Kasih-Mengasihi

Good-bye, Facebook

emilyharrod — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:15:55 +0000

Today, I thought “I should post that on my status.”
And then I realized that I had no Facebook.

I’ve decided to temporarily (or maybe permanently) remove myself from Facebook for so many reasons, and so far it has proved to be very rewarding. In the season of life that I’m at and the road the Lord has me walking on, it just seems like the best idea. Maybe I’ll harp on it later, or maybe I won’t, but for now- just know that I’m trying my hardest to live faithfully in the monotony of schoolwork and the fast pace of wedding planning.

Rather than scrolling down the Newsfeed, I’ve been able to fill my brain and my soul with uplifting things- and I’ve found so much hope in the daily posts at {in}courage. For the female soul, this blog really is an honest voice- sometimes from the broken and defeated, but always hopeful and encouraging. Today I found so much hope in a post about faithfulness (even when you’re only being faithful to a laundry pile or a homework assignment). I highly encourage a look at it:

http://www.incourage.me/2012/02/faithfulness-vs-prominence.html

The Beauty of Reflection

emilyharrod — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 01:08:10 +0000

Have you ever had so many different thoughts or circumstances to process that you just wanted to store them in a little pretty box, waiting for a rainy day when you might crack the lid open and ponder the thoughts over a cup of peach tea? That’s how I often feel. Very often. I encounter sweet children at school who are misunderstood, pushed to the corner, and just need someone to hold their hand as we walk down the hallway. I read big truths from God’s Word that take days to sink through the hard layers of my learning heart. A conversation with a stranger becomes intentional, and I want to think about the things I’ve learned. A friendship is lost over hurt feelings, and I shove my feelings into a corner so as not to feel the hurt again. Another week of singleness flies fleetingly by as I daily make plans for a wedding and a marriage. I want to reflect, but so many other things pull for my attention. So I place them in my little pretty box, waiting for a rainy day to encounter them once more. To think about what exactly to do with each of them.

But maybe life is best learned when you carry those thoughts with you in a locket around your neck, just waiting to be brought to the light in a moment’s notice. I’ve always loved lockets; they hold such a value of timeless sentiment and special love. When you wear a locket, whatever’s inside lies close to your heart- literally- and only you know that it’s there. You can take it out in a moment of need or a moment of boredom, and what’s inside is either a call to reflect, react, or retry. Rather than pushing the events of life to the side, storing them in a pretty box and forgetting the impact it had on the person you were 2 minutes after it happened, the locket would serve as a sweet reminder to make the most out of every single opportunity.

With every pain comes a lesson. With every joy comes a feeling of blessing. With every love comes a conviction, and with every conviction comes a change. But none of these things would happen if we didn’t reflect and ponder how the Lord placed every situation into our lives for a specific reason, and He delights to teach us new things with the dawn of each new day. He is not a God of clutter or forgetfulness; He is a God who remembers and finds beautiful things in the dust of any situation.

“Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.” -Psalm 116:7

No matter how painful or joyful or fleeting or enduring your life has been, the Lord has something good to teach you- and He will speak when we are still, holding fastly to our lockets as we learn daily from the truths that He’s hidden inside.

“The Test”

emilyharrod — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 03:52:28 +0000

I’ve never been one to get into politics, and I really am pretty oblivious to everything going on in the world, but seeing news like this really hits home for me. For any of you who may be reading this blog and care about education, this is likely to pick a lot of people’s brains. My classmates and I gripe and complain all the time about the practical effects that NCLB have had on classroom instruction & atmosphere… but what happens when that accountability is suddenly slipped out from underneath us and we quickly get what we want? I’m afraid that too little structure could be detrimental for all of us.

As a future teacher, I want my students to enjoy learning in a way that does not stress them out and make them fear “The Test,” but I know that many teachers are out there in the classroom because they need a job and they like being in control. I mean really- it’s easy to fall into that when you have 20-something little minions staring at you and obeying your every command. And learning becomes a burdensome, secondhand task. So maybe some kind of accountability is needed, but not the kind that stresses out even the teacher with the best intentions. And maybe we should start taking the politics out of the matter so that we can really think about the effects it has on education. But who am I to talk- I really don’t know much about politics and how they work? I’m just a little ol college student, with 1 million dreams/plans about how I’d love to run a classroom and love on my students, but those are all really just theories right now. I’m living my future through what I read in a textbook. For now, I’ll keep reading up on all this educational politics stuff and hope that it’ll benefit me later!

On another note, I was surprised to find out that KY was the first to appeal to the President for a waiver on testing & accountability. Represent.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/09/no-child-left-behind-waivers_n_1264872.html?view=print&comm_ref=false

Simplicity with a side of Joy

emilyharrod — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:44:40 +0000

You know how I just posted yesterday about power walking? And how slow it was? And how bored I got? Well, today I am sore. Very sore. And so I sit on my bed, sprawled out and sore, working on my online class by researching ESL blogs and listening to podcasts out the wazoo. I couldn’t love my academic career more, really. It’s tough and very time-consuming, but you know you picked your major right when you love doing the homework.

(don’t quote me on that, because I very often do not enjoy the homework.)

I found this video while perusing a blog that provides ideas/activities for teaching ESL through music- and I was so impressed/entertained/dying to be a part of something like that:

http://play.dipdive.com/i/76361

I am daily learning that, if I will only slow down and quiet my heart, the Lord will speak marvelous wonders to me about His grace and provision. He provides joy in the mundane daily tasks. He provides love in the moments of failure. He provides grace for the girl who can’t do it all on her own but still tries so very hard to. I’m learning, slowly, and He is speaking, profoundly.

Simplicity of grace

emilyharrod — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:31:52 +0000

Sometimes I just try so hard to be something. I try hard to be a good person, a good teacher, a good leader, a good friend, in good shape, and to have a good appearance. Trying hard is exhausting.

This morning, I shoved on my running shoes and attempted to increase my heart rate for the first time since before foot surgery. With everything inside of me, I wanted to sprint off into the distance at breakneck speed. 7 weeks of pent-up energy was scratching at the cage, roaring to be released! But alas, my swollen feet could only handle a few milliseconds of jogging… so I slowed my pace and resorted to a strange-looking power walk. Strange memories of high school Health class, power walking in place, came to mind. Then the frustrations came.

“I just want to run!” “This is such a slow pace.” “I’m bored.” “My feet hurt.”

But as my muscles grew tighter and my scars brought reminders of the reason I wasn’t running, I began to understand the concept of patience… and God’s way of teaching me to rely on Him.

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” -Psalm 27:14

As I power walked, I began to notice things about that road which I had never noticed before. For the fast-paced runner, the scenery is rather “eh.” Semi trucks, truck stops, gas stations, and chain-link fences. But when the runner slows down to a walk, she begins to notice things beyond the surface- things like squirrels climbing trees in the middle of the winter and the precious old lady who lives across the apartment complex. Simplicity.

In my pursuit of understanding grace, I’ve found the simplicity in letting God catch the falling and failing things. If it slips through my fingers, He reaches towards it and lifts it back up to me. And sometimes He even places something that I didn’t even know I wanted right into the palm of my hand.