biblical worldviewing

Well today was my first day at the middle school working with the autistic students. It was great! Ok, so I’ve only been with these boys one day so far, but they sure were sweet. People have been filling my head with stories of outbursts and panics to the point that I was worried this job would be more like diffusing land-mines, but I have to say that each one of these boys is nice and sweet in his own silly way. It is a delight to know that the work I put forth to teach and help these boys through school will actually be visibly rewarded in their smiles and thank yous–not that I needed reward, but you know what I mean. It’s hard to have the same attitude when helping someone who kicks you in the shins for it than someone who smiles and gives you hugs, but I know that it never stopped our Lord from helping us.

This is going to be a good, silly, challenging, probably a little tedious year, I think.

Tomorrow I am doing something that I have not done for almost 9 years–I’m going to the first day of middle school. I’m starting my new job at Carroll Middle school here in Raleigh (actually it’s like just 4 miles down the same street I live on) as a teacher assistant for a class of autistic students. I was looking for a teacher assistant job for a long time and considered several options, but I found out that almost all of the teacher assistant jobs are in autism classes. Actually, I got a call from the principal at Carroll about 3 weeks ago at 7:30 in the morning telling me that he had recommended me for the position. Dumbly, I told him that’s great but I should probably get back to him later that day to let him know if I accept. You see, there were a couple other “hot brands on the fire” (I think the saying goes), and I didn’t know if I really really wanted to work with autistic children. However the night before that call I had prayed to the Lord with my wife, asking that one of the many interviews at schools I had done would yield a job for us. So how could I refuse? It was God’s provision and so I called back accepted right away.

I’ve been over to the school this past week a few days, meeting folks and getting the classroom ready. I’ve heard a lot of stuff about the students, and the more I hear, the more I get this sense that the right attitude to have coming into this is that I plan to just have some fun with these students and help them see learning as fun and very doable. We’ll see how that works out!

How the Lord got my attention and showed me biblical worldviewing in a waiting room full of pregnant women.

My pastor from my church in Greensboro greatly blessed me by giving me a stack of books along with the books he was lending me for my short stay at Reformed Theological Seminary. It is to my own detriment that I have not begun to go through these books until just recently when I started this one during a period when our internet went out (which tells me something about my priorities/bad habits):

Sinclair Ferguson’s exposition on the book of Ruth has been opening my eyes to some of the great dramatic and narrative aspects of God’s Word. Reading Ferguson’s comments on Ruth has allowed me to take Ruth slowly enough to really ruminate on what’s happening in the book–I mean, how hard is it to be an old widow with no one but a foreigner for a daughter-in-law with no job in today’s world? Imagine a few thousand years ago! These women had fallen upon desperate times during a famine–a time that was already desperate enough in the land. If it wasn’t for God’s wisdom in restoring these women according to his plan, they would surely perish.

I took Sarah in for her scheduled check-up at human services on Friday. It really breaks my heart that we can’t afford to go to a private doctor’s office and get good, personal care for our first baby, but the quality of medical care at the county human services is no less than any good doctor. Human services lacks that personal touch and comes with a lot of waiting–but it’s free. The other day, as I sat in that waiting room crowded with all these pregnant women, I was praying with my eyes open. About 70% of the women are Hispanic and don’t speak English; the rest are mainly African American with a couple Vietnamese and other Asians here and there. There are little children running around everywhere, presumably because they would have no one to look after them if the mother did not bring them in, and maybe because they too have appointments with human services. There was no way for me to know if those women were married or unmarried, or even if the fathers who were not present (there was probably 1 man for every 7 women) are even part of their lives at all, but I was centered on one verse from Ruth. It is a benediction that Naomi spoke over Ruth and Orpah when Naomi was telling the women to depart from her.

Ruth 1:8,9 But Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, “Go, return each of you to her mother’s house. May the LORD deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The LORD grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” Then she kissed them, and they lifted up their voices and wept.

Naomi’s prayer is answered later in the story of Ruth. We see how Ruth makes a decision that is much like a profession of faith (”your God will be my God”) and becomes included in the Covenant of God, and experiences the blessings of the Covenant. I found myself looking around the room at those women and praying for each one, saying “May the Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” As we have seen from the story of Ruth, it is well within God’s power to see that every one of those women are brought into the Covenant and given the blessing of a worthy husband.

Well I did it. I’m in the United States Army National Guard for the next 6 years. And I wasn’t nervous at all about signing those papers or swearing that oath to uphold the US Constitution; not because I take it lightly or do not intend to honor my oath or commitment, but because I know this path to be a wise one for the provision of my family and the advancement of the Kingdom of God. It is a godly thing to gain employment in any honest line of work to pay the bills and take care of your family. Through many talks with my pastor (who is a chaplain in the Navy) I have seen that this is honest work and not out of line with our denomination’s traditions on ministry. I would love to write more about the details and the screening process I went through, including the physical and the ASVAB which I scored a 98 on out of 99, but I have to get going! Sarah and I are moving into our first apartment together tomorrow, in Raleigh, and it is very exciting. Lots of job interviews/prospects too. Until next time!