A Cowboy’s Prayer
Oh Lord, I’ve never lived where churches grow.
I love creation better as it stood
That day You finished it so long ago
And looked upon Your work and called it good.
I know that others find You in the light
That’s sifted down through the tinted window panes,
And yet I seem to feel You near tonight
In this dim, quiet starlight on the plains.

I thank you, Lord, that I am placed so well,
That You have made my freedom so complete;
That I’m no slave of the whistle, clock or bell,
Nor weak-eyed prisoner of wall and street.
Just let me live my life as I’ve begun
And give me work that’s open to the sky;
Make me a pardner of the wind and sun,
And I won’t ask a life that’s soft or high.

Let me be easy on the man that’s down;
Let me be square and generous with all.
I’m careless sometimes, Lord, when I’m in town,
But never let ‘em say I’m mean or small!
Make me as big and open as the plains,
As honest as the hoss between my knees,
Clean as the wind that blows behind the rain,
Free as the hawk that circles down the breeze!

Forgive me Lord, if sometimes I forget.
You know about the reasons that are hid.
You understand the things that gall and fret;
You know me better than my mother did.
Just keep an eye on all that’s done and said,
And right me, sometimes, when I turn aside,
And guide me on the long, dim, trail ahead
That stretches upward toward the Great Divide.

Badger Clark’s version of a cowboy’s prayer, is one of the best known of this South Dakota poets who wrote in the early part of the 20th century.

Taken from Cowboy Poetry: A Gathering, Editor Hal Cannon, Salt Lake City: Peregrine Smith Books,1985.

I take to heart the part in Clark's prayer where he asks Yeshua, "Just keep an eye on all that's done and said, and right me, sometimes, when I turn aside." Yes, check me and point me in his blessed way!

Light or the Light?

Revelation 7:16 states, "They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore: neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. KJV

I am always amazed at the connections my students and I see daily as we work in science. We completed a study of the sun being one part of a whole system. If the sun goes out then the system will stop to exist as it has been known. When we believe God, Yeshua (the Messiah), and the Ruach-Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit), we have no fear of our universe's light not shining. We will not miss the sunlight, halos around the moon, rainbows, green flashes and moon dogs or energy from the sun.

"Day and night they serve him in his Temple: and the One who sits on the throne will put his Sh'Khinah(the glorious manifest presence of God) upon them. They will never again be hungry, they will never again be thirsty, the sun will not beat down on them, nor will any burning heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will shepherd them, will lead them to springs of living water: and God will wipe every tear from their eyes. Isaiah 49:10, Revelation 7:15-17 (Jewish New Testment translation)

No more fear of the sun's distruction, the Earth not turning or wondering about the moonlight halo.

(Picture: Nainital Green Flash from setting sun taken from a mountain in India. Source: Amiteshomar, Wikipedia, 13 January, 2010.)

New Cover of Reading: Art and Science of Teaching

I went to the middle school in our district to pick up my summer reading. I picked up the book I had signed up for as a book study and also picked up Robert Marzano's "The Art and Science of Teaching". I went back to sign up online for the Marzano session, however the class registration was not listed anymore. I went ahead and began reading the Marzano book because it is not the one I signed up for. Are you following me yet? I am going to ignore the Social and Emotion book and make sure I know how to teach since I have just been at it for 18+ years.

Ok! Introduction: Pedagogy of Effective Classrooms: 1) Use effective instructional strategies, 2) Use effective management strategies and 3) Use effective classroom curriculum design strategies.

What is effective? Lets see if I can wade through the next 10 chapters. Non-fiction reading so I can start anywhere I want. That's what I tell the students, so lets see if it works for the teacher. I'm going to the section on Establishing or Maintaining classroom rules and procedures since it is the second bullet in the introduction, I'm the second child in my family and this is the second book I should be reading.

Yes, I am going to ignore the other book. The cover is appealing and the Social and Emotional book is appealing. I only chose books with appealing covers. I need to work on finding an unappealing cover later. :) Going to read!

Prepare myself with a question: What will I do to establish and maintain classroom rules and procedures?

How Firm a Foundation?

I have been listening to YouTube for a while and I heard Dr. Robert Sala quote the following poem/hymn written by Robert Keen in Europe around 1787. I am greatly touched by its message.

1. How firm a foundation ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word;
What more can he say than to you he hath said?
You, who unto Jesus, for refuge have fled.

2. In ev'ry condition - in sickness in health,
In poverty's vale, or abounding in wealth,
At home and abroad, on the land, on the sea,
As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be.

3. “Fear not, I am with thee; O be not dismayed!
For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

4. “When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o'erflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

5. “When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace all-sufficient shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design,
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

6. “E'en down to old age, all my people shall prove
My sov'reign eternal, unchangeable love;
And then, when grey hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in my bosom be borne.

7. “The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes:
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never - no, never, no, never forsake!”

In the Jewish New Testment, 1 Corinthians 15:58, Sh'aul writes, verse 58) "So, my dear brothers, stand firm and unmovable, always doing the Lord's work as vigourously as you can knowing that united with the Lord your efforts are not in vain."

Also in 2 Timothy 4:5, "But you, remain steady in every situation, enduring suffering, do the work that a proclaimer of the Good News should and do everything your service to God requires."

Looking Beyond the Cover, a beginning!

As I viewed the environment around me, I continue to believe God provided us with the most appealing environment which gives witness to the blessings in believing his son, in his word and his promises. I wonder how we can look at nature, our friends and neighbors and view their covers and think we know everything just from our first view. I am convinced we only know someone when we listen, discuss and share their experiences, feelings, joys and heartaches.

I love sheep. Black faced sheep, white faced sheep, ewes, rams, lambs, sheep whose fleece shed and sheep whose fleece must be sheared. Sheep from domesticated flocks to sheep who climb mountain trails. The sheep of the southwestern deserts of the U.S. of America to the flocks of the Middle East, African sheep and Scottish Highland flocks. I don't discriminate, I love them all.

Shepherds know their flocks well. Each animal in his care will hear his call and come because they trust his voice. When a wolf or someone unknown to them call, they look and head in the other direction if they don't like what they hear, see or perceive. Sometimes we just look and head in the other direction and never know if the one we met was friend or foe.

Sometimes we must introduce ourselves to the pictures, headings, first 5 pages or more if we want find unique stories to take in and hear what the author intends. Most of the time we have to look beyond the outside of a person to discover the best. We might just find a lovely friend with a boring cover!

I'm on a journey looking for a sheep whom doesn't run at the first hint of the unusual!