I had the privilege of attending Bible study again last night and it was so good, as always. I love how Michelle can plan a lesson for us but we always start talking about something else and then great conversations emerge from our discussions, thoughts, and questions. Last night we talked about so many great things and I want to share with you one of the biggest points that I learned. First, we were discussing how we can know the difference between trying to follow the “rules of the Christian life” or just living to please the Lord. It’s a tough question because we know that as Christ followers, we shouldn’t do things such as hate, be jealous, judge, etc, but are those rules on us or should we just do them because we love Christ? So, we discussed a lot and Michelle said a statement that truly put it all into perspective, “The ‘rules’ are just an overflow of a relationship with Jesus!” That makes so much sense. When I truly follow after the Lord, my heart is not going to want to hate or be jealous, but it’s going to want to love and be gentle. When I seek Him, I will seek His ways and not those of this world. Colossians 3:12 says “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” That’s really all God wants from us. To be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient and when we pursue these acts, we will bear fruit. It’s so much easier to understand how a relationship with God works when you are actively pursuing Him. It logically makes sense. When you pursue someone, you get to know them on deeper levels and start to understand their characteristics. It’s the same way with God, He just wants us to get to know Him more by living by the characteristics that He loves. I have to always remember that when I abide in Him, I will bear fruit.

Yesterday I was also able to do some service learning for my teaching diverse populations course at Vista Lakes Elementary. I worked with 2nd grade ESOL students (English to Speakers of Other Languages). I’m pretty sure they were all able to understand and speak English, but definitely not on the level of a native English speaker. I worked with a couple children on math, more specifically, fractions. It was interesting working with them because I could tell they got confused a lot and didn’t know some of the words I was saying. It must be so aggravating for them because they are not allowed to speak in their native language, the class is taught primarily in English. Even though the ESOL teacher is fluent in Spanish, she is not allowed to help the spanish speaking students because there are other students of other languages (there were two Vietnamese girls and one Chinese girl) and she can’t give them equal attention. I think it probably helps the students a lot to be immersed in English, so they can quickly learn the language but it really must be so frustrating.

I had a lot of fun working with those students and just observing them. Yesterday was report card day (they still give out report cards in those thin cardboard-colored envelopes.. those brought back so many childhood memories! :-p). One of the boys I was working with was really excited to show me his report card and I eagerly looked at his paper, hoping for A’s and S’s (Satisfactory). Unfortunately, he was excited because he received a “C” in mathematics and was really happy about that because all of his other grades were F’s and U’s (Unsatisfactory). It was even more sad that the “C” was from the second marking period and he just received his third marking period report card. He thought it was a new higher grade, but it was still the same one, which means his mathematics grade went down to an F. I think kids need more motivation! They (especially students who don’t understand English or with learning disabilities) get so frustrated and easily give up. Education is so important and mastering these elementary level skills are so vital for success later on in life. Hopefully when I become a teacher, I won’t lose my vigor for teaching like a lot of educators do. It’s a tough job but someones gotta do it.

I was also able to meet with my Bible Study tonight (we missed you Jen!) and we haven’t been able to meet in a couple weeks, so it was pure joy to be with them again. My Bible study consists of myself, two dear friends (Stel and Jen) and my high school Bible study leader (Michelle). Michelle is the most amazing woman and always has wonderful advice. Stel and I had created a list of questions that we have always battled with when it comes to our faith. One of them was ‘does God have a certain and definite path for us or are there different paths that we can choose to take?” Michelle gave us the perfect example to help understand this question a bit more. She described it as God being the pilot of a plane (our life) and there is a set destination and no matter what, the plane will land in your destination but you have the freedom and ability to move about the plane. You can switch seats, meet different people, walk around when you are supposed to be in your seat, or stay in the same spot. In the end, no matter what, you will end up at your destination but it’s up to you to determine how your flight was. I love that analogy!