the best part

I must say, the best part of the Suns 129 - 127 victory was being able to cheer the Suns on with my guys. My discipleship group has been together since they were in 7th grade, and I joined them as a leader the second semester of their 7th grade year. This is my sixth year with them, and they are a great bunch of guys. We poked fun at each other, each one pretty much getting his own turn, but we laughed and screamed and had a blast cheering our Suns on to this great win. We were hosted by the Tolmachoffs, and they provided pizza and the HD experience that this game deserved. What a blast we had together! We all jumped up and yelled when Nash hit that three at the end of regulation to tie. We high-fived and grunted together. Guys, if you're reading this, I love you all. You're an incredible blessing to me, and, no, not just because you like the Suns, also. I've been extremely privileged to be your d-group leader for all this time, and I am looking forward to the impact the Lord will have in and through your lives throughout the rest of this year and the many to come. I am proud to call you my friends. Serve Him with all your heart. He deserves our all. It's all for His glory: live like it.

ggvan makes it to 100

Unless there is news that I've not heard of (I don't think they'd keep this quite, though), my Great Grandma Van made it through yesterday, her 100th birthday. I can now say that I've had a grandma who was over 100 years old. That's pretty amazing. She made it long enough to have everyone be able to celebrate her birthday together and get to say goodbye. My parents and sister were very blessed by the Lord giving her a little more time for that. She's now even surpassed her actual birthdate. 100 years old. That's a lot to have sink in. And I said "goodbye" to her back in January. I feel a little silly, but not really. It was a great time that I got to spend with her, and I wouldn't take it back. How much longer will she hold on? The Lord knows, and I don't, and that's just fine. Grandma Van held dearly to this incredible God that we know, and she's rested in His sovereignty most of her life...why shouldn't I do the same? What God does defines what's right and good...that's His character...that's who He is...and that's who my Great Grandma Van sought after and lived for. What a legacy for the rest of the Van Liew Clan to follow! All to God's glory alone.

sick day

Well, I took today off from work. It's a good thing I did, too. I have a cold, my family's in town (with Beth, Joe, and JD staying with us), and I am in a wedding today at 5:30pm or so. Charles and Allison finally have everyone behind them for this pushed-up wedding. I am looking forward to what the Lord is going to do in their lives and in the friendships they will create with us and other married couples along the way. They are going to have an incredible impact that I could never have. That's why we're a Body, not individuals.

meeting christian

I met a Bahá'í man named Christian. I thought that was ironic. He's 50, but, man, he definitely doesn't look like it. He will hopefully become a great friend of mine, and I am praying for the Lord to do something that only He can: change Christian's heart. If you're a believer, please pray for Christian to be won over by the Lord, to have a changed heart, and to bring glory to the Father. If you'd like to know more about my discussions with Christian or what it is that he believes, I'd love to share with you my excitement about being able to share Christ with him. Just let me know.

sarcasm

Okay. So I probably didn't take my principal's talk as seriously as I should have. I was pulled in for another meeting, this time with my Dept Chair, to talk about the same thing. I guess some anonymous parent(s) called and said that I was being sarcastic toward their student(s). They wouldn't even leave their name. Facing my accuser is a right, isn't it? Should admin just take the word of any anonymous person who calls and claims that a teacher is not doing what they want them to? Should not it be a requirement that parents contact the teacher that there might be an issue with? I'd love to be able to hear the complain, treat it seriously, apologize for specifics, and then work to make it right. I don't bear any grudge here, but I would like the chance to better myself, though I don't think I can totally change my personality and how I joke around with students. I would say that 95%, if not more, of my students are playing right back, and yet still learning what they need. I was informed that 95% in my class was not good enough: I need to create a safe environment for every single student...and I agree. I will see how this next week goes, as I try to monitor what I say, how I say it, and keep the environment the way I believe the Lord would want it: open and vulnerable to each other, as well as free from hurtful comments, even if they're not meant that way. We'll see what the Lord does in and through me in the coming days, months, and years in teaching. He's got something great for my life...and I'm looking forward to being able to show off His character as He works in me. To God be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

goodbye

I went to say goodbye tonight. Goodbye to my Great Grandma Mildred Van Liew. She's pretty much on her deathbed at this point. She coughed a few times, and each time my heart sank. She kept saying, "Sorry," in a very muffled, hard-to-understand voice which was barely audible. She was apologizing that she couldn't express herself to me. I said, "Oh, don't apologize, you beautiful lady. I love you." I had talked with my dad earlier, and I was debating whether or not to go. What made up my mind was that my dad asked me to communicate to her that they were praying for her and loved her. I did communicate that to her, and she replied, if through hardship, "With all my heart, I love [them]." I sang to her tonight. I did three or four hymns that I found in a hymnal there at Paul and Naomi Van Liew's house. How Great Thou Art, My Jesus I Love Thee, and Great is Thy Faithfulness. Each one, if you look at the words in each stanza, references death and seeing the Lord. It was quite fitting. She would close her eyes more when I sang. I pray she enjoyed it and it brought her joy. I brought Amy and Aidan with me. Aidan brought a smile to grandma Van's face with his laughing and funny noises. It was great to see her face brighten with a smile and even her laughter. Her motor skills were so gone that when she grabbed on to Aidan's hand, she couldn't let go. I had to remove her fingers to get Aidan free. That also tore at my heart. I told her how much I appreciated her service to the Lord and that I loved her. I was there for about an hour before I left. I said goodbye.

incredible lady

My great grandma Mildred Van Liew is an incredible woman. She has served the Lord for many decades. She's given time, money, resources, and then more time, money, and resources. Such an incredible woman of God. What a heritage we have to live up to! She is currently 99 years old, turning 100 next month, February 27th. She was born back in 1907. She's seen a lot of change over those years - automobiles, phone, electricity, refrigeration, radio, TV, air conditioning, computers, the internet, cell phones...and the list goes on. With all of her stalwartness we've seen from her throughout many years, her body has now become feeble. She just had another stroke 4 days ago. Her son, my great uncle, David, came down from Seattle to be with her, and he thinks she had another stroke the next day, also. Grandma is having a harder time speaking. She might be leaving us soon. Praise the Lord for His grace and mercy, allowing us to learn from her for so long. Praise the Lord for His grace and mercy, knowing that He will bring Grandma Van to be with Him when she graduates from this fleshly existence. Graduation is what her son, my grandfather, George referred to death as for the believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Moving on to bigger and much better things. It might not be too much longer until my Grandma Van graduates, and this we will celebrate, but we will also miss her with a deep longing to be with her again when the Lord returns or we graduate ourselves. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (james 4.6), and Mildred Van Liew is a humble lady who depends upon the Lord. Like I said, what a legacy, what a heritage to live up to! Grandma, I've got so far to go. May I follow after you the way you follow after Christ so I might be like Him as you are. You are a blessing to your family. You are a blessing to the Body of Christ.

resolved

I believe I have mentioned Resolved before: it's the group of college age and up who desire a deeper growth and greater impact in the local body and the local community. I have been asked to be in the Resolved leadership, and part of my role would be to define my role, since there will be little direction from Jamie Self (studentministries pastor at ncc) because he wants to get a group of people together that love the Lord and will take initiative in creating ministries and loving people for the Kingdom and for His name's sake. What a great goal! Amy and I are talking about being finished with the high school group and moving solely into Resolved at the end of the summer. It would free up more time during the week, and we'd have the opportunity to be with more people our age. Peers...that would be nice. To God be the glory. May it be done in such a way that there could be no other explaination than God did it.

previous students

I have a bunch of last semester students that keep coming in to see me. It is a great feeling to know that I made an impact on students. Some of them even have become my TAs for this semester. It's nice to think that they appreciated my sarcastic personality enough to see through it to the heart I have for them as individuals. Maybe the impact had nothing to do with math, but math is not the end-all: Christ is. I pray that the impact that I leave on DV would be a God-glorifying one. To Him be the glory.