J.E. Solinski
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Books
  • About
  • Contact
  • Resources
  • My Favs!

Time to Look Up . . .

5/26/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
    After nine months of hard work, and after one final month of reminding ourselves or having others remind us to “keep the course,” “keep your nose to the grindstone,” “keep the pedal to the metal,” “finish strong,” “keep your head down,” or any other aphorism that means “don’t let up now,” it is finally time to let up and look up.
     We can get so focused on the tasks at hand, such as that paper that needs to get finished, that final on Monday, those papers that have to be graded and returned and recorded, that we really can miss the big picture. So once you have completed that final task, sit back, look up, and reconnect with God. That doesn’t mean that you ever fully disconnected, but sometimes when we are surrounded by the immediate and the concrete we forget that He is God of all.
     Start with sky . . . the clouds, the stars, the sunrise, the sunset, the moon. This is our BIG God. The one who is awesome. The one who is so often hard to fathom. Our invisible God that we often have trouble wrapping our tiny finite minds around but who takes our breath away with His glorious wonders.
     Then move to his creation . . . the trees, flowers, the rain, the animals, the people in our lives. This is our loving God. This is the God we can feel. The one who made a beautiful world for us to enjoy, and who placed people in our lives at just the right time.  This is our God who touches our soul with His handiwork and His heart.
     Finally, move back to the concrete and see Him in the details. . . the timely text you received from a friend who had no idea that one hour before you were asking God to show you He was listening and then here came that text . . . speaking God’s word right into you. Or that jacket that for two months you have been skirting around and choosing every other sweater or coat, but for some reason chose today and found $15 in the pocket . . . and you needing some money to tide you till the end of the week.  This is our personal God. The one that knows the hairs on our head. The one who sees us fall and helps us back up. This is the God we can see . . . in the details, in other people, in a text, in His word.
     Worship our awesome God. Feel secure in our loving God. See our personal God in the details of your life. (I would love to hear about God revealing himself in the details of your life.)

0 Comments

Labor of Love…

5/19/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Though the official story of the nine month school year is that it was formed for agrarian purposes, to allow children to help their parents in the fields during the harvest time, I truly believe that the nine month school year was divinely designed to help teachers forget much of the pain and stress of the year and be willing to come back. This is why there are so many similarities to pregnancy. Okay, well, if you stretch it a bit. Hang with me here.
     Phase 1. . . The Discovery. Starting a new school year is similar to learning you’re pregnant. It’s a bit of a rush. There is both excitement and anxiousness as you meet  the fresh crop of students, and that ever present question––What does the future hold?
     Phase 2 . . . The First Trimester. In education this is the “getting used to” period or the “settling into” time.  Like pregnancy, there might be a bit of “morning sickness” as it is tough to leave the relaxation of summer behind and get back into the educational swing.
    Phase 3 . . .The Second Trimester. The novelty is now over, so you just have to dig in, take care of business, conduct routine “check ups” on how the kids are doing. But for the most part, this is the time of the year where the kids “grow.”
     Phase 4 . . . The Third Trimester. Enough, already. Let’s get this thing over with. Kids are tiring out, and teachers are wearing out. Everyone is ready to be finished. Minds are sore and overtaxed.
     Phase 5. . . The Week Before. Both an exciting and anxious time. You’re tired but excited because you are so close––the end is in sight.
     Finally . . . The Birth. Graduation. Okay, so we don’t have to go through the pain of labor, but some years, all nine months might be tough work! Anyway, the final outcome is the same. Once the baby is born, and once those kids are all cleaned up and on stage and looking good, you feel pretty proud and realize it was worth all the pain. And surprisingly, after a good two months of sleep . . . you are ready to do it all over again.

0 Comments

This I Believe…

5/12/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
One of my earliest teaching assignments was an Advanced Placement (AP) English class designed to prepare students to pass a test and thereby earn college credit. The test was usually given the first or second week of May. After an entire year of intense study and preparation, my students viewed the AP test as the “end” of the school year. Unfortunately, it wasn’t. School didn’t end until the first or second week of June, almost a complete month later. My dilemma? Create assignments that had relevance and that the students wouldn’t mind doing.
    It was about this same time that my father shared a book he had had for many years: Edward R. Murrow’s This I Believe. The book was filled with 400-600 word essays from famous people about something they believed was important about either how people should live or how the world worked. I enjoyed reading the selections and thought, why not? Even though my students were only sixteen, seventeen, or eighteen, they might have something they believed in, so I set the task in front of them.
    I told them it didn’t have to be earth shaking and it shouldn’t be too broad. It did not have to be all encompassing. In fact, the more specific the better, and I shared three selections from the book to demonstrate this. The result? Let me just say, I was blown away, and this assignment has become my favorite of the year. So attentive are the students to each others' readings that I reprint and bind each class’s statements and give each student his or her own copy.
    Some students made us laugh with essays explaining why “Every girl needs a big bag, or “It doesn’t matter how fast you drive, you are going to get there in the same amount of time.” Others made us cry with topics such as “When life derails your train, you’ve got to find a way to get it back on the tracks." After a year of working and studying together, these students were willing to share a piece of their lives and souls with each other – some through giggles, others through tears. It did bring to light one thing I always knew was true and can now assert as something I truly believe – that there are still young people out there who are sensitive, bright, hard-working, tenacious, and persevering. There are young people who want to make a difference, who want to step up to the challenge and lead companies and countries, who want to create, and who want to cure.
    I hear a lot of mumbling about the sad state of our youth, but rest assured. Those mumblers often have not spent much time with the young people of today. I believe that despite the very difficult world they live in, the youth of today are wanting to do the very best that they can, and all they need are adults to stand by them and help and encourage them rather than belittle and discourage them.

0 Comments

…I am God – Part 2

5/5/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
One of the lessons we teach our students is about the different types of Learning Styles as set forth by Dr. Anthony Gregorc. In a very simplified version, there are four major categories: Concrete Sequential, Concrete Random, Abstract Sequential, and Abstract Random. The Concrete vs. Abstract deals with the world we live in––in the concrete world of our senses or the abstract world of ideas. The Sequential vs. Random deals with how we see our world ordered. Those who are more sequential see events as being connected. Those who are more random experience events more holistically. Everyone has characteristics in each of the categories and with so many variations no two people are alike.
    I mention this because I am a very high Concrete Sequential. Therefore, I live very much in the physical world and see one event as being either the cause or the result of the one next to it. This mindset often handcuffs me from realizing that the God I worship is indeed GOD. Sometimes I am so restricted by my world that I forget that my God is the One who created it and still has control over all that is in it. Sometimes I forget that He can do so much more than I can even imagine.
    I am reminded of this truth whenever my world shifts a bit, and some of the foundation I have created becomes a little less stable. Times like these cause sadness and worry, loss and uncertainty, and it is difficult to remember that through all of it, God is GOD––loving, caring, watching, protecting. He is the God of the universe. If He can form the heavens out of nothing, if He can create the beautiful scene pictured, if He can calm the seas, then He can handle the events of my life. He knows what is going on, and though I may not understand, I can trust Him, for He does know what He is doing.
    Because of God’s perfect timing and personal interest, on May 5th He reinforced this truth in three ways: through Josh Wilson’s song “Fall Apart,” through Royal Tailor’s song “Remain,” and then the May 5th entry in Jesus Calling read: “Relax in the knowledge that the One who controls your life is totally trustworthy. Come to me with confident expectation. There is nothing you need that I cannot provide.”
   God is indeed very good and very real and very personal. While so much in our life changes, He is always the same and always there. Yes, Ps. 46:10 is truly my life verse: “Be still and know that I am God.”

0 Comments

    Author

    Jody Eileen Solinski spent her career teaching in the California public school system where she enjoyed helping young adults take their place in society. A native Californian, she enjoys the outdoors and so loves living in Northern California where she can enjoy the beauty of God’s creation up close.

    Picture
    Subscribe

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015

    Categories

    All
    Anger
    Appreciation
    Art
    Attitude
    Balance
    Beauty
    Belief
    Books
    Bravery
    Bullies
    Calm
    Change
    Christian Bloggers
    Christian Living
    Christmas
    Cleansing
    Conflict
    Consistency
    Coronavirus
    Costs
    Demands
    Disappointment
    Discontent
    Easter
    End Times
    Evil
    Faith
    Fatigue
    Fear
    Fires
    Focus
    Foolishness
    Forgiveness
    Frustration
    God's Protection
    God's Sovereignty
    God's Timing
    Good Intentions
    Grace
    Grief
    Healing
    Hell
    Holy Spirit
    Hopes
    Hymns
    Hypocrisy
    Ingenuity
    Isolation
    Jesus
    Legacies
    Listening
    Love
    Memories
    Money
    Mornings
    Mothers
    Music
    New Years
    Opportunities
    Order
    Pain
    Patience
    Peace
    Perfection
    Perseverance
    Perspective
    Prayer
    Pressure
    Promises
    Purpose
    Readiness
    Reading
    Reduction
    Refreshed
    Relationship
    Relevance
    Relief
    Remembering
    Renewed
    Reset
    Rest
    Sacrifice
    Salvation
    Science
    Seeing
    Self-Centeredness
    Service
    Sin
    Sleep
    Spiritual Diet
    Spiritual Life
    Storms
    Strength
    Suffering
    Summer
    Talents
    Temptation
    Thanksgiving
    The Bible
    The Tongue
    Troubles
    Trust
    Truth
    Unity
    Water
    Weaknesses
    Wise Counsel
    Worry
    Writing
    Youth

J.E. Solinski ©2015