Saturday, September 27, 2008

September update






Cornerstone family, Hello again. We are doing awesome. Some classes are reaching their end once again. I have picked up an additional elective called "The Love of God". I am two classes into it and just like the rest of the classes it has not disappointed at all. The girls are in the full swing of things at school. Alyssa (sissy) got accepted 2 days before it started, so that was a huge answer to prayer. All the kids are doing well outside of school as well. Aiden is the strong boy on campus. He's 4 and can do 5 pull-ups now. If he gets picky when he's eating, all we have to tell him is that it's protein and will make him stronger and it's as good as gone. He dead-lifted 60 lbs. and bench pressed 45. By the way, I'm struggling with pride a little bit. Alton is N-A-U-G-H-T-Y. Him and Aiden have pre-school right here in the building so when he gets out of control, the teacher comes to get me. She holds a sign up at the door that says "SPEARS"on it. One side of the sign is blue and one side is pink. Pink is Delilah and that means consolation, Blue is me and that means beat this kid. He's averaging 2-3 times a week. Yesterday he was dancing around and decided to push a girl over. I told Aiden if he ever saw that from Alton to tell him no and protect the little girls from the evil Alton. Soooo last night the kids are playing in the hallway with the neighbor kids. I happened to be in the kitchen by our front door, when I heard Aiden yell and Alton came sliding head first past the front door. Alton shook it off and marched right over to Aiden and smacked him in the back of the head. So here I am breaking up my adorable boys while laughing the whole time and when I got done, I noticed the visible look of concern on some neighbors faces. I asked what happened and Aiden said that Alton pushed yet another helpless little girl. So I gave Aiden a high five and asked Alton if he had a soul. Now a story about Alexis and Sissy but more about Alexis So a couple days ago, Delilah picked the girls up from school. She decided to play a little trick on them. She told them that this college thing was way to hard and she was going back to Illinois to stay but I was going to remain. Of course she hammed it up a lot more than that but anyway........she asked who they wanted to be with. Side Note: Delilah is famous (or infamous) for these ridiculous scenario's. She also takes great pleasure in others uncomfort. She has done things like this before to the girls and they ALWAYS want to stay with mom. anyways..... Alexis answered first and said, "I want to stay here with dad". Then Sissy said "I would cry every day, but I also want to stay here with dad" Delilah being in total shock (no really, she was dumbfounded), asked why, and that is when Alexis said "Because it's not about us mom, it's about God" Kids get it people. They maybe get it a little more clearly than we adults do. Things are simple in their minds and not complicated with theories and the daily grind. In it's simplest form, they get it. The solution is the adult. The example we set for not only our kids but the kids of other families is huge. I am so thankful for you as a church family. The example that you have been for my kids through the years, that I wasn't. I've proved for 32 years to be a selfish person. I wasn't being the solid christian example to my kids through the years that I should have been, but Cornerstone, you stood strong. Thank you. Love, The Spears Deuteronomy 6:6-7 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."

Friday, September 05, 2008

AUGUST 23

It's the end of the first week of school and we are having a great time. The week's festivities started off with orientation. That lasted two whole days. Thankfully the staff here actually value the students opinion on things, so when they asked what we thought about it, I had the opportunity to make a complete fool out of myself (which I'm quite comfortable with) by telling them that at certain times I would have rather taken a fork to the eyeball. Plenty of it was very inspiring and of course they completely went through the entire handbook . They did a raffle drawing 3 times a day to win shirts and bookstore credit. That only proved once again that, yes, I am a loser.

All that ended on Tues. and Wed. started actual classes. AMAZING. First and foremost, our God. Secondly, the gift He has bestowed on the staff here. I am absolutely in shock at how I crave to do homework and sit in class. I actually comprehend what is being said and am amazed at the grand scale of things in the bible that I've never thought about. This, after only 3 days of actual classes. I Peter 2:2 "as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby". My homework is awesome and awesome. I said it twice because 1.) I'm not a gifted reader so it takes me longer than others, and 2.) It has been such a blessing to be able to, as one of the teachers here put it, marinate in the word. My homework lasted 7 hours on Wed., 4.5 on Thurs., and 5.5 on Fri., with a few hours of extra credit reading so far.

My classes are in block form. This means that instead of doing all 7 required classes and 2 electives the whole semester, I am doing 3 required classes and one elective right now in their entirety. Quiz', tests, homework, reading, memory verses and finals for those classes will be done and over before the next set begin. At the end of the semester I will still have taken all 9 classes, but I won't have the pressure of studying 9 classes the whole time. Right now I am taking Bibliology, Biblical Foundations, and Evangelism which are required and Job as the elective. The rest of the semester includes Hermeneutics, Proverbs, Pentateuch and Old Testament History with Catholicism for the elective. I've also been approached by the teacher of OT History to do a project this year for him. It will be a life sized model of Goliath. Framed with wood, wrapped in some sort of chicken wire and then paper mashayed. I get to pick a team of about 7 others to be involved with me.

Delilah's classes are the same as mine except she doesn't have the first class of the day and all electives. That drops her credits to 10 a semester so she can still do the motherly/wife thing.

Thank you so much for all your prayers. It's so encouraging to have great friends and family that care about us and the work of the Lord.

"Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil. Proverbs 4:25-27

Love,

The Spears