Who hears Prayers for Oklahoma? I'm gonna go with, "God."

My response to Who Hears #PrayersForOklahoma?

True, prayer is often used as a well-meaning expression to show sympathy, care, and helplessness. However, for those who would argue that everyone should "actually do something", I think there are more than a few believers throughout history who could prove that prayer is the most powerful thing you can do.  Yes, "prayer" real prayer is much more than a well-wish comment-- it is authentic communication with God.  I'm fairly certain Christians such as Corrie Ten Boom, Martin Luther King, and Mother Teresa were most likely moved to do amazing things in the Lord's name for Jews hiding from Nazis, for Civil Rights, and for the diseased in India due to a believer's natural first step-- prayer.

I don't fully know why God allows terrible things to happen, except that it seems to go hand in hand with a world that is not perfect and can't be perfect when free will is given to people.

What I do know is this:

1.) There is a whole lot of evidence that we as human beings are not very wise, yet we all like to think we are wiser than God or any idea of Him.  Psalms 14:1 says "The fool has said in his heart, There is no God." There are people who know they are foolish, and search for wisdom from God, and there are people who look at people of faith, call them foolish, and without knowing, seem to believe they are gods. 

2.)  God is bigger than any tornado.

#PrayersforOklahoma. Truly.

10 signs that summer is not just nice for teachers, it's necessary...

This list especially relates to middle school educators:

1. You've dialed 9 to make an outgoing call... on your cell. (Parent phone calls from the classroom phone, much?)
2. You have to restrain the habit of telling pre-teens having fun at social gatherings or public places to "quiet down" or "CUT IT OUT."
3. Without consideration or hesitation you chuck a package of pencils, paper, and post-its in your grocery cart on every trip.
4. When you're distracted you start to shush people who are talking... anywhere.
5. You absent-mindedly dab on hand sanitizer each time you hear someone sneeze, cough, or clear their throat.
6. You feel naked without your lanyard of your keys and teacher ID hanging around your neck.
7. When that driver erroneously stops to let you go even though he doesn't have a stop sign, you feel inclined to take advantage of a "teaching moment" and show him the correct procedure with a (gentle) tap on the horn.
8. On a whim during 4th quarter you dish out the cash you never would have in September to buy the audiobook and movie based off your class novel because technology is the burnt out teacher's best friend.
9. Your whole "I don't bribe students, I reward them" motto turns into "I will give you a jolly rancher if you just stay in your flippin' seat"
10. You pass a teacher in the hallway your barely know and you both call out the number of class periods left in the school year as a cheerful greeting.


Countdown 'til summer: 4.5 weeks, 22 days, 154 class periods.