Get up offa that thang: ramblationalness on Doing (in response to today and the past few weeks)

I got to be in a classroom (for pay!) again today. It was only for close-to-three hours, mind you, but i was IN.

Was I surprised that the substitute-teacher's-here-noise-level no longer bothered me?

Was I weirded out by being one of the few white people in the room?

Was the fact that most of the kids didn't seem care what I had to say, but most of them wanted to hear what I had to say unnerving??

Not in the least.

For it was there, that uncertified though I may be, I was who I am. With people not that much younger than myself, sharing what I've been given, without lesson plans or curriculum, or anything prepared.

(The Spanish class has no teacher yet, and is still a "vacancy" position. The sub who's been there since school started needed a sub, I guess. And her only note was "We're up to page 20" (which wasn't even really true). ... so i get to do what I did last year, albeit on my own time and much prayer;) And .... )

Being in those two classes reminded me so so so much of Sanders. The kids were rough and crunchy, had attitude, and some of the most inquistive spirits I've seen. Even though the noise was far above tolerable to most (as is usual for those days when a "sub" is present), I was able to bestow a little of what He's given me in the little 7oish minute timespan each class had with me. And like my Sanders kids, as soon as they had actual work (rather then vocab and pronunciation type of things) they quieted down to a loud whisperation, and most of them actually worked.

Students of all ages, ethnicities, and genders CRAVE structure, and being left with no lesson plans ensures chaos. So the ten minutes before class, when I realized there were no actual lesson plans, I could have freaked out and left, but I decided to wing it. Not the most desirable option for first impressions on a four-day assignment, but it was what i had to do. The first class was a little rough, because i had to probe to find out where they actually were in the textbook, but the second class i was able to get them working much sooner.

Tomorrow we are going to work on numbers 1-30, Review the picture story from today (about a kid who gets a letter from a female penpal hahaha), and do a lot of witing. hehehe...

But anyways. On to ... tnight.

I went to West Cannon right after Q was done with his piano lesson because I saw a few weeks ago that Kevin DeYoung (from URC @ MSU)

And his challenge was very encouraging and challenging to me - and I hope to a majillion others - especially in light of life lately. He's written a book entitled "Just Do Something......(insert very long sub-title;) )" and although I have yet to read it, he shared much of the premise. was was basically about the right and wrong ways to go about doing/seeking God's will. :)

So little things, like not having a job, desiring what He wants for me, waiting for Whom He may have for me, taking HUGE little steps (Spanish church!!), being diligent in where I am with classes and family life, getting off my butt and, well, doing something weird like going to a church downtown to help where it's direly needed when I could get lost in the crowd at West Cannon where my God-given talents don't really have the best of places to be used for His glory. (nothing against WC, but some of what He's given me doesn't make sense there anymore...... )

NB: (nota bona! / take note) - I'm also reading a miniscule book entitled "Why Join a Small Church" by John Benton... hehe. Good stuff, and thought-provoking. and Yes.

I'm not saying I'm perfect, but I want to - like "everyone else" be used by God. If this means I need to take that next step, I've already been encourage by a few great people to do so. This may not appear as sane or normal to most people, but then again, when have I ever been sane or normal to most people? ;)

So hearing tnight - from an ordained-type, and not just myself or some book with printed letters - that it's okay to Do Things was like a breath of fresh air. So much of society is all about safety, and wealth, and YourBestLifeNow, but very little do we hear the good of society. Almost every news program is all about the terrible things, even though America's all about being the "Promised Land." The people that "Do Things" are radical, and even though everyone wants to be Like them, they don't, really. Because if they did, they would be all about actually followation. Passivity sucks, like a vacuum, those who sit in "blessing."

What about that little church down the road, full of old people though it may be? What about the homeless guy at the gas station? What about that roomful of 30-or-so inner-city kids who come from broken homes?

They need Jesus, too. Even if they live in the ghetto, even if they have AIDS, even if no one remembers them. Whatever you do to the least of these...

How can they know if every last *cough* Christian is just soaking every Sunday, and never letting themselves get "squeezed?"

Get up offa that thang.