I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Rom 12:1-2

Thursday, October 7, 2010

What I Did With My Collection

I took out a spiral notebook (the kind that are 10 for $1 in the back-to-school sales--I always keep a good supply on hand.) I looked up a couple of the scriptures in my collection to get ideas for organization, then I decided that the task of organizing them was way too overwhelming so I just split them into two categories: THE SOURCE and PURPOSE & METHOD (i.e. everything else.) Then I randomly chose a reference, looked it up, decided which of my two broad categories it fit best in, and then hand-copied it into my spiral notebook. It was that simple. Of course, I would pray, sometimes pause with insight, and occasionally have an "Ah-ha!" moment, but overall it was just a lot of copywork. A lot of copywork done with an open heart and a desire to see God's plan for education. I crossed the scripture reference off on my dog-eared paper after I had written out the verse and then chose another one. Some days I just chose the shortest scriptures. Other days I wrote out entire chapters. I always read both before and after the verses to get the context, and sometimes wrote those verses down, too. Some days, due to lack of time or because of a gentle nudging of the Holy Spirit, instead of copying down more verses, I would go back and read the ones I had already written. I would highlight, underline, and meditate on these verses. This copywork went on for months; in fact, I have still not completed writing down all the passages in my collection, and I occasionally find new verses to add to my collection. It is ongoing. The Bible has a LOT to say about education.

Slowly, slowly, my view on education began to change. It changed from the inside out. It changed, not because of what someone else told me, but through the Holy Spirit bringing God's Word to life in my heart. This is how Romans 12:2 looks in my life. This is how I have been transformed by the renewing of my mind.

2 comments:

Shannon said...

Love it!

Charissa said...

I could learn so much from you. We should hang out more. :)