Whispers of Truth

     While preparing for a lesson, I came across an informative text simply entitled "Pearls." The piece was a very simplistic description of how a pearl is formed, but it reminded me that the irritating things in our lives that really get under our skin, the burrs that just won't let go, after a period of time can result in beautiful gems. When a small piece of organic material gets trapped between the shell and the soft tissue of an oyster, irritation occurs, and a substance called nacre is excreted, which encapsulates the irritant and daily adds layer upon layer, until what was the irritant becomes the pearl that we value so much. Just so are the hurts and bumps and bruises of our battered souls that get wrapped layer by layer in the grace of Christ until after enough time and pressure have occurred, we become treasured pearls--jewels He has created. It is so easy for us to forget who we are and why we are here in the urgency to escape from the torment of pain and disc

           To say that the last year of my life has not been challenging would be a lie. To say that regardless of the situation facing me, I have reflected the glory of God would also be a lie. But it is in the challenging times in our lives that force us to grow and find value. As I said in an earlier post, I have been doing a lot of secular reading since June of this past summer because my job has required it of me. I have to say that I haven’t missed this particular type of reading, which might surprise the people that know I am an English teacher and an avid reader. However, years ago, at the request of my wise husband, I put aside secular literature and immersed myself in the Word and in only Christian literature. At the time, I wasn’t very happy about the request, but in retrospect, it changed my life for the better. I learned to be discerning about what I put in my mind. Now, as I read works of “literary merit” for the teaching I do, I find myself much more able to see th

          I have yet to meet anyone who has never needed a new beginning. One of the benefits of teaching is a new beginning each fall. There is absolutely nothing as scary or exciting as the first day of classes because even though they are dreading the work that accompanies the return to school, most high school students come in smiling and eager to see all of their friends and (GASP) even their teachers. Many of these students are hungry for new beginnings because they know that they can do more or better than they did the year before. They are ready to leave the failures behind. This year I can relate because I have a new beginning at school as well. I am taking on new teaching assignments that will move me into the realm of the "mature" world of 11th and 12th graders. I may need many new beginnings before the year is over...but they may too.           Likewise, I am so grateful that Jesus offers us new beginnings. Fortunately, we aren't kicked to the curb for messin

I have spent much of my summer perusing literature that is work related instead of what I normally read for pleasure. An escapist by nature, I gravitate toward Christian fiction in my free time probably because it differs from the literature I read and teach at work, which includes classics and critical analyses of them. This summer I have been revisiting many of the classic works I read twenty to twenty-five years ago (the majority of which has totally dissolved from my memory…), and I am noticing some things that never occurred to me as a younger reader. For example, while reading the introduction to Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein by Johanna M. Smith, I observed that Shelley had a rather dysfunctional home life and parents that often seemingly contradicted themselves in their messages and the way they chose to live out their lives. As a Christian mother of impressionable teens, I can see the import of this now; years ago, I would have simply skimmed the commentary and dismissed it

While studying in Romans this past week, I came across a statement by Matthew Henry that struck me: "In every willful sin, there is contempt of the goodness of God. And though the branches of man's disobedience are very various, all spring from the same root" (Rom. 2 commentary). How many times do we sin willfully and think to ourselves, "I hate God's goodness"? I don't think that I've ever had that surface as a conscious thought, but it is very true. When God places something in our lives that is difficult to deal with or impossible to escape, the urge to walk away (thus, sin willfully) can be great. The struggle within to accept problems and deal with them in God's strength instead of our own can be enormous. Life offers various hurts and wounds us quite frequently, and we can get used to dealing with these small, expected pains. But let God throw a curve ball in and just watch out! A curve ball can take many forms, but when you are expecting a

I have to admit that I am somewhat of an isolationist. Although I don’t mean this in the sense of the political definition of the word, which is to separate one’s self to focus on a country’s own interests and avoid entanglements that would jeopardize peace, it seems to apply on a small scale to my life. When things become difficult, I have always found myself pursuing peace (usually my own and that of my family—i.e. my “country”) at all costs. Conflict is so repulsive to me that I avoid it studiously, often to my own detriment. I pull back into my own “country” (my family) and focus on our health and well-being until all is right again with my little world. When the problem is inside my little world and it cannot be easily fixed, I find that it rocks me to the core. Then isolationism becomes my modus operandi. I find myself compelled (or at least longing severely) to withdraw from the conflict and the swirling emotions. It is interesting to me that as I had this thought, as I often

Today I ran across a quote by Winston Churchill that seems particularly relevant to my life: “Never, never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. The statesman who yields to war fever must realize that once the signal is given, he is no longer master of the policy but the slave of unforeseeable and uncontrollable events.” I find myself guilty of believing that the battle of my sin nature has been won and expecting my war against flesh in this life to be smooth and easy. I find myself battered against the tides of conflict and flattened by the hurricanes in my life, and I have been bewildered by them because I thought (falsely, in pride) that I was either knowledgeable enough or strong enough to withstand them. I think I need to remind myself (yet again) of some scripture that I know. The following passage is from I Peter 4:12-19 (NASB): Beloved, do not be surprised at t

“And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9-11, NASB).           You either know something or you don’t—at least, that’s what I’ve always thought, or never thought about much at all. I love learning, so I’ve been an avid word-lover and knowledge-gatherer my entire life. As a result, I have spent the last thirty-three years studying the Bible and gleaning its truths. I should know a lot, but in the last year or so, I’ve learned how little I really know as I’ve faced points of application previously untested.           I think Peter learned (although to a more extreme degree) the same lesson about “real knowledge” that I’ve been learning, and it offers me much comfort and encou

          Ambition can lead us in either positive or negative directions. The word ambition is derived from a Latin term, ambio, which means to go about or seek out something, and it seems to have its origins in Roman politics: the person seeking an office would walk about, or ambulate, soliciting votes (Webster, 1828). Christians should be ambitious people, but not in the same sense as the politicians of Rome or the worldly people of today. Our ambition should be rooted in an intense desire to please God.                     Paul talks of this desire to please God in II Corinthians in a discourse about the temporal versus the eternal. As Christians, we have an expectation of an eternity spent with God; however, in the here and now, we are trapped in the flesh and have all the struggles and burdens of dwelling here, which only leaves us with the longing to be free from the struggles of this world and present in the next one. Paul says, “Therefore, we also have as our ambition, whether

          To quote Noah Webster: “To surrender up is not elegant.” To surrender to something means to yield to a greater power. As a Christian, we are called to surrender to Christ all of us and everything we have. One of the definitions in Noah Webster’s 1821 dictionary has an interesting take on this: “to give or deliver up possession upon compulsion or demand.” I don’t always “feel” like surrendering to Christ—especially when I’m struggling with something particularly difficult. I know in my head that I should surrender, but my heart is filled with rebellion, which pulls me in the opposite direction. As a result, I have to choose with my head to surrender—in fact, I’m compelled to do so even though it seems counterintuitive to do so.           I’ve been thinking a lot about Job. When his life fell apart he said to his wife, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" (Job 2:10, NASB). Then the Bible comme

          Since I earned my teaching degree twenty years ago, many students have crossed my path, and many have left deep impressions on my soul. Recently, one seared a lesson into my soul that I hope I won’t forget any time soon.           This particular student, who I will call Cynthia, had struggles that were foreign to me, not only as a student, but also as a child. A severe lack of self-confidence and a struggle to connect in any appropriate way to anyone impeded her learning and growth to the degree that the child was removed for a time from the normal school setting for one that was pronounced more appropriate for everyone involved.           After a time, when the trial period was over and progress was deemed suitable by the powers that be, she returned to school, facing the same gigantic obstacles as before, only this time she did so with a new connection—the guidance and love of a Christian teacher who had instructed and spent time with this difficult child daily during th

          As I write this, I hope you understand that there I mean no disrespect, but I’ve been pondering the notion that living the Christian life is somewhat like playing a Scrabble game. In this kind of word game, the players are dealt seven random letters to be used in forming words to play on the game board. Of course, there are restrictions and rules that make it impossible to play certain words, which is terribly frustrating. Another complication is that sometimes forming a word to connect to the board is extremely difficult because of the limitations of the letters you are dealt--the letters seem to be everything but what you need. For example, if you have vowels, but need consonants, it seems that all you are dealt is more vowels, and vice versa, while the one who has the Qs and Xs and Js (all high value letters) seem to have no trouble making more. Frustration also occurs if you have the perfect word and no place to play that word. Even worse, sometimes you can’t see the poss