April 14, 2009
So my back is sore again…
But we did go to the coffee time this morning… and I took along all the unwanted candy kicking around the house… it was joyfully scooped up by everyone there!
___ talked and talked to some of us about living “in the flow” (zone/mojo/whatever)… and how that kind of concept maybe relates to living in the moment in the Holy Spirit… and how there are “seasons” in the spiritual realm just as in the natural realm… and how the husband/wife (and children, I dare add) relationship is meant to be to some degree a reflection of the trinity of God… (And if was confirmation to me to just keep waiting, living with You, “in the moment,” for Your timing, Your way).
(I got an email from a friend I haven’t seen in years and years… she’s been teaching in China for 3 years!)
And then ___ came in and we had a long talk about school/ Christian school/ home school etc. God had provided them with a wonderful home, and she’s thinking it would be perfect for home school… but wondering what “curriculum” to follow or whatever…. I’m thinking maybe if God supplied the place, He’ll also supply the right “educational” choices eh….
I was talking to her about my feelings about Christian schools… that maybe it would be better off to really determine what their highest priorities are… and then be EXCELLENT in those areas, instead of trying to offer a smattering of a lot of things… not try to compete with the public schools, but instead focus on what they (the Christian schools) really believe in, and do their very best in those areas…
And of course I talked about the whole “special ed funding” thing… and about government funding that goes with it (not to mention the regular government funding per student)… and all the strings that are attached to government funding and programs… and how that can really water down the “vision” … yes, stifle the flow!
On the way home I was thinking that I love to teach… and would be happy to teach for free (putting my whole heart into it, even)… IF I wasn’t tied to a particular curriculum, and to learning outcomes I don’t believe in, and to forced examinations and time schedules and report cards… well, that’s pretty much a pipe dream, isn’t it, if you’re strung up to a system that controls you, for it’s own agenda.
I want only YOUR agenda, Father – Papa!
I want to be in Your flow… living every moment “in the vine”…
We were talking (well, I was!) about the Christian School conventions I used to attend… and most of the teachers would rather go to “practical” sessions where they could learn some new classroom technique or program or craft or entertainment, than to go to “philosophical” sessions… I loved the latter – but pretty much no one else on my staff was interest… they actually good-naturedly laughed at me (though the principal encouraged me)… there seems to be this gap between what we “believe” about education/ learning/ schooling (all somewhat different things of course) and how that translates into “doing.”
And yet, what value is there is our “doing” if we ignore the “being” part? __ was talking about that, too. When it comes right down to it, can’t truly “do” for You, until we “be” in You. We can’t start a program, and then try to attach You, and ask Your blessing. We can’t do the world’s thing of goal-setting, with built-in “accountability” measures – and at the same time “be in You” – living in Your eternal present.
In fact, I have come away from all this discussion willing to not even move… though I’ve looked forward to it so much. I just want to BE in You… and let the “doing” be the natural result/outcome.
(Now I understand a lot more clearly my gut abhorrence of the whole testing and reporting thing…)
Isa 2:3 Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. HE WILL TEACH US HIS WAYS, SO THAT WE MAY WALK IN HIS PATHS. 22. STOP TRUSTING IN MAN who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
…. later… wrote another 2 or 3 family stories, and scanned and uploaded photos for them to both the story site and to fb. Went for a little outing with hubby.
Totally amazed that it’s already past 7 pm. Even though it’s been a gray day (only got up to 12 C) it’s still amazingly light ouside! Summer can’t be too far away, can it?
