ITS AMAZING............ The Cross IN Our Bodies

Found this an interesting thought - is not mine so I don't claim to have written it :)

This is a pretty neat story and an interesting thing that few of us know. 

A couple of days ago I was running (I use that term very loosely) on my treadmill, watching a DVD sermon by Louie Giglio... And I was BLOWN AWAY!  I want to share what I learned....

He (Louie) was talking about how inconceivably BIG our God is... How He spoke the universe into being... How He breathes stars out of His mouth that are huge raging balls of fire... Etc. Etc.  Then He went on to speak of how this star-breathing, universe creating God ALSO knitted our human bodies together with amazing detail and wonder. At this point I am LOVING it (fascinating from a medical standpoint, you know.) .. And I was remembering how I was constantly amazed during medical school as I learned more and more about God's handiwork.  I remember so many times thinking.. 'How can ANYONE deny that a Creator did all of this???'

And then I lost my breath.  And it wasn't because I was running my treadmill, either!!!  It was because Louie started talking about ‘laminin.’  Being a doctor, I knew about ‘laminin’....And, for the lay person here is how Wikipedia describes them:

'Laminins are a family of proteins that are an integral part of the structural scaffolding of basement membranes in almost every animal tissue'  You see.... Laminins are what hold us together... LITERALLY. They are cell adhesion molecules. They are what holds one cell of our bodies to the next cell.  Without them, we would literally fall apart.  And I knew all this already.  But what I didn't know is what they LOOKED LIKE..

But now I do.  And I have thought about it a thousand times since (already).... Here is what the structure of laminin looks like... AND THIS IS NOT a 'Christian portrayal' of it....  If you look up laminin in any scientific/medical piece of literature, this is what you will see....

Now tell me that our God is not the coolest!!!  Amazing.  The glue that holds us together.... ALL of us..... Is in the shape of the cross.  Immediately Colossians 1:15-17 comes to mind.  He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  All things were created by him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him All things HOLD TOGETHER.' Colossians 1:15-17
Call me crazy.  I just think that is very, very, very cool.  Thousands of years before the world knew anything about laminin, Paul penned those words.  And now we see that from a very LITERAL standpoint, we are held together... One cell to another.... By the cross. 

You would never in a quadrillion years convince me that is anything other than the mark of a Creator who knew EXACTLY what laminin 'glue' would look like long before Adam breathed his first breath!!

What I found when I googled laminin !!!!!!!!!!!

Day 14 - caffeine and how many tenses are there in the English language?

Well today has been all about grammar. We observed our tutor give a two hour lesson on modal verbs and functional language for giving advice. A lively debate arose around the topic of etiquette for interviews with the students getting quite worked up about whether it was OK to chew gum and not say thank you. It was entertaining. This afternoon we looked at time and tenses and why English is so confusing. The fact that time and tenses don't always correlate is what makes it so hard. Present tense though can be used to talk about the past and the future

e.g. Sir Charles dies or The Chelsea Flower Show opens next week.

Is fascinating but the mind boggles a bit. We got asked how many tenses there are in the English language - the simple answer is two - past and present if you only look at word endings as the future tense is not inflected and you rely on auxiliary verbs. If you get technical though with combinations to the continuous, perfect etc. there are 8 but when you put in modal auxiliaries and the passive form there are 16. Yes, complex!

I saw dolphins near Llandudno on my way into school today - so special. Needed more than Ricoffy this morning and went via Bootleggers to imbibe caffeine. My friend Warren picked me up after class and we had a quick coffee and almond croissant at Baked in Bakoven on the way back to my Aunt and Uncle's this evening. There's an interesting debate going on at UCT on white privilege which is linked to the movement to have Cecil Rhodes' statue removed from Jammie Stairs on campus. Some people see it as an abomination but the land UCT is built on is part of Rhodes' estate that was bequeathed. Would have liked to have gone to the debate yesterday on the law campus.

OK need to finish my assignment on my reflections on my teaching and observations of experienced teachers. On a caffeine high - eeeek!
Til soon :)

Day 12 & 13 - the end in sight and techno-glitches

The pressure has been lifted slightly in that my lesson for Friday was moved to next week and we are knocking off earlier each day to have more time for assignments. Have two more assignment hand ins and then two more lessons and then my continual assessments are done - yeeha! Can't wait till Wednesday next week :) I will then be one happy bunny - or at least hopefully :P

Been observing quite a few experienced teachers as part of our assignment work. Cool to see how it is done and note some tricks of the trade. Going to still feel a little nervous going into the real world after this and having to make my own way but the grounding we've been given will hopefully come to the fore. I have a potential job with a language school in Oxford teaching English and biology at Lady Margaret Hall. As long as I pass the course!

Briefly met up with my good friend Warren yesterday and he introduced me to video clips of "Killer Karaoke" - made me laugh so much - good stress relief. Have a look here :)

Glad I got in early this morning as had trouble with the speakers for the MP3 player I needed for my listening lesson today. At one point the plug of one got stuck in the socket and I was trying to lever it out with a knife - health and safety rules broken and I'm lucky I didn't electrocute myself in hindsight.

The coastline was hidden on the bus ride home this evening as sea mist was engulfing the mountains and sea. Met an interesting lady from Kenya on the Myciti Bus who came from Kericho where my Mum lived when she was a child. Apparently the tea estates there now supply The Queen and the sheikhs of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East. Interesting.

OK to work!

Survived Day 11 - more than halfway

Well yesterday the wheels came off a bit and I almost had a melt down. My lesson for today proved harder than I had thought and I slogged at it all day and went to bed not feeling at all ready. Asked my home group back home in Zim to pray and some friends in Cape Town. Prayers were answered in that I passed - God's grace I tell you! It was not easy trying to teach the rules of the comparatives and superlatives and their irregularities and the word medieval - arrrrrrgh!

Sadly another person has left the course so we are down to eight. There were others besides me who were thinking about dropping out yesterday. It was very pressured with another assignment hand in today and lessons.

Having a mini breather and then getting cracking with Friday's hand in and Wednesday's lesson. Today's hand in was a focus on one learner. I looked at my student Khadim from Senegal and tried to come up with exercises to help him. Interesting book on what phonemes French speakers struggle with in English called "Learner English: A teacher's guide to interference and other problems" by Swan and Smith.

For Friday's assignment I've got to reflect on my strengths and weaknesses and go over my observations and what I'd like to include in my lessons from them.

OK must get going. Was a beautiful drive home on the bus with the waves capped by the wind and surf spewing on their crests along the shore. The sea was an aquamarine blue and it was really invigorating with the wind.

Day 9 & 10 - changes and pressure

Well Thursday got hectic with work and the transition from teaching elementary level students to intermediate ones on Monday had me in a bit of a flap. Felt like I was drowning in information and work. Luckily yesterday went better and I feel a little less stressed but think everyone on the course is taking   a little strain. Sadly one girl had to drop out due to family reasons so now we are down to nine.

We looked at connected speech on Thursday and I found the following word puzzle really cool. See if you get it :)

There is a fruit shop that sells three types of fruit, wapples, rappels and yapples. It is a very strange fruit shop because it only sells these fruit in certain quantities. For example, you can't but 1 or 3 wapples, only 2. You can't buy 3 or 5 rappels, only 4. How many yapples can you buy?

Had a break last night and spent time with my Cousin Jaimie and a friend of hers. Jaimie picked me up from school and we went and had pizza in Camps Bay and walked back to Clifton to watch fire dancers on the beach. Very cool and chilled.

Today's my Uncle's birthday and we are going to Harbour House restaurant in Kalk Bay. The rest of the day I need to work and tomorrow as have a hand in on Monday and a lesson to prepare for then too eeeeeeek.

Will try be in touch again soon but next week is going to be a little crazy! I might go up in smoke and drown in paper.

Recall notice

The Maker of all human beings (GOD) is recalling all units manufactured, regardless of make or year, due to a serious defect in the primary and central component of the heart. This is due to a malfunction in the original prototype units code named Adam and Eve, resulting in the reproduction of the same defect in all subsequent units. This defect has been identified as "Sub sequential Internal Non-morality," more commonly known as S.I.N., as it is primarily expressed. Some of the symptoms include :  1. Loss of direction 2. Foul vocal emissions 3. Amnesia of origin 4. Lack of peace and joy 5. Selfish or violent behavior 6. Depression or confusion 7. Fearfulness 8. Idolatry 9. Rebellion The Manufacturer, who is neither liable nor at fault for this defect, is providing factory-authorized repair and service free of charge to correct this defect. The Repair Technician, JESUS, has most generously offered to bear the entire burden of the staggering cost of these repairs. There is no additional fee required. The number to call for repair in all areas is: P-R-A-Y-E-R. Once connected, please upload your burden of SIN through theREPENTANCE procedure. Next, download ATONEMENT from the Repair Technician, Jesus, into the heart component. No matter how big or small the SINdefect is, Jesus will replace it with:  1. Love 2. Joy 3. Peace 4. Patience 5. Kindness 6. Goodness 7. Faithfulness 8. Gentleness 9. Self control Please see the operating manual, the B.I.B.L.E.(BEST Instructions Before Leaving Earth), for further details on the use of these fixes. WARNING: Continuing to operate the human being unit without correction voids any manufacturer warranties, exposing the unit to dangers and problems too numerous to list, and will result in the human unit being permanently impounded. For free emergency service, call on Jesus.  DANGER: The human being units not responding to this recall action will have to be scrapped in the furnace. The SIN defect will not be permitted to enter Heaven so as to prevent contamination of that facility. Thank you for your attention! - GOD

P.S. Please assist where possible by notifying others of this important recall notice, and you may contact the Father any time by 'Knee mail'!

Because HE Lives!

Working for God on earth doesn't pay much......but His retirement plan is out of this world!

Day 8 - murdering a rainforest & the Queen

Handed in my first assignment today. Shame one lady on the course lives all the way in Gordon's Bay and it takes her 3 hours to get home. She's averaging one hour of sleep a night - not cool. Another classmate was off sick today which is hectic as you are supposed to have 100% attendance.

We have to do so much photocopying and printing for our lessons and assignments I think we owe the planet a hectare of forest by now. Can now see why my Mum hoards paper as a teacher!

Observed my first live qualified teacher lesson today which was really cool and amazing to see how it can really work well. Also worked with my student on my learner observation task. So glad I can speak French as trying to find out if he learns best through auditory, visual or kinaesthetic input would have been really hard to ascertain with some of the blank faces I got when I tried in English at times. That assignment is due Monday.

Surviving on a caffeine high and marking off the days now till my final teaching prac and hand in. Am really looking forward to the week after the course which I will spend in Howick with friends who were elders at my church back home in Zim. They live in a nature reserve and are close to the Midlands Meander.

OK you're wondering about the murdering the Queen part? We had to read a short text on someone's dream that they poisoned Queen Liz. It was to give an example of a guided discovery approach on how to use the defined and undefined relative clause. Am learning grammar we definitely didn't really cover at school. Think we missed out a chunk on some of the grammatical rules - eeeek. Some of these terms are very new to me.

OK must plan my lesson for tomorrow and get on.

PS - for those in Cape Town, I will be going to Clifton 2 on Friday evening with my cousin Jaimie to watch fire dancers on the beach. Aiming to get there at around 6. Let me know if you would like to join us :)