Mind soaked in marker

I knew I had a good story to tell, but I forgot it till now. Anyway, this kid Alex comes in from lunch recess with a big "X" on his hand drawn in marker. He comes over to me while everyone is silently reading and says, "Can I ask you a question?" I tell him he can, and he asks, "Will this marker on my hand soak into my mind?" AHAHAHAHAHAHahahahaha. I wanted to laugh so badly, but I gave him a big smile and reassured him it would not. He seemed really relieved and said, "Oh, good, because I was really worried it would." AHAHahahaha. ANd he really genuinely was, I think. I love how he asked if it would soak into his MIND as opposed to skin, or blood, or hand. Or even brain. It was his mind. Ahahahaha. Oh man, this is what is so great about teaching! Anyway, this also reminded me about the time my mother told me that food colouring from the sprinkles on donuts goes into your blood. I really pictured my blood turning different colours, and it worried me, too. So, I know what Alex was feeling today. Ahahaha. THat kid is HILARIOUS though.

Fifths Disease

After school today, the vice principal came on the PA system and requested all female teachers of child-bearing age to go to the staff room for a meeting. We all looked at each other and said, "What?" It was the most cryptic announcement ever, and I basically thought she was going to chew us all out and tell us not to get pregnant or something. Ahahaha. It ended up that we have a small outbreak of fifths disease (called fifths because it's the fifth of about six common childhood diseases). Basically, in adults, it's not that harmful because it's a viral infection and you basically have to wait till it goes away. Unfortunately, if you're pregnant, it can cause a miscarriage. Thus, the announcement and meeting. I don't think any of the teacher's at the moment are a) married, b) pregnant, so, we're all clear.

In further news, I am ULTRA-SUPER proud of my grade two class. They can now explain to you how we get electricity from wind energy. They can tell you the important components in the wind turbine system and trace the path of electricity!!! Ahahaha, yes, ho hum, you may say. But come ON, they're in GRADE TWO and they learned it today. I'm so proud of them. :)

Kite champion of the hill

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to announce the champion of the flying-kite contest. Me. Yep. AHahahah, only the best part is, now that I've boasted about flying my kite the highest today, I should tell you I competed against a class of grade twos. Ahahahah. So really, there's nothing to boast about here. I'm dead tired though. You people out there who are thinking of volunteering for your child's field trips...it's great and we always need more parent-volunteers, but it is STINKING TIRING. After I post this, I'm going to bed. Not joking at ALL. Alright, I'm recovering from strep throat. But really, I'm going to bed because I'm THAT tired.

Anything else interesting? Hmm...I'd like to report that geese have officially taken over the York campus today. I saw a nest today, and had to brake suddenly for a goose that decided to take it's sweet time crossing the road. When I start summer school, I must remember to avoid them at ALL costs. No more geese attacking Michelle this year. Hopefully. AHahaha, at least my phobia helped my sister remember all these other psychiatric disorders she has to know for her exam. She kept asking me questions about my phobia, and I told her it developed into agoraphobia. And it generalized to ALL birds for a couple of weeks. I just realized I'm actually talking about a story that not all of your may have heard about. Gory details on the goose attack will follow shortly.

Sick with Strep

Pounding headache. Check. Swollen lymph nodes. Check. Sore throat. Check. Fever. Check. Aches and pains. Check check check check. Guess who has Strep throat again. Guess who's best friend will be penicillin for the next little while. Guess guess guess.

And guess who has g-mail?! mishelle@gmail.oh shoot I forget my e-mail already. Sigh. Sick and delusional. Perfect.

Story corner

Oh, ahaha, so I just remembered this hilarious incident on Friday. All the grade 2 students have reading groups based on their reading level, and I get the 2nd highest bunch. Anyway, we were reading a book with a recipe in it, so I decided to let the students make cookies. Needless to say, the other students who are in my regular class who aren't in my reading group were quite jealous. On Friday, one of the kids in the highest group comes up to me and asks me this hypothetical question: "Miss Osakabe, if I changed reading groups into yours, could I make cookies, too?" I answered, "Well, Nikhil, you can't go DOWN reading groups. If you know how to read already, you can't unlearn it." Nikhil: "But say I could move down. If I switched into your group, could I make cookies, too?" AHAhahahahaha. It's not even like he COULD switch reading groups, but he really just wanted to know that it was a possibility, I guess. Ahahaha. It was just so FUNNY. You had to be there. Kids are stupendously funny, which is why teaching is so fun. Must remember this when I'm freaking out this week. AHahaha. Nikhil. Ha!

Eyeball blogging

If I could only express how much I do NOT want to go into school tomorrow....

I went to get my eyes checked out on Saturday and my prescription hasn't changed (as if it could get any worse!), but I'm at risk for neovascularization. Basically, because I wear contacts and abuse my eyes, my cornea isn't getting enough oxygen, so the blood vessels in my eyes are growing towards my cornea. I'm still okay, but if they get into my cornea, I have to stop wearing contacts and it basically leaves scarring that leaves me at risk for infections. Other than that, and my retina thinning (but I'm still okay, no treatment necessary), my eyes are great. I abuse them, I know, and I have to start realizing it. Sigh. SO it's glasses for me for the next little while, and hopefully switching to higher permeability lenses. I'm really quite blind you know. Sigh.

Anyway, actually, so my point with the whole eyeball thing was that I had a million drops in my eyes, stared at a million letters, and basically my eyeballs are tired. All I want to do is shut them. For a very long time. Like, during tomorrow. Ahahaha. And the next day. And then maybe I'll go teach again on Wednesday.

P.S. I love garlic

Basically, that's it. I love garlic. And I had a lot of it. You're lucky this is a virtual post and not me, live, spurting out aromatic garlic fumes.

Another day spent sick in bed. Thank goodness for the world's nicest host teacher! I went into school today and told her I'd probably only be there half the day because I was sick, and she just told me to go home and get some rest. I spent the entire day sleeping. My question now is, how much sleep can one person get? I don't believe in catching up on sleep, because if you've lost it, you've lost it. That's it. But honestly, I've slept probably 80% of this weekend. The other 20% was spent eating. ;)

In further news, my sister has an obsession with all things Australian. She loves wombats, and is constantly practicing her Australian accent. When she talks to me in her accent, I automatically respond in British one. We're the weirdest family ever. In addition, everyone has suddenly decided that they need to improve their whistling skills, so there are moments of spontaneous whistling in our house. I wonder HOW I managed to get so much sleep this weekend!

I love how you can ramble on about completely useless things in a blog.

Hey, and contratumalations to Ava and Mattie2hattie on Teacher's College and MISt!

Easter memories

My last horrible sickness occurred Christmas Eve/Christmas morning. Here I am, Easter weekend, with another comparable illness. This is the fruit of too many all-nighters trying to finish my thesis and plan my teaching block, combined with the ultimate germiness of grade two students. I distinctly remember one coughing right in my face last week. :(

As I was lying in bed, I occasionally thought about all the work that awaits me when I'm better. I have 3 more weeks of teaching...planning, 2 scrapbooks, a Bible study to plan, letters to write...so many THINGS to do. I realize I've been so task-oriented lately that I've forgotten about ME. How can I possibly get all these things done if I'm not taking care of the person who'll be doing them??

And thus, I come back to this: I am a Martha. "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." Luke 10:41-42 Mary chose to sit at the feet of the wisest man on earth, to sit with Him, listen to Him and to be in His presence. And I know I need to take some time to relax, to stop doing, and to simply be in His presence. Sigh.

I also needed to pause to consider the real meaning of Easter. The real meaning of Easter...it's not eggs, and it's not chocolate. It's not getting dressed up for the special Easter service at church. What is it about? It's about an empty tomb. It's about the one figure in all the major world religions who did not succumb to death.

It's interesting, I woke up this morning and watched some TV, and I saw a man named Tony Costa on some show. I know Tony Costa because he's come to speak at many of our Campus Crusade events at York, and this man is BRILLIANT. He has done so much research on cults, world religions, and the historical person of Jesus. He was talking about Jesus' resurrection, and about some of the theories that surround this empty tomb. After Jesus was crucified, he was put in a tomb under heavy Roman guard. 3 days later, the tomb was empty. Some people think that Jesus wasn't dead in the first place. Now, if anyone has seen the scourging and crucifixion Jesus went through, I think we'd all understand how ridiculous that is. I think it would be higly impossible that Jesus would "faint" and then come back to consciousness three days later with enough strength to roll aside a tombstone. Another theory is that the disciples lied about everything: about Jesus' death, and about his subsequent resurrection. Now, Tony noted that people do not die martyr's deaths for things they do not believe, and every one of the disciples died a martyr's death. If they had really made the whole thing up, and didn't really believe that Jesus was really the Son of God, then they would not have died for the cause. Tony also noted that from the disciples' perspectives, Jesus' death on the cross would have been a huge letdown. They were expecting the Messiah, a God. Would they have started to spread the message of Christianity with such vigour after an event that seemed to disprove everything Jesus had taught? And yet, history records the rapid and widespread travels of this new faith. I don't think the disciples would have been so eager to spread the news of something, or someone they didn't believe in. ANd yet they did. Which leads me to believe they believed in Jesus with all their hearts.

Tony summed it up by saying that we don't like to look at the empty tomb because it forces us to think, to consider. If a man who claimed to be the Son of God really rose from the dead...what does that mean? And then subsequently, how are we to take the teachings of one who transcended death? It's such a heavy subject, and one that I shouldn't have started to tackle while I was sick. I'll have more to say when I have more energy!

Utterly exhausted

If I ever hear anyone say that teaching is easy, I will drag them into my class and make them teach a whole day. It is UTTERLY EXHAUSTING. Utterly. I have never met so many grade 2 students who have so much energy and who like TALKING and INTERRUPTING SOOO much. Give an inch, and they take a mile. Needless to say, there was a lot of raising my voice, waiting for them to be quiet, and then rewarding good behaviour. It's kinda rough. Sigh. Teaching. Sigh.

It's okay, Michelle, it's okay...persevere...perseverance leads to character, and character, to hope.

Do you Believe in Easter?

Edith Burns was a wonderful Christian who lived in San Antonio, Texas. She was the patient of a doctor named Will Phillips, a gentle physician who saw patients as people. His favorite patient was Edith Burns.

One morning Dr. Phillips went to his office with a heavy heart, however, and it was because of Edith Burns. When he walked into the waiting room, there sat Edith with her big black Bible in her lap, earnestly talking to a young mother sitting beside her.

Edith Burns had a habit of introducing herself in this way: "Hello, my name is Edith Burns. DO you believe in Easter?" Then she would explain the meaning of Easter, and many times people would be saved.

Dr. Phillips walked into this office area and said good morning to his office nurse, Beverly. Beverly had first met Edith when she was taking her blood pressure.

Edith said to her, "Hello, my name is Edith Burns. Do you believe in Easter?"

Beverly said, "Why, yes I do."

"Well, what do you believe about Easter?"

"Well," said Beverly, "it's all about egg hunts, going to church, and dressing up."

Edith kept pressing Beverly about the real meaning of Easter, and finally led the nurse to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

That morning, Dr. Phillips said, "Beverly, don't call Edith into the office quite yet. I believe there's another delivery taking place in the waiting room."

After being called to the doctor's office, Edith sat down, and when she took a look at the doctor, she said, "Dr. Will, why are you so sad? Are you reading your Bible? Are you praying?"

Dr. Phillips said gently, "Edith, I'm the doctor and you're the patient." And then with a heavy heart he said, "Your lab report came back, and it reveals you have cancer, and, Edith, you're not going to live very much longer."

"Why, Dr. Phillips," said Edith, "shame on you! Why are you so sad? Do you think God makes mistakes? You have just told me I'm going to see my precious Lord Jesus, my husband, and many of my friends. You have just told me that I am going to celebrate Easter forever. And here you are having difficulty giving me my ticket!"

Dr. Phillips thought to himself, What a magnificent woman this Edith Burns is.

Within a few weeks, Edith had reached a point in her illness where she needed to be hospitalized. "Dr. Will, I'm very near home now," she said, "so would you make sure that they put women in the room with me who need to know about Easter?"

Well, they did just that, and one patient after another shared the room with Edith. Many of them gave their hearts to Christ. Everybody on that floor, from staff to patients, were so excited about Edith that they started calling her Edith Easter - that is, everybody except Phyllis Cross, the head nurse on the floor.

Phyllis made it plain that she wanted nothing to do with Edith because, "She is a religious nut." Phyllis had been a nurse in an army hospital; she'd seen and heard it all. She was the original G.I. Jane. She had been married three times. She was hard, cold, and did everything by the book.

One morning the two nurses who were to attend to Edith were sick. Edith had gotten the flu, so Phyllis Cross had to go in and give her a shot. When she walked in, Edith had a big smile on her face as she said, "Phyllis, God loves you, and I love you, too. I've been praying for you."

The head nurse frowned. "Well, you can quit praying for me. It won't work. I'm not interested."
"Well, I will pray," responded Edith, "and I have asked God not to let me go home until you come into the family."

"Then you will never die," snapped Phyllis, "Because that will never happen," and she curtly marched out of the room.

Every day when Phyllis Cross walked into the room, Edith would smile and say, "God loves you, Phyllis, and I love you too...and I'm still praying for you." Finally, one day, Nurse Cross found herself being literally drawn into Edith's room like a magnet would draw iron. She sat down on the side of the bed and Edith said, "I'm so glad you have come, because God told me that today is your special day."

"Edith, you have asked everybody here the question, 'Do you believe in Easter?' but you've never asked me," said Phyllis.

"I wanted to many times, but God told me to wait until you asked, and now that you have asked...." And then Edith took her Bible and shared with Phyllis Cross the Easter story of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Then Edith said, "Phyllis, do you believe in Easter? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is alive and that He wants to live in your heart?"

"Oh, I want to believe that with all of my heart," said Phyllis. "And I do want Jesus in my life." And right then and there Phyllis prayed and invited Jesus Christ into her heart.

For the first time Head Nurse Phyllis Cross did not march out of the hospital room, she was carried out as if on the wings of angels.

Two days later Edith said to Phyllis, "Do you know what day it is?"

"Why, yes, it's Good Friday."

"Oh, no," said Edith. "For you every day is Easter. Happy Easter, Phyllis!"

Two days later, on Easter Sunday morning, Phyllis stopped at the hospital flower shop before she went to her desk. She wanted to take a bouquet of Easter lilies up to Edith and wish her a Happy Easter.

When Phyllis walked into Edith's room, Edith was lying still in her bed. Her big black Bible was open on her lap and her hands were on her Bible. She had a sweet smile on her face.

When Phyllis reached over to pick up Edith's hand, she realized Edith was gone.

Her left hand rested on John 14:2-3: "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."

Her right hand was on Revelation 21:4: "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eye; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

Phyllis Cross took one look at that dead body, then lifted her face toward heaven, and, with tears streaming down her cheeks, said, "Happy Easter, Edith. Happy Easter!"

Then Phyllis left Edith's body, walked quietly out of the room and over to a table where two student nurses were sitting. She smiled and said, "Hello, my name is Phyllis Cross. Do you believe in Easter?"

- Author unknown, cited in Swindoll, Charles. (2001). The Darkness and the Dawn. Nashville: Word Publishing.

Parenting 101

Lately I’ve been thinking about all these random controversial issues, because I’ve decided that it’s SO key to know where you stand on some things, and even more important, to have researched it or at least looked at both sides of the argument so you can come up with an educated opinion. But that’s not what I was going to talk about today. I want your thoughts on parenting. “Parenting?!” you say? Yes, that’s right. I know some of us are quite there yet, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about, especially with what’s happening in the world today. I think about how this world will be when my child is in it, and I think it’s definitely something to be thinking about.

Specifically, I wanted to talk about decisions. Your child’s decisions. Looking at my own life, I think I’ve always been a fairly good kid, but once I hit high school, I think I got kind of manipulative. It was no longer that I had to have a good reason to do what I wanted, but that my parents had to have a good reason why I SHOULDN’T do what I wanted (not that what I wanted to do was extremely damaging or rebellious). They pretty much never had any good reasons, in my opinion, at the time. I’ve come to realize that this is the way I’d become, so I’m really working at showing them respect by not questioning their decisions, because I totally believe that our parents, whether we choose to believe it or not, are wise. Basically, I’ve come to the realization that the decisions I make really need to be made with respect to my parent’s rules and standards, as long as they’re reasonable.

For example, I REALLY wanted to go on another missions trip to the Orient last summer; however, it couldn't happen. I know I’m 22, and I can make my own decisions and sign my own waiver forms, but my dad laid down the law this year. In fact, it seems I won’t be going on any missions trips during university, as my dad is in full opposition to Christianity and missions. Now, I think this is fairly unreasonable, seeing as I am 22 and the reason he doesn’t want me to go has nothing to do with my personal safety or well-being but has more to do with contradicting ideologies and beliefs, but I do currently reside under the roof he paid for, and I know that I have been quite manipulative in the past with getting what I wanted, so I made the, hopefully, mature decision to not only obey my parents, but keep my mouth shut about any arguments that I think could persuade them to let me go.

Now, applying all this to when we’re parents, I keep wondering what I’m going to do when it comes time to start granting permission for certain things. Now, I think we all have to admit that being the domineering, super-controlling, “no-room-for-your-own-decisions” sort of parent is really not loving. I mean, if I’m going to show my child I love them, I do have to let them be free to make their own decisions and learn from their mistakes. Control in every aspect of their lives does not equal love. However, I think we all have to agree again that we do have to have some ground rules, as a good parent. But my big question is, “Is it the parents’ fault if the children make mistakes?” I don’t think it is. Albeit, as parents, we will set the bar in terms of appropriate behaviour, setting down ground rules etc., but in today’s world, as my Personality psych prof was saying, there are so many other factors that are a part of who one becomes. And it eventually does become the child’s decision whether or not they follow these rules. And as they grow physically, they grow in responsibility. We give our children freedom, but that freedom includes the responsibility for taking ownership for their own actions. So I think that although I worry and think, at this point, that all I’d really like to do is protect my child and keep him or her in his/her own little protective bubble by making all the “right” decisions for them, that’s really not the thing to do. I have to let them be free to learn. However, giving them freedom doesn’t mean I’m going to have to take responsibility for their actions. I don’t think you can blame the parents of any child totally for the child’s actions, except perhaps in cases of abuse and emotional trauma.

Anyway, I guess my point is though, that through it all, the absolute truth is that I love my child, or will, I guess, and I would totally be willing to take them back. I may not like their actions, but I think I’d totally love my child through all their decision-making, good and bad. And as much as my child may push me away and not include me in their lives and totally reject and ignore me, I will love them to the end. And I know my parents do love me. In fact, I think my dad is a good example of someone who shows love through letting children make their own decisions, although there is a lot of stuff to be said in that particular situation. He has trouble showing his kids he loves us, so I think he ends up feeling that he has to let us do whatever we want. He never bothered to really set a lot of ground rules, but the ones he does set are fairly reasonable. Basically, what I’m trying to say is that parents love their children. Because they love their children, they let them make their own decisions and eventually learn from them. But I truly believe that the rules and guidelines that parents set for us are good ones, and I think when the children follow these guidelines, they’re a lot safer and happier in the end. Anyway, and through all the child’s decisions, parents continue to love their children, even if they’re pushed away. And I think at some point, if the child keeps rejecting and ignoring, parents will respect that decision and not intervene. But we’ll always take them back if they come back...

And it's just so with the Father. We can say all we want that there can be no God because of all the terrible things that go on in this world, but I think we need to take a long hard look at some human actions and the role of free will, and most importantly, the characteristics of God, before anything like that can even begin to be justified.

Epitaphs

I stumbled on some funny grave markers from a book I was reading:

Here lies Les Moore, shot four times with a forty-four
No Les, No Moore.

Anna Wallace
The children of Israel wanted bread;
The Lord sent them manna.
Old Clerk Wallace wanted a wife;
The devil sent him Anna.

Sacred to the memory of my husband,
John Barnes, who died Jan. 3, 1803.
His comely young widow, aged 23, has
Many qualifications of a good wife
And yearns to be comforted.

Here lies Butch - we planted him raw -
He was quick on the trigger
But slow on the draw.

Beneath this sod, a lump of clay,
Lies Arabella Young,
Who, on the twenty-fourth of May
Began to hold her tongue.

Something tells me that they had more of asense of humour about death back in the day!

2002 Ways to Show Your Kids you LOVE Them

Chapters is one of my very favourite stores. First, I love books. Second, I love reading books. Third, I love that I can read books for free. So, a couple days ago, I was perusing the discount section at Chapters for a cookbook, and I stumbled upon this handy dandy little book called "2002 Ways to Show Your Kids You Love Them". I glanced fairly quickly through the book and noticed #1912. It said, "Teach your child that she has God as her Heavenly Father." Now, apparently I'm quite cynical because while I thought that was an excellent way to show your kids you love them, in my mind I was a little snide about thinking that it was buried all the way in the back of the book at #1912. Nevertheless, I was hooked and I made the purchase. When I got home and actually took a look through it, I realized it was a really great book that I agreed with in terms of what I value. A perfect example of this is #1: Host a regular family worship service in your home. AMEN! I couldn't agree more. I'm now perusing it occasionally and I keep finding some really really good points. I'll keep posting them as I find them, but in general, I think this book is gold!