Courage Within

Courage Within, by Don Artamas.

The first abstract artist that has spoken to my soul. I saw his exhibit at IWU when I was a junior, I think, entitled "New Beginnings." I'm looking for one of his works I saw that day called "Ancient Faith" or something similar to that, and I've never been able to find it. It was, hands down, my favorite.

Latin Moment 01

I teach a Latin class for some kids grades 3-6 on Thursday afternoons. Today we were going around the table translating a passage in the Ecce Romani book.

Sarah: "Cornelia iam sub arbore sedet et legit." Emily?

Emily: Cornelia...under the tree...sits and reads.

Sarah: Iam?

Emily: Now!

Sarah: Right. "Now Cornelia sits under the tree and reads." Next, "Etiam in pictura est altera puella, nomine Flavia." Hannah?

The translation for this one is, "Also in the picture is another girl named Flavia." All I got from Hannah was a raised eyebrow.

Sarah: Let's go one by one. Etiam...

Hannah: incredulously Flavia?

It seems Flavia is one hilarious name. Any time her name was mentioned for the rest of the lesson all the kids would burst out laughing. If her name went unmentioned for too long, Austin made sure to throw it in a sentence.

My favorite moment:

Sarah: Zach, which question would you like to read?

Zach: Mmmm...the bottom one.

Sarah: What words do you recognize?

Zach: laeta...and.... looks at Emily knowingly

Zach and Emily then said "Flavia" in stereo, in the most sultry tone imaginable.

Well, I think this is going to be a fun semester.

IVY Tech Moment 01

I'm walking out of class behind Ebony, a young mom who arrived late to class to turn in a crucial assignment. As we head down the hallway, a guy steps out of his class in front of us and mumbles something to Ebony. She immediately begins to strut an attitude as she flashes a "talk to the hand" signal.

He looks at me.

"All you ladies make comin' to school real pleasant."

I continue walking, and say, "Oh?"

He starts walking alongside of me. "Yeah, in class it gets real distracting, but on breaks its a real pleasure."

"Oh."

"I don' mean that offensive."

"No?"

We stop walking and look at each other. Awkward raised eyebrow from me, awkward shrug from him.

I keep walking, but I can't pull off the attitude like Ebony.

Assume Love

Lately....

every song on the radio touches my soul.

every person I know makes me laugh - not because they're funny, but because the joy in knowing them has to spill out.

hearing a beautiful truth makes me dance - in my room, in my car, on the sidewalk.

love between friends has become something wondrous.

I've been having feelings of joy, and it's all because of a realization that I'm finding difficult to articulate, even to myself.

Maybe God's grace isn't an oasis in a horrible world. Maybe God's grace is so humongous that it overshadows the sin, overpowers it, overwhelms it. Lately when I look at the world, I see love instead of darkness.

Maybe I'm not a sinner. Yeah, I sin, every day, I know. But what if that's not who I am, not the consummation of my identity? Without Christ, I'm a sinner. But with Him I'm glowing, full of hope, changing, reforming.

A couple of weeks ago I was telling a sweet friend of mine about my brilliant 1-year old nephew, Elliot. He had a bit of a "dag tood" - a bad attitude - and was mumbling to me "ma ma ma" in a grumpy voice because he was mad at Megan. It was a funny story, and after laughing my friend said, "oh, that little sinner!"

Technically, she didn't say anything wrong. But inside my heart hurt, because when I see Elliot, I don't see a sinner. I see God's love pouring not only into him, but out of him. I see a vessel of joy and comfort and glory.

I'm not saying the world is, or people are, "basically good" (although I think this feeling is the kind of excitement that motivates that theology). I'm saying God's poured SO much love into me, His love is what I see when I look at myself. But for the grace of God, I know where I would stand. But I feel like we're always talking about where we would be "if not for God's grace." Okay - but now I have God's grace! What now? Shouldn't I see myself differently? Shouldn't I see the world differently?

We are most certainly not "just passing through." We are here to change the world.

There is knowing something. Hearing it, saying it, memorizing it...

and then there is knowing something. Feeling it. Living it.

I now know that God's love and comfort offers more than enough joy to overwhelm any fear.

I now know why people say, "assume love."

, originally uploaded by nikolinelr.

Break forth! Shout joyfully together, you waste places of Jerusalem. For Yahweh has comforted His people - He has redeemed Jerusalem.

Isaiah 52:9

New Skin!

So the last html code I had uploaded was missing a few bits and pieces here and there. Deluxe Templates recently removed it from their options because I suppose so many users were having trouble with it. I really liked the grunge look, but for now, we are going green. Try commenting - I hope it will work better now.

Intimidation Survey

I am thinking of sending out a survey. After the usual demographic info, it will say:

How intimidating do you find Sarah on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being not intimidating at all and 5 being paralyzingly intimidating)?

1 2 3 4 5

If 1: Thank you.

If 2 or above: Why the heck? (Please feel free to use reverse side of the paper. Or simply go out to lunch with me because, really, I'm not that bad)

I just don't understand this. To intimidate means to make someone timid, fearful. Webstah!

Pronunciation: \in-'ti-muh-date\

Function: transitive verb

Etymology: Medieval Latin: intimidatus, past participle of intimidare, from Latin in- + timidus timid

: to make timid or fearful : frighten; especially : to compel or deter by or as if by threats

synonyms: cow, bulldoze, bully, browbeat. "to frighten into submission"

intimidate implies inducing fear or a sense of inferiority into another

A new friend of mine, Joe, recently told my sister that he found me intimidating (but also said some nice things, so we'll let Joe off the hook). The real issue is that I said, "Why the heck?" and my sister proceeded to tell me that most of her friends find me intimidating. No, strike that - most people find me intimidating upon meeting me. I don't think this is true - but I have to concede that Bethany has some verifiably true stories about people that came to her feeling inferior/frightened/whatever after meeting me.

It would be one thing if I were rude to these people - that would be very bad, but explainable. But I always come away thinking, "Hey! That was a good time! I really got to know them! I really respect them!" or something along those lines. Because, while I'm certainly not intimidated by Joe, I felt we were pretty at home/relaxed. But no! Joe was intimidated! And so were a dozen other folks! (No worries, Joe, it's not you - you are just the final straw.)

I am very small: 5'2". I am not strong - anyone in my family could beat me in an arm-wrestling match. I am not a success machine - I live with my parents, earn minimum wage, and am a little socially awkward. I like kittens and gardens. I wear the same clothes almost every day, and they are not stylin'.

Mostly this whole intimidation thing discourages me. I want to convince others of their own value, not my own. When people find me intimidating, I feel as if I've failed at that.

At the same time, I want to be myself. I don't want to limit my vocabulary if I have an effective word. I don't want to be cool with people's actions/words when I disagree with them. Maybe this is what is intimidating?

I feel like Mystique is intimidating. Or maybe Cat Woman. I don't know any real person that I find intimidating - because I have been give a spirit of POWAH!

So please answer my survey. Or enlighten me. Or tell me how to lighten up and help people relax. Because people shouldn't be frightened of a poofy-haired, wobbly-in-high-heels, bites-her-fingernails teacher. That is just silly.