I Don't Wanna Go Through the Motions

This song helped me get over myself today. I heard on the radio K-Love, of course, that a boy posted this on his Facebook page and vowed to 'give everything', then died in a car wreck the same day. 6 friends stood up at his funeral and accepted Christ in their life because of how this boy lived. Whatever religion you are, there is something for each of us to overcome and get past, push through, rise above, find purpose in.

I vow to live my life with no regrets! I won't get to the end of my life and ask, "What if I had given everything?" This life is it. We get one shot at it. I've got dreams to reach and people God puts in my sphere of influence to help, and energy to burn (less than I'd like, but energy, nonetheless).

My friend and I were talking yesterday. "You need to get out and get some of this sunshine," he said. "What sunshine? Nothing but clouds out there," I retorted, dripping with sarcasm and layers in my response. "There wouldn't be any light at all out there at all if the sun wasn't up. You're a teacher. You don't know that?" I stared out at the cloudy day and realized I was being stupid and he was right =o). (I love friends like that. Snap you out of your idiocy with one smart retort.) Even cloudy days...are days. With sunlight, even, if we will recognize it. What good am I missing in this experience by only allowing the trial to fill my view? Seriously. Get over it, VeNicia. God is Love, and Life is Good!

lyrics:
This might hurt, it's not safe
But I know that I've gotta make a change
I don't care if I break,
At least I'll be feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"

No regrets, not this time
I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love make me whole
I think I'm finally feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of this life

'Cause I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"

take me all the way (take me all the way)
take me all the way ('cause I don't wanna go through the motions)
take me all the way (I know I'm finally feeling something real)
take me all the way

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"

take me all the way (take me all the way)
take me all the way (I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go)
take me all the way (through the motions)
take me all the way

I don't wanna go through the motions

If You Like This Sort of Thing (And I Do.)

Neat-o personality test:
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

Take it! I've done it years ago and have changed since then, interestingly. This is a simplified version of the Myers-Briggs really detailed one. Do it. And tell me what you are! (I really want my school faculty to do it. I think it would be helpful for...the...organization...so cheesy. I put that on here and have since realized I am pretty much quoting the 3rd paragraph. I'm a dork.)

My Results:
Idealist Portrait of the Counselor (INFJ)

Counselors have an exceptionally strong desire to contribute to the welfare of others, and find great personal fulfillment interacting with people, nurturing their personal development, guiding them to realize their human potential. Although they are happy working at jobs (such as writing) that require solitude and close attention, Counselors do quite well with individuals or groups of people, provided that the personal interactions are not superficial, and that they find some quiet, private time every now and then to recharge their batteries. Counselors are both kind and positive in their handling of others; they are great listeners and seem naturally interested in helping people with their personal problems. Not usually visible leaders, Counselors prefer to work intensely with those close to them, especially on a one-to-one basis, quietly exerting their influence behind the scenes.

Counselors are scarce, little more than one percent of the population, and can be hard to get to know, since they tend not to share their innermost thoughts or their powerful emotional reactions except with their loved ones. They are highly private people, with an unusually rich, complicated inner life. Friends or colleagues who have known them for years may find sides emerging which come as a surprise. Not that Counselors are flighty or scattered; they value their integrity a great deal, but they have mysterious, intricately woven personalities which sometimes puzzle even them.

Counselors tend to work effectively in organizations. They value staff harmony and make every effort to help an organization run smoothly and pleasantly. They understand and use human systems creatively, and are good at consulting and cooperating with others. As employees or employers, Counselors are concerned with people's feelings and are able to act as a barometer of the feelings within the organization.

Blessed with vivid imaginations, Counselors are often seen as the most poetical of all the types, and in fact they use a lot of poetic imagery in their everyday language. Their great talent for language-both written and spoken-is usually directed toward communicating with people in a personalized way. Counselors are highly intuitive and can recognize another's emotions or intentions - good or evil - even before that person is aware of them. Counselors themselves can seldom tell how they came to read others' feelings so keenly. This extreme sensitivity to others could very well be the basis of the Counselor's remarkable ability to experience a whole array of psychic phenomena.

Mohandas Gandhi, Sidney Poitier, Eleanor Roosevelt, Jane Goodall, Emily Bronte, Sir Alec Guiness, Carl Jung, Mary Baker Eddy, Queen Noor are examples of the Counselor Idealist (INFJ).

(So, Gandhi, Eleanor, and me. Huh. If I'd get my butt off the internet and doing something amazing, maybe...=oP )

Consider the Lilies

I love this song immensely. Because I got to sing in conference on Saturday afternoon (So incredible! I should blog about that...) I missed much of the morning session in warm up & rehearsal in the little theatre. I love watching the talks on my laptop in the bathroom when I get ready in the mornings. So I've been catching up. I had to stop and just listen when "Consider the Lilies" was being sung by MoTab.

I seek His peace. Somehow despite that, since getting divorced, I have periodic feelings of anxiety in my stomach like I've never known before. And I'm prone to getting down on myself pretty hard in my thoughts. I feel like I put up a pretty good fight--by working hard, reading & listening to positive & uplifting things, by trying to be anxiously engaged in good things, through lots of prayer, through music--symphony, choir--but it sometimes gets me anyway. I've been fighting it today, and this song brought me peace. It's always brought me peace. I have the piano music and though I sound nothing like this organist, it's even comforting to play it. There is an inexplicable power in music. I am so grateful for its influence in my life!

(This is the 2007 version--I like that it starts with a clarinet =o) I don't know how to embed the new conference song yet.)


"Consider the lilies of the field--how they grow, how they grow.
Consider the birds of the sky--how they fly, how they fly.
He clothes the lilies of the field. He feeds the birds in the sky
and He will feed those who trust Him and Guide them with His eye.

"Consider the sheep of his fold--how they follow where he leads.
Though the path may wind across the mountains,
He knows the meadows where they feed.
He clothes the lilies of the field. He feeds the birds in the sky
and He will feed those who trust Him and Guide them with His eye.

"Consider the sweet tender children who must suffer on this earth.
The pains of all of them he carried from the day of his birth.
He clothes the lilies of the field. He feeds the lambs of his fold
and He will heal those who trust Him and make their hearts as gold.

"He clothes the lilies of the field. He feeds the lambs of his fold
and He will heal those who trust Him and make their hearts as gold."

I believe He will.

"Not a Christian Nation"

I walked into school yesterday and was greeted by a lady I love who quickly told me that Obama had just said, "We are not a Christian nation" to a bunch of Muslims. Really? I thought? Yikes. Quickly followed by a "Hmmm..."

...I looked it up. You know, I love this lady, and I don't know what source she gets her news. But I'm learning that there is usually some left out context when I hear snippets like that.

Obama was in Turkey. He was not speaking to a group of terrorists and telling them we are not Christian.

Here are his exact words:
"One of the great strengths of the United States is, although, as I mentioned, we have a very large Christian population, we do not consider ourselves a Christian nation or a Jewish nation or a Muslim nation, we consider ourselves a nation of citizens who are bound by ideals and a set of values." (I'm sure there is even more context which would add to the understanding of what he is saying, if we looked more into it.)

I am a Mormon, and we are Christians (as defined by "a person who believes in Jesus Christ as a divine Son of God and Redeemer of mankind through the Atonement", though not "Christian" as falling under the umbrella of traditional Christianity and breaking off of break-offs. We believe we have the original gospel through modern day divine revelation.)

I do not feel threatened by Obama's statement. How is it different from our 11th Article of Faith?:

"We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience. We allow all men the same privilege."

Though, I do believe Obama could have better avoided the people who seem to need to take snippets and spread them out of context by saying, "Yes, we do consider ourselves a Christian nation. However, we also consider ourselves to be a Jewish nation, and a Muslim nation. We are a group of citizens who honor all rights to worship and what binds us together, despite our differences, is our commitment to ideals and values."

This would have seemed more unifying and would have complimented the strength of diversity that we celebrate in our country, and not have seemingly--to some--"abandoned" our Christian heritage.

BUT GET OVER IT! I mean, really.

Reflection

EESL 5320 Reflection #3
Purpose of Education

Throughout our courses I have reflected back on my “philosophy of education” that I wrote at the beginning of the Elementary Education program. I’d be interested in finding it and seeing how two years in the program and four years of teaching in the trenches and professional development has shaped and molded my perspectives. Before then, I’d like to reflect in writing so as to have the two to compare. (These are initial thoughts that I will continue to reshape and formulate.)

I believe a purpose to education is to build a strong future for our society. The knowledge and history that we pass along to each generation is essential to their learning who they are, shaping their lives, and shaping the society in which they will live.

An important purpose to education is teaching children how to learn, to develop within them a love for learning and desire to know, to enable their creativity, to empower them with resources, and the knowledge of how to find the resources that they need to contribute with their knowledge and influence to the betterment of our world. A child who grows up feeling a part of the existing global community will be empowered to influence it in positive ways.

As long as there are problems, there are solutions unfound. This indicates that our thinking is not yet in alignment with the resolutions of the problems. We should, therefore, not be intimidated by or hinder the creative minds of youth, but encourage their creativity and enable them in their problem-solving abilities. As we express our faith in them, they will gain confidence in contributing to the solving of the world’s problems. Questions posed by students, solutions found in “other” ways are not something we should squelch, but encourage. We can and must empower them to believe they can be a force for good in the world; to believe that they can impact and change the human condition.

We must teach our children to seek effective solutions and the skills for problem solving in their lives. We should not be too quick to step in and tell them what to do or say to resolve an issue in the classroom—in math or with each other or anywhere—but to listen and observe their developing abilities, shaping where necessary. These skills they are developing will prepare their minds for solving the bigger societal problems that plague our global community.

The purpose of education should be to enable each student to walk out of our classroom believing in themselves, having strength of character and resolve to make an impact for good wherever they go, to contribute to the goodness of life with their skills in whatever field they so choose, to know they have the ability to achieve anything they work hard to accomplish, to know they have the power to be an influence, to know we are all interconnected and that what hurts one hurts us all, and what lifts one lifts everyone.

I’ll keep working on shaping this. But this is what I believe. Every child can learn. Every child is important. Every child deserves to be loved and safe and empowered. Every child we teach not only deserves a year’s worth of quality education, but a year’s worth of building, of affirming, of firmly disciplining where necessary, and a year’s worth of our whole heart put into their lives.

This is why I teach.

WTH?...IDK.

Do other professions have this many acronyms? Is this normal?

Check it:
NEA, ZPD, CAT, USOE, UAA, UBSCT, IOWA, DRA, DWA, NAEP, SRI, PALS, ACT, SAT, GED, APT, CRT, NRT, SLD, SOAR, SLP, ART, TAT, SLP, CLD, LEP, UALPA, PTA, PTO, CRESST, GRL, IRA, L1, L2, ALS, OCR, FERPA, JEA, TESOL, ESL, SES, BICS, CALPS, ELL, SIOP, ILDP, WPU, FTE, AMAO, UAA, SWD, IDEA, LPL, UEA, JSD, U-PASS, AYP, NCLB, AMAO, DIBELS, WRAP, NCATE, NCTM, TCM, SEP, PTC, DOE, PPG, NBPTS, DCFS, SDAIE.

Plus terms like 'lexiles' & '504's.

Bonus points to the person who names the most (without copying off the person who posts before you...=o) )

...later...More: PHLOTE, ASL, SEE, CUP, SUP, ART, DART, ADD, DOL, and I taught the MIB dance in PE =o)

Did I Say..."Stars Aligning?"

I've always been one to look at the night sky and point out the beautiful...airplane lights. Interesting how stars aligning can look similarly to airplanes on different courses.

Like, for instance, the airplane that will take this group to Naivasha, Kenya...without me! Because they're moving the trip up to before airline prices go up $800...which will be before girls camp and during my school year. hmm.

Well, I'm going somewhere. An opportunity will open up between now and then. I'll just have to work on my star-gazing abilities.