James 1: 27...On Film

This film clip from Youtube is a extremely powerful and moving picture of what is we as Americans do not often see. I have seen it three times and I cried every single time. No, cry isn't the right word...I wept every time. On each occasion my heart was convicted over my own shallow, selfishness as well as the hope of the Gospel. How much do I complain in the space of one days time when not only do I have salvation, (the greatest gift of all) I have an excess of temporal blessings and enjoyments. Yet despite these blessings, I regularly crave for more and become upset when my desires are not met. How much I have to learn about giving like our Lord Jesus gave.

Like I said, this film is moving. The only question is, what will it move us to do?

Happy Celebrate Marriage Day!

Many of you may not know, but this is the true meaning of Saint Valentine's day. Years ago (in a land far, far away) a king was having trouble with a war he was waging on another country. In an attempt to make his army as efficacious as possible, he forbade the ceremony of marriage in his kingdom. By tearing away the distractions of wife and children from his soldiers, he was giving them new focus and clarity. Or so he thought.

An unknown, yet courageous priest whom we now know as Saint Valentine, refused to comply with the kings ungodly command. Not only did he continue to marry couples, he opening promoted it. Eventually, this wicked kind rescinded his decree.

Although this story took place 100 plus years ago, its message echoes through time and speaks to our generation. The value and sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman continues to be an issue of vital importance.

Take time to celebrate your marriage today. If you are single, let your married friends know that you value the covenant they have made before God and men.

Photo of the Week

Have you ever seen such a cute it-really-shouldn't-be-showing pic?!

A Small Matter of No Real consequence

In Monday's philosophy reading of the Apology by Plato, I came across a certain line that upturned my scholarly-set mouth into a smile. I am probably one of the only people I know of who would say that it was funny...and then blog it.


"..[P]oets do not compose their poems with knowledge, but by some inborn talent and by inspiration..."

Paint is as you will.

Give dark meanings to the plain vision.

I do believe, my dear Plato, that this is called intuition.

What My Camera Has Been Look'n At

Food Fact Of the Week

- Did you know that milk is the best way to meet your daily calcium requirements? This is because our bodies absorb calcium best in the the presence of both vitamin D and lactose! (a)

- "The human body contains more calcium than any other mineral. For the average 130 lbs, adult about....3 lb...of the body is calcium." (b)

Sources:

(a) K. London. Nutrition Professor

(b) Complete Food and Nutrition Guide 3rd Edition. by Roberta Larson Duyff

Note: I did NOT take the awesome milk picture. Oh how I wish...!

Have You Been to the Writing Center Before?

As some of you know, I was a tutor in the Writing Center at the college I attend. This free service assists college students with English composition, was quite a promising as well as an intimidating challenge! It was one of those tasks that you simply must plunge right into. Forget the dipping your toe in to feel the temp! There was a certain weight of responsibility with so much inexperience! I recall one occasion when a fellow student thanked me for helping him. he ended his remark with, " so how long have you been working here?" Gulp! How could I tell them that I had only been working for three days!

I truly loved this job of encouraging students with their writing. An added bonus was that my own love of the writing process was exercised and strengthened. As part of my training, I wrote journals reflecting on the various sessions that I tutored. Here is a a small taste of one of those journals. This was the seventh, written about half way through the semester. (Disclaimer: this journal has not been edited since it was written. Not surprisingly it has some boo-boos. No, I regret to say that writing tutors are not perfect!)

This week was such an encouraging week of tutoring! This is primarily because of how I have been able to apply the grammar principles that we have discussed with Mrs. Portman. With the knowledge I gained in class, I have addressed errors such as comma splices and run on sentences in almost every ESL paper I looked over. At last, I have been able to give tutees tools that they can “take home.” Now that I have a little more confidence (and capability) in this particular area of grammar, I am bolder in my attempts to explain grammar in general. For example, one ESL student, Adam, had some difficulty properly using of the articles “a” and “the.” I had never before explained the difference between the two so I took several moments to think about a good approach. I didn’t want to just tell Adam the answer. I wanted him to discover it so he would be able to self-correct later. So I asked him, “what is the difference between the sentence ‘I want to look at a dog’ and the sentence ‘I want to look at the dog?’” Adam processed my question out loud. “I guess when you say ‘I want to look at a dog’ you are talking about any dog. When you say ‘I want to see the dog you are talking about a specific dog!” It was an extremely simple exercise but Adam totally experienced the “light bulb effect! ”

I am definitely going to look for more opportunities to show a student how grammar or an idea works by using an example instead of just telling them.