Special Gifts of Praise

Sadao Watanabe was an amazing Japanese Christian artist.  He lived from 1913-1996, but his artwork continues to inspire people around the world.  He used a technique called katazome.  A website devoted to Sadao Watanabe explained his technique:

How does Watanabe’s katazome technique work? First of all there must be a design. Sadao Watanabe drew his design on tracing paper and used that to cut out a stencil. The stencil is made of multiple layers of washi paper that are bonded with a persimmon solution to strengthen and waterproof it. The stencil was put on a light box and the printing paper on top of the stencil. As the stencil could be seen through the printing paper the colors were painted. When the colors had dried, the stencil was placed on top of the paper and, after a paste was drawn over the design, the stencil was removed. The effect was that only the painted areas were covered with the paste and not the lines that should be black. After the paste had dried, black paint was brushed over the entire design. The paint just adhered to the lines that were not covered with the paste. Next and last step was to wash the paper in water to dissolve the paste. When dried a new work of art was ready to tell a story of the Bible! (https://sites.google.com/site/sadaohanga/informationaboutwatanabesadao)

 

Here are some of my favorite prints by Watanabe.  First, in honor of the season of Advent, this is The Annunciation (1982).



When I look at this painting, I image Mary saying, “Who me?!”

Next, The Baptism of Christ (1968).



The Last Supper (1978).

 

I love how the Japanese culture is reflected here.  The disciples are seated on the floor in Japanese style, and they’re eating fish and sushi.

 

 The Crucifixion (1980).

There are many ways to praise God.  I’m overjoyed every time I hear my kindergarten class singing “Jesus Loves Me” in both Japanese and English.  I’m relieved when I can pray with friends about our concerns and can thank God for the many blessings in our lives.  I’m happy every time I watch a friend teach Sunday school and show children that God is truly amazing.  Also, I’m filled with hope and peace when I see artwork, like that of Sadao Watanabe, which glorifies God.  Whatever skills or talents you have, use them to praise and bring glory to God.  What special gifts of praise will you give Jesus for his birthday this year?

 

 

To learn more about Sadao Watanabe and to see more of his artwork, please visit this website: https://sites.google.com/site/sadaohanga/home

A Lasting Legacy

When I lived in Kumamoto in 2006, I had the privilege of hearing a man give an amazing testimony.  Yasunari Taniguchi spoke at the English service about his experiences during and after World War II.  Mr. Taniguchi taught at Kyushu Gakuin for more than 40 years, but this week he passed away.  He inspired many people, including me.  You can read Mr. Taniguchi’s testimony in this article, which was published in The Lutheran magazine several years ago.  The first part of the article is about the history of Christianity in Japan.  In the second part, Mr. Taniguchi shares the story of his life.  I retyped the article for easier reading, but you will also find the actual article below.

“God Makes the Seeds Grow.”—The Lutheran

Japan has never been fertile ground for Christian mission.  St. Francis Xavier and the Jesuits were first to bring the seed of the Gospel to Japan in the early 1500s.  The seed blossomed, only to be cut back by the bloody persecutions of the isolationist Tokugawa government.  Thousands of believers died.  Those who did not perish or renounce the faith went underground, preserving the faith, but leaving it like the government, isolated and increasingly stagnant.

Two hundred years later Matthew Perry’s black gunships re-opened Japan and missionaries came from nearly every Christian land on the globe to reintroduce the Gospel.  Japan readily took to Western technology and education, but the newly planted churches grew slowly.  As Japan built itself into a world power, mission efforts became more and more difficult.

Total defeat in World War II changed all this –for a while.  Physically and emotionally drained, thousands of people looked for answers in the message of Jesus Christ.  Yet, as the Japanese phoenix rose from the ashes of war and industry, and commerce forged ahead, once again the nation left Christianity behind.  Today, after more than a hundred years of earnest evangelism, barely one percent of the Japanese population is Christian.

The situation in the Japanese Lutheran churches is typical of that in other Protestant missions.  There has only been marginal growth since the “boom” postwar years.  Congregations are heavy with converts from those days.  Youth are few, and with a high percentage of Japanese pastors now approaching retirement, a leadership crisis is on the horizon.  Along with the Japanese Lutherans, nearly 100 missionaries from the American Lutheran Church and the Lutheran Church in America are working hard to form a more promising future, but, with the high cost of living and the low rate of church growth, spreading the Gospel in Japan remains a very cost inefficient enterprise.

   Is Japan rocky soil?  Thorny soil?  Where is the good soil for which many have worked?  When will the harvest come?

   What follows is the vision of one of Japan’s 10,000 Lutherans, Yasunari Taniguchi, a junior high school English teacher.  It is his testimony and life story and contains the heart of what mission is about in Japan.  Taniguchi gave this message to a group of LCA missionaries at a recent church service in Kumamoto, Japan.

   The other day I happened to meet one of my old junior high classmates for the first time in 30 years.  He asked me what my job was.

   I said, “I’m working at Kyushu Gakuin Junior High School.”

   “Ah, so you’re working in the school office.”

   “Uh, no.  I’m a teacher.”

   “Oh?  Then I guess you’re teaching Japanese.  You were pretty good at Japanese.”

   “I teach English.”

   “What?  You, an English Teacher!  I can’t believe it.  I’ll never believe it until I see you standing in front of a classroom!”

   When I met him I was suddenly reminded of my younger days.

   Can you believe that a man like me became an English teacher?  From my own experience I have to agree that English education in Japan is not reliable.  But, before I became an English teacher, one of my friends told me, “Don’t worry.  In America there are many French teachers who can’t speak French.”  Those words encouraged me to give English teaching a try.

   Perhaps you’re wondering whatever made me decide to become an English teacher in the first place.  I’ll tell you.

   I was born in Kumamoto City in 1931, the youngest of six children.  My father died when I was six years old.  My mother had a hard time bringing up so many children and she had to take special care of me because I had contracted polio at age three and lost the use of my right leg.  You can’t imagine how much I depended on my mother.

   Unfortunately, World War II broke out.  One by one my brothers were conscripted into the army.  We sometimes heard air raid sirens even in the calm city of Kumamoto.  At midnight on the night of July 1, 1945, our city was bombed out.

   The next morning I found my mother’s body lying beside the road.  She had been directly hit by an incendiary bomb.  When I found her dead, I didn’t cry.  I experienced such deep sorrow that I found I could not cry.  Everything just looked pale.  Now that I had lost my most reliable support, I also lost my energy to live.  From that day on I never went into the air raid shelter when I heard the warning siren.  It didn’t matter at all to me whether I lived or died.  I watched the bombing calmly through the window.

   As the days went by we settled into a routine of life.  One of my chores was to boil water for the family bath.  For fuel I used oil from incendiary bombs which hadn’t gone off.  I could find the bombs everywhere around my house.  First I took off the cap to the bomb.  Then from within the bomb I pulled out a type of cloth—perhaps it was a wrapping—that was soaked in thick oil.  I stuck this under our iron bathtub and lit it with a match.  It burned hot enough that we could take a bath in half an hour.

   When I had trouble opening the cap of a bomb, I used to hit its fuse with a hammer.  Of course, I knew that lots of people were losing their lives just by touching unexploded bombs, but that didn’t stop me.  Each day I wondered if it would be my last day on earth.  Once I had battered the fuse apart, I scooped up all the gunpowder from within.  With that gunpowder I made a trail on the ground leading to the oily cloth underneath our bath tub.  Secretly I called my dangerous game “Death Play.”  Strange to say, none of the bombs ever exploded.

   A month and a half after my mother died, the war ended.  At last I was able to cry, because it seemed that my mother had died in vain.  I swore revenge.

   True, the Americans were kind enough to send us food, medicine, and clothes almost from the day the war ended, but the flame of hatred kept burning deep inside me.  The only dream I had in those days was that someday I would go to America, find those Air Force pilots, and stab them to death, one by one.  So, even though I didn’t like it at all, I decided I must learn English.  One day I knocked on the door of a Mr. Sedoris McCartney, who had come to Kumamoto as a Lutheran missionary.  I figured from this American I would learn just enough English to make my dream of revenge come true.

  I was surprised to find there was such an honest man among the American people.  I had thought all Americans were completely evil.  After about three months of study with Mr. McCartney, I started to feel my attitude changing.  I became afraid.  What I was learning was far different than what I had been thinking.  “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”  When I read those words in the Bible, I threw the book down to the floor.  What a foolish teaching for a person like me, who lived on hatred.  I tried to forget this ridiculous saying.  But more and more I felt as if someone was whispering in my ear, “Hate no one.  Love all people.”  I poured out my troubles to Mr. McCartney.  I learned how much he was against warfare.  Attending his Bible class, I found my thoughts of revenge melting away like snow in the spring.

   I was baptized at Suidocho Lutheran Church while Mr. and Mrs. McCartney watched.  Of course, after that I quit playing with incendiary bombs.

   About 30 years later, I had a chance to go to America.  When I took my first steps at San Francisco Airport, I was so happy.  I was excited because this was the place I might have come to stab people, if my feelings of hate had endured.  Instead, I had come to improve my English.  I thanked God for changing my life.

   I cried, “Why is the sky of San Francisco so beautiful!?”

   A gentleman walking beside me replied, “San Francisco is always like this at this time of year.”  Of course, he knew nothing about me.

   Now I feel very strange when I think about my life.  I’m teaching English, which I couldn’t stand.  I deeply love the American people whom I had hated so much.  America has become one of my favorite countries.  I believe none of these changes could have happened without the grace of God.  His ways are indeed mysterious.  No one knows when, where or how God will catch hold of you.  I am very, very happy to be Christian.

   Now I know several of you American missionaries are going home.  I am very thankful for your hard work in Japan.  I believe your work has been successful, even if you think now you can’t see any results.  I am sure you sowed seeds in people’s hearts just like Mr. McCartney did.  It is God who makes the seeds grow. 

   To those of you who are still engaged in mission work in Japan: I know evangelism in Japan is very hard work.  Someone once said that, when it comes to religion, Japan is a barren tract of land.  I believe that’s half true.  Most Japanese people take their children to a Shinto shrine for a blessing shortly after birth.  The same people will then exchange Christmas gifts and enjoy the Christmas season.  On New Year’s Day they will go back to the shrines.  Their child will seek to have his wedding at a Christian church, but will ask to have his funeral at a Buddhist temple.  I can’t even understand it and I’m Japanese.  I think, however proud we are of our technology, we Japanese are primitive when it comes to religion.  We Japanese are very good people.  We constructed a modern nation by accepting new things, while, at the same time, making much of old traditions.  We Japanese find everything new and everything old valuable, but we still don’t know what is the most precious.  Please continue to guide us, teaching what is most important, even though it seems to take so much time.

   Once two merchants went to Africa to sell shoes.  To their surprise none of the natives wore shoes.  One of the two gave up and went home, feeling there would be no buyers for his product.  The other, however, was overjoyed, because he felt certain he could sell shoes to everyone—for nobody had a pair.

   We can choose to look at our situation as optimists or pessimists.  Trust in God.  Possibilities abound.  I know because I was changed by God’s grace.

Post-reading reflection questions

1. Who are your spiritual mentors?

2. Who are you mentoring in their faith journeys?

3. What seeds of faith have you sown recently?

4. What legacy do you want to leave behind when you die?  What are you doing today to make that happen?

This Little Light of Mine

Saturday and Sunday was the annual fall festival of lights in Kumamoto.  The sights were absolutely beautiful, so I want to share a few with you.

As I’ve been thinking about lights lately, one Bible passage stands out in my mind.  In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus says, “You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

Here are a few questions to consider as we think about our own lives.

1.     How did your light shine today?  This week?

2.     When do you do good deeds for your own glory?  For God’s glory?

3.    What do people learn about God and his nature by spending time with you?

4.  Recently, how have you pointed others toward God through your words and actions?

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.

This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine,

let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

A Season for Everything

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).

Soon the trees will be full of bright fall colors.  Then, the leaves will gently fall to the ground, one by one.  These leaves remind us of the passing of time and the transition from one season to another.

Sometimes I find myself resisting change or grumbling, “Why can’t everything just remain the same?”  There are times when the stress of changes seems overwhelming.  Change and transitions can be uncomfortable at times, especially when so much is beyond our control.  We don’t have control over the change from summer to fall, fall to winter, winter to spring, or spring to summer.  In the same way, often we don’t have control over the struggles and challenges in our lives.  Our problems can become bigger than anything we can handle alone.

No matter what seasons of life we are in or what difficulties we face, there is one constant—God.  Not only does God guide us through times of transitions, but he also shows us beauty and growth along the way.  Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that “[God] has made everything beautiful in its time.” 

This year, when we look at the beautiful fall colors, let them remind us of God’s constant love and provision during times of change.  God WILL bring beauty into our current seasons of life, just wait and see.

So, tell me about Japan...

This is dedicated to all the people who have lived abroad or know someone who has lived abroad.

This summer I returned from Japan for a visit.  People’s questions seemed to fly at me from all directions.  Over and over I heard one comment that drove me crazy—tell me about Japan.  The people usually meant well, but every time I heard that, my mind went blank.  We’re talking deer in the headlights.  I didn’t know where to start.  How do I even begin describing a whole country and culture?  Does the person want an hour long lecture, or are they just trying to be polite?

The awkwardness didn’t stop there though.  I had my mouth open at the dentist’s office when the dental hygienist asked, “So, you’ve lived in Japan for a while now.  Do you speak Chinese?”  Are you serious?  Really?!  I had to control myself as I casually replied, “I can speak some JAPANESE, but I’m still not very good at it.  It’s a really hard language to learn.”  The sad part is that this wasn’t the first time someone has asked me that.

I do appreciate people showing an interest in my life and work abroad, but let’s find a way to do this more intelligently and thoughtfully.  Everyone involved will walk away much happier.

Here are some strategies and ideas for asking people questions about their life abroad.

1.    Be specific.  Think about one aspect of the country or culture that you want to know about, and form that into a question.

2.    Ask probing questions.  The deeper your question is, the more likely you are to receive an insightful answer.  Yes/No questions really only work if you have a follow-up question.  For example, avoid asking simply, “Do you like living abroad?”  Change that question, and instead ask, “What do you like best about living abroad?”

3.    Be sensitive to other cultures and customs.  It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking one’s own country has the “right” way or “best” way of doing things.  You probably don’t realize it, but even questions about driving on the wrong side of the road suggest that Americans know which side is correct. 

4.    Avoid stereotypes.  Any time you ask a “Does everyone…” question, you are setting yourself up to look foolish.  No matter what country you go to, people think, believe, and behave differently.

Here are some questions that might inspire more in-depth conversations.  I’d enjoy hearing about some of your ideas too and possibly expanding my list.

·       What does a typical week look like for you?

·       What is your favorite place that you’ve visited?  Why?

·       Where do you still hope to travel in (insert country name)?

·       What surprised you most about (insert country name) when you first moved there?

·       What is the most popular holiday in (insert country name)?  How do people usually celebrate that holiday?

·       Who is someone that you’ve gotten to know well since you moved to (insert country name)?  Tell me about him/her.

·       What new foods have you tried there?  What foods from (insert country name) have you learned to cook?

·       What are the biggest challenges you face living abroad?

·       What experiences have you faced with culture shock or reverse culture shock?

·       What misconceptions did you have about (insert country name) before you lived there?

·       How are people in (insert country name) doing after the recent problem with (insert natural disaster or other difficulty that you may have learned about from the news)?

·       What can I do to help support and encourage you while you’re living abroad?

·       How have you changed as a result of your time in (insert country name)?

·       What are you going to miss most about (insert country name) when you move back?

·       What advice would you give someone who is thinking about moving to (insert country name)?

The person you know who has lived abroad might not be able to answer all of your more probing questions, but that’s okay.  I still have a lot to learn about Japan, but I always smile when I can say, “I don’t know, but that is a really good question!”

What does faith mean to you? Adventures of a Word Detective--Part 2

What does faith mean to you?  How would you explain faith?

Recently I wanted to get a glimpse of what faith means to Christians in Japan, so I started by looking at the word itself.  Faith in Japanese is shinkou.  The first kanji means to believe, and the second kanji means to respect or to look up to someone.  In other words, faith is rooted in belief and respect for someone or something.  Some people put their faith in money, but when the stock market crashes, they quickly discover how dangerous that can be.  Some people put their faith in family or a spouse, but even humans with the best intentions can let us down or disappoint us.  There is only one who doesn’t change or disappoint us: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

Faith (Shinkou)

When I started thinking about the kanji for faith, I asked a few teachers in my office for help.  (I wanted to make sure that I understood the meaning before I tried to explain it to someone else.)  One helpful teacher was Matsumura Sensei because he is a Japanese Christian who teaches English, and he’s an all-around nice guy.  He told me about being a part of the school religion club when he was a student.  Reverend Fujii told him a powerful acronym to remember the meaning of faith, and decades later, Matsumura Sensei still remembers it.  FAITH

Forsake

All,

I

Take

Him.

So, where do you put your faith?  What are you doing and saying today that people will remember decades from now?

Another Inspiring Japanese Christian

Here's another chapel speech that I wrote about an inspiring Japanese Christian...

Today’s Bible reading is from 1^st Peter 4:10.  “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”

Have you ever heard of Chiune Sugihara?  He was an amazing man who changed the lives of thousands of people.  He was born in Japan in 1900 and worked for the Japanese Foreign Ministry.  He started working for the Japanese government in foreign countries because he was good at learning languages.  He became a Christian in the 1920s.  Then, he moved to Lithuania in 1939.



Chiune Sugihara

World War II changed Mr. Sugihara’s life, and the lives of many others, in big ways.  The Nazis wanted to kill Jewish people, so many Jews tried to escape to other countries.  They needed visas to enter countries, so they came to Mr. Sugihara for help.  It was dangerous, and he could lose his job for helping the Jews, but he was moved by their tears and tired faces.  Some days he worked 18 to 20 hours writing visas.  Mr. Sugihara wrote travel visas for more than 6,000 Jewish refugees.  Today, around 40,000 descendants of the Jewish refugees are alive because of his actions.

40 years later, one pastor said that Mr. Sugihara had become his role model.  Mr. Sugihara’s family said that Sugihara helped the Jews because of his Christian faith.  Then the pastor felt inspired to help people too.  The pastor went on to say, “Here’s a man who did not take the comfortable road, who reached out beyond himself and did something sacrificial in providing service to others at the expense of himself.”

Your life is different from Mr. Sugihara’s, but you can make a difference in the world too.  Every time you help one person, it inspires them to help someone else.  Then, the person they helped wants to continue helping others.  It’s like when you drop a stone into water.  One action causes a ripple that causes another and another and another.  So, what can you do today to start ripples of helpfulness and kindness?

          

Let us pray.  Heavenly Father,

           Thank you for amazing people like Mr. Sugihara.  Open our eyes, and show us how we can help others.  Help us share your love and hope with others.  In your name we pray, amen.



Are you getting your daily dose of manna?

April flew by in a whirl of activity, and I hardly know where the time went.  Since we have year-round school in Japan, April marked the start of a new school year.  This year my school has 347 junior high students and 1052 senior high students.  I teach kindergarten, junior high, and high school classes each week, and the variety of levels definitely keeps me busy.  I am still working on remembering my students’ names and the names of all the new teachers, but I know that will take time. 

Once again this year, my school participated in the Missoula Children’s Theatre program, so that gave me a great opportunity to get to know some of my students outside of a classroom setting.  This year’s production was a musical version of “Little Red Riding Hood.”  I am proud of everyone’s hard work, but more importantly, the students had fun.  I loved cheering on my students and celebrating their personal victories.



The 2012 cast of Red Riding Hood



In the midst of all this busyness, God reminded me of how important it is to stay focused on him.  It is so easy to get swept up in to-do-lists and all the details of life.  I admit that when I get really busy, I often fall into the trap of not taking quiet time alone with God.  I try to rationalize this decision by telling myself that God will understand and that there is just too much to do during a day.  What I fail to realize is that when I take the time to focus on God and soak up his truths from scripture, suddenly I have more strength and energy to accomplish that mountain of tasks I face.  I have more patience with myself and others when things don’t go as planned.  When unexpected crises arise, God’s words are already in my heart and ready to comfort me. 

God constantly provides for us and sustains us through the ups and downs in life, but just like the Israelites, we need to receive our manna from heaven each day.  Instead of living off of the encouragement, hope, strength, and sustenance that God gave us yesterday, Sunday, or last week, we can receive a fresh helping of God’s goodness each and every day.  Lamentations 3:22-23 reminds us that “[b]ecause of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is [God’s] faithfulness.”  So, what does God want to teach you today?  Will you take the time to listen?

One Year Later...A Prayer of Hope

On March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake devastated Japan.  The tsunami and fires consumed homes, schools, and lives.  It is confirmed that 15,786 people died in this disaster, and 161 minors are still listed as missing.  As we remember this tragedy and mark its one year anniversary, let us join together in prayer.

Heavenly Father,

We cry out to you on behalf of all the peopled impacted by Japan’s earthquake and tsunami.  Even now, so many people are suffering and in pain as they grieve.  Send your peace to surround those who have lost loved ones, homes, and a sense of security.  Let your hands still the tectonic plates and calm the earth’s movements.  Take away the intense fear that survivors feel as they wonder when the next earthquake will strike and whether or not it will be a big one.  Send your hope and comfort as people rebuild their communities and lives.  Help the people of Japan to feel your love surrounding them during this time.

In your mighty name we pray, AMEN.

Adeventures of a Word Detective

Now we are entering the season of Lent and are focusing our eyes on the cross.  Recently, at Bible study, I had the experience of explaining Lent to someone who is not a Christian.  I said that Lent is a time to remember how Jesus died on the cross; this sacrifice made it possible for people to know God better and to be with him after they die.  It is sad because Jesus had physical and emotional pain, but the story didn’t end there.  On Easter we celebrate how Jesus rose again.

After this experience, I grew curious about how Japanese Christians view Lent.  Although Lent is not well-known in Japan, Lutherans here do often know about its meaning.  The word for Lent in Japanese is jyunansetsu.  It is made up of three kanji (pictures that symbolize words or parts of words).  The first kanji means to accept, the second means hardship, and the third means a period of time.  Together, in Japanese, Lent means to accept hardship for a time.  I love that image because it reminds us that suffering and hardships are only for a time and that there is an end to the difficulties.  Jesus suffered tremendously, but his glorious resurrection put an end to his pain and provided and eternal solution to suffering.  So, whatever challenges, pain, or difficulties you are experiencing, know that the end is in view.  “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3: 22-23).

The kanji for Lent

The Prodigals in 2012

As I prepared for this week’s Bible study, I started thinking about writing the story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) in the context of 2012.  Who would you cast in the roles of the characters?

At first I considered using celebrities as the prodigal son. I immediately thought of ones in the news for repeated rehab visits, for public intoxication, for cheating on their spouses, or for a number of other “prodigal” behaviors.  If those celebrities would repent and change their ways, they could have a big impact on their fans.  They’re in a natural position to speak to many people about how grace and forgiveness are a part of their lives.

Then, I started thinking about placing more average people in the roles.  Maybe the father figure is played by a teacher, and the two brothers are students.  On one hand, there is the student who always does their homework, participates in class, and genuinely seems interested in learning.  In other words, every teacher’s dream-student.  On the other hand, there is the student who makes the teacher want to pull out all of their hair and scream.  The student rarely does their homework, skips school, and lies about going to the bathroom while instead making out with their boyfriend.  Just imagine the possible transformation.

As a teacher, I am looking at this scenario from a different perspective than I ever have before.  Yes, I would love to see a student become a diligent and hard working individual.  The prodigal story could stop there, and it would be a noteworthy transformation.  It’s true that a big part of my job is helping students learn important information and skills that will help them later in life.  If that’s all I did though, I don’t think it would be enough.  Maybe I’m optimistic or naïve enough to still think I can make a positive impact on my students’ lives, beyond what will show up on a pencil and paper test.

Now, let me leave all the teachers (including myself) with a couple questions to consider: What part does grace play in a classroom?  What part should it play?

Lessons From My Twenties

Normally as one year comes to a close and another begins, I like to look back and think about the life lessons I learned that year.  This year I asked myself, “Why stop at just one year?”  So, now I bring to you…

Lessons from my Twenties

·        Sometimes life doesn't turn out the way you expect it to, and that's alright because sometimes God's plan is better than anything you could have imagined.

·        You have to risk making mistakes if you are ever going to improve.

·        You’re beautiful, inside and out.  Maybe you’ll never be on the cover of a magazine, but you’re more beautiful than you know.

·        Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness.  It is a sign of strength and maturity.

·        Don’t apologize for who you are.  Let all the special, unique, and strange qualities shine through.

·        Stand up for yourself.  Don’t let people walk all over you or treat you badly.  You deserve better than that.

·        Numbers on the scale or on tags of clothing do not define you.

·        People are always watching and listening.  Show them what you’re made of.

·        Whenever possible, say something nice about someone behind their back.  Then make sure to tell them that compliment to their face.

·        It’s easy to get sucked into negative thinking, complaining, and gossiping, especially when everyone else is doing it.  Positive thinking is a choice, but it does become easier the more you do it.

·        Yes, there is such a thing as a stupid question, but don’t be afraid to ask it.

·        When someone is grieving or going through a really horrible situation, don’t try to give them advice or to fix things.  Instead, truly listen, pray for them, and be present.  Then, when everyone else has gone back to their own lives and forgotten about the horrible situation, continue to offer support for that struggling friend.

·        The biggest times of growth in your life stem from the biggest struggles in your life.  Just have an open mind to the lessons God might bring out of those dark times.

·        You’re stronger than you think you are.