News: I took 2 tests last week (yeah, fun, I know... but God is good :-)). Math went well. The Spanish one I am *tentatively* hopeful about... my teacher says she'll grade them by the end of this week, but I've never gotten my score from her within two weeks after I've taken the test - we'll see.
Prayer request: Tomorrow and a week from tomorrow are the last two weeks of (worship) dance. Tomorrow I will finish teaching my class their dance. Yikes! Please pray for more trust and reliance upon God-He's currently in the business of showing me over and over that I can't do anything on my own, that I have to trust Him in everything... whether I want to or not :-).
Favorite nugget: Probably from my lesson plan for (dance) tomorrow, which I was preparing last night. I'm using Ruth for our devotions. This will be an overview week talking about the whole book. Ruth left her home, family, and everything familiar to follow an ill-represented God (Naomi and her family were hardly paragons of faith!), with no plan and hardly a hope for the future. She worked hard (at man's work!) for a while, trusting God, and O her reward! Great-grandmother of King David! Surrounded by a new family, acclaimed by all who knew her, married to a husband who loved her! And this was God's plan all along. She waited and trusted, and God "did not forsake [His] kindness to the living and the dead", as one verse put it. Undoubtedly, there were times when she did not understand, but yet she understood...
"God is God and I am not
I can only see a part
Of the picture He's painting
God
God is God and I am man
So I'll never understand it all
For only God is God" ~Stephen Curtis Chapman, "God is God"
And really, that's all we (I!) need to know
2 comments:
Hi Cara,
I'm just now enjoying your posts, so I'm catching up a bit and have a few replies that may be "all over the place." One is on your culinary experiments--I'm glad you're a adventurer in the kitchen. My best experiments are usually from leftovers--a bit like yours. I'd like the "recipe" for your lemon granola, if you can remember it!
I saw in your favorite books that you like Louise May Alcott. I just went to see a musical production of "Little Women" put on by Loyola's student theater. It was really good. "Josephine" who is more-or-less autobiographical for Louise May, was a feisty and devoted sister!
I hope your Spanish teacher comes through the grades soon, and that you'll see a "payoff" for all the studying you've been doing. Sometimes when I'm tempted to put off grading for another day (it's usually not a favorite task for teachers) I try to remember that it's only fair to students to get their results on time, since, after all, I expect them to turn in their work on time.
On a completely different note, we're expecting Tomomi back on Saturday! It sounds like she's had a good visit with her family in Japan.
Your thoughts on Good Friday and Easter are touching. thanks--
Aunt Marilyn
Bleh, tests. I hope your Spanish test went well! Your Mom gave us a description of all the hard work you have put into that class; and I am sure it will pay off. Actually, interestingly enough, we recently watched a movie called "Gifted Hands"; a biography of the famous neurosurgeon, Ben Carson. Apparently, he was born in a poor and uneducated family, but through a /ton/ of hard work, he managed to graduate at third in his class(before it was more like "f"s for grades), and became a prominent Christian neurosurgeon. You might want to watch that sometime, if you have not already. And I know that you are not uneducated, much less failing, so believe me when I say I have no doubt that you will do fine--your hard work will pay off. :)
I shall be praying!(both for dance and Spanish)However, you have the right idea--we can do nothing in and of our own power, but He works powerfully and for better purposes than we could ever do; learning to rely on him in all things is one of the most valuable lessons you can learn.
Haha, you kinda did my job of extrapolating a message from scripture already, so...
I only have two things to add to what you have:
a) She chose the path of suffering even though Naomi told her of what she would be risking; she could have gone back to her own town and gods, but instead she chose to follow Naomi. This is not just pure faith, but also a strong loyalty and love--she was practically offering her life to Naomi! If but we would give our lives to God so freely, as is our "job" a living sacrifices!
b) The message on Sunday(which I hope you got to hear, or at least got the CD--it was great!) Anyway, one of the points Mr. Shay(spelling) had was that though suffering is for a time(our whole lives, but what is that but a vapor?), it always has a higher purpose, to refine us and make us pure. In the case of Ruth, she was redeemed by Boaz, her kinsman-redeemer, and eventually she became(like you said) the great-grandmother of David.
Then again, you got both of these points. Oh well.....God is God--I am glad that He is teaching you such a great lesson; it will help you greatly now and in the future.
Praise the Lord for His endless mercies! (et cetera!)(just if you did not know, et cetera is Latin for "and the rest") :)
Josiah C.
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