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A few days ago, someone asked me if I had a book recommendation for her son.  That was easy.  I recommended Duck on a Bike by David Shannon.  This is one of our family's favourites.

What children's book would you recommend?

Maybe it was too easy.  Yesterday, I was asked by the same person if I had a book recommendation for her husband.  It needed to be fiction.  At first I wondered, "Am I now doing this person's Christmas shopping?"  Next I wondered, "What is the last fiction book I've read?"  I do lots of great reading with my kids and I have read lots of great nonfiction, but adult fiction??

www.goodreads.com

To my shame, the last really good fiction novel I read cover to cover was Peace Like a River by Leif Enger.  I picked it up on Sunday and began to get completely lost in the novel.  This book about faith and the power of miracles is so good:  well-written, thought-provoking, surprising, and raw.  Resolution for 2014:  read more fiction.

What book should I read first?

Doing Great Work

johnathanjourney.blogspot.com

The only way to do great work is to love the work you do (Steve Jobs)

I am a special education teacher in a Christian school.  It is great work.  When people ask me about my work, they often comment, "You must be a very patient person."  It's true, much patience is required for the work that I do.  However, my students bring me so much joy and they teach me so much that it hardly feels like work when I am with them.


Everybody wants to save the world but nobody wants to help mom with the dishes (PJ O'Rourke)

I am a father to three beautiful children and a husband to my amazing wife.  I love my family.  I am not nearly as patient at home as I am at school.  Why is that?  Perhaps it is because the students I teach generally have an identified learning difficulty.  Perhaps it is because I am limited by the professional environment I work in.  Perhaps it is because I make an income there.  Whatever the reason, I decided that the patience I saw in my work needed to become a part of my life at home.


Biblical manhood is the glad, sacrificial assumption of responsibility (Doug Wilson)

During this period of change, I was reading the book Future Men and I listened to some of Doug Wilson's interviews.  The quote above hit me right between the eyes.  I heard that quote several months ago and it is still reverberating in my skull.  It was time for me to gladly and sacrificially assume responsibility for my work as a teacher and a dad.



Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? (Luke 5:30)

Finally, I considered the great work of my Saviour.  His patience, His love, His sacrifice, His salvation.  He is teaching me the greatest work, the work of love.  He saved the world and He "helped with the dishes."  He got down on his knees and washed dirty feet.  He invited the scum of society into his house and ate with them.  


Because of Christ's greatest work, I am able to do great work in Him.  The great work of leading my students.  The great work of leading my family.  The great work of love.

Our Loss of Wisdom

The Skill of Wisdom

One of the inspirations for this blog was Dr. Dirk Windhorst, a professor at Redeemer University College in Ancaster, Ontario.  While I was a student of his, he was working on his PhD thesis entitled, “Educating for a Love of Wisdom.”  He often spoke of wisdom as knowing and doing.  He reminded us that teachers need to keep these two things connected.  
Some believe (or live as if they believe) that learning and doing are disconnected.  You find this sentiment in the quote, “Those who can’t do…teach” or better yet, “That’s not how it’s done in the real world.”  Both of these ideas reflect the misunderstanding that learning and doing are opposites.

I must begin by admitting that teachers have often pulled learning and doing apart.  In doing so, we have done our students a great disservice.  However, I am excited to see a resurgence of learning through doing.  One of the buzz words in education right now is Project Based Learning, and while I do not agree with the philosophy behind PBL (constructivism), I do agree that we need to put the doing back into learning.

I came across a striking and instructive verse in the book of Exodus this week.  After the Lord explains the plans for the temple to Moses, He tells Moses in chapter 31, “See, I have called by name Bezaleel the son of Uri…and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.” 

Why would an artisan need wisdom?  In Hebrew, this word for wisdom is hokmah, which in this context means “technical skill” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance).  Wisdom can have many connotations:  military skill, administrative skill, prudence in religious affairs, etc.  However, wisdom is nearly always connected with skill.  That is stunning to me.  For the Israelites, wisdom was not merely an academic exercise, it meant skillful living.  What we call artistic talent or skill, the Hebrews called hokmah.  This is why I teach.  This is why I seek wisdom. 

"May His children be filled with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship."