better off!

You know how you think everything's good...and then something happens and you realize it WASN'T as good as you thought?

This week two such things have been breaking through, and I am SO. THANKFUL for the way He's provided for them both.

First, when the film crew was here several weeks ago, they brought along some crazy amount of equipment, and on the first night, asked what kind of camera we use at the Seminary for all our marketing.

At the time, I was rather pleased to hold up my cell phone against their mountain of equipment, noting that we all used our phones to do all our photos and videos, personal and profession, from every picture you've ever seen on the blog, to our prayer cards, to newsletters,  to the EBS website. 

They were not super impressed.

But by day three, and I had all their rich and dreamy and beautifully lit and intentionally focused photos on my jump drive, and all those photojournalism classes started to come back...and there was just. no. compare.

So we asked the experts what we needed to get before they left.  Like bare minimum.

And they crazy graciously astounded us by sending us one of their old cameras and lenses and the links to a few mics and cards we might need.  

You're now realizing you've noticed, huh.  I've still got a lot to learn, but man alive, such. a. difference!  I'm so excited about showing you BETTER what life actually looks like, and so thankful.

Which brings me to the second.

I thought our classes were good, our teachers did a good job, that I did a pretty good job teaching, that all was well at Emmaus.

And then we applied for a grant through OMS' Theological Education department to get Dr. Ray Easley down here, and this week, our worlds are changed.  From 1-5, he's been teaching our teachers, and we are all crazy humbled and shaking our heads.

We can do this SO. MUCH. BETTER.

We can teach God's Word and each of our areas of expertise so much more clearly, on so many more levels, with so much more powerful results.  He has us all thinking about things we've NEVER thought of before, which slaps yourself in the forehead with how much sense it makes!

We've been talking about all the different levels of truly LEARNING something, talking about how to get our students past simple memorization and into fully understanding and being able to recreate what we are teaching.

We've been talking and praying about how to not simply turn out men and women who have memorized what we're teaching them, but who are transformed by the Scripture we are studying.

Been talking about how to form world changes...not just cram some info in there.

We've always been talking about how to form each of our classes all supporting the goals and calling and purposes of Emmaus Biblical Seminary, instead of independently developing our curriculum and syllabi.  

how to write educational objectives

how to construct a syllabus

the dimensions of fully-formed leaders

philosophies of teaching and best practices

and so much more!

I know it's the very last week of school next week, but suddenly our weary souls are charged up for a new semester, ready to spend the summer taking our courses apart and rebuilding them in a way that we might truly and better see the disciples of Emmaus ready to be and do and accomplish what He's training them up to be through EBS!

GOOD teacher training was something we didn't even know we so desperately needed...but God did, and made a way.  

So thankful for these provisions, and to be poured into so graciously.