Jews for Jesus

"For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast..."
                                    -1 Corinthians 5:7-8

Last week at church we heard one of the most amazing lessons about God and His amazing, all-encompassing love for us! I mean, you know in your heart that God has been planning our salvation from the very beginning of time... that God loved and loves us so very very much that He will do ANYTHING to keep us from Hell and Satan... that He sent His own Son for our sins. This idea, this thought is sometimes beyond comprehension, but for those of us who believe, it is our lifeblood. It is what keeps us going, no matter the circumstances in our lives.

However, and I am guilty of this too, we sometimes forget about the Old Testament and how God was planning our salvation back then... way back when in ancient BC times. I feel like us modern Christians get so caught up in the New Testament we forget to look back on where the love of God all began and how the examples, stories and moments from the Old Testament all point towards Christ's sacrifice and resurrection in the New Testament.

But, last week we heard a lesson from this young man named David Moishe, a young Jewish man who believes in Christ as his Savior!! Incredible! A Jew who believes in Jesus!!! He accepted Christ in his life many years ago and has dedicated his life to teaching other Jews and to use the Biblical terms, Gentiles, about how God meshed the Old and New Testament together. How the sacrifice from the Old Testament effortlessly converts into the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. How no man, woman or child in this world should ever question that Jesus is their Messiah, their Savior. His organization is called JEWS FOR JESUS.

He gave a presentation on the Passover, explaining how each item, each song, each prayer, each and every piece of the Passover is linked to Christ. It was incredible. Never in a million years would I have been able to connect all of these ideas between the 2 Passover meals, but once David started explaining everything and using scripture from both Old and New Testament to back it up, the pieces just fell into place. By the end of the lesson, I was BEYOND HUMBLED. Truly, honestly, humbled at the love God has for me.... has for every single person on this earth. It was almost to the point where I felt unworthy, because I know I do not do a good job of showing my ultimate love for God each and every day, yet He does for me. He even did back in BC times, with the very first Passover and sacrificial lamb. He made sure that those events and ideas would connect with His Son, many years in the future.

Old Testament: In the Passover meal, the woman begins the ceremony by lighting a candle and saying the first prayer.
New Testament: Mary gave birth to our Savior, bringing "Light" into the world.

Old Testament: Each food item eaten during Passover connects with the suffering of the Israelites during their stay in Egypt and wandering in the desert. Many of these food items are unpleasant to taste... bring you to tears or leave bad feelings in your mouth afterwards. They make you feel as if you have done something wrong. You are desperate to cleanse your mouth... to wash away the dirt and grime left behind by these bitter foods.
New Testament: The bread/crackers and the wine/grape juice are the bitter foods. The cracker gets all stuck in your mouth, making you eager for the wine to wash it away. And the wine does wash it away, but it also leaves an aftertaste in our mouths, reminding us of the actions we have just participated in. Jesus washes away our sins. Jesus takes away the bitterness...the dirt... the grime. Christ's blood takes us out of the desert, out of our wandering, out of our tears and brings us into everlasting life and light.

Old Testament: The sacrifical lamb cannot have any of his bones broken.
New Testament: Christ's bones were not broken, which was contrary to the custom of Roman crucifixion. (Breaking bones caused the victim to die quicker, ensuing asphyixiation came quick)

Old Testament to New Testament: There are 3 pieces of unleavened bread which are placed in one linen bag during the ceremony. They represent our Holy Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The 2nd piece is broken and taken out of the bag. It is wrapped in a linen cloth and hidden for the majority of the ceremony. Christ's body was wrapped in linen after he was broken by sin and death and placed hidden from view in a tomb. At the end of the ceremony, the children search the house looking for the broken, hidden piece of bread. The child who finds it receives a "prize" and there is much rejoicing over the long, lost piece of bread. Jesus is risen on the 3rd day. There is MUCH rejoicing once He conquered death for us all. Our "prize" is the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life.

And the church said........ A.M.E.N. :)

As I sit here writing this, I have chills and a great big swell of emotion in my heart. Tomorrow is the 3rd day. Tomorrow my sins are washed away! Tomorrow, death is overcome! Tomorrow, Sunday, the most amazing act ever in human history, in world history, occurs! I'm not sure that the gratitude I feel in my heart, the "thank you" I say to God will ever be enough for what He has done for me, done for us, but both New and Old Testament assures us that God hears us and loves us for what each of us can give. As a colleague at work remarked on Thursday, "Easter should be the biggest and most important holiday, period. I mean, people are born and people die every day BUT, there is only 1 person who came back from the dead. And that I think, is something to really think about..." And I say again, A.M.E.N.

"Oh give thanks to the Lord for He is good! The Lord is my strenth and song, and He has become my salvation. The right hand of the Lord is exalted; the right hand of the Lord does valiently. The Lord has chastened me severely, but He has not given me over to death. This is the gate of the Lord, through which the righteous shall enter. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it!"

                                        -Psalm 118-

 

 

If you are interested in more information about the Jews for Jesus group, visit their website at www.jewsforjesus.org

CONFESSION....

The donut is one of the most A-mazing food creations ever invented... period! Deep down inside, I absolutely LOVE donuts. I realize they have almost zero substanence to them; they are mostly just puffed dough, sugar and icing, but I mean Come On! What is not to like about that.. seriously?!

So what prompts me to write about this you say? Well, today was our "Friday" of the week at work because we get a holiday for Good Friday- South Texas, hard core Catholic country. And someone brought donuts today and left them in the break room for people to have. Now, normally I resist the power of the donut.... Resist you say, after I have just proclaimed my absolute love for the food??!! Yes, I do. Over the years I have honed this amazing Will Power, specifically for food. When I really want and need to, I can ignore just about any wonderful junk food, sweet or carb I really should not eat. HOWEVER, today... was not one of those days.

Perhaps it was because I have been doing Boot Camp via trainer Dr. Dylan Carey for 2 weeks now and running on average 5.5 miles 3 times a week, so I'm feeling good about myself. Maybe it was because the "skinny jeans" were actually loose today. Maybe it was because I have a 3-day weekend. Maybe it was because I had 120 out of 135 students sign up for my AP exam, we finished the book and I have a full 5 weeks of review!!! Maybe because... I just wanted a dang donut!

Donuts... ah! One of my favorite memories from growing up was at the donut shop. My brother and I played piano while growing up (I played all the way through high school... he quit much earlier on) but we had to take lessons during the summer. My mother always signed us up for the Monday morning lesson at like 7:30 am or some VERY EARLY time for the summer!! The bribe was after our 30 minute lessons, we could go have donuts for breakfast. When you are young, bribes like that work very well. So for around 6 weeks during the summer, every Monday morning we splurged and had donuts for breakfast. I remember spending forever picking out the donuts we wanted- it was such an agonizing decision because they ALL LOOKED GOOD! Donut holes were a must- we always bought a dozen of those, regardless of what else we all 3 got. Now, this was just with my mother, which makes the memory more special. We used to talk about randomness and silly stuff. I don't remember the specifics, just that Monday morning donuts during the summer were the ultimate. When my brother was little, he was such a hoot! Super funny and silly, so I'm sure we spent the entire time laughing at his antics. :) Plus, my dad is not a huge donut fan and this was not something he ever brought home (he is more a bagel guy), so donuts remind me strictly of my mom and my brother being little. He always, always wanted a sprinkle donut... and just ate the sprinkles off the top. hahahaha!

Longjohns are also good...another favorite of my brothers. The Bear Claw.. always a good choice. Nuts are always welcome on any food in my book too, so we ate those kinds quite often. The only kind we all passed on was the jelly-filled ones. Those don't really do anything for us. Also, we did NOT frequent Krispy Kremes once they opened. I draw the line there... those kinds, I refuse to eat. You have to stay tried and true to the ultimate donut, not this strange liquidy confection. I also learned to appreciate a good Diet Dr. Pepper on these outings too. Never have been a big milk fan, so my mother and I used to split a Diet Dr. Pepper (until I was in high school, this was only time I was allowed to drink one and of course, you get hooked!) To this day, my favorite soda is a Diet Dr Pepper and it is another one of my vices for yet another blog. :)

 Getting back to today, Thursday 2013, I perused the box and made my choice. Now, my all-time favorite donut is the chocolate old-fashioned, with the glazed running a close second. Specifically the ones from Day-Light Donuts in Edmond, OK. Today, I could have cared less where the donut was from but if I have to talk about my favorite, old-fashioned all the way!! There is just something about the consistency of the dough that makes these different from regular donuts. And the way the chocolate melts and conforms to the donut.. AH! PERFECTION!

This was not an option today, but no matter. I had some round, glazed donut with a hint of chocolate in the middle and IT. WAS. GOOD. I sat there in the break room savouring the donut and realized one of the other teachers in my department was staring open-mouthed at me as I ate the donut. I started to get self-conscious, thinking I was smearing chocolate everywhere or had icing all over my mouth. I quietly asked her what was wrong with my face and she replied... " Never in 5 years have I ever seen you eat junk food here at work! I'm just surprised and shocked! I'm staring, I know and I apologize, but I just thought you did not eat things like that."

WHOA! I... never eat junk food!!! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Yeah, that is a good one. If it was humanly possible and there would not be ENORMOUS repurcussions to my eating junk food every day, I soo would. BUT, that is not how the human body works and I know this. So junk food indulgences happen few and far between. But as I start to reply in this manner, I realize I don't eat like this at work.... ever. Simply because there are always sweets and goodies in our break room and I am afraid that once I stop, I'm not going to be able to stop. :) So instead, I smiled and informed her that I rarely indulge, but when I do, I like it to be the real thing and enjoy every last bite of it. And today, I wanted a donut. I think she still was shocked, even after I explained the reasoning behind it- no matter! The donut made my day and sent me down memory lane with a big smile on my face as I remembered the good times donuts had brought me growing up.  

Never ever minimalize the power food has!! Regardless of what food it is! I owe wonderful memories to the donut!! Eating one makes me feel like I'm 10 years old again, sitting in the chair swinging my legs around because they don't touch the ground while listening to my mom and brother talk about whatever with sticky fingers and a happy tummy! You know you are jealous of my awesome memory!! :)

So indulge and live a little... one little donut, even two little donuts are not going to kill you or break the calorie bank. I know this now... has taken me oh so many years to be okay with this statement and accept it as truth, but it is truth! So as you salivate over the donuts or whatever food it is that you want at the moment because my donut craving has induced your own secred food craving, I leave you with the words of Homer Simpson...

 

"Donuts... Is there anything they can't do?!"

Test Drive

This past week at school the annoucements have been all about "Safe Driving" and "Road Etiquette" so I found this was an appropriate video to watch...

Hahahahahahahaah! Gets me every time! I watched this video 6 class periods the other day, and each time I watched, the video became more funny. My students had never seen this and some of them were laughing so hard they were crying. So go ahead and have a laugh.... :)

Teaching: awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge

March is the month of war, according to the ancient Roman calendar, which is ironically appropriate because in March, I teach both WW I and WW II.

It is one of the busiest months of my year because there is just so much interesting information to cover and I never, ever have enough time to explain it all. In the past, before the lovely STARR/EOC test came around and ruined our lives, I had time to let the students complete all kinds of propaganda projects  using this information. This year, I cannot do any of those things and am super bummed about it. To console myself, I decorated my room a few days before we left for Spring Break with all the favorites I had kept from my kiddos in the past...

Poem 1 Trench Warfare WW I: "Fumes are seeping slowly. They move across the floor as people collapse one by one. My eyes see blood and gore. We hide inside the trenches. We don't know what's in store. The gun shots get much closer. I hate the sound of war. Bodies scattered near us, rats and roaches pass. All we see is mud and blood. I miss the smell of grass. Fighting for our country, saving others' lives. God I miss my family, my children and my wife. When the war is over, that'll be the day. Until then, I lift my hands into the air and pray." 

Propaganda Posters from WW I and WW II:

Bottom left: great drawing of Superman for WW II.
2nd from right on bottom: exceptional drawing of Hitler's Cult of Personality
Bottom Right: one of my favs!

Bottom left: cute play on words with "Stalin"
Top left: love the colors on the snake poster

Love the "Bleeding our resources" poster.. even if they did spell it wrong.

Details on these are just amazing!! All free-hand too!

This one is my absolute favorite- I have had this one for 6 years now. It was done by my very first group of kiddos... love, love it! :)

"A good teacher can... ignite the imagination and instill a love of learning."
- Brad Henry-

"He's going the distance. He's going for speed!"

"Reluctantly crouched at the starting line, engines pumping and thumping in time. The green light flashes, the flags go up. Churning and burning, Goobz yearns for the cup."

 (Notice we are BOTH airborne in this shot- Dylan has quite the camera skills!!!)

"He deftly maneuvers, and muscles for rank. Fuel burning fast on an empty tank. Reckless and wild, he pours through the turns..."

"The arena is empty, except for one dog, still striving and driving as fast as he can... Hugging the turns and thinking of some bone/toy/dog for whom he still burns..."

"He's going The Distance! He's going for Speed!"

"Because he's racing and pacing and plotting the course... He's going The Distance!"

"He's striving and driving and hugging the turns, and thinking of some bone/toy/dog for whom he still burns..."

Goobz trail ran Eisenhower Park. Bottom line, my little dog may look like a pretty boy, but he is a BEAST when you let him loose outside!! He has boundless amounts of energy and is fearless. I was dying trying to keep up with him as we ran all over the trails. Dylan calmly took pictures of the madness. After we got back and settled down, all I could think of was that old 90s song "The Distance" by Cake. I felt is was incredibly appropriate for this afternoon, with a few changed words to accomodate my dog, hehe!

 

 

Posing for Daddy... slap happy and worn out! 

When you get to the very top of Eisenhower Park, you can stand on The Tower for a gorgeous view of our city from 360 degrees. My favorite view is of downtown...

70 degree weather... full sunshine... blooming flowers... Spring is here!! :)

And here's to you Mrs. Robinson...

Enjoy the pleasure of listening to AJ Swearingen and Jonathan Beedle as they perform snippets of their show "Tribute to the Sounds of Simon and Garfunkel."

Dylan and I were offered tickets by a good climbing buddy of Dylan's, (Thanks Roger and Marta!) and we jumped on the chance to hear anything by Simon and Gafunkel. These guys are a huge part of my musical history. I have vivid and pleasurable memories of my father playing their music as we drove around in the car when I was young. He even bought their greatest hits CD and had me listen to them. They have always been a favorite duo of mine, so I was beyond excited to attend this session last night at Trinity University Theater. 

We were not disappointed!! These two men were accompanied by the SA Symphony Pops. Let me tell ya, our symphony rocks! They did a fabulous job by themselves, playing tributes to the Everly Brothers (yes, I know who they are too, thanks to my dad! My favs of theirs are Dream, Dream, Dream and Bye, Bye Love) and a "Na Na Na Medly", which was a play on popular 60s songs with the chorus of "Na Na Na", such as 1000 Dances, Kiss him Goodbye and Hey Jude. That one was way fun because they audience was allowed to sing along for those songs. :) 

The bulk of the show was listening to those two men sing many hits of S and G, such as Homeward Bound (love!), 59th Street Bridge Song (how can you not like to Feel Groovy?!), I am a Rock, Cecilia, Hazy Shade of Winter- all of these are such classic S and G!, Dangling Conversation, America, Scarborough Fair, Old Friends/Bookends, Bridge Over Troubled Water and Mrs. Robinson. They sounded so much like them it was chilling. Sometimes they played acoustic, while other songs the symphony accompanied them. The symphony was nice, but these guys were best acoustic. No joke, I had chills during Sound of Silence and was almost crying by the time they finished the song. They did the original version, which I did not know of, which only has guitar. No drums or bass. It was better than the radio version by far. The only song I was bummed they did not sing was "Only living boy in New York"- it is one of my favs! 

If you ever ever get the chance to hear these guys in person, please do! Even if you do not know Simon and Garfunkel that well. You will not be disappointed. :) Dylan was not as familiar with the duo and he enjoyed the concert immensely. So listen to the clip, close your eyes and take a trip back in time when music was just music: voice, guitar and drums. Talent was appreciated; voices were pure and un-distorted and the melodies crept deep down into your soul and your bones, staying with you for a lifetime. 

"Home, where my thoughts escaping. Home, where my music's playing. Home, where my love lies waiting silently for me..."