How powerless are you when God is on your side?

Powerlessness is one of the worst feelings in the world. When things are happening and you feel completely helpless to stop them or change the course of events, it leaves you frustrated, angry, exhausted, and resentful. The question "why" arises much more frequently than it should -

"WHY won't Granny tell the people that matter that she doesn't want to move to Texas?"

"WHY doesn't any of her sisters seem concerned at all?"

"WHY isn't there anyone to turn to for her protection?"

"WHY doesn't Adult Protective Services accept a PRO-active approach to protecting someone instead of waiting until AFTER the exploitation has already happened?"

"WHY would a realtor tell my uncle that Granny's farm is worth almost TWICE what it's really worth, just so he can try to get more money out of my mom?"

"WHY don't the doctors care?"

Feeling powerless in a situation threatens to reduce our trust and faith in the One who actually has the power. By focusing on the "I don't understand....'s" and "Why?'s", we place God on the periphery instead of in the center. Jeremiah said,

"Why are you like a man taken by surprise, like a warrior powerless to save? You are among us, O LORD, and we bear your name; do not forsake us!" (Jer 14:9)

Why should we, of all people, be the ones to feel helpless? King Asa, in the Old Testament, was faithful to God and was once facing an army of tremendous size. Here's what he says when faced with the feeling of helplessness:

"Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, 'LORD, there is no one like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O LORD, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you.'" (2 Chron 14:11)

When I talked to Granny earlier today she told me she didn't want to live in Texas; she wants to stay home and she doesn't feel like she has a choice. "This has been my home for years. These are my animals. I want to be home." I told her I knew that and I worried because she's leaving on Saturday and will most likely not return. Her response to my declaration of worry?

"Beth, please pray for me."

She knows the Only One who can do anything about it. Pray. Just pray.

Psalm 40

Today I was kind of blown away by the consistency of God's story. Back in the summer, a friend and I were reading Psalm 40 and we stopped at verse 6. We re-read it. And then read it a third time. We were baffled by the words,

"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require."

I don't remember the exact conversation that we had, but I remember my thoughts going something like this: "This is the Old Testament. What do you mean you didn't require burnt offerings and sin offerings? I mean, HELLO GOD! Have you read Leviticus lately? The ENTIRE BOOK is about how you require offerings for sin!"

So just this weekend, I turned back to Psalm 40 and read it again. And I thought and thought. Finally, about 48 hours later, I realize once again how amazing God is. It's so unbelievable that in the culture of the Israelites in 1000 BC, where their entire way of life was sin, sacrifice, sin, sacrifice, on and on and on, God was already preparing them to understand that it's not about their stupid goats. (Not that goats are stupid. I actually sort of like goats.) 1,000 years before Jesus became the full and complete sacrifice, God was already cluing them in to his ultimate redemptive plan. Jesus even quotes it in Hebrews 10:5-7, when he says that it's impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Instead the sacrifices were just an annual reminder of sins.

The whole "my ears you have pierced" thing seemed sort of out of place in there though so I looked up some commentary on it. There was a custom that if you bought a Hebrew slave, you could have the slave for six years but you had to let him go free on the seventh year. If he declared his love for his master and wished to stay instead of being free, the master would pierce his ear and he would stay with his master forever. So then it makes me think that maybe it has to do with us. That by declaring our love for God and desiring to stay with him forever (when he has given us the option to turn away), he has "pierced our ears" as a symbol of our belonging to him forever.

So then the verse puts our eternal belonging to God in the middle of explaining that sacrifices and burnt offerings are not necessary.

I'm so glad that God doesn't require offerings anymore cuz I sure do like a goat. :)

GUESS WHO I SAW TODAY!!!!

I saw some of my favorite people in the world today! They were doing a taekwondo demonstration at the mall. I got to talk to them for a while after the demo! This is my friend, Jakob, breaking two boards with a back kick! He's also an amazing baseball player and he told me today he's going to be working with the varsity baseball team at MHS to keep working on his baseball skills!

I know a bunch of you recognize this guy! Of course, the last time most of you saw him he was only 5 and a purple belt. Kai is now in 6th grade, a black belt, and is as funny as ever! He made me laugh the entire time I was talking to him! I was so glad to get to see both of them since I haven't seen them in so long!

I miss you, Kai and Jakob!

Attack of the Wicked Indian with a Lightsaber

Once upon a time there was a pirate named Joran. He used to be a skeleton but he turned into a pirate when he touched his magical sword, named Monkey Tail. After becoming a pirate, Joran set out on a quest to rid the world of wicked indians with lightsabers. (Indians without lightsabers are perfectly fine. It's just the ones with them that you have to worry about.) His trusty companion, Chaos the dog, accompanied him on his quest. Chaos once lost his tail to a wicked indian with a lightsaber. Fortunately he's part-lizard and he grew a new tail. It was never quite the same as his old tail though.

Chaos' weapon is a little bit different from Joran's Monkey Tail. He uses explosive green coconuts that he likes to call "Cocopuffs". His Cocopuffs work exceptionally well, until they roll under furniture where poor Chaos can't reach them. Then Joran has to pause his quest to retrieve Chaos' Cocopuffs.

Along the way, he met Elof, the knight from "Further In Castle". Elof is a kind and gentle knight, but he is a ruthless fighter. As they were engaged in a battle to see who was the better swordsman, along came Annelie, a wicked indian with a lightsaber! Joran and Elof decided to join forces and defeat Annelie once and for all!

As Joran distracted Annelie with amazing sword tricks, Chaos hurled Cocopuffs at her. (By "hurled", what I really mean is that he chewed on them.) Meanwhile, Elof attempted a surprise attack that wasn't much of a surprise since he shouted out, "HERE COMES MY SURPRISE ATTACK!" right before he did it. Then he leaped off of his perch on Most High Mountain and attempted to overtake Annelie.

Joran and Elof fought long and hard. But in the end, Annelie was victorious. She slayed both pirate and knight, took Monkey Tail into her possession, and persuaded Chaos to join forces with her. Beware of indians with lightsabers! Especially ones with Cocopuff-hurling sidekicks named Chaos!

Chinese Lion Dance

Part of a Chinese New Year celebration is to usher in good luck for the new year with a traditional Lion Dance! We had the UVA Lion Dance Team come to our school today to perform the Lion Dance for the kindergarteners and second graders. The kids LOVED it! The "lion" ran around the gym pretending to chase the guy in the red shirt who was taunting him, to the delight of the kids! After the dance, the team let the kids come up and pet the lion! Look at their faces in the second picture! They were looking for the lion as he chased the guy and they were laughing hysterically!

Melting Crayon

So apparently it takes 5 minutes to melt a crayon and only 1 minute to melt a candle. I'm thinking that next year I should not have the kids pick a red crayon to melt. As it was melting yesterday, the kids started shouting, "Oh my gosh! The crayon's turning into blood!"

No fire. Cool experiment.

Melting Experiment

So hopefully this is not how my school will look by the end of today. It's a slight possibility though... we're doing an experiment to learn about melting and it involves melting different objects on the stove - crayons, candles, chocolate, butter, etc. Sounded like a great idea until I learned this morning that crayons and candles are flammable at high temperatures. And seeing as how I've never done this before... I'll add an update tonight...

Meanwhile, stay tuned to CNN for breaking news on school fires in Charlottesville, VA...

UPDATE:

The school is flame-free. Mouse King is alive. Hammy did not escape. Life is good...

Until tomorrow when we have to actually melt the crayons and candles because we didn't have time today. Fire alarms beware!

One down, one to go

I PAID OFF ONE CREDIT CARD!!!

Now just one more left...the big one...but still just one. My goal is to have it done by December!

For all the Calvin and Hobbes fans, here's one from the snowman series. I sure hope my kid is like Calvin!

UVA Basketball

I went to a UVA women's basketball game yesterday with some friends! UVA played FSU and it was a great game - very evenly matched. If you missed the game, here's how it went: one team's up by 2 points, then it's a tie, up by 2 points, tie, up by 2 points, tie, repeat for 79 points. It just happened that FSU was the team up by 2 points when time ran out. Final score: 79-77.

Here are my friends who I went to the game with, Carina and Emelie. They were true UVA fans, screaming and cheering for the team!

Okay so that FSU girl is like 10 feet tall. You'd have to be a giraffe to win any jump ball from her.

Next Sunday: It's UVA baseball time!

Snowboarding in Paradise

Wintergreen was sweet on Saturday. The sun came out a little bit, and it started snowing! It was really crowded but we were able to find a couple of slopes that didn't have anyone on them! My friends, Alicia, Ann, and Eun, were with me and we got to ride down almost every slope on the mountain!

Alicia and Eun snowboarded for the first part of the day and then skied for the rest. It was Eun's first time snowboarding!

He did really well for his first time! In fact on his second run, he made it all the way down to the lift without falling! I'm not sure exactly how he did it, but it definitely worked. I think he should patent his strategy and sell it to millions.

After snowboarding and skiing, we went to Cheeseburger in Paradise to eat dinner. We were STARVING and it was a long wait at first. To pass the time, we found one of those things with all the pegs and you can make your hand print and funny faces and stuff. Here's Eun's face. Scary.

Alicia making a boat picture. It was quite a masterpiece. She should really consider going into poke art as a career.





Eun tried to make weird pictures. Like he wanted us to guess the word "SILLY" by making a combination of a sunflower and a lily. Needless to say, none of us were able to guess that one. :)







This is us in front of Cheeseburger in Paradise!

Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio

An evening with Chris Tomlin, Louie Giglio, Matt Redman, awesome friends, and of course, JESUS!!! Don't you wish YOU had spent your Friday night like that?

We saw Katie's mom there and guess what! Her mom won a free seat upgrade and got to switch seats and go closer! How cool is that?

Louie talked about space and how massive the universe is that we live in. He showed us the Whirlpool galaxy - 31 million light years away. Then he showed us a picture of the CORE of that galaxy. Here's a picture of what it looks like:

He also talked about how we are walking miracles, put together and held together by Christ himself. In fact, he told us about something called laminin that is in every one of our 75 trillion cells. Laminin is a cell-adhesion molecule. Adhesion. Think glue. It's the glue that holds us together. And guess what it's shaped like? Click here to see a picture of it: http://bio.takara.co.jp/bio_en/images/enM018a.gif

The cross of Jesus Christ is stamped all over this universe and He's the very glue holding us together! How cool is THAT? (And you thought it was cool that Katie's mom won a free seat upgrade!)

Problem Solving

Problem solving. What does it mean exactly? If you were good at solving problems, what kind of problems would you be able to solve? If you're seven years old, how hard is too hard? Where is the point reached where we can say that developmentally, most seven-year-olds are not ready for a particular kind of problem?

These questions are going around my head this afternoon after a long day of problem solving with my second graders. Our county has a goal of higher achievement in problem solving, as evidenced by the NSRE tests that the fourth graders take every year. A lot of focus is put on learning how to think through problems, explain answers, find alternatives, etc. We found out today that our school has a 28% pass rate in problem solving on the NSRE tests. That sounds terrible until you consider the fact that the county average is half that and the national average is only 20%. When we were told that at our faculty meeting this afternoon, our initial reaction was one of "YAY!" and "Let's pat ourselves on the back!" This is the third consecutive year of hearing data such as this on how our fourth graders achieved on these tests. I'm not so excited; more - confused. The source of my confusion?

Has anyone considered that perhaps if the national average for fourth graders on this test is 20% (and has been that way for years), then MAYBE, JUST MAYBE the test may be above the level of most fourth graders? Is this really a test that Japan's nine-year-olds are scoring like 90% on?

Here's an example question:

Many people fertilize their lawns to make the grass healthier. The Garden Center recommends that you use 5 lbs. of fertilizer per 200 square feet of lawn. Fertilizer costs $1.09 per lb. Determine how much fertilizer needs to be purchased and how much it will cost to purchase that amount of fertilizer for the shaded area of this yard. The yard measures 150 feet by 90 feet and the house measures 40 feet by 28 feet.

And another:

A cylindrical water tower is 7/8ths filled with water. The water tower is 10 feet tall and has a diameter of 9 feet. If 1 cubic foot of water weighs 62.4 pounds, what is the weight of the water in the tower?

On that note, as a school, we have begun kicking up our problem solving from kindergarten on up in an effort to achieve better on the NSRE tests. I did a problem solving activity with my second graders this morning that I felt was on their ability level. This was the problem I gave them:

A triangle = 1 cent

A square = 5 cents

A rhombus = 10 cents

A hexagon = 25 cents

A trapezoid = 8 cents

A long, thin rhombus = 17 cents

Make a picture using only these shapes that equals 63 cents and prove that your picture is worth 63 cents.

Out of 18 kids, 5 kids really struggled and needed a lot of support. So about 72% of my kids were able to complete a 63-cent picture AND prove it using words and numbers. I think that this accurately assesses who is struggling with problem solving and communicating explanations in words and numbers. It was challenging for most kids and very difficult for a few.

Later in the afternoon, the kids were given a county-wide assessment that was very similar to this problem. I am under the impression that this assessment was supposed to prepare kids for the NSRE tests by giving them a similar type of problem but on a "second-grade level". This was the question:

1. If a triangle is worth 2 cents, how much is a hexagon worth?

2. What if a triangle is worth 5 cents? Then how much is a hexagon?

3. How much are 2 hexagons?

This is clearly a multi-step problem because first kids have to realize the relationship between triangles and hexagons - that 6 triangles equals one hexagon. Then they have to count by 2's to find the answer, change the 2's to 5's and count by 5's for the next answer. And finally add two hexagons (which two? who knows?) to find the last answer.

Doesn't seem so difficult right? Keep in mind most of these kids are 7. Keep in mind that if you ask them how many sides a hexagon has, many of them have no idea. Guess how many of my kids were able to figure this out without support (as will be the case with the NSRE tests in 2 years)? ONE. One kid saw the relationship right away between triangles and hexagons and knew what this problem was asking. All 17 other kids needed a great deal of support to figure this out. Similar results were found in the 6 other second grade classes. Does this mean it's a problem with the kids? Clearly they were able to solve the problem we did earlier in the day. Does this mean it's a problem with the teachers? Or does this mean it's a problem with the test?

As our country is pushing for higher and higher achievement, how far is too far? When are kids just developmentally not ready for a particular kind of question? Are we TRYING to stump them? I mean, I think that last problem solving question is a fantastic activity as an extension activity or a challenge. But should it be used as an assessment that says "this is what we expect 7-year-olds to be able to do on their own?"

Happy V Day!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYBODY!!!!

Not too much exciting happening lately except WE HAVEN'T HAD SCHOOL FOR TWO DAYS!!!! I've been mostly grading work, writing to parents, watching Psych, eating lunch with my mom, working out at Gold's Gym, etc. Man, life is tough.

My grandmother is going to be released from the nursing home next Saturday, Feb. 24th. That's the good news. The unfortunate part is that my uncle is taking her to Texas with him for 4-6 weeks, against her wishes for the most part. She has Alzheimer's and some days she says she wants to go visit Texas, but usually she says she wants to stay here. She's never been out of the state except a few trips to North Carolina when she was much younger. She will know no one except for my aunt and uncle. If you know anything about Alzheimer's patients, you know that they need a lot of routine and familiarity. This is going to be really hard on her. We are afraid that my uncle will not allow her to come back home after the 4-6 weeks and insist that she stay down there with him. Also because she is going down to Texas, my uncle is selling her farm, where my mom and sister's horses live. My mom and sister have always dreamed of owning that farm one day, but it seems like my uncle is doing everything possible to never allow that dream to become reality.

Anyway...it's a big mess right now...my uncle is coming to Virginia next Saturday when my grandmother is released from the nursing home. He is staying for a week before taking her to Texas. My mom, stepdad, and uncle are all supposed to meet together to talk about this situation during the last week of February. Prediction: what is a big mess right now, is going to get WAY MESSIER. If you feel God leading you to pray for my mom and stepdad, please pray that they will keep putting their trust in God and receive His guidance for what to do next. For my grandmother - please pray that she will be where she needs to be, in the location that will offer her the best care, security, and love as the Alzheimer's take over more control day after day. For my uncle - please pray that he will find God, and somehow realize that family is more important that money. And for everything - that no matter what the outcome of this, God will get glory through all of our actions, even my uncle's - that when this is all over, we will look back and see God right in the middle of it and know that it was His plan all along.

Thanks.

And Happy Valentine's Day.

Juan and Marco's Wii!

Juan and Marco finally got a Wii so I went over to play it Saturday night! That truly is one of the coolest video game experiences ever! We played tennis, baseball, and boxing, and I must say my arm was slightly sore after playing!

They were also in another play last night, so I went to watch and of course, take pictures! They are both dwarves!

This is their bunny named Cinnamon Bun. Cinnamon is SO soft, she's like an adorable little pillow! In fact I would like to make her into a pillow. Just kidding, Marco, just kidding.

Here's Marco playing boxing on the Wii! He's quite good and he's like halfway to going pro right now! Baseball was definitely my favorite. It helps when you understand the game. I tried playing tennis with Juan, but I spent most of the time being confused and Juan had to shout out, "Swing NOW!" and "Just move your controller all around and hope that you hit the ball." Those apparently are directions for people who DON'T have a clue how to play tennis. He clearly had a strategy and knew what he was doing. When we started playing baseball on the other hand... oh yes, I won by mercy rule in the FIRST INNING! It's so cool how you can control the speed of the pitch and the location of the pitch when you throw the ball. Brilliant Nintendo! I highly approve!

Upward Basketball

"If exercise could be purchased in a pill, it would be the single most widely prescribed and beneficial medicine in the nation."

-Robert H. Butler

I was talking to a friend who is a doctor yesterday and we were talking about exercise and the nature of poor health that many Americans subscribe to. She was telling me about patients that she sees with diabetes and what a horrific disease it is - in fact, she said that if she had to list the worst ways to die, diabetes would be #2. I asked her what she would say to parents to prevent their kids from getting diabetes. She said simply: EXERCISE. Turn off the tv and exercise!

Along that note, I also spent several hours yesterday watching basketball games in our local Upward basketball league. If you don't know about Upward, it's an amazing program through First Baptist Church and Calvary Baptist Church. It's such a great way for kids to get exercise, learn how to be a team member, and grow spiritually at the same time!

Every week the kids get a memory verse that they are supposed to practice. If they can then remember the verse at the game, they get a star to pin to their uniform.

Every game begins by announcing the players on each team as they run across the court to cheers from the audience. Then the players, coaches, and referees gather in the

center, holding hands, to pray for a fun game, free of injury, and full of good sports. Kids are held to very clear basketball rules, from the 6-year-olds up. Whistles are blown for double dribbling, traveling, fouls, etc. When the whistle is blown, the referee goes to the offending player and explains quickly what they did wrong and what they need to do in the future so that the whistle won't be blown on them again.

At halftime, each team meets in a separate room to regroup, talk, and get a quick rest. Meanwhile, a member of First Baptist or Calvary Baptist Church comes to deliver a short 5-minute message to the audience and then closes in prayer. Kids are also matched up during the entire game with a player from the opposing team that matches their ability level. That is the player that they are assigned to guard. They are not allowed to guard any other player. This method allows success for all kids and keeps double teaming from happening!

After the game is over, teams meet so that coaches can give out awards to players, such as "Best Defense" and "Most Christlike". And all of this happens at EVERY game! It's a brilliant program! What a great way to show kids what it looks like to live the cross in sports!

You might recognize some of the kids in these pictures! The top picture is of Elof, the dribbling master! Don't even try to steal the ball away from that kid. The middle picture is of Joran as he's about to shoot. (Notice how only one silver player is allowed close enough to guard him - he's Joran's assigned match so the other players can't double team.)

One Day

Ahhhhh I love going to work for one day this week and then having the weekend. If only every week were like this! Okay maybe not EVERY week...but build one in once per month or something. We had a Valentine's Day party at my school last night and the kids danced and chased balloons for 2 hours! It's always fun going to those events and getting to see my kids that are in higher grades now and hang out with their parents! I hardly ever get to talk to them anymore so it's a great time to catch up!

Then, I went to taekwondo and learned a new form (well, most of it). My night ended with Chic-Fil-A and PSYCH! (If you haven't watched it, you really need to - USA at 10 on Fridays.) Perfect day!

Snowboarding with K K!

Wow, no school two days in a row! I'm heading up to Wintergreen in just a few minutes to spend the day snowboarding! Yesterday when I was playing in the snow with Chaos and my friends, I snowboarded a little too. It was especially hard to dodge rocks and sticks and things that would scratch the bottom of the board, but I managed fairly well. It was funny because every time I would go down, K K would chase me down the hill! In almost every picture, I could see K K right at my heels running behind me! Like in the top picture where I'm jumping and Chaos is right there! Man, what fun he'd have chasing me down slopes at Wintergreen!

Here's Chaos and me in matching outfits! We're both wearing red and black!

In this picture, I'm landing, but look at Chaos behind me! He's so cute jumping down the drop off just like me! See his little ears flapping! And his two little front paws in position for the flight! And his strong back legs ready to spring off the ground! Geez that dog is so cute!

And here's a random picture of my house in the snow, because people keep telling me, "Why don't you put any pictures of your house in your blog? We never get to see what your house looks like!" So here you go! All of you weird houseaphilics!

Snow, Glorious Snow!!

Snow, glorious snow!
Brings the message of "no school"!
Snow, glorious snow!
Starts the snowy day ritual!

Yes it is true! It has snowed in Charlottesville - we got 3-5 inches overnight. With the dry, powdery goodness comes the glorious announcement that we all wait to hear:

NO SCHOOL TODAY!

I spent the morning sledding/snowboarding with my furry black friend, Chaos, and some of my other friends. Here's my friend, Elof, flying down the hill behind his house, trying to avoid rocks, drains, pipes, trees, and other various objects that could possibly put him into the hospital upon contact.

Here is Elof's brother, Fritjof, and his friend, Gunda. They were setting up camp, preparing to bombard enemy parents with massive snowballs.

This is Elska, Gunda's sister. She spent the day recreating last night's overnight snowstorm by spraying snow from tree branches in many directions, including down.

And finally, we have Elska, Fritjof, and their friend, Joran, standing next to Chaos the dog. They were lining up for a race down the deadly drop-off secretly known as "Lose Your Limbs Drop".

Possibly the best news of all is the announcement at 8:00 this evening:

NO SCHOOL TOMORROW!!!