Our Wisdom

"Our wisdom is to know that we can do nothing without the Lord Jesus - with Him, everything that is according to His will." 

- J. N. Darby, Collected Writings 

What I Know

'Tis what I know of Thee, my Lord and God,

That fills my soul with peace, my lips with song;

Thou art my health, my joy, my staff, my rod;

Leaning on Thee, in weakness I am strong.

- H. Boner 

The Power of Prayer

   There is an eye that never sleeps
Beneath the wing of night;
There is an ear that never shuts
When sink the beams of light.

   There is an arm that never tires,
When human strength gives way;
There is a love that never fails,
When earthly loves decay.

   That eye is fixed on seraph throngs;
That arm upholds the sky;
That ear is filled with heavenly songs;
That love is throned on high.

   But there's a power which faith can wield,
When mortal aid is vain,
That eye, that arm, that love to reach,
That listening ear to gain. 

   That power is prayer, which soars on high,
Through (the Lord) Jesus to the throne,
And moves the hand which moves the world
To bring deliverance down.

- Author Unknown

Quote For The Day

"It is the small temptations which undermine integrity unless we watch and pray and never think them too trivial to be resisted"

- Uncle Alec in Rose in Bloom by L. M. Alcott 

What's Our Vector, Victor?

You know that when the first lesson in Linear Algebra on your online course quotes this clip (below, in bold), it's going to be worth it.

Roger: Flight 2-0-9'er, you are cleared for take-off.
Cpt. Oveur: Roger!
Roger: Huh?
Tower voice: L.A. departure frequency, 123 point 9'er.
Cpt. Oveur: Roger!
Roger: Huh?
Victor: Request vector, over.
Cpt. Oveur: What?
T.v.: Flight 2-0-9'er cleared for vector 324.
Roger: We have clearance, Clarence.
Cpt. Oveur: Roger, Roger. What's our vector, Victor?
T.v.: Tower's radio clearance, over!
Cpt. Oveur: That's Clarence Oveur. Over.
T.v.: Over.
Cpt. Oveur: Roger.
Roger: Huh?
T.v.: Roger, over!
Roger: What?
Cpt. Oveur: Huh?
Victor: Who?

Peace

“Peace … which passeth all understanding.” 

Philippians 4:7

Jehovah, how many are they that trouble me, many they that rise up against me! (...) But thou, Jehovah, art a shield about me; my glory, and the lifter up of my head. With my voice will I call to Jehovah, and he will answer me from the hill of his holiness. I laid me down and slept; I awaked, for Jehovah sustaineth me.

Psalm 3:1,3-5

Does all trouble find your heart so resting on God as your Father, that when it is multiplied, it leaves your spirit at rest, your sleep sweet, lying down sleeping, and rising as if all was peace around you, because you know God is, and disposes of all things? Is He thus between you and your troubles and troublers? And if He is, what can reach you?

 Pilgrim Portions, selected from the Writings, Hymns, Letters, etc., of J. N. Darby

What shall we then say to these things? If God [be] for us, who against us?

Romans 8:31 

Hehe

Mummy has a habit of posting on her blog her children's funny quotes. Among them are some of my "accidental" sayings. So, I think it's time I did the same.

Last weekend Mum and I were together in the kitchen talking. I don't know what she said or did to make me say this, but somehow I found the reason to exclaim in admiration, "Wow, Mummy, when I grow up I want to be like you!"

To which she replied, "You don't have to be grown up for that, because I was already like me when I was like you!"

Silence followed in which we looked at each other with a puzzled look till what she had said sunk in and we started laughing.

So there. :P

...

Que sea yo un poco más amable
y que cuando otros fallen
sus errores no recalque.
Que alabe yo un poco más,
Que cuando sienta yo fatiga
ponga una cara más amiga.
Que un poquito más me esfuerce
por ayudar a los demás.
Que sea yo un poco más valiente
cuando la duda me tiente;
y que con más ánimo intente
ser lo que debo ser.
Que sea más humilde
con el hermano más débil,
y que estime al prójimo
más que a mi propio ser.
Que sea cada día más tierno
y el amor llene mi vida,
que sea fiel a mis deberes
cada instante de cada día.
Que trabaje sin quejarme
y la tarea no desprecie,
que acepte yo el llamado
a la hora de mi muerte.

While I was in Colombia I read this poem one day while supervising the little girls' work in the library. The girls were working juiciosamente so I grabbed a book and started reading. It was titled "Dichos y hechos - el amor", and one of the dichos was this small poem with which I found myself greatly identified. Being where I was, and having to do the work I had, these words were of much encouragement to me.

Inertia

"Inertia is like... like... it's like a smile! It doesn't have units."

S.P. - Physics teacher

Note: this picture is not mine.

"Nothing in the world is quite as adorably lovely as a robin when he shows off - and they are nearly always doing it."

- Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

It Would Soar Cloud-high

"I see at intervals the glance of a curious sort of bird through the close-set bars of a cage: a vivid, restless, resolute captive is there; were it once free, it would soar cloud-high."

Mr. Rochester - Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brönte

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed a dream. 

I was walking along the beach with my Lord. Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to me and one to my Lord.  

 When the last scene of my life shot before me I looked back at the footprints in the sand. There was only one set of footprints. I realized that this was at the lowest and saddest times of my life. This always bothered me and I questioned the Lord about my dilemma.  

 "Lord, You told me when I decided to follow You, You would walk and talk with me all the way. But I'm aware that during the most troublesome times of my life there is only one set of footprints. I just don't understand why, when I need You most, You leave me."  

 He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you, never, ever, during your trials and testings. When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you."

I first read this at my Uncle's, I think. As I was reading the last part, tears came to my eyes. How easy it is for us to doubt! How easily we fall as soon as our life starts having ups and downs... but the Lord is faithful. He will never leave our side. He is the only One we can depend on for... for everything! What a great comfort that is to me when I'm having a tough time.

~Just thought I would share this with you, as it has been a precious help to me lately.

Late At Night

Having spent the whole day out celebrating my youngest brother's birthday, and having had only the last class yesterday, I still have some work left to prepare for tomorrow's English lesson.

I'm the teacher.

Hence, after coming home late with my family I started working on the computer, on my grammar/exercise book, etc. I'm still at it.

Now is when you say, frowning, So why are you writing a post on your blog instead of working on tomorrow's class, young lady?!
Now is when I answer... I don't know. [grin] Hehe, nah, don't worry. What I'm posting is part of my work. I'm making my student read Secret Garden for her Reading exercises. It's an English classic with quite an easy read, the structures being simple and, I find, very refreshing. It's not like, say, Jane Austen, another English classic, but which is much more complex to read. (Note: I'm not saying reading any of Jane Austen's books isn't refreshing).

Anyway, as I read the book I write down questions and words I find would be new to my student, but at the same time, I also read the book myself, and mostly, two, and even three, times every chapter. This way I notice plenty of things I wouldn't in only one read.

So far we're on the third and fourth chapter of the book. It's still not very positive nor happy, but I would like to share with you a couple of descriptions the writer makes of the environment and/or situation.

When describing the moors, "..it's just miles and miles and miles of wild land that nothing grows on but heather and gorse and broom, and nothing lives on but wild ponies and sheep."


Once Mary had entered the huge house where she was to live from then on, "...she looked a very small, odd little black figure, and she felt as small and lost and odd as she looked."


Knowing the little girl was nicknamed Mistress Mary Quite Contrary because of her attitude towards others, "...It was in this way Mistress Mary arrived at Misselthwait Manor and she had perhaps never felt quite so contrary in all her life."


There are also some words I write down for my student's vocabulary that in some way or other are special - either because of their sound, their spelling... it depends. Here are a few:

Glisten (noun): a sparkling light reflected from something wet.
Proper: suitable or appropiate; correct.
Whistle: a clear, high-pitched sound made by forcing breath through a small hole between partly closed lips, or between one's teeth.
Twinkle (verb): shine with a gleam that changes constantly from bright to faint.
Perhaps: expressing uncertainty or possibility.

[Sigh] Now that I've finished my work, I will proceed to walk up the stairs to my bedroom and my bed. I believe I deserve my rest.

England

"England is a magical kingdom where mystery and history blend with the prosaic and the present to create a realm which is unike. Wether the scene is a ruined castle or a bustling city street, a windswept moor or a lush green meadow, it has been permeated for centuries with the charm, serenity and excitement that make it peculiarly English. The land has an atmosphere which can be mistaken for that of nowhere else on Earth.

England is a country with many faces, warm and welcoming or proud and defiant. The eye can never tire of its beauty, nor the senses of its atmosphere. It is truly a magical land."

THE BRITISH ISLES, Colour Library Books

Reading an old entry in my diary, dated 3rd August 2009, I ran across this quote about the beauty of England. Doesn't it invite you to get on a plane and fly there this instant?!

Cada Momento

"En mis angustias me ayudas, Jesús,

Sobre mi alma derramas tu luz;

Todos los días consuelo me das,

Cada momento conmigo Tú estás.

Cada momento me guardas, Señor,

Cada momento en tu gracia y tu amor;

Vida abundante yo tengo en Ti,

Cada momento Tú vives en mí.

¡Cristo, mi roca, mi libertador!

Tú eres mi escudo, mi gran defensor;

En mi conflicto yo te miraré

Cada momento, y salvado seré."

- Cada momento, 1, coro y 4

Dudo mucho que leas esto... pero me ha hecho pensar en ti. ♥

Beauty

Seaside Village by Thomas Kinkade

"A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

"And this, our life, exempt from public haunt,

Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,

Sermons in the stones, and good in everything."

- As You Like It by William Shakespeare

Untitled

"So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

- Mark Twain

On Domestic Times and Time

"The best time to plan a book is while you're doing the dishes."

"An archaeologist is the best husband a woman can have. The older she gets the more interested he is in her."

 - AGATHA CHRISTIE

Love. A Blessing

"Isn't it wonderful that God gives us hearts big enough to hold so much love?"

Elsie Dinsmore

On Rage And Inner Strength

"As to answering, though," said Sara, trying to console herself, "I don't answer very often. I never answer when I can help it. When people are insulting you, there is nothing so good for them as not to say a word - just to look at them and [b]think[/b]. Miss Minchin turns pale with rage when I do it, Miss Amelia looks frightened, and so do the girls. When you willl not fly into a passion people know you are stronger than they are, because you are strong enough to hold in your rage, and they are not, and they say stupid things they wish they hadn't said afterward. There's nothing so strong as rage, except what makes you hold it in - that's stronger. It's a good thing not to answer your enemies. I scarcely ever do. Perhaps Emily is more like me than I am like myself. Perhaps she would rather not answer her friends, even. She keeps it all in her heart."

Sara Crewe, "A Little Princess" by Frances Hodgson Burnett