Cold Water Challenge - A twist

Proverbs 1:7-157Fear of the LORD is the foundation of true knowledge,
  but fools despise wisdom and discipline8My child,* listen when your father corrects you. Don't neglect your mother's instruction.9What you learn from them will crown you with grace  and be a chain of honor around your neck10My child, if sinners entice you,  turn your back on them!11They may say, "Come and join us.  Let's hide and kill someone!  Just for fun, let's ambush the innocent!12Let's swallow them alive, like the grave*;  let's swallow them whole, like those who go down to the pit of death.13Think of the great things we'll get!We'll fill our houses with all the stuff we take14Come, throw in your lot with us;  we'll all share the loot."15My child, don't go along with them! Stay far away from their paths.

Peer Pressure is something all of us face on a daily basis.  It doesn't matter how young or old we are we face the pressure to do something we shouldn't. As you read the remainder of Proverbs 1 it talks about how others call us to ambush the innocent. In verses 10 and 15 of Proverbs 1 it cautions us to not take part in acts of sin.  It asks us to Turn our backs and stay away from those paths.  

I was issued the cold water challenge.  I really do not know where this challenge originated.  (Someone can enlighten me.)  I am assuming that it is to resemble your commitment and belief in Christ and your sacrifice to follow him.  A sacrifice that is not easy due to the chill in the air and the temperature of the water.    The cold water challenge would be very hard for me to do as a chill in my body results in pain in my back and neck.  (I broke my neck years ago.  Bet you didn't know that.)  However, the cold water challenge would be over and done with in a matter of minutes.   I am going to issue a challenge that will take me through the day.  There are many ways an individual can find themselves joining in with the group.  As in verse 11 it says "Come and join us.  Let's hide and kill someone!"    I feel like we can equate "killing someone" with not actual death but by just being unkind.   One unkind sin that "ambushes the innocent" is bringing someone down with our words.   How often do we ambush the innocent with our tongues?   Raising my hand because I am very guilty of this.  As children of God we have got to realize we are not the ONLY child of God and his love is like a blanket and spreads over all of us.  To bring another down, which is very easy to do, and then encouraging others to take part is bringing harm to someone God loves as much as he does us.    So my challenge today for you is not the cold water challenge.  My challenge to you today is not to bring someone down with your words.  I am going to assure you, this is going to be tougher than you think.  Listen to the words you are saying.  Do they lift one another up or do they bring someone down?   

Cold water challenge- I will see if I get it done.  But this challenge--is going to be tough for me to complete.  

In just a few short months Torrie will graduate from college.   In her sorority they ask the parents to write a letter recollecting special events from their lives.  This is my letter to Torrie.

Dear Torrie:

It seems like just yesterday we watched the news of the earthquake in California and you looked up at me -curly hair going every which way and asked  “wha’ happened, mommie?  Wha’ happened?”  Remembering those first words you spoke brings tears to my eyes and leaves me wanting to ask the question, “wha’ happened, Tor Tor?  Wha’ happened?” 

It seems the time has been so short that you have been part of mine and dad’s life but here you are 22, graduating from college and ready to take on the world.

My heart reflects back to the times you and I would lie on the couch on a Sunday afternoon and I would “hold your tummy” until you fell asleep.  It was a necessity for you to take a nap back then as it is now as is evident from all of your Twitter and Facebook posts about “soon being naptime” or “naptime just 4 ½ hours away.”  You always needed your sleep.  Your brother and sister needed you to sleep to get out of their toys.

Even when you were little you had a strong personality.    Before you were two, the baby sitter nicknamed you “the dozer” because you just plowed in and got what you wanted. One time when Taylor was ignoring you, after you had made several attempts to get her attention, you got out of the pool, got a bucket full of water and poured it all over her head.  According to your three year old self, “she was sitting there like a stone” and wouldn’t answer.  I hope she started answering you then.    I guess from a young age you were a force to be reckoned with. 

In second grade, you got a new nickname from your teacher who to this day still refers to you as “Floosy.”   You wore high heeled shoes, dresses and a feather boa to class.  Always the epitome of style, you went dressed up.  Please tell me why I let a second grader wear a feather boa to class. I still have the ballot where you voted for yourself as class favorite in Mrs. Clark’s class.   You also developed the desire to play the fiddle in second grade.  I’m sorry that we were never able to get you fiddle lessons. I know you would have been wonderful at it. 

Who can forget the first evening of fourth grade when we got home from school and started on homework?  Needless to say my patients were thin. Your dad asks, “Torrie, is your mama your teacher this year?”

 Your answer, “my reading teacher.”

 Dad, “oh, I feel sorry for you.”  I hope it wasn’t so bad, but I always had high expectations for you.

 

You were your Grandma Ruth’s pride and I know your heart aches when you think of her.  But your heart shouldn’t ache.  It should rejoice in all the things she taught you.  Remember her teaching you to drive one day and then you coming home and hopping in ole’ blue and driving yourself back to her house.  What were you thinking?  You were twelve!  Her house was three miles away and you had to get on the highway to get there.  Grandma would laugh hysterically when she would tell that story.  Headstrong you were.  Proud she was.  Headstrong-You got it from her.  She loved you so. 

 

Remember the excitement of making the cheerleading squad in seventh grade and the tears we shed the following year.  Your heart was broken. My heart was broken.  I couldn’t bear to see you so wounded and defeated, but you didn’t let it get you down.  You bounced back the following year and became one of the best bases that any flyer could ask for.  You took bruises and bloody noses to make sure that she didn’t hit the ground.  You were the strength!

Your dad would tell you that you are one of the best hands he can find when it comes to doctoring cattle.  I guess he forgot about the B12 shot you gave that one.  You know that one that took two steps after the shot and fell over dead.  That was just one time and it’s funny to remember.  I know dad loves for you to be home and help him on Sunday.  It is a big help for you to be here and know what to do. 

There are so many memories and so many things we shared each with their own special story and grin-Cheerleading, Stingers Basketball, Bobcat basketball, Bobcat softball, Bobcat volleyball, prom dress shopping, homecoming dress shopping complete with Ruby Tuesdays, Chemistry, Chemistry Rant, Blueberries, Softball fields-think hard, your entire senior year…… I could go on and on-

Then there are the memories and smiles I treasure about you that belong only to me.  

I mentioned the words headstrong and strength.  Those are keywords that make you who you are.  Add to them intelligence, beauty, spiritual, hardworking and you have who you are to me.

  So, as to end my letter “wha’ happened, Torrie?         Wha’ happened?” -------------------------------------- You grew up into a marvelous young woman that I cherish and am blessed to call mine. 

 

I Love You Baby Girl,

 

Mom

 

 

 

School Culture and School Climate

 

Though many see school climate and school culture has one in the same it appears that one is actually strengthened by the other. 

 The school climate is the attitude of the organization.  It is the collective mood or morale of the school -both its staff and students.  School climate is based on the feeling that goes on within the school.   A basic principle of school culture is “a happy teacher is considered a better teacher and this attitude influences the quality of instruction.”  (Gruenert, Steve:  Principal, 2008)  School climate is the feeling that is present by the staff and the students.  How do you create a school climate free of tension?  How do you create a school where all are happy to be there? 

 Any individual can be happy if everything is going just as they have planned.  A happy teacher can be one that is happy because everything is going right for them.  But is this kind of happy teacher going to really have an impact on the culture of the school?  Are they going to be able to influence the overall culture of the school based on their own happiness in their own personal lives?   Are they going to have a positive impact on student learning?   A happy teacher that has an impact on the culture of the school is going to be one that is happy because of what is going on in the business of school.  That what is going on in the school is the school culture. 

The culture is the personality of the organization.  Culture is the vision, values, and the commitment that each individual has for the school.  It is the seriousness of the business of what is going on day to day.  Through collaboration, commitment, and working together a school establishes a positive self image.  The culture is what has been built over time through the feelings, thoughts, and actions of the staff.  The school culture is the expectations that are present within the school.  By having high expectations for both the staff and the students and meeting those expectations, the culture of the school has an impact on the climate of the school.  A positive school climate can be created with the building blocks of the culture. 

Let’s look at the school climate as the roof of the building.  The school climate is what is covering everything underneath it.  The pillars under that roof, holding it up, determine the climate.  The pillars are the culture.  Those pillars can work together and brace one another to hold the roof (school) or they can stand alone.  Collaboration, shared vision, shared values, commitment to performance, effective leadership and high expectations work together to strengthen the school.   When teachers and staff share in the achievements of the school and are recognized for their efforts, a positive school climate evolves.  The roof that covers is held strong.  When each individual pillar is not braced and is standing all alone, the roof is not as strong and soon the pillars began to break and fall.  Standing alone without any support or recognition, teachers began to fall as well. 

School climate is the feeling one gets when they walk into the school.  It is the moral of the staff.  It is the song of the students.  It is important that in a school that each person is valued.  They are recognized and encouraged.  It is important that the school climate is not an individualized process but is a group working together to hold one another.  The school climate is determined by the culture of the school.  The school culture strengthens the climate. 

 

 

 

Gruenert, Steve (2008)  School Climate, School Culture:  They are not the Same: Principal (March/April 2008)  pgs 56-59. Retrieved March 3, 2014.