Week of Humiliation and Thoughts on 40

Advent
After 14 years at the same church, we were selected this past weekend as the family to light the advent candle during the middle service in front of approximately 500 people.  I don't like to be on stage nor does my son.  But my husband and daughter were born for the stage, so we agreed to do the simple reading.  My daughter had already memorized Luke 2 (Gift #821) when she was learning her lines to play Mary in the Christmas skit.  So she recited half of this week's passage from memory, while I tried to memorize the rest of the passage the night before.  Our son did not want to speak at all, so we let him be the one to light the candle.  All began well, but then after our boy transferred the flame to the shepherd's candle, he did not blow out the candle he was using to transfer the flame. So while our daughter quoted Luke 2, my husband I were whispering, "Blow it out!"  He began to lay the lit candle on the table (which was covered in a table cloth that was probably very flammable), and I was thinking, "Please don't set the church on fire!"

Perhaps some of the visitors that morning assumed we use a Bible translation that reads in Luke 2 as follows:

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, [Blow it out, son!] keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them [Blow out the candle now], and they were terrified. [Don't set the church on fire!]"

Needless to say, I was so distracted by the fact that we nearly burned the church down that I was afraid to look away from my notes to recite the verses from memory.

Okay so that was embarrassing enough, right?

Well, before church I was so impressed that we were actually all ready for church early, dressed in coordinated colors with hair combed and the kids in socks and shoes that were actually pairs of a set (verses different socks or shoes on each foot) that I decided to take some family photos.

My husband was not in a great mood because he had to work Friday night until almost midnight, all afternoon and evening on Saturday (missing the Army/Navy game in which Navy won for the 13th year in a row), and had to go back in after church.  His frustration with work was all over his face in these photos, so I wonder how angry he looked on stage during the lighting of the advent candle.

Then when I took time to look at the photos of me later that evening, I gasped!  I was wearing a red sweater dress with white undergarments, and you could see the entire outline of my bra through the dress in the photos!  YIKES!  I began to have a panic attack.  Had I just flashed 500 people AT CHURCH on stage without realizing it?  Why didn't anyway tell me?  What did they think?  Why did the pastor let me go up there on stage?  No wonder I felt like people were staring at me at church.  I had just assumed they were looking at the big screens behind me. Why didn't my husband tell me?  I was horrified!

Then he assured me that the camera flash was highlighting what was under the dress and that in real life, no one could see my bra (Gift #822).  What about the stage lights?  Would they not have highlighted my undergarments as well? I guess I'll never know, but he assures me I did not flash the church body as the camera flash (pun) suggests.  I would post those pics to illustrate my humiliation, but for the sake of modesty (and since the FCC probably searches private blogs for photos to use against us as needed), I have used a photo editor to smear the dress, and the photo editing is obvious enough to prove my point.

Turning 40

Over the past year and especially this coming week, A LOT of my younger friends have turned or will be turning 40. So, as I have heard many "over the hill" jokes at their parties, I got to thinking about the journey to 40 and after. For some the path to 40 has been carefree and easy. For others, it has been been quite an arduous, uphill climb. Many have suffered much as a result of circumstances completely out of their control and for righteousness sake. The steeper the climb the higher the hill. The higher the hill the better the view (or perspective), and the more exhilarating the sled down that hill. Enjoy the view, my 40 something friends, and the breathtaking ride.

"But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled." (1 Peter 4:13)

Celebrating Melanie's 40th

Our community group has a tradition of celebrating birthdays at Tacos y Tequila.  We don't drink tequila, but the food sure is tasty.  When we celebrated last Thursday, the PR guy took a photo of us and posted it on their website. Lovely, so now if my students ever see it, they may think their teacher likes tequila.

Laughing, teaching, and saying goodbye to Bessie

Teaching and Laughing
You might be a 12th grader in my stats class if a week of learning key concepts involves playing Blackjack, War, & Let's Make a Deal, throwing dice, playing with Legos, pulling kisses out of a jar, choosing the next series of toys for General Mills to put inside Cheerios boxes, and taking a trip to the weight room where you will use probability theory to predict how many unassisted pull-ups (not chin-ups) the teacher can do without taking a break.   We have fun in my class and sometimes without intending to. (Gift #810)  I recently gave the students the following problem:  If 'F' denotes the event that Courtney buys a book of fiction, and 'N' is the event that she buys non-fiction, what is the probability that she will buy both fiction and nonfiction.? The formula to solve this question is denoted as  P(F U N).  

We finished the pull-up activity on Friday.  Despite all the absolutely true factoids I gave the students to assist or confuse them, two students' predictions were correct.  The critical thinking and/or creative problem solving used to answer the four problems for this activity were interesting indeed.   I actually did seven fewer reps in the school's weight room than I expected at only 17, for the bar is much higher than mine at home, and I did not want them to see me struggle.  Besides, given that only 1% of females can do one, most of the students guessed one or two, so 17 was enough to demonstrate the probability concept I wanted to teach.

When I asked permission from the administration to use the weight room for that most unusual interactive activity to reinforce statistical concepts and basic principles of physics, the administrative assistant joked, "Sure, go ahead, but don't get caught!"  As soon as I came down from the bar and another student jumped up to complete 18 reps so as to show up his teacher, in walked an administrator and a prospective parent who had flown to the area very last minute to check out the school for his four kids. He was especially interested in seeing the weight room. What in the world must he have thought?   I worried that I killed the prospect of gaining four new students and a potential school donor, but the administrator insisted he loved the demonstration.  (Gift #811)  I'm known around there for being the most unique teacher. :-)

As a new teacher, I get evaluated once a quarter.  Last quarter I received a formal observation by the rhetoric principal and a one-on-one evaluation meeting with a form highlighting strengths, areas for improvement, and specs detailing the number and names of students not engaged during each five minute interval of the class.  This quarter, the headmaster is supposedly doing informal pop-ins to observe the teachers.  A few weeks ago while tallying the results from our polling project and determining each team's statistical error, the class took an unusual turn with everyone closing their eyes and raising their hands for a blind vote on which team's project most effectively eliminated statistical bias.  It looked like an altar call at a tent revival meeting, and jokes broke out, and we all burst into fits of laughter.  As we were all laughing hysterically with the students' eyes still closed and hands up, and tears running down my face as I was completely unable to collect myself, in walked the headmaster for a drop-in.  Oops!  I wiped the tears from my eyes with flushed cheeks and merely said, "Please note, sir, that every single student is fully engaged."  He wasn't sure what to make of it, but he agreed and let me continue with my presentation.   I was so embarrassed but knowing how this man has a wonderful sense of humor (Gift #812), I was able to get back on track.

After reading about how hard it is for students to stay focused when they sit all day, I implemented a daily mid-class stretch break.  Sometimes I will stretch along with the students to keep them using the break for its intended purpose.  During our stretch break two days after the drop-in, we were all standing up in awkward positions and in walked the headmaster to check in on me again.  He shook his head, put his arm on my shoulder and said, "What happens in Mrs. C's classroom stays in Mrs. C's classroom," and then he walked out.  Thankfully, his assistant is the mother of a student in my class (and her husband is a board member), and they are both very pleased with the way I am teaching this class.  I'm sure they talk to the headmaster who strangely still SEEMS glad to have me on the faculty. (Gift #813) I can only assume at this point, for he has not given me any formal feedback. :-)

One Thursday every month is designated "Senior Day", so the seniors get to dress up according to a theme instead of wearing uniforms.  I love their personality with these themes.  One month they chose "Senior Citizen" as their theme and dressed like senior citizens from their low on the nose glasses to their pot belly stuffed tummies to their fuzzy slippers.  They play acted all day calling each other "Sonny", asking me to repeat myself, and falling and not being able to get back up.

Senior Day:  Dressed as senior citizens from head to stuffed pot belly to toes

This month's theme was Christmas, so they dressed up as various Christmas characters while the rhetoric faculty were asked to wear tacky Christmas sweaters.  I wore tacky Christmas wreath earrings, a tacky shirt my daughter made me with her precious hand prints in 2005, a tacky Christmas sweater and tacky Christmas socks.  My students were over the top with their adorable costumes.  They visited every lower and upper grammar classroom and passed out candy.  My kids loved them.

Buddy the Elf & Cindy Lou Who pictured here are two of the kindest teens I've ever met

Buddy the Elf (aka Nick) had a great day in 3rd grade!

One of my desires is to be authentic with the students so that no wall exists between them and me.  I share openly and honestly about my life with the hope that will respect me as a person, not just as a teacher, and view me as being approachable.  I want them to know that I care about each of them and am someone they can trust and come to with the deepest issues of the heart. The trick of course is relating to them without sacrificing my authority so as to keep order in the classroom. So far, so good.  (Gift #814)

The students continue to encourage me.  I am amazed by how sensitive they are to the needs and emotions of their teachers.  From telling us how much our investment into their lives matters and going to get us tea when we get hoarse to hosting a nice banquet for us and taking time to write us thank you notes, they seem so sincere in their appreciation.  This note came from a younger student after I merely filled in as a substitute in one of her classes.  I initially thought these kids were flattering me as a way of sucking up, but my lands, I'm discovering more and more how sincere they really are.  (Gift #815)

The 12th grader in my class who is a bona fide math genius and skillful basketball player often passes his mother in the halls on the days she teaches engineering and gives her a hug and a kiss on the forehead right there in front of everyone without shame.  He always stands to address me, and even though he knows his intellect far surpasses mine, he treats me with utmost respect.  I'm just so encouraged about the future when I interact with these kids.  (Gift #816)

This is not to say that there are not serious struggles going on in the lives of these students with so many situations that simply break my heart.  But what a privilege to be there for them, partnering with their friends/family to offer support and counsel. (Gift #817)

I am beginning to find the community I desired so much in our new town of residence through the teaching staff.  (Gift #818) They are all so like-minded with a similar dry wit as my own, so we really have fun together while offering mutual encouragement.  They are teaching me so much.  The teacher who pulled me into tutoring and roped me into teaching got surprised in a big way for her 40th birthday yesterday by her husband who developed the most elaborate scheme ever from tampering with her car so it would not start to downloading a tracking device to her phone.  He had me delay her and deliver the cake and pick up other food while others played their various roles.  We all parked at a medical center with shuttle service to the house when it rained.  The elaborate scheme worked beautifully, and she absolutely loved the surprise. (Gift #819)  I was impressed that the headmaster, a board member, and most of the female teaching rhetoric teaching staff took three hours out of their day to attend.   We had a blast.  Here are a few pics.

The headmaster is in the suit and blue party hat.

I use a lot of puns, memes, and jokes in my class.  These two made me laugh this past week.

You got that RIGHT! :-)

Farewell to Bessie
I am a simple girl when it comes to vehicles.  I don't like buying cars anyway, so when I get one, I drive it for at least 140,000 miles before I even think of replacing it.  My ride for the past 11 years has been a Honda CR-V.  I put 145,000 miles on it.  I figured it has at least another 100,000 miles left on it, but my parents have been urging us to consider a newer vehicle, preferably a van.  We need more seating for all the other kids we usually want to haul with us on field trips, to/from parties, vacations, etc. But I have been refusing to acknowledge that I am in the van stage of life for at least the past 8 years.  It was time, but I was not ready to give up Bessie until some friends of ours from church who have six kids, three of which are drivers with two at ASU where a 4WD is a necessity, offered to buy our CR-V.

Dearest Bessie,

We bought you shortly after we learned that we were expecting our first born, for we knew you could handle lots of baby gear and keep our precious little one safe. You have been my faithful companion for the past 11 years through 3 moves, 2 pregnancies, multiple jobs, and so many other wonderful life adventures. Your 4WD kept us safe as we traversed through many ice/snow storms, for you have always been committed to maintaining traction and steady direction. You have been extremely low maintenance, never complaining or giving us fits. We will miss you but are so glad you will now be living with friends we love dearly. It's time for me to acknowledge that I'm past the youthful days of rugged recreation and must now embrace the big blue beast (which was made for moms of school age children) waiting for me in the garage you once called home. Take care of your new family, Bessie, and keep them safe! 

 

So, we bought an Odyssey van just like 80% of the other parents we know drive.   I hated it at first. It was like driving a beast.  But now, Vanessa the big blue van and I are getting along better.  The snazzy new features and extra seating have certainly been handy. (Gift #820)

 

Voice Text
I'm terrible at texting, so I love the new audio text feature on my phone where I just speak, and it converts my spoken words into written words.  Lately, I've been texting in a hurry without checking the screen or in the van using the van's fancy voice controls that let me keep my eyes on the road while speaking my texts.  Apparently, my phone does not understand my Southern accent because some of my texts have looked like this:

"Punch" should be "mulch".

This one was about the title transfer for the CR-V

Kid Quotes
After I served my family what I considered to be some tasty Asiago chicken burgers, my daughter's reaction reminded me of this comic strip. 

She told me, "Chicken is okay fried on a sandwich the Chick-Fil-A way, but burgers should never be comprised of anything except beef!"   So I guess it is no surprise that she did not see what was so funny about this comic. It says a lot about this entitlement culture we try so hard to parent out of our children. As our pastor mentioned on Sunday in probably more eloquent words than mine, if we would truly acknowledge the depths of our moral depravity such that we realize what we really deserve, we would stop crying out for justice and start pleading for mercy.  And I'm thinking our children would then receive whatever I serve them with at least the gratitude of a dog.  So the training continues...

You know your 2nd grader is in Mrs. B's class when you give him a big bear hug, and he says, "I usually like your hugs, but that one hurt my cranium." Cranium?  They are studying the skeletal system this quarter as evidenced by this macaroni man project.

Thanksgiving, Inspiration, Christmas Preparations, Giggles, and Songs

Our 10-Year-Old Deep Thinker's Recent Thoughts
While listening to Christmas songs on the radio, our 10-year-old said, "I think the song, 'O Christmas Tree' is too disrespectful. The way it proclaims 'OH Christmas tree' and 'how lovely are thy branches' sounds like tree worship."

Her insight that morning was a gift to me. (Gift #794)  Ironically, I was relating this comment to my Bible study later that evening, and she had heard the same song come on the radio at the same time (7:55am to be exact), my daughter heard it on the radio and she too had thought the same thing about the song as my daughter had said.  Gloria and I have been attending LAMBS together for many years, and we have been assigned to the same small group most years.  She and I would usually discuss Biblical truths at a wavelength the others either thought was strange or did not understand.  We've joked over the years about how we share the same brain, so I found it very interesting indeed that she would have the same thoughts that my daughter spoke at the same time. 

My daughter tends to be deeply reflective and highly sensitive like I am, so it has been fascinating to hear about what she's been thinking as she grows and matures. (Gift #795)  She'll find that being wired mentally like that is a double edged sword.  On one hand, you have profound insights and can easily develop critical thinking skills.  On the other hand, you can't turn your mind off when it is time to sleep, and you tend to over-analyze everything which makes decision-making very difficult.  There are a lot of pros and cons to thinking too much.

Recently, she's been pondering the Lordship of Christ (a good thing about which to think too much) and how salvation is not just about belief, for even the pagans believe, but about surrendering one's entire life to the Lord....not as a dead sacrifice but as a living sacrifice. (Gift #796)  Making Jesus Lord of your life is giving Him control and authority over your choices and doing all your work for His glory, not your own.

Over dinner last night, she explained that while reading about Josiah and the Passover sacrifices in 2 Chronicles during her personal Bible study, she was reminded that professing Christ as Lord is costly. She mused, "What if God asked me to sacrifice our bunny, Muffin? Would I give her up willingly for Him?"

Apparently Muffin overheard our conversation.

 So she did some fact checking.

While she knows that Christ's perfect sacrifice fully atoned for her sin so that animal sacrifices are no longer necessary (Gift #797), those thoughts inspired her to write a song about her decision to make Jesus Lord over her life (Gift #798).  She gave me permission to share her lyrics as a way of setting up a memorial stone for this place in her faith journey.  She's working on the music now.  Perhaps I can add a video of her singing it later.

Why should I fear when evil days come
When wicked deceivers surround me?
Well, I feel like I'm living that day now.
Everything is so soulless and empty.

Listen to our music! Look at our dances!
What is this world coming to?
I feel like something's missing.
I feel like my life's not true.

I've not been listening to my Holy Guide.
I've been letting the world decide.
What is wrong and what is right?
I want God to lead my life!

I've already decided!
So let's put the past behind.
Keep moving forward.
There's no stopping now.

Why should I fear when wicked deceivers surround me?
I'll keep moving forward
Thoughts swirling around in my head
My life in is His hands now!

Don't you see what I see?
I'm letting my God decide
I'm not the only one with choices!
He's for everyone!

(One of these stanzas is the chorus that she keeps repeating, but I'm not sure which one, so I left out all the chorus repeats.)

Christmas is approaching, and the kiddos are so excited.  While singing Christmas carols, our kid started singing the Christmas classic, "Let It Snow", to the tune of "Let It Go"....as if we can stand to hear the melody one more time. It's all your fault, Disney.

Tis the Season....
I recently had a realization....our daughter, who already has 12 hours of gymnastics a week & school/church responsibilities, also has 10 different drama/chorus productions, TKD belt testing, countless rehearsals, & various parties and doctor's appointments all within the next two weeks when I need to be lesson planning, teaching, Christmas decorating/shopping/cooking/card sending and packing for the family to fly to OK.  If she's been too sick to leave the house and audition, how did she end up in so many Christmas productions?  I can't figure it out, so I'm just staying up late and working down the punch list. Although this is the list I would rather follow:

Since we moved over Christmas last year, we did not get to decorate.  So this year, we get to figure out how to decorate a brand new house for Christmas.  We paid big bucks to move (twice) and store a house full of furniture while this house was being built.  Then when the house was done, we ended up replacing most of what we had stored with new furniture and decor since the old items did not match the new house.  Ugh...so much time and money wasted!  The same principle applied to our Christmas tree.  It needed to be replaced.   We finally bought a new tree after missing all the great Black Friday deals and settling for a meager 20% off a floor model whose lights stopped working as soon as we got home.  My husband spent two days (or approximately 6 football/basketball games) checking every bulb twice until he finally found the problem.  Here's our new tree in our living room next to the snow village that belonged to my late grandparents. 

We still need to refinish that buffet, but that's a very nice solid wood (almost antique) piece that has sentimental value and is in better condition that any of my brand new furniture, so I'm afraid I'll mess it up if I try to sand, stain or paint it.  The eclectic art work in our fine art room is the result of marrying into a family of Native American artists while I am still holding on to my more traditional European style pieces.

The mantel is almost done.  I want to put a light up glass present and a wreath, or a cross or something to that effect in the middle where the portrait is now.  The fact that the wooden train set is off center bothers me in this picture, but it's also proof my son has been playing with the decorations and enjoying them, so that makes me happy.

 

We moved the advent lighthouse to the breakfast nook dining table so the kids can enjoy it from all sides.  That tradition means so much to the kids.  (Gift #799) We change out the advent readings each year to keep it interesting for them.  This year's selected advent verses have associated family activities to go along with them.  I'm all for some kinesthetic learning to reinforce the reading passage. (Gift #800)

We have also been trying to take more pics of the kids with the hope of using one for our Christmas cards.   I also needed an 8-year photo of our November birthday boy.

Looking great at 8!

We attempted some family shots at my aunt and uncle's house.  He's a big hunter (bear, deer, ducks), so the gun on the mantel may possibly offend some of our Christmas card recipients, so we  used the lake view shot instead.

This one looks like my pants are on fire! :-)

At least Nana got a photo of all her grandchildren for her Christmas cards.

We ended up using a collage showing snapshots of all the many changes for our family since we sent out Christmas cards last year.  Some of those changes include:

• We said goodbye to Cody and welcomed Muffin into our family.

• We FINALLY moved into a new house!
• We stopped homeschooling, and my son enrolled into the same private Christian school his sister had started attending a semester earlier.  That was hard for all of us.  It was quite a transition for everyone, and both kids and I often wish we were homeschooling so we could sleep in, move at a much faster pace, have flexible hours, stop wearing uniforms, enjoy much shorter school days, have MUCH more money in our pockets, and have more control over the kids' education.  But for reasons I will not go into, my husband felt it was best for the kids to go to this school for now.
• Then I started teaching at the school this past fall, and I realized it's a much better place that I initially thought.  What they may lack in academics, they more than make up for in discipleship and loving nurture, and we have a team in place, which includes myself, working to greatly improve the math/science program.  God is doing great things there, and I feel privileged to be teaching seniors and tutoring students of all ages at this school. (Gift #801)

Where I teach and our kids learn

• Our daughter started competitive gymnastics and showed us that she has quite a bit of God given athletic ability.  (Gift #802)  Through gymnastics, she has learned to face her fears and turn her weaknesses into strengths (beam example). (Gift #803)
• Our kids and my husband all started studying Tae Kwon Do together with the venerable Master Lee (who we believe is a committed Christian though he isn't very vocal about it).  They are all green belts now. How our daughter keeps progressing when she goes only about 10% as often as the guys go (due to so much time at gymnastics) is amazing to me.  I love to watch them exercising and growing in discipline together. (Gift #804)  That alone is worth all the high costs.  I wish I was taking lessons too, but with all the kids' extracurricular activities costing us almost as much as tuition, I denied myself.  Besides, I need that time alone at home to do lesson plans and to train with my own faster, high intensity mixed martial arts and weight lifting programs.

 

Thanksgiving
We had the best Thanksgiving ever this year.  It was busy and hectic, mind you, as I did all my usual Christmas  deal shopping and cooking, and I also hosted a super fun dinner party (Gift #805) for new teacher friends I call the A-Team (two days of cooking & cleaning for the 4 hour party).  In addition, I made time to design and create 95 detailed PowerPoint slides, 5 handouts, 2 experiments, 3 simulations, and 3 games to teach my beloved students the intricacies of probability theory.  But in the midst of all the rush, God had a wonderful surprise in store for all of us.

When I was a very little girl, I had a favorite cousin.  I guess that isn't saying a whole lot since I only had two cousins, one brother and a few aunts and uncles on both sides of my family combined, but this cousin was someone I admired.  He was kind to me when the others teased me.  He was charming, handsome, and devoted to our family.  He was considerably older than me. He enlisted in the army when I was still in elementary school, soI never got to know him well.  Something changed when he returned.  He got married and left our family. We never heard from him again, not even when our grandparents and great-grandma died. It's been probably 30 years since I last saw him.  I was an awkward middle schooler in braces with wings cut in the front of my short hair and a tight perm in the back.  It was a hideous way for him to remember me, but thankfully, I don't think he remembered me at all.

Over the past few years, his first wife fell ill and died, and he later married a wonderful woman who encouraged him to rejoin our family.  He walked back into our family for real on Thanksgiving Day, and I was so excited I could hardly stand it. (Gift #806)  And then when I consider that our Abba Father rejoices infinitely more than I ever could when one of His precious children comes home, I am completely undone. How great is the Father's love for us!  (Gift #807) I was reminded of the father in the parable of the prodigal son (though I would not dare call my cousin a prodigal) wanting to run out to meet him and serve him the best I had to offer.  All has been long forgiven, so it was time to celebrate.  Welcome home, Jeffrey!  We love you!

My husband took this picture just as he and his wife walked into my aunt and uncle's front door.  He did not recognize me at all.  He looked the exact same to me except he had less hair.

The Thanksgiving food was delicious as always.

And the kids were silly as expected.

 Nana kept her ornament tradition for the grandchildren.

Personalized Tae Kwon Do black belt figures!

 

Inspirational
I was so thankful for these double rainbows one recent afternoon which served as a double reminder that He is always faithful and always keeps His promises. (Gift #808)

After waiting nine years for my sailor to come home (spiritually & logistically), several years to conceive our first child, five years to sell our last house, and enduring countless other episodes of waiting, we've learned a lot about waiting.  This article sums up those lessons quite well.

Probability and Apologetics
While preparing to introduce a new unit on probability to my statistics class, I have been digging up some probability calculations. This process has me thanking God for the way he reveals Himself through probability and statistics.  Consider the evidence that Jesus is the Messiah. We know of at least 353 prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, though Edersheim claimed that there were 456. The probability of Jesus fulfilling only 8 is 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000.

The calculated probability for Him fulfilling only 48 is 1 in 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000!

Imagine what the probability would be of fulfilling all 456!

The probability of a single protein molecule coming into existence by mere chance is "1 in 10 to the 300th power,” or 1 in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000!

Yet, the probability that an omniscient, omnipotent God could create every molecule in the universe is 1 to 1! (Gift #809)

Parenting
"Deresiewicz claims that..... Instead of being nurtured towards real curiosity and a genuine sense of citizenship, these millennials are conditioned to think that everything they do is for the purpose of looking good in the eyes of admissions officers and employers: you earn good grades not because they mean you are learning something, but rather because they will help you stand out from your peers when applying to the Ivies. You engage in community service not because you wish genuinely to make a positive difference in the lives of others but rather because that is how you burnish your resume -- service as check-off box. You play sports not because they build character and teamwork and are a whole lot of fun, but because you want to try to get recruited for a college team. You study art or music not because you wish to refine your understanding of human nature, creativity and culture but because it will help you look smarter. There is little intrinsic value in what you do." 

This article totally leaves out that the key component to joy & fulfillment & realizing true meaning and purpose in life is through total trust in, commitment to, and vibrant relationship with Christ as we glorify Him, but it still raises much needed awareness over the sad state of many students of this age.  I'm including the quote and link here as a reminder to keep my kids focused on what really matters.