Veritas

My friend Norman wrote an entry on here that I thought was great.  And I commented on it.  So then I decided to post the comment on my site, and link to his site for the inspiration for the comment.

Here's the forum that he's referring to in his post:
http://www.veritas.org/Columbia/

Here's my comment on his post- in reference to having conversations with non-christians and trying to "convince" them that Christianity is the truth:
I think the problem comes when we have conversations with people who are not Christians and the desire, in having the conversation, is to "win" or convince them of our standpoint.  WE don't convince anyone of anything, and if we go at it with that mentality, then we're not loving them- we're just trying to prove that we're right and they're wrong.  It's about presenting what I know (what witnessing literally means) and letting God convince them of the truth or untruth of my statements. And if they have other things to say, often there is a lot of truth in there, too, and if I go at them with a "I must win" standpoint, then the truth that they have gets ignored because I'm more concerned with the truth they don't yet have.  Sometimes Christians take the battleground passages in the Bible and apply them against non-christians.  They're supposed to be against demons and satan.  Our battle is not AGAINST non-christians.  It is FOR them.

And here's Norman's post which this comment came from:
http://www.xanga.com/dowfufa/568001338/item.html?nextdate=last

Happy reading!

Currently Reading Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality By Donald Miller see related

In honor of Election Day...

Take the test here: http://www.politicalcompass.org/questionnaire

Did I forget how to post?

I guess I only update about every six months nowadays.  I mean, nowayears.  I don't have a computer.  That's part of it.  It's been a year and half now that I haven't had a computer.  People tell me they envy me for my lack of computer dependence.  I would envy me too, if I wasn't still paying for internet for my roommates to use every month.

Last year ended.  I taught the whole year.  AND I didn't die.  Which is always a plus.  Though looking back on it now, I'm impressed at the non-death status of so many first year inner city teachers.  It's quite the accomplishment.  This year is significantly easier.  In the "I just spent all of my time after class catching up on xanga rather than grading, even though grades are due in less than a week" sense.  Meaning, I'm on top of my life.  And not so stressed.  And my classes, while they could go better (and I'm sure they will, in coming years) are a vast improvement from last year.  So that's a huge blessing.

My summer was fun and relaxing.  I went to Puerto Rico (would you have expected anything else?), hung out in the city for quite a bit, spent a couple of weeks in Minnesota, which was amazingly relaxing and fun, and toured my friend Kristi Tysver around all the wonders that New York has to offer.  Well, not ALL the wonders...she was only here for a week.  But quite a few of them.  I'm a good tour guide, ask people who have visited me.  I love when people come stay with me.  If you're ever looking to vacation in New York...

I also went to a week long math conference, which I got paid to go to and I got a bunch of cool materials and actually learned some of the best teaching methods I've ever heard of in a conference.  It was a good week.  Wow, I'm a dork for giving a math conference it's own paragraph.

And now I'm two months into the school year, having a much better time, and excited for fun things going on in my life.

I'm still helping out with youth group at 59th street church, and now I've joined praise team, singing (which I'm very comfortable with) and playing guitar (which I'm starting to get a little more comfortable with).  I'm going to our women's retreat this weekend at Tuscarora Inn in PA, which should be fun.  I'm still addicted to Lost (yay another new episode tonight).  I've also started meeting weekly with a group of 3 other girls who I know from Columbia.  It's not a Small Group...but we get dinner, share praises and prayer requests and spend a good time in prayer together.  Probably one of the biggest blessings in my life right now.

I will leave you with one of the pictures of the good times in Fergus Falls this summer.  Only a few will appreciate how precious this night was.

Actually, it appears that xanga, with its "free unlimited photo uploads for Halloween weekend" won't upload one single photo for me.

Maybe that's why I only post every six months. 

Currently Reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest By Ken Kesey see related

I think Xanga fell off the world. 

I mean, I haven't posted in about 7 years or so, and haven't checked other people's posts either, so when I went on here today, it was with interest, but also a little dread- a feeling that I might have to spend about 17 hours reading to catch up on everyone's lives.

No such problem!  Apparently everyone else stopped posting too!  Well, at least my family members and MN friends, whose lives I use this to keep track of the most, stopped posting.  Or haven't posted very frequently.

And so, had I been consistently posting, I would have been frustrated at the lack of everyone else's entries.  But instead, I got to spend about a half hour reading, and now I'm caught up.  And inspired to write on here myself.

So, trips/parties since Christmas: I had a New Year's party on our roof; I spent a weekend in January in a random town in Maryland with Veronica, Oscar and Hoek; I threw a fun single girls Valentine's day party; I counseled Winter Weekend with Huntington at Tusc in PA in February; Rachel visited me here for a week in February;  March was uneventful other than lots of random weekend fun; and Rayna and I spent 5 days in Puerto Rico last week.  Oh yeah, and I went to a shooting range on Long Island last weekend with some friends and shot an AK-47!!

Other events in my life since Christmas: I've gotten very into yoga as my exercise routine, which I love- good for working out AND for stress relief; I've started tutoring math once a week at an alcohol/drug abuse rehab center in the Bronx for some women trying to get their GEDs, which is some of the most rewarding teaching I've done this year- working with people who really WANT to learn what I'm teaching, and understand and appreciate why it's important; I've started helping out with the youth group at 59th street church- actually just returned from a youthworks training day; I became a member at 59th street, and feel like I really am connecting there; teaching continues to be challenging but worth it, and I'm looking forward to continuing at my school next year.

Plans: Andy's graduating in two weeks!; Rachel's graduating on Memorial day weekend!; teaching till June 28th; trying to figure out if I should still try to go to China for July; should go home at some point in August; want to go back to PR some time this summer; need to learn Spanish this summer.

Pics of PR:

Rayna and I swam in a waterfall in the rainforest

We also hiked to one of the peaks

We visited one of the caves of Camuy

We discovered a UFO on a beach

Went to beautiful Flamenco beach on Culebra

Met a cool guy named Brian

And had a generally awesome time.

And as I was writing this, I realized that my original intent in starting a blog was back when I was journaling my devotions...so, although I'm not going to fully do that, I have been rereading through the whole Bible, but The Message version.  I highly recommend it- the intent of their paraphrase is to make the book sound to us like it would have sounded to the people first reading it- making it culturally relevant.  No more archaeic terminology.  It makes it seem like I'm reading through a book with a plot, not just "reading the Bible", which at times can seem like its overall story is lost in the tediousness of books like Leviticus or Numbers.  It makes all the different books seem far more connected than they ever have previously in my reading.  It's pretty cool.

I also just finished reading "Captivating" by John and Stasi Eldridge, which I also highly recommend.  An amazing look at the differences between women and men and the roles that they play and how they can complement each other.  I LOVE it.  Read it.

Okay, now that I'm "caught up" I can either: 1.Feel like I can now update with some regularity without having to do the "here's what's been going on in my life for the last 4 months" thing, OR 2. Not post again for another 4 months and give you a little "here's how the end of the schoolyear and the summer went" post.  We'll see what happens.

Have a lovely day!

Currently Watching Lost - The Complete First Season By Harold Perrineau see related

Well, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas:

1. On Fifth Avenue!  Walking home from church the weekend BEFORE Thanksgiving, it was a nice 65 degrees out, and yet every store window was dressed to the nines with Christmas cheer.  Oh, New Yorkers, you must have such holiday spirit....or perhaps just such holiday hopes for holiday sales....

2. Outside!  It snowed the other night.  Ronnie and I walked out of Joe and Jakes apartment at 3am Sunday morning to catch a cab home and saw the first flurries of the season.  She goes, "oooohhh, it's SNOWING!  :) :) " at the exact same time as I say "ohhhh, noooooo..... :( "  My dad said I'm allowed to have that reaction, I saw enough snow in my two years in MN.  But really, had I been in MN, I wouldn't have had that reaction.  It's just that snow is so GROSS in NY....it's pretty while still in the air.  The moment it hits the ground it becomes brown slush and accumulates into deceptive little puddles that you THINK are okay to step on, but in reality will douse you with grossness up to your ankles.  AND it makes it very slippery to walk to church in nice heels the next day.  I hear we're supposed to get more tonight....I will be wearing combat boots to work tomorrow.

3. In my classroom!  Kids are ALREADY talking about Christmas and getting restless for vacation.  I have had to implement three new "keep the class quiet" techniques in the last couple of days.  Wasn't Thanksgiving Break just a week ago?!?!

4. In our living room!  We decorated!  It's exciting.  I very much enjoy putting on some cheesy Christmas music and setting up a big fake tree and hanging stockings over our non-existant fireplace. :) 

Though I wish my students would be less restless, I can relate....only 14 more days of work before I'm home for the holidays!