The End...

This is the end of...

December;
2012;
Christmas vacation (well, in a few days);
And the end of the blog...

While I've enjoyed creating the blog, there are other places for me to spend my time.

This is probably where I'll post student SmileBox presentations. But at least for now the blog is kaput.

God bless.

A Prayer

After the tragic events in Connecticut I was struggling to find something to write for the blog. My heart is heavy, and I've spent time with the LORD in prayer. I went back and read Pastor Mark Jeske's prayer that he sent out on Friday. It comforts me each time I read it. I hope it does that same for you.

Dear heavenly Father,  

Your all-seeing eyes have witnessed much terrible human cruelty over the centuries, and today you and we had to witness all over again how deeply Satan has his hooks in the human race. How monstrous that an armed man should have forced innocent people in an elementary school to be part of his anger drama. How crushed are the hearts of parents who lost their children today in what was supposed to be a safe place. How long their grief will be. Our hearts are with them today and will be tomorrow too.

Lord Jesus, you came to this broken world to be broken yourself. You wept at the graves of people you loved. Your human heart resonates with human grief. You know our sadness because you too are sad today. What great hope your first coming and your physical resurrection give us. You came to bring forgiveness of sins and immortality to all, and all who believe it have it. For the Connecticut families, for all the responders, and for all people who are experiencing death right now, we pray that the hope of resurrection in Jesus brings comfort to broken hearts.

Holy Spirit, let your Word move at this time. Let Christians share hope and comfort, and may all those whose lives were invaded by death remember and believe the Scripture's bold promises that our Redeemer lives. We eagerly look forward to the time when death itself will have to die and we will never be separated again. In the meantime, bring comfort and hope to sad families, and somehow use this dreadful disaster to work some good and advance your saving agenda.

It is only through Jesus' name that we can bring such huge requests to your throne. Amen.

Beautiful Music and Other God-Given Gifts

As I sit at my desk, I'm listening to Saturday Morning Requests on Wisconsin Public radio. There's a rousing piano/choral fantasia that Beethoven wrote being performed right now. Music is a precious gift that the Lord has given each of us. No, we're not all Beethovens. But God has given us the ability to sing. This past week the fourth graders spent considerable time memorizing three songs for our Christmas service. These songs have been written specifically for this Christmas service written by Northwestern Publishing House, so the students were not familiar with them.

The children are putting their hearts into it...and they sound good. More importantly, the sweet message of the Gospel is being told in song. The students that take piano lessons are learning songs for their Christmas recitals. I hope that they will be able to play their songs for the class, too.

Another wonderful gift...creativity. The children cut symmetrical Christmas trees to decorate our classroom walls. They all started with the same supplies: A green piece of construction paper, scissors, and glue. If they followed the directions, they were able to produce two trees with little to no green paper wasted. The decorations they created are all very unique!

Teamwork is a another gift. The children have been working in groups to create bridges made with newspaper and two meters of masking tape. We've run two trials so far. There wasn't an opportunity to do any trials this past week because each day we had classmates out with sickness. I hope to get back to it this coming week. So far the strongest bridge supported 16 math books before it toppled.

Make your own slideshow design May God bless you this Advent season… Psalm 100:4-5 ========================= Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.