Life by Betsy

*Update: This was post was published the day before I lived through a school shooting as a student teacher. On March 20, 2018, a student killed his ex girlfriend with a handgun in the halls of the school, and then took his own life as a resource officer fired. The shooter walked by my open classroom door, gun in hand. I did not see him. My co-teacher did. We were able to escape through connecting doors to an outside exit, into the parking lot, with a handful of students. There is more I could say. I found it sickening to think I had thought through this all before living it first-hand, but now I find it awe inspiring that God allowed me preparation in this way. With time, trauma therapy, and healing, I am able to reflect again. I can feel my mental capacity increasing again, and it is a breathtaking thing to experience. Expect more encouragement and reflections from me on this blog in the coming days and years, especially in this season of global pandemic. What extraordinary times I am

A snowday Luke 4 reflection-- When Jesus goes into the wilderness, after John baptizes him, he is full of the Holy Spirit. As he is in the wilderness, the devil tempts him by targeting 3 specific things that we all as humans are drawn to: provision, power, and pride. Jesus, the same man who as a boy ran to the temple of his Father to learn the scriptures, now full of the Spirit too, combats each temptation with scripture. What struck me most were those 3 temptations: provision, power, and pride. 1. We as people have a desire to have provisions, for survival and beyond that for comfort. Jesus counters by pointing himself (and throigh reading, us) back to God as the source for humanity's deepest need. 2. We want control- of our lives, of our surpundings, of others even. We want money, power, security, respect, even dominion in our world. Jesus counters by calling himself first and foremost a servant of God, not a king of peoples. Furthermore, he (by extension, we) is to adore in