Fall

Today the clouds have changed from the tempestuous thunderheads of summer to the heavy-laden, gray-bellied clouds of winter.  And those clouds with an almost-summer sun peeking out, makes for beautiful fall weather.  This is perhaps my favorite season of all.

As a child, annual trips to look at the colorful fall display of leaves along the Mississippi River Valley predisposed me to love this season.  And several years in Maryland where prolonged cool makes for showy tree colors didn't hurt, either.  And now, we have the freshness and moisture of the high plains dessert, the brilliant color of the aspens (whoich are just starting to think about changing, and the fresh snow on the mountain peaks.

 These season changes are delightful reminders that God is, indeed, in his heaven, managing and providing. I hope you are enjoying Fall today, too, Gentle Readers.

Emma's Drunken Monkey Walk

Wednesday without words

The joy of teaching is learning...

I have been teaching composition classes for 20 years or so, in one form or another, and there are certain aspects of composition have always mystified me. For instance, when students write persuasive essays that don't really engage the questions at hand, I am often at a loss.  As one who sort-of intuits these relationships, I have struggled with how one teaches students who don't intuitively sense this. And I'm not sure I have been extremely successful in helping my students, despite my best intentions.

In preparing and teaching my classes for today, a little piece of the puzzle locked into place for me.  And hopefully, now, I can better aid my students into the same realizations.  I love having a light-bulb pop on in my own head, and seeing it pop on in my students! Part of the real joy of teaching is learning.

{And for you composition geeks out there, today's epiphany just involves thinking of a better way of explaining why one must make sure one thinks through the thesis and antithesis of an opinion, and why the wording of the antithesis is very important if one is going to address the problems with the thesis. Without this clash of ideas, an essay's points are like ships that pass in the night instead of an argument. I'm sure all of you, Gentle Readers, realized all of this long ago. But it excited me this morning!}

For glory and for beauty

I have been reading through Exodus lately in my daily bible reading, and this morning found me in chapter 28.  For several chapters now we have been preparing the tabernacle and the articles God required for proper worship.  But for the first time, amid all those details, the phrase, "...for glory and for beauty..." jumped off the page at me.  Several of the items of garment worn by the priest are to be made"...for glory and for beauty..."

This got me to thinking... if I am now the temple (1 Cor. 6:19), then shouldn't I work to cloth myself (both my garments and my actions, my thoughts and my deeds) in both glory and beauty? The glory must be God's, of course, and the beauty must reflect Him.  But He must love both glory and beauty, and delight in me when I am reflecting those things back to Him.

So today, Gentle Reader, I will go about my every-day tasks-- I will pay bills, do laundry, work on lesson plans and pray for my students, plan and cook meals for my family, exercise my feeble body, and perhaps do a little sewing.  But I will try to remember in each of these tasks to proceed with glory and beauty.  Won't you join me?

A cacophony of copia*

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
~Colossians 3:16

This morning as I awoke, I found myself singing a psalm to the Lord, made up of all the bits and pieces of various passages and hymns that I've memorized or learned over the years.  I just caught these things as they flitted by and praised God in the wee hours while the cool fall breeze drifted in my window, and as I was in that place-- not quite awake but not fully asleep, either.  It went something like this:

Praise the Lord , oh my soul! And let all that is in me praise His name.  For the Lord is God above all other Gods. Enter his courts with thanksgiving and his gates with shouts of joy. Sing a new song to the Lord, for He has done marvelous deeds. The earth is the Lord's, and all that dwell therein. For our God is a great God. He speaks and the earth trembles. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name forever...

You get the idea.  It was a cacophony of copia* from the abundance of my little heart this morning, to the God who calls me into his presence with his people today, who showers me with uncountable blessing, and who makes a flat place for my feet.

May today find you singing psalms of your own to our heavenly Father, Gentle Readers. And may you be headed, as I am, to public worship in the company of the saints.

*{And if you are wondering how I am using that lovely little word, copia, please see here.}

A quiet day

Last night we enjoyed the sound of a gentle, steady rain most of the night.  And it continued straight on through much of our morning.  This is a very unusual sight in our dry, New Mexico home, and we enjoyed every minute of it.  We worked on things around the house-- Dave finished changing the radiator in our old truck and I made cookies, and we enjoyed having friends over for grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.  The afternoon held some school work for me, and then, in the cool autumn sunshine, some walking/jogging for me, and running for Dave.  And now a quiet, cool evening.

*Sigh* Have I mentioned that I love the fall?  Hope you are having a lovely evening, too, Gentle Reader!