Peace and Blessings

This week we had our first party with all of the BYU girls and our host families thanks to Emily, Whitney, and their host mom!!! We had an Italian feast with pasta and pizza- so wonderful!  And ofcourse for dessert we had the deathly, but so delicious, hokey pokey icecream.  This stuff really will be the death of me.  But it was so great to play with the girls outside of school time and get to know the families everyone is staying with!  Phyllis thought we were all a bunch of loud girls, but I think she still had fun!

This week of school was intense we had 3 ½ hours of literacy everyday and 3 ½ hours of assessment class every day. The amazing Dr. Jacobs taught our assessment class and it has been one of the most inspiring classes I have had a BYU so far. It was not a typical class with lecture and quizzes. He formatted it so that we can discuss and ask the hard questions we need to think about as educators, and understand what it truly means to be a teacher. This is his last full semester before he retires so he is providing us with all this wisdom and knowledge, and I am doing my best to try to take it all in. We had to read an article for the first day of class called “Some Lessons on Faith and Fear” by Gregory Clark. It is actually a devotional that was given at BYU in May of 2008! It was one of my favorite devotionals I have ever read. It discussed the conflict between faith and fear and how at times it is as powerful as the conflict between good and evil. I had a couple favorite quotes that have benefitted me as I have looked at this New Zealand adventure I’m on and for my life in general.

“When I am living in faith, I don’t fear change, or changing myself, for the better.”
“What is the source of fear? I think it is rooted in the assumption that I must solve all my problems and face all my challenges alone, using my own resources.”
“When my faith is strong, I am happy, confident, and even energetic as I approach each day.”
“Faith is a choice to believe and to act upon that belief in the face of uncertainty.”
“This life is beginning to boil down to an ongoing choice between faith and fear.”
“In faith we are free of fear. In faith we are blessed with peace that comes in the form of confidence.”

I really loved this article so much I just want to put the whole thing up here. It has so many great insights that can be applied to everyone’s life, no matter what stage you are at.