Romans 12:2

Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. - Romans 12:2 (NLT)

Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.

Let God: He will do it. In fact, I am incapable of doing it. While I have surrendered this fact many time before, the problem I keep having is that I think I can do the changing.

Transform you: not whittle away a little bit. Completely change me.

By changing the way you think: not the way I act (that will come), but by changing the way I think. I have wrestled with this enough to know that my thinking must be changed. My toxic self-talk, my contempt for others, my abject selfishness...all this must change. But I can't do it...God must.

Lord, help me with this!

Triangle Drive In

I can't believe it took me this long to realize it. Had you put it together before?

#ConnectedTL Tribe

Another quickie: my #FollowFriday suggestions this week...anyone from the #ConnectedTL tribe!

There's a #ConnectedTL chat every Tuesday night at 7pm Pacific. Just punch in the #ConnectedTL hashtag, and check out anyone there. Some heavy posters (sorry for any obvious ones I miss!):
@EdTechMinded
@CateTolnai
@CreativeEdTech
@EdTechAri
@BeardsleyTeach
@Cogswell_Ben

Baker University Faculty

So...I missed a week. I'll write more about this on Monday, but the gist of it is: I'm going to cut myself some slack. The OLD me would have beaten myself up about this. Would have gone "back in time" and written the missing posts. But not now. I'm going to let it go.

What am I thankful for on this Thursday? My old college professors. I had quite a few, obviously, but these five stand out in my memory. I had a few professors at Grossmont College, but I'm not counting them. In large part because I remember none of them.


Tony Brown:
Dr. Brown was my first college professor at Baker University. I had him for an Intro to Psychology class at 8 in the morning. This was an honors class (why these exist in college, I'm not sure, but whatever). It's where I met my college girlfriend (she stood up one day in class and defended her viewpoint that as Christians we should espouse an external locus of control because of the role Christ should play in our lives). Dr. Brown had us over for pizza-fueled study sessions in his home. He showed off his Pez collection (rather impressive). He ran for office soon after my time there (I think as a Kansas state representative). Always thoughtful, always bright. And a solid, good guy.

Lowell Gish:
Dr. Gish was a professor of education. He told us in our first class that his goal in life was to weed out teaching candidates who had no business in the profession (like jocks who thought a kinesiology degree to be a PE coach was an easy life plan). He had a passion for education, and made sure we caught that fire. He retired during my junior year...a big loss. But I wanted to be like him: 70+ years old and alive with passion.

Susan Emel:
Dr. Emel taught communications. She convinced me to join the forensics (public speaking) team. She took us to Louisiana for a competition once...that was awesome. She taught me critical thinking and how to see multiple sides of an issue. Like...REALLY see them and value them. Don't get me wrong, she also taught us to tear apart the opposing argument...but to do that, you really have to have an understanding. I think I carry the value of that with me today.

John Buehler:
Dr. Buehler was the choir director. I loved singing in the university choir. I even got to sing with the advanced jazz choir. I could not read music...I faked my way through the whole experience. But it was great. He got so much out of us. Our Christmas Vespers performances were magical. It was awesome to see what a group of people could accomplish when they loved their leader and worked their butts off. And when I tried out for a solo vocal, he let me down in such a way that I knew I had no business trying, but he was glad I had given it a shot and still valued my contribution to the group. A delicate balance!

Pablo La Rosa:
Pablo was my Spanish professor. I loved him so much. Here I was in the tiny college in the middle of nowhere Kansas, and I had a Cuban teaching me Spanish. I loved how he treated Spanish like the love language that it can be. He taught us to care deeply for the sounds of the language. And when it was just me and ONE other student (Angie Williams) in our upper division courses...I can't tell you how much I learned with that one-on-one attention. And I loved that he lived in Kansas City, so he'd call us if the roads were icy to cancel class. No university notification needed! And he sold beer at Royals games. And he wrote a book (which I typed up for him, earning me a part of his acknowledgements page). And he sang to and with us while he accompanied on guitar. Yeah, he was pretty cool.

Some day in the future, I'll write a post about my college days in a more general sense. Stories about my friends, and my studies, etc. But today I'm thankful for my professors who encouraged and strengthened me in those formative years. I hope somewhere out there there's a former student thankful for me.