Impact Unknown

So there's an article in the Huff Post circulating about this student note: 

I would venture to say this is the kind of note that is every teacher's dream gift and motivation, and I've been so blessed to have received similar notes and messages through the years.  I always treasure them.

This has been an especially difficult semester, but God knew just how to strengthen and encourage me here at the semester's end.  And it's made me realize more than ever that it doesn't matter how short a season you interact with a person - you can have great influence in his or her life.

Can I be really honest?  My passion is music.  Stick with me.  What I mean is my passion is music and teaching music is a natural extension of that desire to enable others to experience the same emotions, perhaps transcendence even, that music stirs within me.  Because of that, I'm absolutely thrilled when those student notes express things like, "I could never hit that high A before you!!"  I love that.  But what I think is easy to overlook is the fact that, as a teacher, I have the capacity to impact students in ways other than musically.

Just this semester, there's the note from a former student thanking me for building his confidence and helping pull him out of a dark depression.  There's the note in which a student thanked me for being an inspiration and for holding such high expectations that my classes helped draw him off a path of self-destruction and drug abuse.  There's the note in which a student credits me for helping encourage and push her to keep working hard and become a successful student in all her classes.  There's the anonymous note that thanked me for always being a wonderful example of Christ's love.

Whether posted on social media for all to see, sent in a private email, or handwritten on a card, these notes mean so very much to me.  Trust me:  It's all too easy to focus on those students who fail.  These are the ones I cannot help because they refuse to meet me halfway.  It's the most discouraging facet of teaching - students who don't succeed!  It saddens me that these students haven't been academically motivated before they get to college and don't seem to connect their own discipline with a better life in the future.

As a teacher, that's what I want most of all - to give students a reason to want to succeed.  To help them find value in being excellent in whatever they put their hand or mind to, in doing their very best.  Not because they think I deserve their best, but because THEY deserve to know the fruits of their own best labor.

So here is my thank you to my students, past, present, and future, who decide to do their best.  You are the reason I keep teaching.  You are MY inspiration.  Now...let me share some music with you.

Jesus Just Wants You to Be...Happy?

If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands!   

If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands!

 If you’re happy and you know it, then your face will surely show it. 

If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands!  (Clap, Clap)

Where did you learn this little ditty?  Pre-School?  Scouts?  Barney?   I’m not sure where I first learned it, but I’m pretty sure we sang it in church.  Right alongside “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart!  Where?!  Down in my heart to stay!” 

But more and more on social media, I see posts like this:

 "Jesus wants everyone to be happy.  This picture makes me feel good.  I think Jesus was one of the happiest people on earth.  He proved this by dying for us and that He loves you and me.  What more could you ask of our Lord.  He asks very little from each of us.  May Jesus bring you a blessing today!"

And this:

"You might be a hypocrite if...you turn Jesus' message of faith and love 

into one of fear and hate."

Aaaaand these:

"The best cure for CHRISTIANITY is reading the Bible."  -Mark Twain 

 "GOD HATES BIBLE THUMPERS."

 

 And many other similar posts calling out the so-called “hypocrites” of Christianity in the name of “God is Love.”  And I’ve got to admit, it rubs me the wrong way.  

• Do I believe God is love?  Yes.  Whole-heartedly. 

• Do I believe we should sit in judgment over people and eagerly point out their sin?  That would be a  no. Got my own sin to worry about.

• Do I believe we should never talk about sin or Hell because it may turn people away from God’s message of love?  Sigh. 

I think this is where things have gone awry.  And I’m guilty of it, too.  But friends, the “good news” of the gospel is this:  “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 

Yes, it’s about love.  But it’s also about our desperate and utter NEED for Him.  While we were yet SINNERS. 

So when I hear friends assert that Christians need to read the Bible because they obviously don’t get it- that Jesus is all about love and acceptance since He ate with prostitutes and tax collectors- I feel such a pang of unease.  Not because I feel guilty that I am “one of those hypocrites” who stresses fear, but because I feel guilty that I’ve perhaps contributed to this misnomer that God is ONLY about love.  That I’ve misled souls into trusting that because God is good and God is love and God is merciful, that He is not also a God of righteous judgment and a God of wrath and a God of justice. 

So, yes!  Let’s read the Bible.  Let’s see what the scriptures say.  Let’s not act like we already know what it says. Because I don't think you can read the New Testament and still believe that all Jesus asks of you is to be happy and spread love.  There's so much more--let's not simplify the Bible.

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword,

and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow,

and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”  Hebrews 4:12

Open letter of comfort to the people of Newtown, CT

Dear, dear victims,

                Please know your nation stands behind you.  You are not alone in your grief.  People all over America and perhaps the entire globe, have followed your story with hearts aching for your tragedy and eyes welling with tears. We feel the crushing weight of loss—that of young life and that of innocence—strongly and continuously.  You and your loved ones will not be easily forgotten and many of us pray that God will redeem your pain—that there will be good to come out of this. 

                We are crying out for steps to be taken to erase this kind of threat from ever happening again.  Though there is not agreement in our country as to what those measures should be, there is certainly a unison cry against the evil that has so impacted your town.   We hope you can be comforted in a small way by our collective support.

                As for the question of “why,” we may never know this side of Heaven what God’s divine purposes are, but I find personal solace in His Word that He “works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).  This tragedy brings to mind the famous words of Joseph, spoken to his brothers who betrayed him:  “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20)  We pray that God is taking what was meant to harm you and turning it around for good—He is working in the midst of all this.  He is a good God and He loves you.

                As a people, we feel the ache of your heart to the depths of our souls.  Parents, siblings, friends, and family--we can only imagine the unrelenting sorrow which threatens to overwhelm you.  We pray for a peace that passes all understanding to wash over you!  We pray for your brokenness to be made whole and your wounds to be healed.  We know this will take time, but we pray for a quickening in the healing process because we can’t fathom being in your place.  Remember that “God is near to the brokenhearted and He rescues those whose spirits are crushed!” (Psalm 34:18)  

                Jesus, who demonstrated His deep love for the little children, also called to us: “Come to Me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you.  Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

We pray for PEACE
through the anger, the fear, and the worries.  

We pray for COMFORT
to fill the hole left by grief.  

We pray for LIGHT
to shine through this penetrating darkness.  

We pray for RELIEF
from the weighty heaviness.  

We pray for HOPE
to overwhelm the despair.  

We pray for LOVE
to demonstrate its power over evil. 

We pray for REDEMPTION of the pain—
for BEAUTY to arise from the ashes.  

We pray BECAUSE
we know God’s ways are higher than ours, 
but we can trust that He is good and He loves us 
more than we can even understand. 

We pray you will be ABLE
to turn to Him for all these things.

He is eager to GIVE YOU
the peace, the comfort, the light, the relief, the hope, 
the love, the redemption, the beauty that is Him. 

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord.

“Plans to prosper you and not to harm you; plans to give you a hope and a future!”

~ Jeremiah 29:11

Take heart.  You are not alone.  We are hurting with you.  

Grace and peace to you from the bottom of my heart.

And the World Keeps Spinning ‘Round…

It’s a strange sensation experienced by those in grief.  The feeling that the rest of the world is moving along at its normal, fast pace—speeding by, even—while your entire world has stopped in its tracks.  You can’t breathe.  But the birds are still flying and chirping, people are still driving to work and posting silly jokes on Facebook, and life goes on all around you.

My baby sister had her first baby one month ago.  We were all giddy with excitement.  The showers had been thrown, the nursery was ready, and we were eager to meet my niece, Phoenix Roanne, who was so smart, she waited until her due date to come!  My sister lives in Kansas City (I’m in St. Louis), so I’d been keeping up with phone calls and texts as to the progress of the labor and when we went to bed that night, Beth was still at 5 cm and we were looking at a possible c-section.  The next morning, I had an email from my mom:  “Congratulations!  You’re an aunt.”  

With a smile on my face, I poured a cup of coffee and sat down to call my mom and get all the wonderful details.  But when she answered the phone, she immediately turned it over to my dad who said, “There’s a problem with the baby.”

And just like that, it happened.  That thing people talk about- how the air got sucked out of the room.

He went on to explain that her hands and feet were “webbed.”  He said the doctors think there are five digits in each hand, but they are so fused, her hands almost look like pads or mittens.  And there’s something not quite right about the shape of her brow.  They’ve taken blood to do chromosomal testing.

Since Phoenix did not have immediate respiratory, digestive, or heart concerns, she was allowed to leave the hospital with her parents after the normal 5-day stay after a c-section.  We remained concerned that something had been missed and that she may be in danger.

After a full month of waiting on pins and needles, Phoenix was finally diagnosed with Aperts Syndrome.  It’s a genetic disease in which the seams between the skull bones fuse earlier than normal, affecting the shape of the head and face.  It also causes complicated fusing/webbing of the hands and feet.  Children with Aperts often go through 15-20 major surgeries by the time they are 10 years old.  The hands and feet are a process themselves, but the most concerning surgeries are the craniofacial ones.  There are many issues that can develop:  sleep apnea, hearing and vision loss, intestinal mal-rotation, brain injury, and many others. 

We appreciate your prayers for Baby Phoenix and my family as we move forward.  We’ve been knocked down by a punch that came out of nowhere, but we know that God was not surprised.  His Word says that she is fearfully and wonderfully made, and we rest in His promise that He cares for us and He knows the weight of this heartache.   We love this precious little girl and are sick with grief at the thought of the pain she is going to have to suffer.

Sometimes bad situations aren’t made “okay” in the end, at least from a human point of view.  Sometimes they are just terrible things that we have to live with and make the best of.  The world keeps on spinning even when we are stuck to the ground on which we stand, but we are standing on a hope and a peace that He knows and we ARE in His hand. 

Matthew 10:29-31

What is the price of two sparrows--one copper coin?

But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. 

And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. 

So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.