Thursday, February 08, 2007

Enjoying the Scraps

Mark 7:24-30

The Faith of a Syrophoenician Woman
24Jesus left that place and went to the vicinity of Tyre.[g] He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. 25In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil[h] spirit came and fell at his feet. 26The woman was a Greek, born in Syrian Phoenicia. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter.
27"First let the children eat all they want," he told her, "for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."

28"Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs."

29Then he told her, "For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter."

30She went home and found her child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

Genesis 2:18-25

18And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.

19And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.

20And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

21And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

22And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

23And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

25And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.



Ok, so here are my thoughts for the day on the readings of the day. How bold is the faith of that Syrophoenician woman? I mean, even though she is a non-Jew, she approaches a male Jewish teacher (yes, also the Messiah) and asks him to cast a demon out of her daughter. Not only that, but she was not deterred when Jesus said that "the children", i.e. the Jews, should receive miracles first. She was humble and said that she would be satisfied with scraps...crumbs...She said she would take whatever He was willing to give her, and Jesus gave beyond what she had hoped to receive. This is how God works. I mean, look at the Genesis story. It doesn't say that Adam whined about not having someone to share his life with or anything. Instead, God said, "It is not right for him to be alone." So, God blesses Adam with an amazingly beautiful woman, the crown of creation. I mean, think of what Adam's response must have been when he first saw Eve. He did want companionship, but do you think he even dreamed of having a companion that was so beautiful? I think Adam was like the Syrophoenician woman, though in a more passive sense. He wasn't looking for much and God blessed him beyond his wildest dreams.

And when you think about it, doesn't God do that a lot? You become content and are able to rest fully in God and that's when He choses to bless you beyond compare. The world says, "Make your dreams come true." God says, "Wait on me,and I'll bless you beyond your wildest dreams." When you're willing to take whatever God wills you to have, He will give you exactly what you need.

There are times when I become very aware of the fact that Jesus is always what we need most. I mean, I go to Mass with Kyle at least a few times each week. There are times when I'm there that my desire for God is almost overwhelming. There are times when Kyle goes up for communion and I am struck with how much I hunger and thirst for Jesus. I mean, sometimes, I am so willing to settle for the scraps, times when Kyle sits down next to me and I can smell the wine on his breath and a part of me wants to take the residue of it from his lips. I mean, we don't kiss...that's a boundary we have...and it's not that I want to cross that boundary...that's not what it's about...it's about how much I want Jesus, even if it's just a drop, just a residue. I mean, I'm not going to lie, getting that drop from Kyle wouldn't be a bad way to get it, but as much as I hate to say it, it's really not about him.

Hmmm...this time, I think I'm ending with more questions than answers, but the musings are still so valuable to me. I guess, sometimes I wonder what God does have in store for me. I mean, if I'm willing to have the scraps, will He let me dwell in Him and He in me? I suppose He already is...maybe He's just teaching me to recognize that...I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Child Care on Campus

So, it seems that SDSU is granting a small part of my dream. It's not quite what I envisioned, but I can't deny that I am super pleased to see that SDSU has been awarded a grant to provide child care for students at the on-campus child development center. It's not free child care, but the grant does pay part of the cost for parents to have their kids at the on-campus center. It's both exciting and encouraging. We'll have to see how well it is utilized, but I do hope this program grows and becomes even more user friendly. I truly believe that affordable child care for students is an asset that benefits all of us here on this campus. It makes it easier for parenting students (some of which are our friends and classmates) to more easily attend classes. It grants more opportunities for the early childhood education majors that work in the child development center. We'll have to see exactly how things play out, but I am definitely excited.

Here's the description of the program from the school website:

CCAMPIS - "Child Care Access Means Parents in School"


To: CCAMPIS Childcare Applicants
SDSU has initiated a joint venture with the United Retirement Center’s Child Development Center in order to meet childcare needs of students. All undergraduate students who have childcare needs may apply.

Priority will be given to those:
(1) who are full-time students
(2) who demonstrate a great financial need
(3) who are from underrepresented groups within the student body, and
(4) who have children with disabilities

The application contains three sections: (materials available below)
1. The SDSU application page
2. The URC Child Development Center section
3. The South Dakota Childcare Assistance program application section

• You will need to apply for South Dakota Childcare Assistance through the state office in Pierre as CCAMPIS funds are intended to supplement existing federal funds.

• This information is necessary in evaluating your application--please turn this entire section in with your application.

• If funded by the CCAMPIS grant, you will need to check back within 1 month before the start of childcare need in order to update and sign this section of your application. (Childcare Assistance in Pierre will not evaluate applications prior to 1 month before need.)

The collaborative effort between SDSU and the URC Child Development Center is exciting. It has a lot of potential to serve students, in the capacity of parents with children and those working in the fields of health, early childhood education and human services.

The potential childcare funding for each student, depending on continuing needs, could possibly follow the student through his/her college career. Each year a re-evaluation process to assess needs will be conducted; therefore, those students who have previously received funding will need to submit a new application in order to determine their current need.