Pi: Deceivingly Small Incredibly complex

Today is pi day.  For all you non-mathematical fans who are confused, it is march 14th (3/14) pi is most commonly rounded to 3.14. 

I am not a huge math fan, but I am a self-proclaimed nerd.  I love learning and school and education (I guess that is a reason I am gong to be a teacher) . So I decided to research a little bit of pi history and blog about it.  I thought I would find some fun facts, pop them in a post and be on my way.  Boy was I incorrect.  What I found was numerous equations like this:

 

Yep I know…insane. There were about twenty other equations and explanations and well I got overwhelmed.  I thought pi was a small word and a simple number.  I thought I could glance over a few facts and make a cute little blog post about it and enlighten you so that you could go on and impress your friends and family with pi knowledge.  What I found is that I cannot even begin to understand or comprehend pi, it’s history or it’s true existence. 

“Reports on the latest, most-precise calculation of π are common news items; the record as of September 2011, if verified, stands at 5 trillion decimal digits.”

This then got me thinking about how huge and incomprehensible my God is. 

He is omnipresent, omnipotent, eternal, un-caused, unchanging, everlasting.  There is absolutely no amount of studying or no equation or anything we can do to wrap our minuscule brains around such a big God. Picking up a Bible or  hermeneutic study about God and skimming it for a bit would get me about as far as trying to comprehend a number with 5 trillion digits. 

So this pie day when you are eating real pie, using pie in math class or baking a pie I hope you can be reminded of how huge God is and how incredible it is that he loves you so deeply and personally.

Schwarzenegger, Worrying & Matthew 6:25-34

Would you worry about being unable to take the lid off a jar of pickles if your husband was Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Would you stress out about a computer glitch if your brother was Bill Gates?

Would you worry about what you were going to wear if your uncle was Calvin Klein?

The answer to all of these is hopefully no.  All the aforementioned people are experts in the fields in which you would need help in the situations.

So here is a final question. 

Why do we worry about ANY detail in life when our true father is the creator of the universe?

Matthew 6:25-34

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[e]?

   ²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

(*I borrowed the Bill Gates and Schwarzenegger illustration from Bill Meige’s sermon Sunday.. loved it!)

Schwarzenegger, Worrying & Matthew 6:25-34

Would you worry about being unable to take the lid off a jar of pickles if your husband was Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Would you stress out about a computer glitch if your brother was Bill Gates?

Would you worry about what you were going to wear if your uncle was Calvin Klein?

The answer to all of these is hopefully no.  All the aforementioned people are experts in the fields in which you would need help in the situations.

So here is a final question. 

Why do we worry about ANY detail in life when our true father is the creator of the universe?

Matthew 6:25-34

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[e]?

   ²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

(*I borrowed the Bill Gates and Schwarzenegger illustration from Bill Meige’s sermon Sunday.. loved it!)

Spilling Milk, Not Crying and Fish

What do you see in the above photo?  I see spilt milk with Cracklin’ Oat bran in it.  The little girl that I nanny saw a fish with a birthmark.  See the difference in perspective?

Yesterday as I was pouring her milk a little… well a lot spilled onto the table.  I was slightly embarrassed because I was pouring it so she wouldn’t make a mess pouring it.  That did not end up working out too well.  I was also kind of annoyed… “a twenty-one year old person can’t even pour milk right… how will I ever be a teacher? “  I know I was probably being a tad hard on myself (perfectionist Katie was on the scene) but alas as the old adage states, I was simply “crying over spilt milk”. 

The little girls reaction was amazing.  She got so excited and said “Katie!! Hurry!! TAKE A PICTURE! You made a fish!  With a birthmark! Hurry! Before the eye bubble pops (I missed the eye bubble in this picture… it did kind of look like an air bubble in the shape of an eye).

I loved how positive and fun her attitude was in the situation.  This proves how every situation has both a positive and negative side to it.  Choose the positive side.  It is a lot more fun, a lot more interesting and I am pretty sure that is precisely how we can learn to “NOT cry over spilt milk”. 

Have an udderly fantastic day! I hope this post was “moo”tivational!! Thank you heifer so much for reading!

Katie’s Leap List

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Today is leap day the “extra” (but not really extra… it has to do with the Earth’s orbit around the sun and the seasons… kind of complicated but we need this placeholder of a day to make sure that the seasons don’t get out of whack) day we get only every four years.  This leap day I couldn’t help but think of the story in Acts 3 when Peter and John heals the beggar.  Check out this part of the passage.  This is right after the man is healed:

. ^“8He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.⁹ All the people saw him walking and heard him praising God. ¹⁰ When they realized he was the lame beggar they had seen so often at the Beautiful Gate, they were absolutely astounded! ¹¹ They all rushed out in amazement to Solomon’s Colonnade…”

I love this!  The man was so shocked and excited he lept for joy!  He went from being lame to leaping.  This story challenges me to be grateful for everything that God has so lavishly blessed me with… So I decided to make a leap list… a list of things that make me leap for gratefulness (<–is this a real word??). So enjoy! (Items on the list are in NO particular order)

Katie’s First Quadrennium (Every 4 years) Leap List:

1.  This winter weather has been incredible!  Anyone who remotely knows me knows that I hate snow.  This winter I have seen very little of the white stuff or freezing temperatures. 
2.  I graduate in less than ten months with my Middle School Education degree!  I will be certified to teach science and social studies (grades 4-9), math and language arts (grades 4-6) and tittle 1 reading (k-12).  Despite my three transfers, and three major changes I am graduating early.  This is nothing short of a miracle!
3. I have an incredible mom! She is such a great friend and roommate.  We get along so well and I love her so much… I am entirely blessed.
4. The rest of my family is awesome too! I have two grandparents who are such fantastic role models of a loving relationship, a sister who is going to be a Dr. soon and an aunt, uncle and cousins who are super great.
5. My boyfriend is so awesome he should win an award.  He has stuck with me for 2 years and 2+ months…. and has been incredible.  He is such a blessing and I am so blessed to get to date him.  He is truly a gift from God!
6. My boyfriend’s family is the best!  Seriously some of the greatest people that I have ever met…I can see where Jake gets his amazingness!
7. My church is AWESOME!  I have been going to North Terrace for 14 years and it is a great place to be.  It’s like having a ginormous family! I love getting to work with the youth group, especially co-leading a high school girl’s small group.  Yep…nothing says “purpose” more than getting involved in ministry!  God blesses me so much in this!
8. I have amazing friends! From my friends at Cedarville, to the ones in Cincinnati and here in Zanesville, I am so encouraged and blessed.  God is good!

Let My Light Shine?! But My Electricity Is Out!

http://youtu.be/Y8cX6SHtxeEWe Are- Kari Jobe

Yesterday afternoon our power went out and boy did it throw me for a loop.  One thing that drives both my mom and I nuts is losing power.  We are tough women but don’t mess with our electricity! I was so glad that it did not happen when I had my Cedarville friends over this weekend, but I was throughly irked.  I was home alone, my cell battery was on one bar out of 5, I couldn’t go online, play the Wii, work on lesson plans… ANYTHING.  THEN I realized that I couldn’t call and report the outage for fear of using up the last bit of cell battery and in order to get out I had to unhook the garage door and manually lift it up. 

So after all that I ended up going to church for the soup cook off. I was so glad I went, because I had such a wonderful time of fellowship with my church family!  And I was able to charge my cell phone).  But as I was approaching my neighborhood and I could tell that we still had no power (lack of streetlights is the #1 sure-fire sign), the song “We Are” by Kari Jobe came on and I got so frustrated.  I literally said (in my head)  ”Let My Light Shine?! But My Electricity is Out!” 

Really silly and completely out of context reaction I know.  The song is talking about Matthew 5:14: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden”.  But then I was thinking, how many times do I let petty things and pointless excuses and fear keep me from truly shining my light for Christ.  It challenged me.  As I was watching one little candle in our dark house light up an entire room I was reminded how much of an impact one person “on fire” for God can make. 

Thankfully our power was restored at 10:04 pm.  I can’t really say honestly that I am grateful for the random power outage, but I am grateful for the reminder and the encouragement to let my light shine!

Perfection and Matthew 5:48

For Valentine’s Day my boyfriend’s parents got me a devotional book called Princess Unaware.  I couldn’t wait to read it when I got it Saturday because I was still in Princess Retreat mode!  I have read it the past 4 nights (when I do my devotions normally) and it has been an awesome book thus far.  I read a part of the book last night that stuck with me, so I will share it with you!

You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5:28 (ESV)

I can’t tell you how many times I have read that verse and used it as an excuse for perfectionism*.  If the Bible is telling me to be perfect, then I have to be perfect, or at least strive to be as perfect as humanly possible right?  The Bible encourages perfectionism… Right?!  Wrong.  Princess Unaware had a section on perfectionism and how it is not good for our spiritual lives (or any other parts of our life… my mom lways told me that a perfectionist can never be satisfied).  it said that instead of “perfect” in Matthew 5:28 substitute the word “complete”.  God is complete.  There is nothing lacking in his character, thoughts, words or actions. Perfectionism doesn’t striveto be more like God but to be the best above everyone.  So the next time you feel the pressures of perfection remember  the consequences and aim for completeness!

*Mom if you are reading this I know I am not a perfectionist in all areas of my life… my room is a disaster zone, and I am terrible at wrapping presents..but in SOME areas I have perfectionist tendencies!

Princess Camp, Geodes and Inner Beauty

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Last weekend I got the honor of being a dorm mom/small group leader for the First EVER Princess retreat at Round Lake Christian Camp.  It was incredible, our guest speaker, Wendy from New York City, was incredible.  Lisa and Becky from WCC did an IMPECABLE job planning a Godly, Girly and Great weekend! Here are some of my highlights.

The first night Wendy proved to the girls that they are princesses! She showed us Bible verses that said that we are daughters of God and they he is the King, so that makes us all princesses!

The next session Wendy discussed how all the Disney princesses had villains who were jealous of the princess and who wished harm upon the princess.  We too have a villain (Satan) who is jealous of us and who will trick us and harm us by any means possible.

My all time favorite discussion was on beauty.  Before the beauty session we took our group (the Emeralds… AMAZING girls J) outside in the blizzard (it wasn’t really a blizzard but we did get quite a lot of snow).  We then gave each girl a geode.  For any of you non-science geeks out there, a geode is a spherical rock mass containing a cavity lined or filled with crystals that have grown unimpeded and so are frequently perfectly formed.  In order to open it, you have to hammer the ugly outside of the geode in order to crack it open to reveal the breathtakingly beautiful crystals on the inside.  You probably know where this analogy to beauty is going….

It is so difficult living in a society that puts so much emphasis on outer beauty.  From fashion magazines, to runway models, to TV shows girls are told they need to be tall, skinny and perfect in order to have true beauty.  In our small group discussion the girls told us that they felt everything is telling them they have to be fake, someone that they are not in order to feel accepted and beautiful and they can never measure up to the magazines (pretty heartbreaking to hear from a 4^th graders mouth). 

The geode represented the importance of inner beauty.  Geodes are dull, bumpy and ugly on the outside.  They are nothing special.  But when you hammer away at them and crack them open, you reveal beautiful crystals.  They are all so unique and special, just like each of the little princesses.  The inner beauty is what makes the geode beautiful, and their inner beauty is what makes them beautiful. 

I was also thinking about how hard it was to open the geodes.  We were hammering for over 20 min. in order to get all ours open.  This reminded me of how difficult it is to stop focusing on outer beauty and to crack through the lies that our outer beauty defines us as either beautiful or not.  It is SO easy to get caught up in our outer beauty.  It can engulf us and over take us.  But when we let God crack us open, and show us how he defines beauty, we will see a much more realistic picture of beauty. 

I loved princess camp and can’t wait for the next one. 

1 Peter 3:3-4 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

Proverbs 31:30 Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Psalm 139:14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

1 Samuel 16:7

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”

1 Peter 3:4

But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

9 Months Pregnant on a Donkey. Why Did Ceaser Issue That Decree?

Picture this.  You are nine months pregnant and miserible.  You then hear a rumor that you have to travel eighty miles via. foot/donkey to your husband’s home town.  To make matters worse, once you get there you are going to have to pay the Ceaser taxes.  To make matters EVEN worse, you do not have much money and the journey will be a long slow one and there are no cell phones, websites, morse code machines so make proper reservations. 

Sound fun?! I think not.  If this happened to me in the twenty-first century I would be ticked even though I would have the luxury of making and 80 mile journey in a heated, comfortable vehicle.  I could have a guaranteed room in my destination town, and I would have a cell phone to call a doctor if I had any issues.  I would be crabby, pouty and cranky. 

As I reflect on the Christmas story, I can’t help but think of the strength of Mary.  Not only was she young and pregnant, but she had to deliver her baby in an un-fit location in an un-familiar town.  The Bible does not mention Mary’s disposition… she must have been questioning if she would even make it to Bethlehem from Nazareth, she must have been questioning why they had to make this trek right before her due date…but she must have been trusting enough to know that this was God’s plan.  This was the way it was supposed to go.  This mindset is incredible for anyone to have…let alone a pregnant woman on an 80 mile journey on a donkey to pay a tax.  It makes me think how I should be more trusting of God’s plan in my everyday life.

Happy Christmas eve eve eve!

Why I am Glad We Have a Shepherd

“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—  just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. John 10:14-15

Numerous time in the Bible we are paralleled to sheep and Jesus as the shepherd.  When I was younger I always though that it was because sheep are cute, fluffy and sweet just like me (ha ha ha…. my mom & sister would probably dispute the cute and sweet adjectives).  But one time at a convention I discovered the REAL reason.  Check out this list of sheep facts from think-differently-about-sheep.com (yep that is the name of a real site). 

Facts About Sheep
􀂃 the dumbest of all animals
􀂃 helpless, timid, feeble (little means of defense)
􀂃 require constant attention & meticulous care
􀂃 will go the wrong way, unaware of the dangers at hand
􀂃 have nibbled themselves right off a mountain side
􀂃 will eat or drink things that are disastrous to them

􀂃 live in a rut unless led to new pastures
􀂃 easily fall prey to other animals, virtually defenseless without a shepherd
􀂃 can become cast down, then panic & die

 See any glaring parallels to us humans?  Where should a sheep be if the shepherd was not there to save it?  Off the side of a cliff because they nibbled themselves off it?  In a predators stomach because they did not recognize the threat?  Panicked and dead in a ditch?

Now where would WE be without our savior?  Stuck in the rut of our sins.  In constant danger of temptation, but unaware of what is dangerous.  Devoured by the devil’s schemes.  Panicked, cast down, dead. 

See why I am grateful we have a shepherd?