A Thank You

There are only six weeks left of my high school career.  As such, I would like to pause and thank everyone who has helped me get here.  There are many people who go completely unnoticed.  There are janitors who have kept my learning environment clean.  There are lunch ladies who provide a hot lunch for 180 days of school for hundreds of grumpy and unappreciative kids.  People at my church have sent me notes of encouragement.  The IT department keeps the computer system up and running at school and I am thankful for that.   One particular member of the IT department who has proven himself to be a kind person, helping me think through a few issues on occasion, or just take a brain break from homework to chat with him.  He could have been working, but he has cared enough to sit and talk.

My best friend's mom who is also my swim coach and was my math teacher has been a great help through these past couple of years.  My parents have been a phenomenal amount of support through late night study sessions and long projects.  My senior mentor has been sincere and caring, but also laid-back enough to let me motivate myself.  My Sunday school teachers have been able to answer questions and talk through issues, guiding me to think more Biblically and morally.  My youth pastors, who are understanding of a hectic schedule, answer silly questions about whatever we are learning so that I may more fully understand Biblical concepts and apply them to my life (hopefully).

The people who wrote letters of recommendation for me are definitely appreciated.  I'm not sure what each one wrote about me, but it was good to know that they were willing to say good things about me.

My friends from when I was homeschoolled in Mexico who helped me learn how to speak their language and who were ever-patient as I stuttered through simple sentences in an attempt to communicate were helpful as I experience an entirely new world of culture.  When I moved back to the U.S. and experienced reverse-culture-shock my American friends were a great net of support for me.

My elementary and high school teachers have been a great help when I needed help understanding a concept, or when I just needed to talk. And yes, this includes both of my parents when I was homeschoolled.  They really were great.

My grandparents and extended family are always around when I need help, or just need a place to crash for an evening if I just want to be out of the house for a few hours.  The ones who live farther away have brought me smiles with Skype video chats and visits.  Sometimes it's nice to have an excuse to travel.

I am truly blessed by God to have these people in my life.  Without Him I would not be here, and I'm thankful that He has helped me push through every challenge and trial that has come my way.  As I move passed high school, most of these people will no longer be as readily available for me to talk to, but I know that my God will stay with me. He will show me the way.

***I'm sure I've forgotten one category of people or another, and for that I'm sorry.  As I wrote this, I would think I was done and then think of more people.  Please know that I do appreciate all of my viewers and seeing the counter rise is a lot of fun.  In that way and others all of my viewers have been helpful.***

Living in Reckless abandon for Jesucristo,
Jo

Motivational Posters

While sitting in my English class yesterday, I was looking around the room at the posters the teacher has hanging up in her room.  They had the same kinds of things as the posters in this picture.  However, there is one thing that bothers me about these "Pillars of Character."  These "pillars" have absolutely no foundation.

Over two years ago, I was living in Mexico.  Our living quarters were nearly 100% concrete.  However, when the place was constructed, the pillars that held the ceiling up had not been connected at the bottom.  As such, after the building was "complete"(the building itself was still in construction, but the part we were living in was complete) the pillars began to settle into the ground.  As they sunk in, they sunk at different rates.  It wasn't bad enough to cause the ceiling to come crashing in, but it was enough to cause a lot of leaks in our ceiling.  There was one leak directly above where I sat and worked on school work, which dripped just often enough to keep me awake.  The leaking was obviously a very bad thing.

The same thing is happening with these "Pillars of Character".  The pillars are strong.  They have good values, good lessons, and good morals.  However, if we do not provide a foundation for the pillars to stand on, the ceiling, at the very least, is going to have some leaks. If you continue building on a cracked and warped roof, you will soon realize that something is going to collapse. As more and more people grow up and have been taught to be a "good person," but have not been taught the reason behind being moral, we will run into problems until we somehow fix the foundation.

What is the foundation?  Or rather, who is the foundation?

Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  Matthew 22:37

Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

Matthew 7:24

The Bible tells us that God is our foundation.  Jesus sums up all of the "Pillars of Character" in one command.  It is good to have morals and convictions.  It is vital to know and recognize the foundation of these morals and convictions, for if there is no reason, there is no motivation. 

And while searching for a picture to post with this blog I ran across this picture.  It made me laugh, so I decided to end this post with it.