Sunday, May 29, 2005

Hypocrisy

Too few chairs. Two sisters. Angry whispers.
"Can you scoot over?"
"No, because then she won't have enough room."
"But I was here first."
"shhh"

The chorus swells, and I join in.

I'm coming back to the heart of worship
And it's all about You...
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it
When it's all about you

"Christians don't tell lies; they just go to church and sing them."
-Keith Green

Oh Father, forgive me.

Sunday, May 22, 2005

Brotherly love

We are trying to teach our boys to love each other. Nathan and William enjoy playing together, but they fight often. Sometimes, we think they are making progress. Other times, however, their sinful natures take over.

After I picked William up from Sunday school today, I took him into the main service room. Three-year-old Benjamin was standing next to his parents, and William, seemingly without cause, ran up to him and knocked him over. I was horrified and embarrassed. I tried to extract an apology from my little brother and then took him to the side to talk to him.

On the way home, I related the story to my family. "William," my mom said. "Why did you do that?" From the back row came an innocent and penitent little voice: "I didn't know he wasn't Natey."

Let brotherly love continue.

Friday, May 20, 2005

An update on life

Today marked the culmination of my first week of school. A weekend break will be nice. As much as I enjoy four hours of straight note taking...

Summer is finally showing itself. Although today's high was only around 95 degrees, the humidity caused my family to head to the neighborhood pool for refuge for the majority of the morning. The little boys are beginning to look like little brown Indians, and the garden is yielding an abundance of sweet, crunchy green beans. Ahhh. Summer.

I've been struck with the importance of introducing children to the finest of the arts while they are still young. As children, my sisters and I spent many Saturdays at the Dallas Museum of Art. Homeschooling granted us ample opportunity to go to the Dallas Symphony or the opera. Today, my parents continue in the tradition of instilling a love of art in their children. Having successfully bequeathed this love to their daughters, they are now working on their sons, ages three and four. I came home from college to find William humming along with Tchaikovsky's Waltz of the Flowers. Yesterday, the boys went to several of the Fort Worth museums.
What a difference from the children in the school I observed last semester. A tuneless song about pizza instead of Tchaikovsky; cheap examples of still life instead of the great works of art. When I become a teacher, I hope I never insult my students with second-rate art. Children can and must learn to appreciate the best.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

C.S. Lewis

"An unliterary man may be defined as one who reads books once only."
-C.S. Lewis-

Monday, May 16, 2005

The studies begin

My psychology class started today. The teacher opened class with a few words on the classroom, a windowless room stuck in a back corner of the building. This was one of her favorites, she explained. "It's like we're all little moles, buried back in this room." "Oh, no,” I thought. "What have I signed myself up for?"

In one morning, we covered the major psychologists throughout the ages, the various studies in psychology, the experimentation process of psychology, the major terms in psychology, and the biological aspect of psychology. I'm sure it will all stick long-term, too.

So, I'm back at the place where I spent my senior year of high school. It's good to be back. Well, OK, not really. LeTourneau has spoiled me. I'd forgotten about the school where the woman in front of me smells like cigarette smoke, the teachers use cuss words, and the students (many of which are adults) look depressed and lifeless. Oh well, though. By the end of June, I'll be finished with classes and will have nine more credit hours to my name.

Sunday, May 15, 2005

Summer Fun

School is over, and summer is here. In an attempt to stop looking back and begin looking toward the summer ahead of me, here are some things that I like about summertime.

I like homegrown vegetables and gardens filled with wildflowers. I arrived home from school to find tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, and strawberries growing in our small backyard garden. The wildflower garden is bare, but time and patience should remedy that.

I like cookouts with the neighbors. The dads gather by the grill while the moms place carrots, green peppers, watermelon, chips, and dip on the table indoors. We older girls meet at the trampoline and tree fort in the green belt behind the house, laughing together and teasing our little brothers. Soon, the burgers are ready. A dad calls us up, and we all group together as another dad blesses the food. Time stands still as we eat, talk, play, and catch fireflies.

I like coming home to a cool, dark house after a long morning at the swimming pool. The little boys soon fall asleep, the smell of chlorine thick on their brown bodies. We older girls read or study. No summer would be complete without learning something. Whether we choose to study Spanish, linguistics, history, science, or literature or opt for a skill like cooking or a new musical instrument, we must continue gaining knowledge.

I like afternoons at the lake. I hold on to the tube as it speeds across the water. Mr. Gregory, the boat's driver, swerves back and forth, trying to get the tube out of the wake. I feel it tipping. I lean. Oh, oh, I'm not going to make it. The tube flips over. I tumble out. The water rushes past; my breath is knocked out. I don't know what happened. Is this earth, heaven, some land in between the worlds? I feel strange. Is this what death feels like? Then I come to my senses. I'm floating face down in the water. I come up and see Mr. Gregory turning the boat around. When he comes back, I grab the tube and pull myself on, ready for another try.
This year will be different. I'll have both work and school. I'll still have time for summer though. Yes, I'm glad that summertime is here.

Saturday, May 14, 2005

The First Post

In order to better communicate with my LETU friends, I have joined the ranks of bloggers. I fought long and hard against technology -- just ask my sisters -- , but it finally won. IM, e-mail, Blog -- next thing I know, I'll be a computer science major!