Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.
Romans 12:11

Did you know that the word enthusiastic means full of God? When God tell us never to lack zeal or enthusiasm – He is telling us to always be full of him {God}. Be full of God. What are God’s characteristics, and how can we be full of them? Loving, strong, passionate, fair, fearless, zealous, compassionate, steadfast, and so much more. Enthusiastic people are game changers. They are world shakers. They are passionate leaders.They are eager to tackle whatever tasks lie before them, and they are on a mission to persuade everyone around them to do the same. Are they often in a state of negativity? No way. When you are truly full of God there isn’t room for negativity. How is it possible to serve God with zeal when we are constantly being pulled this way and that way? How can we be enthusiastic when we are absolutely exhausted and can barely put one foot in front of the other ? 2 Corinthians 12:9 states, “But He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” I am so thankful for that truth. As a working mom that totes kids from place to place, some days I am just smooth exhausted. It’s hard to be zealous when you can barely keep your eyelids open. As modern day moms, our minds are constantly spinning. We are rushed, overwhelmed, and by Friday afternoon we are downright lethargic. But thank God for this truth – when we are weak and exhausted, God is strong. When we can’t put one foot in front of the other, God says let me carry you. God is lifting us up. God can and will place in our hearts the joy and zeal to do whatever tasks He is calling us to complete, and we can do these things with excitement because we know God’s promises will be fulfilled. We can serve others with excitement because we know that Heaven is waiting. We can keep going day by day because we know that God is in us. We are full of God. We are called to be enthusiastic. We are going to work as hard as we can to make God’s kingdom bigger, and we are going to have a huge smile on our face all the way to the finish line.

Dear God, today give me that extra pep in my step that I need to keep working enthusiastically for you. When I grow weary please send me a gentle reminder of what the end goal is – to expand your Kingdom. To do that I need to be a light to others around me. I need to be excited about Heaven. I need to be excited to serve. Amen.

“As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” 1 Peter 4:10

I absolutely love music, and I love to hear people sing. I love the piano. A young lady at our church plays the harp, and when she does I sit back in awe. However, I am well aware that music is not my gift. Although I will rock out to praise and worship music at the top of my lungs in my vehicle, I highly doubt I will ever, EVER, stand in front of a congregation on a Sunday morning and sing a solo. I’m so glad, and you should be as well! I’m so glad that God created all of us so differently. Each of us plays a huge role on this
stage that God calls life. Psalms 139:14 states, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” He made us all different because there are so many different jobs and areas of service. We can’t do it all, but we can use the talent He gave us to do our part well. He knew that it would take all of us working together and using our various strengths to grow his Kingdom. I love looking around at the different people in my life and seeing them use their talents to shine for Jesus. I have friends that sew, crochet, cook, sing, play instruments, teach, pray, listen, create, love, lead, build, etc. I could go on and on. The amazing thing about our talents is that God is intricately weaving them all together. We see just a tiny glimpse of what is happening, of who God is using to do what. But God, God sees the big puzzle. And even though we are so very different, in the end, we will all mesh together perfectly. Maybe you wish you had a different gift to give. Maybe you wish you could serve in a different area. Just know that God gave you that gift for a reason. He knew you could take your talents and do amazing things and touch hearts somehow, someway. Romans 12:6-7 states, “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching.”
Today I have two challenges for you. The first is to pray about the gifts that God gave you and how you can utilize them to serve others. My second challenge is to look around at your friends and co-workers. Lift them and their gifts up. Help them feel confident to serve others using their talents. Sometimes one honest compliment is all it takes to spark the heart of a believer.

God, help me to use the gifts that you have given me in the best way possible. I want to help expand Heaven. Whatever I need to do, to work on, let me know. Help me to be confident in the gifts you have given me. Please help me lift others up in reassurance in the areas that they should be serving in as well. We are all in this together. Amen.

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
Colossians 3:23-24

This has always been one of my favorite scriptures. My father’s service in the Navy definitely had an impact on how my sisters and I were raised. He instilled in us at a very young age to always work hard and to always finish what we started.
In sports, we knew his expectations. Give 100%. Don’t complain. And even if you got hurt you better not cry on the field or the court. We had a team that was counting on us. That meant you showed up, showed out, and you certainly didn’t miss practice. I believe that God’s expectations for us in regards to our work ethic and servanthood are the same. Maybe you feel like you are stuck in a meaningless job where you don’t receive the credit
or the accolades that you deserve. Maybe you are feeling overworked and underpaid. Maybe God called you to serve in the trenches, but He called your friend to stand in the spotlight. This is where we truly have to die to our flesh and own selfish desires. We are here to glorify God. Not ourselves. We are to be Jesus to the world. Jesus worked hard. Jesus served hard. Jesus showed up. He didn’t expect a round of applause, and when times got tough He leaned on his Father. Philippians 4:13 states, “I
can do all things through Him who gives me strength.” God doesn’t want Christianity depicted or associated with laziness. He wants his army to be strong, determined, dedicated individuals that represent hope. He wants us to be light in the darkness. It is so important to remember that our job IS our mission field. It is so important to remember that some co-workers or clients may never step foot into a church. We may be the only Jesus they get a glance of, and if we are lazy, grumbling individuals proclaiming Jesus – well, you get it. No matter how pointless your daily tasks may seem to you, the way you complete them is extremely important to furthering God’s Kingdom. Let’s work for God. Let’s work with passion.

Dear God, please help me to remember that every single task that I complete today is for you. Help me to serve and to work with my whole entire heart. Help me to be passionate. Help me shake off any lazy tendencies that may try to rise up, and when I want to quit remind me that Jesus never quit. Let me never forget that with your strength I can do anything. Amen.

“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Mark 10:45

The ultimate act of servanthood was played out when Jesus sacrificed his actual life to save millions of people that he had not yet physically met. Jesus gave it all. Literally. He didn’t have to. He is, after all, God’s son. He could have easily cried out, “Father, I don’t want to. I’ve changed my mind.” Throughout Jesus’ short life there are many scenarios we can look at, small to big, in which Jesus clearly shows us how to serve others. Jesus washed feet. He served dinner. Jesus healed. Jesus prayed. Jesus calmed the storm. Jesus was so profoundly in tune with his surroundings and others’ needs that He felt someone touch the hem of His cloak. I don’t think God wants us to inundate ourselves with massive projects of service to others 24/7. This would cause us to become unable to genuinely minister to others with the same dedication that Christ did. I do, however, think God wants us to serve where we are in the best way possible. Once again, the only true way to do this is by putting our own selfish desires to the side and thinking of others first. That may not always be comfortable. In fact, it won’t be. But God didn’t call us to be comfortable. How can we serve others where we are? We can start by listening. By remembering how it feels to be in different situations. We can stay after the meeting and help pick up trash instead of leaving the entire workload on one person. We can cook for the tired, new momma whose baby is keeping her up all night long. We can do yard work for the lady whose husband recently passed away. We might not be able to heal someone, but we certainly can send up prayers for them. Jesus was in the trenches, and that’s not glamorous. Yet, everywhere we look society is begging us to self-indulge. To make more money. To live well beyond our means. To go, go, go. To get the best for our self. I bet the devil loves Americans and our fast-paced lifestyle. He knows that when we are so wrapped up in our own selfish ambitions that we cannot spread the love of Jesus readily, which in turn makes us unable to help grow God’s Kingdom. To be more like Jesus we will need less self and more devotion to reach out and support our neighbors.

God, today I pray that you will continually remind me that I am not here to serve myself but to serve others. Help me see opportunities as they arise. Guide me in the direction that you would have me to help my neighbors. Help me remember that Jesus’ main focus was to serve others, and that should be my focus as well. Amen.

Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart. – 1 Peter 1:22

The above verse speaks about us purifying our souls in hopes to sincerely love our brothers and sisters. I think we accomplish that when we truly lay down our selfish wants and needs and seek to serve others first. The fact that we are living in such a “me” society is a true testament to how extremely skewed the real meaning of love has become. Love is now very conditional. There are motives. Strings attached. A love for self. What will you do for me? What will I get out of this? I deserve so much more. Don’t you know who I am? But God does not want us living in that frame of mind. Luke 6:31 states, “Treat others the same way you want them to treat you,” and that verse does not end with an “unless” or “if” clause. It is pretty straightforward. We need to love one another no matter what. It doesn’t matter if we are tired, or stressed, or if the other person was downright ugly to us. It does not matter if they are the same religion, color, or in the same tax bracket. They may have posted something on Facebook that totally rubbed us the wrong way, but we are called to love. This type of love isn’t a romantic,  emotional attachment to someone. God’s love serves regardless of circumstances. God’s love is a covenant that has no limitations. How can we fervently love one another from the heart? We can start small by putting our phone away and reading a book to our child. We can go big by giving up our much needed day of rest to help someone move. We need to relentlessly seek out ways to show others the love of Christ. From opening the door for someone with their hands full, to giving away everything we have to serve in another country, there is not an act too small or too large when we are trying to expand God’s Kingdom. Love is always the right avenue. Love always wins.

Dear God, John 13:35 states,”By this, all will know that you are My disciples, if you have a love for one another.” Help me to live this out loud. Please let me be so saturated in your love that it pours out of my heart and spreads to others. Help me to fervently love my friends, my family, my co-workers, and anyone else that I may come in contact with. Help me be still and listen so I can know what needs they are struggling to meet alone. Help me love. Amen.

 

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 15:13

God isn’t asking us to physically die in this passage. He is asking us to die to our flesh. Every. Single. Day. Which in retrospect is much harder than the first. Why? Because we are a me society. Selfish. Entitled. To put aside our own feelings and needs day in and day out is an almost inconceivable task, but that is what God is asking. It is something that we have to be intentional about daily. It is a task that we have to focus on all day long. It doesn’t come naturally. Laying down our own life is symbolic of laying down our own selfish desires. I keep trying to think of small ways to lay aside my needs/wants to better meet the needs of others around me. A great starting point is just stopping and listening to the people around us. That’s hard because we are so rushed. We have so many tasks daily that we need to complete; however, when we stop and pause we can learn a lot from our friends’ words/body language. In a society that has us going ninety to nothing we often get caught up in what I need to do. Where I need to be next. We miss out on sharing a kind word. We miss out on seeing the pain in someone’s eyes. We miss the fact that people all around us are truly struggling with deep pain and issues that are strangling them. The devil is telling us that we need, that we have to have, to keep going and work harder. Don’t stop. Why? Because he knows that we are missing the one fundamental trait of Christianity when we are so rushed – and that is truly serving and meeting the needs of others.

God, today my prayer is that you would help me to pause. To stop. To listen. Help me to see my friends and coworkers, my husband and my kids, through your eyes today. Help me to see their needs, and help me better serve them in the same way Christ served everyone around him. Please help me put my needs and wants to the side and really focus on others. I want to be more like you, Jesus. And I want to help make Your kingdom bigger. Amen.

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. –Galatians 5:13

Being bound by the rules of today’s society is a very real thing. If we are not careful we can become so caught up in keeping up with unreachable standards that we end up beaten down and broken-hearted. We will always be grasping for one more trinket, new clothes, houses, cars, new titles, a higher education, yet we will still never feel quite good enough. These “things” are not bad, but they are bad when they control us. This is the epitome of modern day bondage. In a country where we pride ourself on freedom, it is truly sad to realize that our so-called freedom is enslaving us. Our freedom allows us to go to college, work long hours, buy vacation homes, and spend a crazy amount of time on extracurricular activities with our kids. Once again, these “things” can be good – in moderation. However, when they become the driving force of 28 out of 24 hours of our day then we have a major problem. We are handcuffed to tasks and do not even realize it. I am 100% guilty of this “gain more” mentality. God is calling us to be free of these things so that our hearts and innermost beings can be focused on serving others. So many people around us are truly struggling with life. They may barely be scraping by, which makes them unable to pay their bills and feed their children. If we are so far in debt, making six figures a year but living paycheck to paycheck, then we are unable to help them. On the other hand, our neighbor may be extremely wealthy but have a heart that longs for companionship. If we are so bound to the daily grind, with a schedule that makes our head spin, then we will not be able to serve them in the true act of friendship. God says not to use our freedom to indulge our own desires, but to use the freedom that we have been so graciously granted to serve our neighbors in love.

Luke 4:18 paints a beautiful picture of how we can serve others in true love and what our focus should be on: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.

God, today I pray that you will free me of anything that is taking my focus off of you and the expansion of your Kingdom. Let me live in Your freedom, which is the freedom to serve others. Please release any chains that are holding me back. Please help me move past the desire to serve myself. Help me not to live in a state of entitlement anymore. Help others see Your love through me. Amen.

 

 

We have developed a badge system in our district where teachers can earn badges by completing various technology tasks. This month my group of Tech Champions had the challenge to create a badge that teachers can earn. The following is what 1st grade teacher Natalee Foret has created:

Tech Challenge 7

Rationale:

For my Tech Challenge, I chose to create a badge that encouraged teachers to use the innovative gaming system for elementary students called Osmo. There are so many ways that this can be used throughout elementary grade levels. I received four Osmo Genius Kits through a Donor’s Choose Project and they have changed my classroom. I would love to see and share this resource with other teachers and students.  

T-TESS Dimension(s):

Dimension 1.4 The teacher plans engaging, flexible lessons that encourage higher-order thinking, persistence and achievement.

Dimension 2.4 The teacher differentiates instruction, aligning methods and techniques to diverse student needs.

Branching out with Osmo (Level 1):

Schedule a time to come and meet with Natalee Foret to do an Osmo Training. After a short 10-15 minute training, schedule a day/ time to use Osmo in your classroom. Write a short paragraph or two about how you liked/ disliked using Osmo in your classroom and what would make it better. Include which application you used with it ( Masterpiece, Numbers, Words, Tangram).

Awesome with Osmo (Level 2):

Schedule a time with Natalee Foret to use Osmo. Design your own lesson by inputting your own words into the Osmo Library, Creating a math lesson, or having your students use Masterpiece for a drawing or handwriting practice. Get creative!

 

Christmas Treats with a Twist

OVERVIEW:

Students will use previous knowledge of cooking utensils, knife cuts, math skills, and recipe creations to make an appetizer or dessert using one specific ingredient that is drawn by the student groups.

OBJECTIVES:

Students will research foods with a specific ingredient to make delicious dishes.  They will have a trial run where they can modify their ingredients/dishes to be put out for teachers.

MATERIALS:

Chocolate

Hot Dogs

Bacon

Vegetables

Fruit

Eggs

Chicken

Gluten Free

Chips

Sausage

Crescent Rolls

Cheese

Other miscellaneous ingredients

DIRECTIONS:

Students will  draw cards with random ingredients on it. (Must be gluten free, must use cinnamon, sausage, bacon, hot dogs, cheese, vegetables, fruit, eggs, chips, chicken, chocolate)

Students will use Google search engine to come up with a recipe using the ingredient.

Students will have to use Google Docs to write up their recipe with instructions and email to me.

Students will take pictures of their creations on their trial run day, and use those pictures using Google Slides to create a how-to-presentation of their dish.

Students will cook their creations and have a display set up.

Culinary II Students will also complete this challenge, and also provide a holiday punch to complement their cooked items.

EVALUATIONS:

Teachers will sample items made by students and choose favorites in the categories of Best Appetizer, Best Dessert, Best Overall, Most Creative Use of an Ingredient, and Best Presentation

 

Up on the Housetop

Lesson Plan

Teacher: Mrs. Abby Paben

Date: 12/XX/16

Overview & Purpose

Santa must conserve his magic dust for his reindeer to fly; therefore, he needs to use a ladder that will get him from the roof to the top of the chimney to deliver his presents. Due to his weak knees, he just can’t land that jump any more. In order to decide the height of the ladder, we must use the Pythagorean Theorem.

TEKS Objectives

8.7.C 1. We will use Pythagorean Theorem to solve problems.

Materials Needed

1. iPad
2. Google Slides App
3. Calculator

Verification

1. Students will need to follow the Pythagorean Theorem steps in order to create their measurements for their right triangle and show proof that it works.

Activity

We will use Google Slides to construct a house by using the tools within Google Slides. We will draw off a right triangle from the top of the chimney to roof within the app. Then, we will come up with measurements that realistically fit to prove the Pythagorean Theorem so that Santa can find out how tall his ladder needs to be.

Link to pictures and work: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-o1hjIrZRJLNA7bvLDBBAwc4pKd4KVPiA0vlb0Bt6qE/edit?usp=sharing