Gods Grace is Sufficient

I had one of my "I think I get it! (well kinda, sorta, I hope I am getting it) moments.


We will ALL be in Heaven!  The question is, will WE WANT to be there?


Imagine living a lifetime of darkness and then at the end of your earthly life you are thrust back into the brightest light imaginable (his presence).  Would you stay and push as close to the source of that light as you can, OR, would you be more likely to shield you eyes and retreat as fast as possible?  That would be the extreme example of course.  But suspecting what it might be like (because what ever we imagine, it WILL be BETTER) we should live as much in the light as we can so that we have a better chance of tolerating the light and being able to quickly adjust our eyes (souls) and wanting to stay.


Because at the Final Judgement it will be more likely that Jesus will be BEGGING us to stay with him, rather than the other way around.Will we be willing to adjust our eyes (souls) or be more worried that it will burn us so we say, "Get Me Out Of Here!"


So we must practice, practice, practice living our lives in the light.  When we hit a wrong note, does that mean we give up?  Or do we continue to practice until we get it right?  Even the most skilled Pianist hits some wrong notes occationally, so they practice, and practice, AND PRACTICE till they have it perfect.  Then they move on and up to the next challenge that will increase their abilities, and again, and again, never quiting the progression on and up.


The only options are NOT Perfection or Giving Up. (Carnegie Hall or Nothing)


Grace is the presence of God's Power. It does not wait for us at the finish line, but rather,  is the constant energy that carries us there.  We need only to plug in and accept that power.  It is given freely to any and all that want it.  He WANTS us to accept it.


Jesus is not pulling FOR me.  He is pulling WITH me.


God's Grace IS Sufficient.  It is enough.  It is ALL we need.

http://byutv.org/watch/49475abb-10d4-4f45-a757-7000b9945468#ooid=BtNDVvMjoehGYf88xRZ6wIVP82mCeC3p

Learning as Punishment Sends a Strange Message

Learning as Punishment Sends a Strange Message

By Roger Baker

He wasn’t a trained teacher but he knew more than most of us about how to teach.  He especially knew about the most difficult part of teaching, discipline.  He handled the problems kids have more strictly than sheriff or judge and more gently than parent or priest.  People remembered this at the funeral of Hayley Anderson.  He was Solomon, without much sermon or ceremony.

Once, his wife Grace took the kids to the mountain streams to fish while Hayley worked the farm in Ephraim.  Work was Hayley’s middle name.  Grace and the kids left the car in a safe place and fished and played in a canyon reservoir called Lake Hill on the map and Community by the locals.

The lake is more like a private pond fed by a mountain spring and surrounded by pines and quakies.  The place doesn’t seem to attract tourists.  It’s a semi-secret that only the locals really appreciate.  It’s a good place to cool off in the summer when the Ephraim dust hangs low over the town.

It was a long walk back to town for Grace and the kids after some pranksters let the air out of all four tires on the old car.  She made it the half dozen miles down the dusty road to the power station at the mouth of the canyon and telephoned for help,  Hayley was found at the farm and rounded up some spare tires and rescued his wife and kids and car.

That evening Hayley had a few phone calls to make.  Grace knew the kids who deflated the tires, and Hayley wanted to talk to each of the three boys.  He told them that he wouldn’t press charges if they were at this house at 2 the next afternoon.  The boys showed up and weren’t quite as humble as when they left the place a few hours later.

Hayley didn’t ask for confession or apology.  He just showed the boys the same car, pointed out that the tires were flat and gave one of the boys a pump.  It wasn’t hard to figure out what Hayley wanted.  The kid pumped up all four tires while the two other culprits said a secret thanks about not being the object of the object lesson.

The air was released from the tires and the pump given to the second boy who took his turn at the pumping and silently cursed his premature thanks.

Then it was the third boy’s turn to feel the satisfaction of pumping up four tires.

No promises about future behavior were extracted from the boys or even expected.  There was some discussion during the pumping, but the point was made without much discussion or small talk.

Hayley taught his own kids much the same way. Once, he was serving dinner to the family.  He put an empty plate in front of one of his sons.  “I was just thinking about your rabbits and how much they enjoyed their dinner tonight.”  Val Jo got the message, fed his rabbits and came back in to the usual big dinner.

There is something to be learned from this kind of discipline.  I wonder about discipline every time I hear of a school that suspends a student for sluffing.  How does it make the point to punish those who skip school by making them skip more school?  Perhaps we should also wonder when the punishment is study.  I had a teacher who made me do extra book reports as a punishment.  Fortunately, the experience didn’t put me off books.  In fact, I was punished so badly, I became an English teacher, condemned to read good books for the rest of my life.

It seems learning as punishment sends a strange message.  Do we really want to teach that learning is the punishment for not learning, especially when the real punishment is being condemned, not only to read extra books, but to become an English teacher who has to read and grade student writing?  I suppose the teacher who made students who need some correcting copy pages from the dictionary was trying to show these miscreants that looking something up in the dictionary reading is a brutal form of cruel and unusual punishment that is probably not sanctioned by the Constitution.

The problem is that the real punishment for not learning is ignorance, which is dangerous in our world.  Society can’t afford the natural consequences of bad students, so we look for some unnatural consequence of poor scholarship.

This brings us to the real question.  How can teachers maintain a discipline that allows effective teaching and learning?  This also brings me to the end of my space.  And it’s a good thing because I don’t know yet.  I’ve only had a half century to look at the problem.  I wish Hayley were here with the answer.

Never Underestimate the Power of SUPER GLUE

Just fixed 2 flip flops (each from a different pair, of course). Our dog (Sammie) had chewed off just the little disk part on the underside that holds the 'between your toes' part to the sole, rendering the flip flop useless.  So I put that part back through the hole just as far as it would have gone WITH the disk and then filled the divit with 'loctite super glue (professional liquid)' and after it dries it doesn't pull through.  I don't know if this fix is permanent or not.  I'm just hoping it lasts til the kids out grow them.  Which, if they follow the current trend with be in about a month.  ;-P

First Official Post Ya'll!

So I started this blog today. I have been thinking about it for a while. I am 33 years old and have learned many lessons in my life, from both good experiences and bad. The current result is I am happy with my life right now and if I hadn't experienced the things I have I wouldn't be who I am. That sounds soo cliche but it is soo true. So I am going to post the stuff that runs thru my head. I will probably post very sporatically as I am a little nuts and all over the place. LOL

I am married to a kick ass man, Kenny. We have been married going on 7 years now. We have 3 children that continue to amaze me everyday. Well almost, cause lets be honest, somedays I am so wrapped up in getting everything done on the "Perfect Wife/Mommy/Friend/Woman" list that I forget to pay attention. ;-) But on the days I am paying attention they are AWESOME! Jacob is 9, he is from my first marriage. He is brilliant and I always tease him that he is my retirement plan. LOL Logan is 5 and looks so much like his dad you wouldn't even know he belongs to me too! Cassidy (Cassie) is 2 and has the funnest personality and most awesome hair! I prayed and prayed that if I ever had a girl that she would get her dad's curly hair so that all I would have to do is wet it down and shake. And I got my wish! She can run around with bed head all day and STILL get compliments on her hair. Kenny is the kindest man I know. Even when we disagree it isn't a fight and I love that! He has NEVER said an unkind word to me. He gives me advice in the most patient and loving way and even though he knows that I will probably do it my own way (cause I STILL have to learn the hard way!) he still tells me what he thinks will be best. I am slowly learning that he knows what he is talking about. He is also very handy, we have yet to have to call a repair man or take our vehicle to the repair shop. That's my family in a very small nut shell, but no worries, you will read plenty about them in the future. :-)

Well, one of my many New Years Resolutions is to get my butt to bed by 11:00pm and I am failing miserably tonight! So I will say adieu. Sleep tight and remember to hug those babies!