Rusty Inside

 

Within ourselves, we have an ongoing hard drive. Some call it the spirit, the Holy Spirit, our conscious, intelligence, instinct, chakras, batteries, etc... Whatever your case may be, as living and breathing humans we are pushed by some internal force. 
On the other end, we stay stagnant due to procrastination, fear, laziness, or obstacles. Either way, our bodies ave been trained to act upon certain situations depending on what our inner being says. For the most part, people think before they act. In particular circumstances our bodies react automatically like when we take our hand off something that is too hot. But what happens to us when we are in the mist of making a decision? A decision is taken when we have more that one option? What drives us to pick which way to go?
When we re young, our parents and teachers would "train" us but developing consequences for our actions whether good or bad. We then either take the learning experience and avoid making the same mistake, or stay on a more rebellious path and not take in to account what we have learned. Others just want attention. But why? Is it our conscious, our Spirit, our survival instincts, or low IQ? How and why is it that we decide what we do? 
Now, from a third person's perspective: why do we raise an eye brow when someone makes a decision that we would not make in their situation? What says that WE are the RIGHT ones? This has been the root of all problems! Think about it; during election season, one candidate says THIS is right, while the other says it's wrong. Who do we side with and why? This is when I turn to you and say "check yourself". 
Lately, I have done a lot of "soul searching", or whatever you might call your inner hard drive. And as I have been reading, thinking, praying, and just plain living, I have realized that our inner hard drive can easily rust. According to Wikipedia (I know, not too reliable, but just hear me out) it states that "Given sufficient time, oxygen, and water, any iron mass will eventually convert entirely to rust and disintegrate. Surface rust provides no protection to the underlying iron..." Our inner hard drive is the iron mass that holds us together. If we let it rust and disintegrate then the underlying iron that is left in us is exposed and eventually destroyed. Then, we will have no other way out and because as human we reflect ourselves inside-out, our external worldly selves will be left to live with little to no purpose.
We all know this, but when we leave iron exposed and untreated, it will rust. Specially when it is surrounded by humidity. The more moisture, the faster the reaction. Consequently, when we are in the mist of hard, troublesome situations, we are exposing our inner "iron" to a high dose of water. At certain times, we get weak and fearful. When that happens, we expose and unprotected our iron-clad inner hard drive. It is then when the erosion begins. So what do we do?
Fear will get you know where. It is time wasted, when you could be ACTING upon the necessary. Worrying about the "what if" is the same or worst that fear. Is it reacting to a situation that has not even occurred. And I myself, ave battled with this. But the one thing I have realized is, no matter what decision I make, there will be a reaction that will lead to even more decision-making. And yes, this may sound stressful, but it doesn't have to be. Not if your iron is protected. 
Every morning, reboot your hard drive. Remind yourself of what you WILL do today that you put off the other day. No fear and no excuses. If you run out of time (which another topic that I could spend hours on), then set your mind to make that time. Again, not fear, no "what if" and no negativity. Remind yourself of something that you did that made you happy and purposeful. Do that! Spend time during the day to focus on what makes you happy. Smiling is a great medicine. And when you think of the aspects of your life that you need to change, don't look down upon yourself and sulk while reminding yourself of what a loser you say or someone else says you are... ACT! Take it as constructive criticism and look for the tools necessary to work on that. No one is perfect, and no human has the authority to judge you... but yourself. And no one can make you do anything... but yourself. Be patient with yourself too. You are wise enough to know when you are ready and do not allow anyone to put you down when you know in you are making even the most minimal progress. 

Your inner self is directly proportional to your exterior projection. Do not allow your soul to rust and disintegrate, or your outward purpose in life will be the same. 

Love and Logic: Forming the Leaders of Tomorrow

Plato said, “The direction in which education starts a man will determine his future in life.” As educators, we want to equip our students for the best possible future. What better way to do this than to give students an early start in evaluating the consequences of their own actions?

In past generations, teachers were often perceived as bossy and mean. The teacher’s word was law; students had no say in the matter when teachers told them what to do. Students were not expected to think through their decisions, but simply to obey. More often than not, they acted simply out of a fear of punishment. They did not learn to make well-considered
choices.

At Aristoi Classical Academy, we are becoming familiar with the Love and Logic philosophy, a method that offers students choices and consequences. Using these techniques, we can form better relationships with our students and help them grow into leaders who can think for themselves. In Love and Logic, educators begin by providing limits in a caring way. This helps build students up so they feel more capable, even after being disciplined.

As teachers, we make every effort to stay calm and avoid provoking, threatening, moralizing, or lecturing. By using polite statements that are enforceable, and offering children choices within limits, we avoid power struggles. Authority is maintained with compassion and understanding. We take childhood misbehavior as an opportunity for helping children grow through their mistakes. These methods help children learn to be responsible and gain self-confidence.

One of the hallmarks of this method is consistency. In our role as teachers, we strive to set this example by using enforceable statements. As Aristotle said, “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” Only if we build the habit of excellence in ourselves can we be models of virtue for our students.

At Aristoi Classical Academy we allow our growing students to work through their problems by reviewing their actions and identifying the consequences of those actions. Our students are learning to evaluate their own choices so that in the future they will be self-confident, responsible, and free men and women.

--Liliana Gonzalez, Teacher, Third Grade
Published in Classical Times: A Newsletter of Aristoi Classical Academy’s Community of Learners

Dream BIG

As dreamers, we often talk about our plans and to some extent even write a facebook note about them. We submerge ourselves in quotes and inspirational phrases that will boost our hopes of doing better and increasing our self esteem by about 10%. Sometimes we will have "deep conversations" and repeat ourselves over and over about how we would like our lives to be. More often than not, a glass of wine or two makes the process a little easier.

But, as dreamers we pinch ourselves and feel nothing. Because that is all that it is; a dream, a simple thought made of mental pictures and colorful experiences. We will discuss things like money, physical appearances, our living arrangements, our ideal relationships, and so on. So why wake up on January 1st feeling like you are dragging a 10 ton bag of regrets and experiences of the past year? Why think this year will be the same as the rest? Why think it might be worse?

The race has begun. The whistle has been blown. If you set your mind up for failure then your mind will guide you there. Where are the dreams and aspirations from that conversation you had over a glass of wine (or whatever beverage you prefer) with your friend or coworker? Are you still dreaming? Then, WAKE UP!

Change your dreams to visions, goals, and aspirations. Set your mind and DO it! Do not make this year another year of regrets. Forget the regrets and move forward. I once heard in sermon that "if you drive looking in to the rear-view mirror, you will crash." And I cannot think of a better analogy than that.

This year, do not set yourself up for failure. You are worth more than all the gold and money in this world. Only you can determine what you are and what you will be. What you HAVE been is just a memory. Your past facebook statuses and tweets are filed in the pages of social-networking history. What are you going to do today that will make your tomorrow better? Apply what you have LEARNED. Regrets are just lessons that you did not take notes on. What was that point that you missed?

Remember friends (and I speak for myself, because God knows I'm not perfect), aspire to be who you want to be and set your mind, body and soul for it. Take the steps and climb that mountain. It might be a smooth ride for others, but whatever it is that you have to do to get there, just remember that running against the wind creates endurance, and endurance makes you strong!

I pray you all have an incredible, life-changing, inspirational year filled with love and many blessings.

Gob bless. ♥

Liliana Gonzalez

God's Little Princess

Throughout my young life I have been blessed to have traveled around several parts of the world. I have been carefully placed by God in a position where I have had to learn new languages, go to international schools, learn dance techniques by some of the best teachers and meet some pretty incredible people on the way. Sounds amazing on the outside, but this little girl had a lot of growing up to do in the mean time.
Constantly being the "new girl" was tough on this scrawny little thing. I was often teased, made fun of and I was always a crier. My insecurities did not get better when I reached junior high. I had just moved to Paris from a tiny oil-producing town in Venezuela. My escape: dancing. I didn't really have a one on one relationship with God at that time, hence, I succumbed to peer pressure more than once. My mom's words of advice would just go in through one ear and out the other... I couldn care less what she (nor any adult) said. In my head, I was never good enough for anyone. Fortunately, things have changed for the better.

As girls, we have duties and responsibilities that are given to us to accomplish, and we have to be responsible to do these in order to carry out the mission that God has given us. I want to challenge all of you young women, to make it your goal to realize in your own self all the possibilities of womanhood, and to do the work that the Lord has designated for YOU (not the other girl) to do. Embrace being a girl, and to delight in it! Be strong and brave enough in your femininity to always be devoted to Biblical womanhood. But in order to do this, you must constantly make sure that your heart is in the right place. Keep your heart yielded and submissive to God. It all depends on where your heart is.

“The king’s daughter is all glorious within: her clothing is wrought of gold.”
Psalm 45:13

She is glorious within, and hence her clothing, her appearance, is covered with gold. Your inner self, your mind, heart and soul automatically affects how your external life is going to be, how you are going to live your life, and what you are going to do, because a covered heart is never going to produce a radiant life, and a selfish heart is never going to produce an selfless life. A sad heart will never make a cheerful life, and a discontent heart will never yield a content life. Be careful to guard your heart, and to keep it focused on Christ, for He will give you the strength to fulfill your duty.

Make it Count

Most days just seem to go by like every other day. Same old stuff. Same old everything. Blah blah blah. One day runs in to another one. You close your eyes and wake up to do it all over again. Doesn't seem to have much of a plan, does it?
Maybe not. But God has an exciting plan for your life. A plan that will give you purpose and fulfillment beyond your wildest dreams. Following God's plan takes commitment from you. You don't just accidentally fulfill what He's planned for you to do. You've got to seek God and ask Him to reveal His plan to you and to give you understanding about how you can fulfill it. Then, you've got to determine to make EVERY DAY COUNT for Him and for His plan.
As a distance-runner-in-training I have to step it up every single day I train. Building resistance means having to build tolerance to new things: adding some incline to the treadmill, running a little faster, a little more pain, maintaining my heart rate, stricter diet, etc. It is a lot to keep up with, but if I ignore a day, a time, a resistance... it's effort lost. Every second counts.
Pay attention to every decision you face... Even the ones that seem so insignificant. Take seriously every person you meet... Even the ones you don't like. Embrace every situation you find yourself in... Even the ones that seem to make no sense at all. They're shaping you, molding you, preparing you for the next decision, the next person, the next situation.
Lose yourself in doing what God wants with every aspect of your life. Live your life in light of His plan!

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)

To Save a Life

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When God Gives You Lemons

Personally, I think free will is probably the most amazing thing that God could ever offer us. There is a risk factor involved in every decision we make. We live with the fear of not only disappointing ourselves and those around us, but most importantly God. But, fear not...

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

If it isn't important enough to take a risk to go after, then it isn't important enough to obtain! (Side note: this is a huge step for single people to take. But, if that person you have an interest in lights up your heart, I think it's worth the risk of getting turned away then living with the thought of "what if...")

That is what faith is all about: taking that step without looking at the staircase. Like the phrase about the lemons. I have my own little version: When God gives you lemons, pray, grab a cookbook (Bible), follow the recipe that God has placed in your heart (scripture), and get to work! Don't be afraid. The world may be making lemonade, but God knows you are capable of doing much more!

Trust in the Lord his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

Proverbs 3:5 (NLT)