How much PASSION do you have?

As I was walking down the hallway in C-Town today, I noticed the back of one of the athletic shirts. I think it was a football one. It said:

   Passion
   Passio'

To suffer

How much PASSION do you have?

I did not expect to find such a deep thought on the back of a football team t-shirt. Yet, if you think about, how cool is it what sports can instill in a person. To win takes discipline, practice, hard work, sacrifice - it takes some suffering. Do the students really think about a deeper meaning of the quote on the back of their shirts? Maybe not. Maybe. 

I also stumbled across this quote this evening:

"Teaching is not a profession, it is a passion." - Unknown

Hmm. So to win in teaching, to really make a difference in the lives of students is to suffer; hard work, long hours, discipline, practice, sacrifice. No wonder I get little me time and even less time to go spend with friends and family. But, it is the life I have chosen, and the life God has chosen for me. For the students, to help them become better people and productive members of society, for them I'm willing to suffer. I have PASSION for teaching.

Mother Teresa stated, "The most wasted gift is the gift of suffering." With the other two quotes in this blog, this quote takes on a bit of a different meaning for me than it has all year. Well, not so much a different meaning, but a new perspective towards the same meaning.  The thought that comes to my mind is, "How much are you willing to give?" Whether for a team or for a career, what are you willing to give? It's not so much counting the cost, but the willingness to freely give of yourself.

The FFA chapter t-shirts this year have the quote, "You make living by what you get. You make a life by what you give." (Winston Churchill). Too often we are concerned with what we are getting out of the deal or situation. Instead, we should focus on what we can give. Therefore, I ask, what are you giving your life to? How much PASSION do you have?

Any wonder why we call it Christ's PASSION? Aww-spiration.

"Death With A Purpose Gives Full Meaning to Life"

A big thanks to Trent Loos of LoosTales for sharing his message at the Southeast District FFA Greenhand Conference over a week ago. This particular quote caught my attention and spurred my thoughts to some deeper thinking. Of course, his message was geared towards agricultural practices that provide and use the food, fiber, and natural sources that make the world go round. More simple put, we've got to harvest the crops to feed to livestock (and people), and butcher the livestock to feed the world. There is a purpose to the death that occurs. 

My deeper thoughts go in the direction of faith, religion, and scripture, as well as how we live that out. John 12:24 goes like this:

"Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit."

I might be mistaken, but I'm certain that is a direct correlation to agriculture. Unless the seed, fruit, or plant dies - stops receiving or transporting nutrients from the soil and halts the process of converting sunlight to usable energy, called photosynthesis, the life cycle would never end, and never begin again. One plant or seed must die or order to produce more, to bear fruit. Agriculture is a cycle of life. Agriculture is also a vehicle by which we teach the cycle of life (another Trent Loos lesson from a time when he spoke at K-State...).

So it is with us. I don't mean in the literal sense (but I do), but rather in the spiritual sense. As we die to self, which could consist of discipline in exercising, diet, chores, homework, serving others, or whatever your fancy, we bear fruit for others. This semester I've opted not to have a tv in my living quarters. If there was one here, and I were spending time watching it, I know I would probably not be doing what I should be doing. I have students to teach, who need a student teacher that knows what she is doing (I'm learning...). Thus for my students, I don't watch tv. I do still get in a movie from time to time.

In 2009, I decided to give up chocolate. Yup. No chocolate for a whole year. I did really good, except for a couple of occasions. I started out doing this for myself - to build discipline. I figured if I could say no to something small, it would help me to say no to bigger things, including student involvement on campus. All in all, I did grow in the virtue of PRUDENCE. However, at some point in the year, I decided to add an intention or intentions to my giving up chocolate. As Catholics, we believe that we share in the sufferings of Christ when we willing chose to embrace the cross in our life. 

Colossians 1:24 "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church, ..."

"Col. 1:24 - Paul rejoices in his sufferings and completes what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of His body. This proves the Catholic position regarding the efficacy of suffering. Is there something lacking in Christ's sufferings? Of course not. But because Jesus loves us so much, He allows us to participate in His redemptive suffering by leaving room in His mystical body for our own suffering. Our suffering, united with our Lord's suffering, furthers the work of His redemption."(www.scripturecatholic.com/suffering.html)

We, the Church, are the Body of Christ. We can suffer for one another (though without Christ, our suffering is incomplete). Christ was crucified before He rose from the death. The grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies before rising again and producing new wheat, or fruit. I rejoice in my sufferings (I try, I really do) for the good of the whole Catholic Church throughout the world, and the good of all humanity. What an aww-esome gift God gave to us - the gift of suffering. Next time you say no (to selfishness=death), say yes to offering it up for someone (love=purpose). God Bless!

Exactly Where I'm Supposed to Be

On a Saturday evening in late September, I'm sitting in the high school agricultural education classroom lesson planning. Nerd? I think so. Well maybe just a little. I want to follow up on my blog post from Wednesday. It seems my life has kind of taken a 180 degree turn in the last couple of days. And it's a great mental break from thinking about the classes I'm teaching.

Having lived in southeast Kansas for just over a month now, God has already enlightened me in many ways. We all know that hindsight is 20/20, at least when we can see the whole picture. As I look back on the content I've taught to my Introduction to Agriculture students, I can see how what I thought they should already know is not as realistic as it could be. Also, I can envision what needs to happen before Greenhand Conference four days from now.  Once we understand where we have been, it's easier to take strides forward, rather than baby steps.

My cooperating teacher is wonderful. She's an established teacher who knows the content well, has great rapport with her students, and knows what works in this environment and community.  What's the issue? In my three weeks of teaching, I've tried to teach her way, not my way. It was making me miserable. Trying to keep going and survive each day, I did not enough have the chance to step back and take a look at my situation. Time and time again, it seems, I re-learn the lesson to be myself. After receiving a sort of pep talk from my professor, my confidence sky rocketed and I began to have more fun, not just in front of students, but all around. I've laughed more in the last three days than I did in the two weeks prior it seems. Not to mention, my cooperating teacher has given me more freedom to teach our students in my style.

In listening to Fr. Robert Baron's homily for this weekend (www.wordonfire.org), he notes that we should ask ourselves "Why has God permitted me to have this wealth?" He is referencing Lazarus the beggar and the rich man - all that could be another post. I allowed myself to think deeper about the question he prompted. "Why has God permitted me to become a teacher?" He is using me as his instrument to make a positive difference in the lives of young people. But more importantly, I am His instrument for sharing His love with all those I meet. Granted, I'm not always the most charitable in the ways in which I educate others. That is something I need to work on.

Tangent: If you have ever read 7 Habits, I'm in aww of God at how re-reading that book in order to teach it is reminding me to apply these to my life, once again. At this point in time, particularly habits 1 and 5.

1. Be proactive - not reactive to my situation.

5. Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood - understand my students.

I apologize for the randomness that this post seems to be taking. It makes sense to me. Hopefully the pieces connect for you too. 

Finally, two prayers that are daily reminders to me of God's goodness. 

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next. Amen.

 Prayer from St. Theresa of the Child Jesus (St. Therese)

May today there be peace within. May you trust your highest power 

that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget 

the infinite possibilities born of faith. May you use those gifts that you 

have received and pass on the love that has been given to you. 

May you be content knowing you are a child of God. 

Allow His presence to settle in your bones and 

allow your soul to sing, dance, praise, and love.

It is there for each and every one of you. 

I am exactly where God wants me to be - where I am supposed to be. 

Finding Rock

Student teaching in the first month or at least in the first couple of weeks has not exactly what I thought it would be. In all honesty, I really was not sure what it was going to be. I knew that would I be living by myself at least three hours away from anyone who new me well. I knew that I would be stepping into an established teacher's classroom and learning everything I could. I knew that almost nothing would be familiar to me.

When I first went to K-State, I was in a similar situation. The familiar that I found there was mass, and not just on Sundays, but on weekdays as well. That was my rock - daily mass. Here in the SEK, with a teacher's schedule, daily mass is not exactly an option. Therefore, for the first couple of week's I've found myself without a rock. Not only was I without a rock, but it took and outsider's perspective of my situation to tell me that I didn't have a rock to keep me grounded.

Yesterday, we celebrated the feast of St. Matthew, the apostle. In getting to attend mass (it is not as scarce as I first thought, but it does take a small sacrifice for me to make it there), Fr. Bernie noted the foundation of the Catholic Church, the apostles. No matter the wind or turmoil that comes our way, we have a foundation.

So we, too, personally, should have our foundation, our rock. I am to be firmly grounded as the person God created me to be. However, in the new environment, and the grace of a strong faith, I've struggled to have a rock, someone or someones to hold me accountable to who I am and who God created me to be.

This past weekend, I visited friends in Atchison at Benedictine College. Julie noticed that lack of peace within me. Today, my college professor came to visit and reminded me that I'm not yet being the Jackie he knows I can be. We each have a foundation or a rock in our lives. If we don't recognize it or take advantage of it, we neglect it, and might find ourselves falling off of our foudation. Stay grounded. You might falter a bit from time to time and that's okay. So long as you come back to your foundatoin. Allow those around you to be your rock. God put them in our lives for a reason. Isn't he great? Aww-spiration.