The Perfect Teacher - Part Three

Hello everyone,

After a long time, here I am to (try to) finish The Perfect Teacher series (read part one here and part two here)... Well, remember the movie credits I talked about? It took them a long time to be revealed also (much more time than it took me to write this last post)... because Job is one of the first written books of the Bible and it was Jesus who was able to answer that question, thousands of years later (Disclaimer: That number is an estimate, I am not sure of the exact number of years between Job and Jesus - maybe someone can give us that information?).

Anyway, let's quickly bring Job's ideas to the discussion: "One man dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease, his body is well-nourished, his bones rich with marrow. Another man dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good. Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both." (Job21:23-25). See, it is like he is saying: no matter what kind of life you lived, in the end it will all be the same, worms will eat you!!!! (Yuck, I know.)

BUT JESUS...

... The Perfect Teacher

... wants to show us otherwise. Let's take a look at Luke 16:19-31. Right off the b___ (American friends, is the expression right off the batch, right off the bat, right off the bet... or something else? Please fill the blank for me hehe), Jesus gives us the same situation: " There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores." (Luke 46: 19-21).

There they are, the rich man with lots of marrow in his bones and the beggar, never having enjoyed anything good - so if anyone was wondering, having your sores licked by dogs is not enjoyable ;). Jesus adds a few more details - the rich man not only was healthy but lived a luxurious life. And the beggar (don't you guys think it is interesting that he was named by Jesus?) had a name and a horrific life.

Verse 22 tells us that they both died. Lazarus went to heaven, carried by angels (pretty luxurious, I would say) and the rich man to hell. The Bible doesn't say how he got there, but I can only imagine it was not a pretty scene. Anyways, there they are. Jesus could have ended it here, the main question is 'kinda' answered: No, people don't have the same ending.  But why? Only because they had a good life, they deserve an eternity of suffering? If that was the case, I would definitely take suffering first, then heaven!

That is why I said the answer is 'kinda' answered. We need more answers, if you know what I mean. Here are my thoughts as I read this: Sooooo, wait a minute, the rich man did not necessarily choose to be rich, maybe he was born like that, maybe he was royalty, maybe ... who knows what? I find it very interesting that Jesus did not name him. Maybe it means that it does not matter who he was - that is, why he was rich, how he may have achieved that status. All that mattered was that everyday he had a good life. And that at some point a beggar came to make his gate look ugly.

Oh, there is so much stuff I could say right here... how sometimes a 'nuisance' could have been our turning point if we let God work, how ungrateful we are for life's trials (I am pretty much guilty on both instances), etc... but let's keep our focus on those two...

Or not, hehehe... I need to stop because the post is getting big... and I still have a lot to explore in this passage... sooooooooooooooo, this was not the last post on the series... but hang in there, there is more to come...

Like the Americans say, here is some "food for thought", if you are interested: Read the rest of the story in Luke. What do you think is the real difference between the rich man and Lazarus? (Hint: it has nothing to do with money.)

The Brazilican Learner

The Perfect Teacher - Part Two

Well, where did we stop? Oh, yes, we were talking about Job and the tragedy that came on his life (read about it here).

So there he is no money, no family, no support, no health... he hit rock bottom, like the Americans say. In the midst of all that tragedy, Job's "friends" accused him of being guilty for being in that situation. Like we can choose what will happen to us, ha ha.

Anyway, Job's response to all that is: "Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? {That is, they are old and healthy} They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes {Remember Job lost all his children at the same time}. Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not upon them. Their bulls never fail to breed {In today's terms, their investments always make a profit}. (...) They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace." (Job 21: 7-10a;13). P.S. The note between {} in italics are mine.

Basically what Job is doing here is comparing his life to the wicked man's life, and by wicked he means the one who does not care for God or follow His commands. So there it is: Job is a God-follower and his life sucks and the non-follower's life is soooooooo much better than his. He adds: "One man dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease, his body is well-nourished, his bones rich with marrow. Another man dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good. Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both." (Job21:23-25)

What I believe he is saying is that some wicked people will live their whole lives, until the end, in prosperity and without being punished for their sins, while others, where God-followers or not, will have a whole life of suffering and end like that. And then they will both die and that will be the end of it. Or will it?

For us, finite beings with a finite perspective of life and death, that is the end. That is until how far we can see. God, however, sees it differently. It is like those movies that have a "hidden" scene at the end of the credits. Let's say that us humans leave the movie theater as soon as the credits start ("The end" at the screen means our bodily death in this illustration).God, however, already knows what that "hidden" scene will be.And He is so kind to show it to us. In the case of Job, however, he dies without seeing it.

YES, I know that in the end his life turns around and he has double children and double riches (Job 42:12-17), but that is not what I am talking about. That is not what Job 21:23-25 talks about either. I am sure you or someone in your circle of friends knows someone who was mean until the end of their lives and all went well to them. And also someone who was the sweetest person you have ever met and their lives were miserable. Verses 23-25 are talking about those people.

Ok, I am going to stop here today and leave you wondering (hopefully) what and where the "hidden" scene is. Let me just tell you upfront it is not in the book of Job. It is not even in the Old Testament. But it is in the Bible. And I will talk about it on the next post of this series.

The Brazilican Learner

The Perfect Teacher - Part One

After surviving the first few months of teaching and being a mom, I am back to blogging!!! :) Sorry it has been so long and I will update you guys on my New Year's Resolution on another opportunity but today I want to write about The Perfect Teacher.

Remember the three part series I wrote called "What is a lesson after all?" (Read part one here, part two here and part three here) ? Well, this series"The Perfect Teacher" is a follow-up to that series.

Last time we talked about it we discussed the attributes of a teacher and decided no one will ever be the "perfect teacher". Well, no human being. But there is a Perfect Teacher, and he is GOD. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Let's take a look into the Bible and see just a glimpse of His infinite knowledge and perspective versus our finite human mind.

We are going to start by taking a look at the book of Job in the Bible. Who was Job? In a nutshell, Job was a good man who followed God and had a bunch of kids and money (which translated into cattle and sheep back then). This is what God thought of him: 'There is no one on earth like him [Job]; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil'. (Job 1:8b)

But his status quo on earth was about to change and some of you may already know. He was about to lose everything. You see, Satan thought that Job was 'blameless and upright' because he had all those blessings from God. This is what Satan told God in response: "You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will curse you to your face." (Job 1:10b and 11) Basically he was saying that what Job really worshipped were the blessings, not the Blesser.

So God gave permission to Satan to take everything from Job, including his cattle and sheep, his children and his own health. All that Job was left with was a wife - who advised him to 'curse God and die' (Job 2:9b) and friends - who kept telling him that what happened to him was his own fault - of course he must have sinned and that is why all this disaster came upon him. To sum it up, he was left with nothing good, no family, no possessions, no health, no support. Nothing.

Now let's pause for a moment... Job is suffering physically, financially and emotionally, when all he did his whole life was to seek God... that seems unfair, right?

BUT GOD...

... The Perfect Teacher...

had and has a lot in store to teach Job and us in this whole situation....

I am going to stop this post here, before I continue I would like to hear from you...

What do you think those lessons are?
Why do you think God allowed all this to happen to Job?
Have you ever been in a similar situation?

The Brazilican Learner

How clean is the dishwasher? - Resourcefulness Resolution

Well, the baby didn't cry, as you can see (read more about it here), so I started cleaning... the dishwasher. (I had to start with something easy, you know). I decided I am focusing on areas that are usually neglected like the inside of appliances, under the furniture, door handles, etc...

I read in a magazine that in order to clean it from bacteria and etc, you should run an empty load with just one cup of vinegar and select the hot water cycle, so I did it. When it was done, I checked to see how clean it was. I have to tell you it was pretty decent, but I still found this:

Gross, huh? So I grabbed a paper towel, sprayed some cleaning product in it and wiped it down...

The red color in it is because I used red wine vinegar (that was the only kind I had at hand). And this is the after look:

So now I have a clean dishwasher and know for sure my dishes will be clean when I have them washed there!

The Brazilican learner

Keeping a clean house - Resourcefulness Resolution

Hi guys!

Following up on my New Year's Resolution (read about it here in case you missed it), I decided that in February I will focus on keeping my resources clean (February is perfect because it has less days hehehe). I figured that in order to make the most of the stuff I already have it I'd better keep it in good shape.

I also decided to write about cleaning your home in a blog series until the end of the year (40 weeks to be more precise, I will explain it better later) so that I have you guys to keep me in line since cleaning is something I don't like to do (I hate it but I am trying to be nice here).

So, let the cleaning begin! (hopefully the baby will start crying and I can use that as an excuse to start tomorrow ;))

The Brazilican Learner

Brazilian Savory Cake - New Year's Resolution

Hi there!

 This year for my principle resolution (read more about it here) I decided I want to be more resourceful, that is, to make the most of the resources already available to me. So, in January I decided to start in my kitchen. (If you want to be amused, read about my first failure here). When I opened my refrigerator last weekend, there were lots of things about to go bad... Tomatoes, carrots, onions... And so I looked on my recipe book and found a wonderful, nutritious and yummy recipe of what I am calling Brazilian savory cake. I haven't had this in years and oh, it was so good to eat it again. A special thanks to the Tofaneto family for the recipe :).

I did buy four ingredients that were missing, but that was it. I had all the rest at home - and trust me, the end result was waaaaaay better than my "invention" of Spam and cottage cheese.

But you may be wondering... What is this cake made of? Well, it is made of layers of crustless sandwich bread and three different fillings - creamy chicken, spinach and corn, and carrots. (I can post the recipe on another post if you guys are interested, just let me know)
All that covered in mashed potatoes icing (bear with me American friends it is worth it) and potato sticks. I will show you in pictures what I did. Here it is:

First I cooked the chicken for the first filling with chicken broth.

While that was doing its yumminess magic, I blended corn, olive oil and flour and cooked it until the flour taste was gone.

Then I added frozen spinach to it. And the second filling was done.

Then I shredded the cooked chicken and put it back in the broth (I tweaked the recipe a little) and added tomatoes... And let it cook some more.

Meanwhile, I added the carrots to cream cheese and table cream (creme de leite) and some nutmeg, and the third filling was done.

Then I added some table cream to the chicken, and the first filling was done.

Now the hard work is over. All you gotta do is cut the crust off the bread...  (I will use those to make breadcrumbs or croutons later, for now I froze the crusts)

Make a layer of the bread and pour some milk and salt to it for moisture...

Spread the first filling, make another layer of bread, spread the second filling, another layer of bread, the third one, another layer of bread and then top it with the mashed potatoes icing...(which is basically mashed potatoes and mayo)

And of course the potato sticks ( you could use the toasted crusts instead - just toast them with oregano, olive oil and salt and you have delicious croutons)...

And this is the result:

It is yummy, it has veggies in it and looks colorful and best of all, I used my resources! Yay! Oh, and when I was prepping ingredients I had leftovers of chopped green onions, onions and parsley, so guess what I did? I froze them as is...

Their textures will change a little, but they are still great for stews and other recipes in which they are cooked! So now I have to think of what I can do to use them and the crusts... hehehe maybe another experiment will come soon... ;)


What about you, how are you doing on your resolution?

About my New year's resolution...

There is a post on resourcefulness on moneysavingmom.com that I really like and has everything to do with resourcefulness. Click here to check it out if you are interested.
The Brazilican Learner