertheless, I'll be glad when this stage of the production is over. :)

Fear

What is a godly perspective on fear? I had a brief discussion of this in one of my classes today. We didn't take the time to really get into it, but I think it is an important discussion.

Fear is something that affects our every day lives, whether it is fear of man, fear of the future, fear of snakes, dark, the number 13, or (hopefully) the fear of God. We all have a number of fears, some more rational than others. So, how should we, as Christians, deal with fear?

This is a subject that I've thought about quite a bit, on and off, through my life. When I was a camp counselor, my campers often asked, "What does it mean to fear God?" And slowly, I began to formulate an answer that satisfied my understanding of God and the Bible. Reading Welch's book When People are Big and God is Small also served to increase my understanding in this area. The Bible has hundreds of references to fear. Here are some to consider:

Psalm 27:1
The LORD is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 56:3
When I am afraid, I will trust in you.

Psalm 76: 7
You alone are to be feared. Who can stand before you when you are angry?

Philippians 4: 6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.


Patrick McManus has a theory he calls "the worry box." Everyone has a worry box (or fear box for our discussion) in which they keep various trifling worries: "What if I'm late for school/work/etc.?" "What if I slip on the ice and break my leg?" "What if I fail this test?" "What if my child gets suspended?" and so on. There is only room enough in the box to hold a certain amount of worry/fear. However, when you enter certain situations, all your various worries/fears are summarily dumped out of the box to make room for one engulfing worry, "Leaping lizards! There's a spitting cobra staring in my face!" With that one overpowering fear, all the other fears are forgotten as if they were nothing. I think that's sort of how our fear of God should be. With the thought of God on our mind, the knowledge that He and He alone is truly worthy of fear (and He loves us!), how can there be room for any other little trifling fears?

So, the proper response to fear? Focus on God. Meditate on His attributes: His love and mercy as well as his truth and justice. Find comfort in the fear of God.

The Future...

One would think that by this time in my life I would know what to do with my life. Not so much.

Here's the thing: I really love my current job. I love my students, I love my subjects, I love that I can see God at work in people's lives, and that I can be involved in that. I am daily becoming more familiar with the classical method and learning to appreciate its strengths. I love being a house head and getting to participate in activities with my students in that role. I appreciate the vision that we have at Petra and feel really quite loyal to the school. And, as one of the 4 staff members who have been there for 5+ years, I suppose in a sense I am sort of a "steadying influence." I know that I am not irreplaceable, but I wonder how much of a hardship it would be to the school and my student if I left? Who would take over my classes? Would the do a good job? Who would be the head of my house?

On the other hand, I never pictured myself in the old hometown for the rest of my life. When I was in high school I decided that I wanted to be a missionary, and that's still a desire buried in my heart. As it is, I am involved in sort of a full-time ministry, and hopefully having an impact there...but...for now, I don't think I'm supposed to stay here forever. Maybe I'll leave simply to come back, but I think that at some point I do need to go somewhere else, try out other things, explore other doors that God may have open for me. Beyond that, I think I can deal with being an old maid all my days, but I'm not sure that I want to be one by default (because no one I'd be likely to be interested in would have reason to come here).

So, if the plan is to move someday, the next questions are WHEN and WHERE. I think I would like to get more schooling, even if I just ended up at Petra again. That would point me to a grad school or seminary of some sort for the WHERE. As to WHEN, well, every year I ask myself, "Is this the year to move on?" And every year I say to myself, "Just one more year, then we'll see." The difference this year? Well, there may not be one big enough to push me out just yet, but I think I am considering the option a little more strongly than normal. Here are some of the reasons:
1. Of the 18 students at Petra, at least 4 will be leaving (graduating), and I've heard rumors of at least 3 more who might leave. Of the 11 left, 3 of them I don't know as well yet...and of the 4-7 leaving, most of them I've known for all the years I've taught. I'd really miss them... Part of the reason I've stayed all these years is because of the returning students who I love so dearly. I'll miss some of them anyway, so missing all of them won't be quite as big of a difference.
2. If I don't do something soon, I probably will end up staying here for a long time. Not necessarily bad, but is it best?
3. I have a brother and sister-in-law at seminary... It would be fun to be closer.
4. I really want to go back to Israel! :) Or at least move closer to my dream of being a missionary.
5. So much I want to learn... I'd have a hard time choosing which area to go into, but I think I would enjoy learning more.
6. My roommate is also thinking of moving on...if we both moved on, neither would have to worry about finding a new roommate here.

And as for reasons against, well...
1. There's already a large turn-over rate. I don't like to add to that.
2. I would feel I was abandoning students.
3. I would miss teaching my kids.
4. Can I leave my subjects in a state that it would be easier for a new teacher to come in and do a good job?

So there's my quandary. Lord, give me wisdom.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.
Psalm 19:1-4

To Him who by wisdom made the heavens,
For His mercy endures forever;
Psalm 136:5

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
Psalm 8:3-4

Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
Isaiah 40:21-22

Have you ever considered the heavens? Ever thought about the wisdom that formed them? Ever pondered their vastness? Ever wondered at the secrets they hold? Ever been amazed by the brilliancy of the stars hung in the far reaches of space and wondered how we are able to even see such a show? There are so many different ways in which the heavens and their hosts display their Creator's glory and majesty. May my life also show forth His glory! Soli Deo Gloria!