Does she really teach?!

I realized I don't have any pictures of or reference to my students on this blog yet! I thought I'd remedy that problem and give you a snapshot into some of the fun things we've done this year! :)
Above: Students preparing for a courtroom debate in which we put Jack from "Jack and the Beanstalk" on trial.

** Plays are fantastic for building student confidence and public speaking ability, especially for second language learners. :) Plus they're super, duper fun!
Below Left: Eleni is also ready to act with her cleaning costume for her propoganda technique skit. (Notice the Canadian apron she was borrowing from me - thanks Char!) :)



















Below: Maria Fernanda as a "little pig" in one of the plays my students wrote!

Right: A plasticine model of an early farming community. This was my first year teaching social studies, and to my surprise, I loved it! It was neat helping the students reenact, experience, and analyze other cultures!

What is school without a pyjama day? My students had fun being cozy as they played a math game, "factor captor," on prime factors.

Olympics: Another fun event (after all the organization) was our Ancient Greek olympics! Good thing I've had some quality experiences in Track and Field! :) The students had a blast and it was fun to have parents join us. Of course, we had to finish with a good, old Tug-Of-War event! :)

Here are two of the pictures of our open house for parents. The students presented one play and two Greek myths. Then each author read their very own fairy tale to small groups of parents while everyone enjoyed home-made Dutch baked goods.

Thanks for joining us for a whirlwind overview in 6A! :)

NEW LIFE

“Through [Christ] you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:21).

Triumphant!
Victorious!!
Risen!!!
Christ, the second Adam, has conquered death, sin, and hell.
He gives us new life, true life.
He is the life-giving Spirit, and therein lays our hope as Christians!

“…[Jesus] breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit’” (John 20:22b).

Join with Edwin Hatch (1878) in praying:
Breathe on me, breath of God,
So shall I never die,
But live with Thee the perfect life
Of Thine eternity.

Our comfort is to know that there is “no guilt in life” and “no fear in death,” but that we stand in the power of the Risen and Reigning Saviour Jesus Christ, our Lord
(In Christ Alone, Townend and Getty, 2002).

What a reason to celebrate and a reason to rejoice!

Good Friday Prayer

"Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil." Hebrews 2:14

"Father, what can we say?
We feel utterly unworthy in the face of Christ's unspeakable sufferings. We are sorry. It was our sin that brought this to pass. It was we who struck him and spit on him and mocked him. O Father, we are so sorry. We bow ourselves to the dirt and shut the mouths of our small, dark, petty, sinful souls.

"O Father, touch us with a fresh faith that we might believe the incredible. The very pain of Christ that makes us despair is our salvation. Open our fearful hearts to receive the Gospel. Waken dead parts of our hearts that cannot feel what must be felt – that we are loved with the deepest, strongest, purest love in the universe.

"O, grant us to have the power to comprehend with all the saints the height and depth and length and breadth of the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, and may we be filled with all the fullness of God.

"Fight for us, O God, that we not drift numb and blind and foolish into vain and empty excitements. Life is too short, too precious, too painful to waste on worldly bubbles that burst. Heaven is too great, hell is too horrible, eternity is too long that we should putter around on the porch of eternity.

"O God, open our eyes to the vastness of the sufferings of Christ and what they mean for sin and holiness and hope and heaven. We fear our bent to trifling. Make us awake to the weight of glory – the glory of Christ’s incomparable sufferings. In his great and wonderful name, amen."

John Piper, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ (Crossway Books: Wheaton, Illinois, 2004), page 72.

"Crucify Him! Crucify Him!"

Christ endured torture in every form.
Although we can barely comprehend his suffering, it is necessary to try and reflect upon it.

Hear the jeering, false accusations flying as he is heavily beaten and made the object of ridicule.

Envision the long spikes piercing, pounding Christ’s wrists and feet and the nerves that lie within.

Picture his arms being stretched by the weight of His body hanging from the cross, causing slow, painful shoulder dislocation.

Feel
the
shortness
of
breath; Christ must push his weight up by his feet in order to exhale (to avoid asphyxiation). Each breath involves the body, raw and weary, being rubbed against the wooden cross.

And apart from the physical torment...the crowds mock Him as King of the Jews and many of his friends have already deserted Him.

He will soon undergo the most horrible torture of all; being forsaken by the Heavenly Father. “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46).

Our sin put Him there.

“One of our problems with [our] so-called refined sins is that we have become too comfortable with the whole concept of sin. Because we do sin so frequently we learn to coexist with it as long as it doesn’t get too out of control or scandalous. We forget, or perhaps we have never learned, how seriously God regards all sin.

“It is not the seriousness of the sin as we view it, but the infinite majesty and sovereignty of the God who gave the commands, that makes our sin a despising of God and His Word….Again, the seriousness of our sin is not simply measured by its consequences, but by the authority of the One who gives the command.”

Jerry Bridges, The Discipline of Grace, pages 35-37.

Thankfully, believers have the hope of Easter…. (I will conclude on Sunday!)

Family photo!

Family!
Oh how I love them; let me count the ways....!
1. We love each other for who we are.
2. Laughter is a given. :)
3. All my hysterical habits are understood (and mocked) by them.
4. Each person is so special and has so many neat qualities about him / her.
5. They are all very "amigable" (friendly/personal).
6. My family is open and willing to have an adventure...or should I say, adventure finds our family?!
7. God is acknowledged and praised as the Lord of life!

Notice how I'm the up and coming shortest in my family! ;)

Paupers for Mercy

"Maybe this is the heart of our hang-up, the root of our dilemma. We fluctuate between castigating ourselves and congratulating ourselves because we are deluded into thinking we can save ourselves. We develop a false sense of security from our good works and scrupulous observance of the law. Our halo gets too tight and a carefully-disguised attitude of moral superiority results. Or, we are appalled by our inconsistency, devastated that we haven’t lived up to our lofty expectations of ourselves. The roller coaster ride of elation and depression continues.

Why?

Because we never lay hold of our nothingness before God, and consequently, we never enter into the deepest reality of our relationship with Him. But when we accept ownership of our powerlessness and helplessness, when we acknowledge that we are paupers at the door of God’s mercy, then God can make something beautiful out of us. "

Brennan Manning , The Ragamuffin Gospel (78).
(Underlined emphasis is mine, not the author's).

Joy

Happiness and joy.

Sometimes those words are used synonymously, but the difference is both enormous and vital. It’s been extremely special to see my students struggle through the distinction, first intellectually and now, slowly, in their decisions.

Happiness is so fleeting and usually based on temporal, circumstantial things.
Joy, however….Joy is rooted deep. Rooted securely. It is lasting and priceless, because the object of a Christian’s joy is so incredibly precious! Our deepest joy and satisfaction can come from no other thing than from giving glory to the Almighty God, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour! He alone can give us the refreshment we need and simultaneously receive the glory due His name!

This is why Paul could command us to “rejoice in the Lord always” (Philippians 4:4a).

Jeremiah condemns Judah’s sin and pleads with her to return to the Lord.
God was appalled at their waywardness:

My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water. (Jeremiah 2:13)

The irony is that the people didn’t have to draw water from broken cisterns.
They didn’t have to dig their own well.
In fact, they didn’t need to use cisterns at all!
They were invited to drink from the living fountain, the unending source of spiritual refreshment!

Now that is joy: following after God as the satisfaction of our souls, drinking deeply from God’s promises and knowing He is faithful.
God alone is the ultimate, refreshing, life-giving water – the source of eternal joy, for His praise and glory!

"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep.
Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"

Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

John 4:11-14