Monday, December 22, 2008

Semester Reflections...Yes I know it's been a semester since I've posted...Sorry!


Hello fellow blogging friends, I apologize for the tardiness of this post. But alas, I write for the Lord and not for you so it was more redeeming of my time to not post this semester, til now. :) This was my first official semester of teaching and man have I learned a lot. I also have so much to learn, still. Here's a few things I have begun to lean for now:

You see your ugliness come out when you are told it is your job to keep 22+ people in line every day doing things they don't want to do. You see your sin and flesh at it's finest. Perhaps that's why the Lord's strength is made perfect in our weakness. It takes us doing something we can't possibly do on our own to humble us and DAILY, if not moment by moment, ask for his help.

When you ask for his help and his opportunities, the abundance of his answer is overwhelming..."random" conversations begun by my students to me include:

How long do you stay in hell?
Is hell a real place?
Did Eve eat an apple? Will you tell us the story of Adam and Eve?
But Miss Nall, nobody's perfect! How can we be with God?

The beauty of the Lord...I have been constantly challenged by 1 Cor. 1:26-31-"Brothers think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. BUT God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus; who has become for us wisdom from God-that is our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

I have absolutely nothng to offer apart from Jesus Christ. Absolutely nothing. Never before in my life have I ever felt so inept, so inadequate, and so unprepared for the job I am supposedly qualified for, and paid to do! (Please don't let this scare you from public schools, I'm just being honest) But God is so abundantly gracious, and he has taught and molded me, while humbling me daily, all while encouraging me. What a paradox he is! Destroying pride and yet embracing me so deeply, a perfect example of true redemption.

Romans 3 "No one is righteous, not even one." We are all bent and broken apart from Jesus, and even with Jesus, he still has so much work to do in me!

God still chooses to use us, broken and messed up as we are. Praise God for that!

Now for some hilarious comments:

The word is not "tight" Miss Nall. It's "throwed."
Shut the do Miss Nall. Me: What's a do? Is it a female deer?
Miss Nall got game. (After the staff/student basketball game, where I was the shortest person out there by far:)
Who's gang are you in Miss Nall? Me: I'm in Jesus's gang!
How many guys can you "pull" Miss Nall? (this means get to go out with me)
Miss Nall, you gonna be 80 and live with cats... (that student was mad at me)
Rolling up a test paper, going "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you" to me (same student, still mad)


There is more, so much more and I will try and post more over break. One more thing, it is my anniversary of my intestinal surgery!!!! ONE YEAR TONIGHT!!! Go read December 2007/January of 2008 and be amazed at Him! I know I am.

Oh yes, and Merry Christmas from the Garden Acre Girls:)