Vivo

As much as I want to be a journalist, being a teacher has that same real rawness that draws me to the field of journalism. I have had people ask me what real difference I can make as a journalist. I suppose in a way, everyone has to struggle with their line of work and whether it is making the type of differences they want it to. Regardless, as a teacher, as a student, as a journalist, as a friend, I am learning and re-learning valuable lessons. My faith is a consistent reminder of this. For in teaching, I see God in a new light. I see him as a teacher and me the student. I pray that by some mysterious miracle, I can portray to my kids the love Christ has for me. I see Him over and over again in the classroom setting, in the depth of my heart, in the bar, on the beach, in my notebook, on the bus. For he is everywhere, within every atom. If I try to hide in the depths of hades, you are still there, says David. And how true it is, for whether or not I read my Bible every day. Whether or not I go to church, He is softly and subtly chasing me down in the movies I see, in the books I read, His story is the story of redemption that exists within every form of entertainment, within every house...whether one with a wooden door or fabric door...He is coming after me with his bold love that begs me to treat others with kindness, love them as I love myself, to judge them not, to help the widow and the orphan, to share the truth of who He is. It is a truth that no church can give, that no book can clearly portray. It is the truth that will forever be revealed in the midst of relational people. A supreme truth that can only fully be expressed between a mother and a daughter, a teacher and a student, a boyfriend and a girlfriend, a grandpa and his grandson. For words on a page can only push us to act, a preacher in a pulpit can only desire us to move, lyrics of a song can only challenge us to understand. It is the daily movement, the routine, the ugliness and prettiness of actual relationships that really hold the power of the cross, the power of redemption.

...living and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword...