Sunday, September 14, 2008

It has been awhile...

Well, it has definately been awhile since my first and last post. The reason for this honestly is I completely forgot I made a blog. God has placed me in a completely different situation in life from where I was a year ago. Last year, I was teaching Latin at Riverbend Academy. I was experiencing all the joys and frustrations of being a teacher, especially a middle school teacher. Now, I am on the other end of the spectrum. I am the student. God has given me a new found respect and patience toward my professors. I am so blessed to have been offered the wonderful experiences that have come my way. Teaching at Riverbend Academy was on of the most rewarding out of all of these experiences. It was such a blessing to work with all believers in an environment which just exudes Truth. I pray that if it is God's will I will one day have the opportunity to work there again.

As for now, I am just trying to survive college. I never knew how much work it takes to become a licensed teacher. My prayer right now is that all the classes, homework, observations, field experiences, state exam and internships would not frustrate me to the point that I lose my love for teaching. Children are truly a gift from the Lord and I feel so blessed that God has given me the desire and opportunies to be able to teach them. I was just thinking today as I was working on a paper for my Teaching Strategies and Classroom Management class how useless all this knowledge about teaching and curriculum is without centering all of it around the Truth of God's Word. The foundation of every subject taught in schools is God. He is the Creator and Sustainer of science, the Author Literature and the One who decrees all of history. If the basis of everything taught is not founded and centered on God and His Word then everything taught is all for not.

I was blessed and honored the summer before last to be able to attend the Annual Convention of the Association of Classical Christian Schools with the other teachers at Riverbend Academy. It was so incredibly awesome! Every session, even the one's about Latin, were centered on the Truth of God's Word. Children must be taught the Truth! The speakers spoke of the priveledge Christian educators have of coming alongside parents in training up a child in the Way he should go. I truly believe the reform of the nations needs to begin firstly in the church but secondly in the schoolhouse. May God embolden our teachers across this nation to proclaim the Truth to their students, even when forbidden.

When I first began teaching at Riverbend Academy, Pastor Jason gave me the book "Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning" by Douglas Wilson. Unfortunately, I have not read this book entirely but I am in the process. I did not fully realize the importance of what Mr. Wilson wrote until I began my secular education courses in college. Mr. Wilson makes a a remark in his book calling Christians to have a "principled obedience to the Word of God", not just a "reactionary faith". He goes on by saying, "Our opposition must be principled , and the principles must be based on the clear teaching of Scripture. If we allow ourselves to become reactionaries for Christ, then we will find ourselves in a pitch battle against mere symptoms. Instead, as thinking Christians, we should seek to understand the worldview that has produced these symptoms in the public school system, and we should do battle with that."

We can not simply react to the actions of the world but we must put up a fight against the sinful world system. As Pastor Roy says, we are not fighting on the defense but we are offense breaking down the gates of Hell. My this be the vision and the drive and the mind set of Christian parents and teachers in the fight to provide a godly education for the next generation.