The Coffee Talk Companion: "Manual Labor."
The Coffee Talk Companion is an ongoing feature in which we dissect and discuss former Facts of Life star Lisa Whelchel's online journal entries.
This week, Lisa tells us she's going to write a book called The Busy Teacher's Guide to Prayer. Now, before you get all "What is she doing writing a teacher's book?!", allow her to do it for you. Which is what makes this week's Coffee Talk, even in its merciful brevity, perhaps the most puzzling one so far. Why would someone who's not a teacher, yet who has home-schooled her three children, doubt herself when it comes to writing a book from a teacher's perspective? YET, why wouldn't she? Do you see the paradox? Lisa is correct that she's not a teacher, yet, because she was responsible for the homeschooling of her children, she kind of is a teacher. So, basically what we want to know is why exactly should we loathe her this week? Because she's not a teacher but insists on writing a book for teachers? Or, because she is a teacher but insists that she's not, thus absolving herself from all the damage done to her children?
Oh, wait! We know. We should loathe her most this week because she asks us to write the book for her. Now that's more like it!
Calling all Teacher friends! I am writing a new book entitled, “The Busy Teacher’s Guide to Prayer.” Yea, I know, what am I doing writing a teacher’s book? Good question! I’ve asked myself the same thing. I don’t know if you are very familiar with my other two books in this series, “The Busy Mom’s and The Busy Grandma’s Guide to Prayer.” The basic premise is taking 120 prayer focuses in six different categories in order to pray for six things each weekday for a month.
Off the top of my head, not being a teacher or having any idea what a teacher needs prayer for, these are the six categories and examples of prayer focuses I’ve come up with so far.
Teacher (eg; Patience, Wisdom, Creativity…)
Students (eg; Desire to Learn, Focus, Confidence, etc…)
School (eg; School Board, Finances, Safety, etc…)
Faculty (eg; Fellow Teachers, Principal, Teacher Aids, etc…)
Department of Education (Funding, Textbooks, Laws, etc…)
Other Learning Opportunities (Homeschoolers, Private Schools, Field Trips, etc…)
This is where I need your help. Can you think of any other categories that would have 20 individual things to pray for under it? Within these categories I’ve listed can you help me come up with at least 20 prayer focuses?
I’m going to start writing this book next week so if you have any time between now and then to be thinking about this and get back to me I would really appreciate it! You can use the email form on this website by clicking the link below. I’m not being humble when I say I can not do this without you and my other teacher friends!
P.S. Please forward this link to as many teachers as you think might be interested in helping. Thanks.
P.S.S. I’ve already received enough responses to learn that “Parents” needs to be a category all by itself. So, I will definitely add that. Please send as many prayer focuses for each category as you can think of. Thanks again!
Ah, so this book is going to help the country's educational crisis by having us pray. For educational funding. You know, and pardon us for getting serious here for a moment, but this weekend we watched the only 2006 movie scarier than The Descent, Jesus Camp. It really made clear to us that a fringe group, in this case so-called born-agains, is running the country. Like, running it. Not kind of running it. Totally running it. Their leader is the president of the world's most powerful country! Now, excuse us for being simplistic, but, like, isn't that enough??? Do we need to pray for more??? They have their white god with blond hair, they have their war, they have their "intelligent design," they have their Pledge of Allegiance, they have the Supreme Court. That's pretty impressive! Especially for a fringe group!
And then we had a li'l revelation.
Thank god prayer doesn't do anything, 'cause if it did, we'd really be fucked.
See you next week.
This week, Lisa tells us she's going to write a book called The Busy Teacher's Guide to Prayer. Now, before you get all "What is she doing writing a teacher's book?!", allow her to do it for you. Which is what makes this week's Coffee Talk, even in its merciful brevity, perhaps the most puzzling one so far. Why would someone who's not a teacher, yet who has home-schooled her three children, doubt herself when it comes to writing a book from a teacher's perspective? YET, why wouldn't she? Do you see the paradox? Lisa is correct that she's not a teacher, yet, because she was responsible for the homeschooling of her children, she kind of is a teacher. So, basically what we want to know is why exactly should we loathe her this week? Because she's not a teacher but insists on writing a book for teachers? Or, because she is a teacher but insists that she's not, thus absolving herself from all the damage done to her children?
Oh, wait! We know. We should loathe her most this week because she asks us to write the book for her. Now that's more like it!
Calling all Teacher friends! I am writing a new book entitled, “The Busy Teacher’s Guide to Prayer.” Yea, I know, what am I doing writing a teacher’s book? Good question! I’ve asked myself the same thing. I don’t know if you are very familiar with my other two books in this series, “The Busy Mom’s and The Busy Grandma’s Guide to Prayer.” The basic premise is taking 120 prayer focuses in six different categories in order to pray for six things each weekday for a month.
Off the top of my head, not being a teacher or having any idea what a teacher needs prayer for, these are the six categories and examples of prayer focuses I’ve come up with so far.
Teacher (eg; Patience, Wisdom, Creativity…)
Students (eg; Desire to Learn, Focus, Confidence, etc…)
School (eg; School Board, Finances, Safety, etc…)
Faculty (eg; Fellow Teachers, Principal, Teacher Aids, etc…)
Department of Education (Funding, Textbooks, Laws, etc…)
Other Learning Opportunities (Homeschoolers, Private Schools, Field Trips, etc…)
This is where I need your help. Can you think of any other categories that would have 20 individual things to pray for under it? Within these categories I’ve listed can you help me come up with at least 20 prayer focuses?
I’m going to start writing this book next week so if you have any time between now and then to be thinking about this and get back to me I would really appreciate it! You can use the email form on this website by clicking the link below. I’m not being humble when I say I can not do this without you and my other teacher friends!
P.S. Please forward this link to as many teachers as you think might be interested in helping. Thanks.
P.S.S. I’ve already received enough responses to learn that “Parents” needs to be a category all by itself. So, I will definitely add that. Please send as many prayer focuses for each category as you can think of. Thanks again!
Ah, so this book is going to help the country's educational crisis by having us pray. For educational funding. You know, and pardon us for getting serious here for a moment, but this weekend we watched the only 2006 movie scarier than The Descent, Jesus Camp. It really made clear to us that a fringe group, in this case so-called born-agains, is running the country. Like, running it. Not kind of running it. Totally running it. Their leader is the president of the world's most powerful country! Now, excuse us for being simplistic, but, like, isn't that enough??? Do we need to pray for more??? They have their white god with blond hair, they have their war, they have their "intelligent design," they have their Pledge of Allegiance, they have the Supreme Court. That's pretty impressive! Especially for a fringe group!
And then we had a li'l revelation.
Thank god prayer doesn't do anything, 'cause if it did, we'd really be fucked.
See you next week.
posted by The NB at 3/05/2007
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