Mrs. Evans Blog

In this blog post, I will look up a random Bible verse and consider how reading it in context and with a mathematical perspective can teach me something about God.  Today I used this random Bible verse generator . The verse it gave me is 1 John 3:24. "The one who keeps God's commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that God lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us." Before I go any farther, I'm going to ask God to open my eyes and mind and heart to everything he has for me to learn from this verse. In verse 23, it says that God's command is to "believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us." So the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God and who loves his neighbor as himself will live in God and God will live in that person. And God's Spirit is the evidence of God living in us.  The first mathematical thought that comes to mind is the difference between 0.999 and 0.999... ...

 God Loves Math: In which I select a random Bible verse from a random Bible verse generator ( this one ) and ask God to show me a new way of understanding Him, honoring Him, and loving Him while using a mathematical mindset to approach the section of scripture.  Today's Random Bible Verse Titus 2:14 "Who gave himself to us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good." This is a description of Jesus. He gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness. He also did it to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. He wanted to save his people. He links his saved people that belong to him with people that are eager to do good. That implies that if I am one of Jesus' people, than I must be eager to do good.  A desire to do what is good should be a direct result of what Jesus did when he saved me by dying on the cross and rising again. This is should be a function. ...

 God Loves Math: In which I select a random Bible verse from a random Bible verse generator ( this one ) and ask God to show me a new way of understanding Him, honoring Him, and loving Him while using a mathematical mindset to approach the section of scripture.  Today's Random Bible Verse Romans 6:3 "Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?" Right before today's random verse, the author makes the point that, while we see God's grace when he forgives our sins, of course we should not keep on sinning... Then comes our random Bible verse. Then he makes this follow-up statement: "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." (Romans 6:4) This short section is talking about what the sin in our life should look like. The Bible is very clear that all have sinned and fall...

God Loves Math: In which I select a random Bible verse from a random Bible verse generator ( this one ) and ask God to show me a new way of understanding Him, honoring Him, and loving Him while using a mathematical mindset to approach the section of scripture.  Today's Random Bible Verse Hebrews 3:4 "For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything." Oh, this verse is full of meaning when considered mathematically! (Although we see it much more when we look at it in its context.)  Hebrews 3:1 tells us to fix our thoughts on Jesus, "whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest." Why should we do that? "Let's prove Jesus deserves it," is essentially the approach taken by the author. I can appreciate a good proof.  1) If someone is faithful, then they deserve honor. We know this is true because the Bible talks about Moses being found worthy of honor because he was faithful "in all God's house." 2) If Jesus...

 God Loves Math: In which I select a random Bible verse from a random Bible verse generator ( this one ) and ask God to show me a new way of understanding Him, honoring Him, and loving Him while using a mathematical mindset to approach the section of scripture.  Today's Random Bible Verse Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.  Thought #1 Our lives are similar to functions. For a relation to be a function, one input can only go to one output. If I input the value x=4  and can get y=2   or y=5 , I do not have a function because the input in a function must have only one output. We reap what we sow. If an input of x=4  maps to an output of y=2 , then we could say that sowing a 4 will reap a 2. If we sow "tirelessly doing good" as we're instructed to in verse 9, then God promises our output will be a harvest. This idea is backed up in Matthew 7:18. "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fr...

 Tonight I'm thinking about the unique way that God has created me.  I have been a math teacher. That has been my only career until being a coach these last 3 years. I've continued to be a math teacher while coaching. God created me with a deep love of learning. Mathematics is a bunch of well defined rules that give us an incredible playground of puzzles. I became a teacher because I wanted to do mathematics and work with people. I would never have become a teacher of any other subject. I get that you can learn in Science and Social Studies and English, so why do I love math so much? I love the definitions. Something is how we define it. I think of the stupid Neature Walk videos from high school... "It's called an aspen because that's what it is..." But really, the world operates a certain way, but in mathematics, the world exists in perfection in our minds. When we say something is a circle, we mean it is the set of all points equidistant from a center. Where...

I have no words to adequately describe the frustration of American school teachers right now.  God,  Teachers, students, and public schools need a miracle right now. Thank you for reminding me that the ultimate goal isn't a thriving public school system (unless that is your goal for us). The ultimate goal is "populating heaven." Please help me to remember that obstacles provide opportunities.  When there wasn't any food, Jesus fed 5000 people with a few loaves of bread and a few fish. The humans didn't have what was needed, but Jesus did.  When Moses and the Israelites faced the Red Sea, they probably had a much more desperate prayer than we do right now, although the value and worth of our students, teachers, and admin, and their salvation is just as important as every life you saved when you parted the waters. You saved a nation then, and you can save a generation now.  When Joseph's brothers thought they were going to die of starvation, you had already put ...

I've been working on creating a visual to go with Psalm 91 in desmos (a free online graphing software). Here's what I've come up with so far: I tried to show the fowler's snare (bottom left), deadly pestilence/plague/Corona virus (bottom right), the fortress of the Most High, an eagle with wings to give us refuge and protection, and a shield and rampart to represent God's faithfulness which will protect us from the "arrow that flies by night." To make my picture, I've typed in 181 mathematical equations so far. Here are just a few of them so you can get a better idea of what I'm talking about even if you don't totally understand the equations. I was reflecting (for the thousandth time) on how my understanding of mathematics leads me to a deeper understanding of God and his power. When I was first learning how to graph I started by plotting points. If I wanted to graph just one single line, I might graph two or all of these points an...

Today I did a kick boxing workout. Like I always do, I took a bunch of timer selfies so I could keep track of my form and hold myself accountable. I don't really care if anyone even looks at my pictures, but posting them somewhere is a mental thing that helps me stay on track. I know that when I do a lot of punching and kicking, the pictures often manage to capture some pretty unflattering lower tummy fat. My first plan was to pick one of those unflattering photos and share it with some inspirational message about not being self conscious on instagram. That would have been great except I was immediately self conscious about those pictures : ) So much so that I actually deleted them immediately. This is crazy because I know I'm not fat. I know there are women who would love to have me right now as their absolutely perfect goal body. This just highlights the impossibility of reaching the elusive perfect body. There will always be something you would alter slightly... This is ...

"Some people feel the rain. Others just get get wet." I don't know who originally said this, but my high school best friend, Karen, spoke about it at her graduation speech, and it's one of the ways I'll always remember her. The rain can make us wet and cranky. The rain can also make us clean. The rain gives life to everything that grows from the earth. The Bible says God's words are like the rain. They do not go back up to the clouds without first watering what God intends. Some people experience bad thing after bad thing after bad thing, and they still look for moments to be thankful for. Some people go through the worst possible scenarios like childhood cancer or the loss of a child and grieve, cry, can't always handle it, but look for good, look for ways to grow, and look for ways to serve others through it all. Karen lost her life on earth, but saved quite a few others and gained even more time with Jesus. Job lost everything, but nev...

Taken from their website: Conscious Discipline  is an innovative social-emotional learning and classroom management program with a proven track record of sustainable results. Romans 12 showed up in my devotional on the exact same day as my Conscious Discipline seminar, and I wasn't really surprised that, through God's divine power, Paul said most of this stuff first : ) Paul didn't get into the detailed names for connections in the brain, but check out some of these similarities! - "Be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Romans 12:2 Conscious discipline is all about noticing the state of our mind and our mental voice, and creating a pause for self-regulation. We learned about changing our responses to student behavior to help students actually learn executive functioning skills instead of pushing students to a "Survival State" through our use of fear and punishment. I also know that it's always wise to seek guidance from the Holy Spiri...

There's a message in my brain that needs to be organized. Hopefully writing will help me to accomplish that. 29 people are dead this morning because two men took it upon themselves to open fire in public places. I believe at least 3 more are dead after a car accident in which a truck driver took it upon himself to speed and ignore red lights. This comes exactly one week before the date when my best childhood friend Karen Linder died in a car accident. When something doesn't make sense, what is your response? The guys in Psalms asked God about things that didn't make sense all the time. They would ask how long they would have to endure such pain and hardship. They would ask why he was allowing so many bad things to happen to them. They often asked why those who were full of pride, sin, selfishness, idolatry, and who did not fear or love or respect God seemed to have all the success and comfort. So here is my prayer to God. God, I know in my mind and believe ...

God tells us not to be discouraged and not to be afraid over and over in the Bible. Isaiah 41:10 Philippians 4:6 John 14:27 Isaiah 43:1 Joshua 1:9 Isaiah 35:4 Mark 6:50 Deuteronomy 31:6 Isaiah 41:13-14 Mark 4:39-40 Revelation 1:17 This last few weeks, the phrase, "Faith over fear" has popped up all over the place. My friend, Sarah Hann talked about it a few weeks ago at small group, my sister posted a few friends and that phrase was on all of their shirts, random students in the hallway have that phrase on their shirts, and God's words to be strong and courageous and to not be afraid have been continuously on my mind. This idea applies to everything we do. In the midst of uncertainty, focus on the revealed will of God. Pray with his promises for protection and a plan full of hope for your life in your heart and mind and in your words. In the midst of threats, take heart because God has already conquered sin and death which is bigger than any threat we ...

If I were a function, I would choose to be Here's what I would look like on the surface: This function looks like a straight line. It may not look particularly interesting, but it has a few pretty important features. 1) First, it has a positive slope. As time passes, the value of the function increases. As time passes in my life, I want my experiences, wisdom, knowledge, love, and closeness to Jesus to increase, as well. "All things work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28 2) This graph has a hole at 2. That is, in fact, a fancy mathematical term-- hole . This occurs because the top function can be rewritten as (x - 2)(x + 2). Since there is an (x - 2) factor in the bottom of the function, those (x - 2) factors cancel each other out. This means the first function (the one I would choose to be) is identical to f(x) = x + 2 at every single point except at x = 2. Just like my function, I ...

We all know studies show that we spend way too much time on our phones. If someone dies, their online persona can live on for a while on the internet. If someone's social media presence were to suddenly disappear,  it could feel like a piece of that person is actually missing. There are people I only know through social media.  It feels a little bit like our internet identity is a horcrux. Does that mean we are all falling victim to some evil piece of dark magic that splits our soul into pieces? Hopefully not, but it made me think just a bit about the time I spend on my phone.  I want to make the most of our generations ability to be connected, but I pray that my soul stays whole and my priority stays in line with God's purpose for my life. 

Ezekiel 20:11-13 "I gave them my decrees and made known to them my laws," (God gave clear and consistent expectations. I would bet he made sure they were available in multiple formats so people could both read and hear them.) "for the man who obeys them will live by them." (I have way more wisdom and knowledge, not to mentioned a fully developed frontal lobe. I know the results of those bad choices already, so seriously, listen to me for your own good...) "Also I gave them my Sabbaths as a sign between us, so they would know that I the Lord made them holy." (Here I imagine God feels like I do when I spend hours planning a hands-on lesson that would make me curious and excited as a student. I bet he looked forward to the Sabbath because he imagined how excited he would be as a human to have this day to rest and appreciate what a great and loving God they have. He wants us to know he loves us and wants what's best for us, just like I want my ...

Thoughts about Jesus as a teacher... 1. A lot of people didn't and don't want to learn what Jesus has to teach. This doesn't mean they don't actually really need what Jesus has to teach. 2. Jesus valued individual conversations and relationships. (Think about the woman at the well.) 3. Jesus had tough conversations with people, but he always offered hope. The entire message of the gospel is about second chances. 4. Jesus doesn't give infinite chances. At some point, everyone will die or Jesus will come back and there will be no time left. Until that time, though, Jesus is willing to meet people wherever they are at to bring them salvation. It doesn't matter if they "get it" when they first hear his message as a child or when they are lying on their death bed at 99. 5. Jesus had no patience for leaders with no true understanding of his content. He did what he knew was best practice despite their attempts to the contrary. 6. He was the epitom...

Here are just a few examples of bad leaders from the Bible: 1)  The leaders during Jesus’ time oversaw his murder. It was tragic and awful, but it was also God’s plan being carried out exactly as he had planned. God was in control.  2)  Esther’s king had some pretty bad qualities: murderer, ignorant, mistreated women, racist, sexist, arrogant. God used Esther to save an entire group of people. If she had chickened out, the Bible says God would have found someone else to carry out his plan, but she was encouraged by her uncle who told her that maybe she was made for “such a time as this.” God was in control.   3)  King Nebuchadnezzar threatened to murder anyone who didn’t bow down and worship him and his Gods. God was in control when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were thrown into the furnace. They lived and King Nebuchadnezzar believed in their God.  4)  Consider the story of Moses. The Egyptian king was mistreating the Israelite slaves...