Student teaching theme day

On Friday was my theme day for my student teaching placement. I chose to go with the 100th day of school event. The day started out a little crazy because of the weather and a 2 hour delay. But over all it was a wonderful day with my 1st grade class.
This is me at the end of the day. If you look closely you can see that I am wearing 100 paper clips as jewelry. I even had a big one holding my bangs back!

This is the class of 1st graders all ready for their 100 day march.













Students had to bring in 100 items of their choice. Here you can see some of them showing their items.

The end is near

I just realized how long it has been since the last time I posted anything. We just came back from Thanksgiving break, and the end of the semester crazies have begun. I think next week will be the busiest of the semester as I have several projects due, orals, presenting a lesson and planning a shower for one of the girls.
It is hard to believe that my time at BBC will be over in 3 weeks! It seems like I have been here forever sometimes and I am just used to coming back after Christmas. But not this year! I really am looking forward to student teaching, this is what I have been preparing to do the past few years. Everything that I have been learning in my education classes will be called upon while I am at my placements.
I have had the opportunity to work with the teacher that I will be student teaching with in March. I have gotten to know the students and have really enjoyed my time in the classroom. My first placement is near Harrisburg and the first time I will enter the classroom will be on January 14. Until then I will not meet the teacher or the students. I am looking forward to moving out there as well.
And because neither of us have posted any pictures from this semester I will today.

On a picnic in September




Pictures from our last trip to New York City
We are going tomorrow to NYC to spend the day together. Hopefully we will post pictures right away.

Salvation by grace

Some of you have probably given up on checking my blog because I have not posted anything in quite some time. However, I have been mulling though a particular subject that I have become very intrigued with.
The environment that I live in, I would consider to be a "Christian culture," meaning that social behavior and acceptance is based on a set of expected moral behavior. Most students abide well by these moral guidelines. In such circles, it is understood that by following a moral conduct the Christian life is portrayed . Yet I wonder how many of our students are blinded by their moral behavior that they have trained themselves into. Some have attained, by outward appearances, all of the necessary life-style practices that would indicate that they are Christians. However, I have seen in so many students a severe lack of conviction and love for the things of God. Here is often the story of such students: grew up in the church, learned to obey, said a prayer and now, convinced they are saved, have a false sense of security.
I have been studying Judaism and Islam, both religions where its followers are extremely devoted to their belief system and practice of life. So what is the difference between a moral Jew and a Christian? It is Christ, for He has regenerated the soul. This is why I had trouble understanding why Christians where so dead or apathetic towards the doctrines of grace. Could it be that they have never fully come to understand the significance of redemption in Christ?
Every student has seen the benefits of living a moral life style. Being kind to others, abstaining from substances that harm the body, and making friends with those of similar values (because bad company corrupts good morals.). All of these things are common sense, logical practices that promote a "good life." Next, using verses as happy pills, or gets me through the day mentality encourage positive thinking, which is also wholesome to the body. So I fail to see how Christian are different than any other moral based religion.
The other day I was sitting with a group of girls during small groups, one of the girls read a portion of a book from a secular author titled, The Question Behind the Question, the book's emphasis and purpose was to point out that people are not self sacrificing or feel any responsibility for meeting the needs of others. At the end of the reading one of the girls said that she was glad that the book was not written from a Christian perspective, because on campus so many people try to make everything about God, Jesus and the gospel. I sat there dumbfounded. Yes, it is true that there is a lack of love from people in the world and even the world recognizes that, and has their ways of overcoming the problem. But for a Christian, Christ is at the core of it all. He is the reason for our love of others, because God has first loved us. Even now I am amazed at what was said in that group. Why are we trying to take out Jesus? Christ is our life, our mediator. Yet we also know that faith without works is dead. It is by our spiritual fruit that others should recognize Christ in us. It is by the constant yearning of our hearts for the Word of God that affirms our salvation to our own souls. My heart is burdened for the ones who are deceiving themselves in following the law and have no love for the gospel of Christ.

At BBC

Classes are in full swing now. Since this is my last semester at BBC before student teaching my class load is full and intense with finishing the state requirements and...orals. Oh side note, on Monday we spent class time on Christology, I had no idea Christology could be so boring. I was truly sad.
After having a random (meaning I am not sure what caused it) food reactions that kept me in bed all day last Tuesday, I went to see the nurse. With an emotional explanation of my physical problems she concluded that it would be best if I went to see a doctor. I was following a gluten, dairy and soy free diet and could not think of anything else that I should cut out. I now have a doctor's appointment on September 25.
By doing several "home tests" (trial and error) I have found that I have problems with lactose, not casein. Casein is the protein in milk much like gluten is the protein in wheat. Some celiacs have problems with casein because their bodies can't tell the difference in the proteins. Lactose is the sugar in milk and the body requires the enzyme lactase for digestion. For some reason a person might stop producing the enzyme or not produce as much as needed. Lactose is less severe, casein means all dairy products are forbidden, and with lactose, dairy is not totally ruled out. Next, I after staying away from soy for 2 weeks I tried it again. I am finding that I am not intolerant to it just sensitive. Mostly it gives me a queasy stomach and nausea. But I can consume it in moderation. This was a relief because soy is in everything!
So now I feel normal again and don't have nearly as many problems as I was facing over the summer. I am still planning on going to the doctor even though I am 'better'. Today was a rough day...sad because sometimes products don't always list if the food item came into contact with wheat. Thankfully the FDA is changing some of their standards to make things a little more kosher (gluten wise)!
I also received my placement for student teaching last night. My first experience will be in Harrisburg at Bible Baptist Christian School (Dan and Janelle Francis are there). I will be teaching 1st grade. My next placement is at Clarks Summit Elementary teaching 3rd grade. Now that student teaching is fast approaching I am looking forward to it. I have been convicted to pray for my students, that I will learn to love them and that I can be an effective teacher.

Gluten free...

The end of summer was has come and I must say that I am relieved. The last few weeks of nannying were difficult with the children's activities and my weak body. About 2 weeks before I returned back to school I cut out dairy as well from my diet. With continual fatigue and sickness I wondered if there was 'something else' that was giving me problems. After a few days on my new diet I felt so much better again. I have still not included dairy in my diet hoping to give my body enough time to heal and to detox. I plan to figure out if this is a permanent thing or not. Some days are harder than others with finding food now that I am back at school. I still have occasional days where I get "glutened" (have a gluten reaction) but I would have to say that overall it has gotten a lot easier.
I am thankful for my diet in so many ways. I no longer long to be 'normal'. I am thankful because on this diet have once again have health. I am thankful because I have found friends who have similar diets and encourage me spiritually, because I have learned what continual self control means, because God has granted me with an interest and love to study more nutrition and I now can help other girls understand some of their dietary frustrations. But most of all I am learning what it means to draw my strength from the Bread of Life. This is the only bread that I can partake of and gain nourishment. Through this summer I have learned much about keeping my eyes on the divine things and not worrying about what I will eat or drink. God knows about my intolerances, He was pleased to let this come into my life, and I have so many reasons to rejoice in Christ and His sufficiency.
"How sweet are thy words to my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my lips."

Maybe next post I can expound upon the nutritional value of certain foods and how the body responds to the different proteins and enzymes in food during the process of digestion.

The grace of God

This week hosted a nice change of pace. The kids went to VBS in the morning for 3 hours. After taking them there I could go home then return to get them when it was over. In addition, Anne (the mom) asked me if I could put together a few side dishes for her on Monday. She called me and explained that it was her mom's birthday and they were having her over for dinner. Carter and I had a blast cooking and assembling a rice side dish, a zucchini bake and a vanilla cake. I LOVE to cook and was thrilled to get Carter involved in something that we both enjoyed. The family was excited about the food, the parents were glad to have a lot of the cooking done when they came home, and Anne asked if I would mind helping a little with dinner more often. I of course was really excited to continue to use her kitchen. The Johnson house has many kitchen luxuries that our house does not have and I love using them! I know this might sound lame but a dishwasher, huge counter space, cutco knives and a kitchenaid mixer are a big deal to me. Our kitchen at home is very tiny so it feels like cooking takes more effort (I am always trying to find space and keep the dished washed and out of the way). I really don't want this entire blog to be about cooking because so much has transpired.
When I spend a day with these kids I am often exhausted and easily irritated. I wonder how much of their child foolishness just gets on my nerves after they did something that was very wrong. Sometimes I feel like I yell at them a lot. I honestly do not like getting upset like I do at them. You might be surprised that cooking for the family has helped me in many ways. Last week it got to the point where I was just trying to survive each day. I didn't enjoy my job and I didn't like the kids very much. God started to convict me, if I could not show them love and kindness, only expect them to obey how could I expect them to be kind and loving to each other. The more I yelled at them for fighting, not listening and disobeying the more they seemed to do it. One day I came home crying and exhausted, I knew I had to change my approach.
First I really started praying that God would give me love for the children. I knew I needed patience to be able to deal with their antics and instead of being a hard hammer I needed to show them grace. And it worked! This week has been totally different than last week. I started showing more interest in them as individuals and I started enjoying them for who they were. I think one of my problems has been that I want to be in control of the things that are going on around me. If someone was acting up they needed to stop, now I channel their energy into another way or area. I have not had to put the kids in time out hardly at all this week. Now don't get me wrong they still do all the crazy things they have always done! But now I find myself laughing -they can be hilarious!
I have seen clearer than ever what it means to have law bring a greater desire for sinfulness. I am thankful for these children because they are revealing sinfulness in my life. I am pushed to examine myself before God daily and before I spent my day with them. I find that I cannot get through a day without making sure my focus is on God as my strength.
Now back to the kitchen...it is good to have the kids help me because I delegate, supervise and think about how I say something so that my directions are clear and understandable. "Don't touch that" is not as effective as, " the stove is on and if you touch it you will burn yourself." I might need to do a little more clean up on the counters (the floor, and the kids themselves) but we often have a great time together. They now take turns pouring, stirring and even washing, and funny thing is that this behavior is translating into other areas too! I also feel more relaxed and have fun myself. The grace of God abounds.
If one day God blesses me with children I hope that I will always remember these valuable lessons that I am learning this summer.

Engaged!!

My brother Josh popped the big question tonight! Jamie was elated and Josh pulled off a perfect surprise. Jamie had an awful day and Josh decided to take her to dinner to make her feel better (or this is what all of us thought!) Josh romantically compiled a cd. The last song was one that he wrote for Jamie and sang for her at the designated spot.
I was in the middle of washing dishes when they came home to tell me. The ring is beautiful! Josh did a wonderful job of choosing the perfect ring. When I gave Jamie a hug she said, "we are going to be sisters!" and I thought "you already are!"
Then Jamie explained with tears and a big smile how Josh had planned the whole evening.
The couple is blissfully off to tell her parents (this I'm sure entails more tears and more squeals!)
I am very happy for them!