Love of learning

Education is always trying to figure out how to instill a love of learning. I think we just have to learn how to NOT stomp it out. Hannah is constantly learning and gets angry if anyone gets in her way. Example: she practiced putting on and taking off her jacket for at least an hour. She insisted I help her start the zipper every time. Then it was bedtime and she insisted on sleeping with the jacket. Now there is a passion for learning! Another example: Olivia was so excited to tell me about math problems, as if they were a brand new invention. "First they give you 2 numbers in a row like 1 plus 2, then a blank, and you have to figure out the answer and write it in. Isn't that exciting?!" This was not sarcasm...she was honestly thrilled! Another example: Melanie is getting paid to sit in a gorgeous, state of the art hospital and just read magazines and watch movies because there are no patients yet. She hates it because it has no meaning and she is not being challenged. Hmmm...is that why kids start hating school? Last example: Darrell has a liberal arts degree with a double major as well as a masters degree. He also has 16 years experience as a pastor. Now he wants to be a pastor in the Lutheran Church and they are "making" him take a year of classes in seminary and possibly do an internship. This makes me angry for him, but he couldn't be happier. He loves his classes and welcomes the reading of about 100 pages a night. Thanks, Darrell, for being the best example of a lifelong learner that I have seen. Thanks for not being content with an easy paycheck, Mel, but insisting on relevance and challenge. Thanks for showing us how exciting learning is, Olivia. Thanks, Hannah, for reminding us how important learning is, and for refusing to let anyone stop you from it.

Committed

If I call myself "committed" it can either mean I have nobly set my heart and mind on accomplishing something, or it can mean someone has forced me into a mental institution. Why do we use the same word for that? I have spent my adult life walking with Jesus. Sometimes I have messed up and slipped off the path but He has faithfully stayed by me and picked up the pieces and makes me strong again. I want to re-commit myself to God's way for me. I want to live the rest of my life as close to His will as I can get, by His power. I know that religious fervor often accompanies mental illness. I don't want to become one of those crazy Christians shouting at no one on the street corner, but I also don't want to be a silent, undercover Christian. I don't know what this will look like, but I am ready to find out all that God has planned for me and do whatever He says. Phil 4:14 "I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward - to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back." Please don't commit me, but I am committed to this.