walk – stevecorn.com

January 19, 2011

Teaching = Walking on the Moon

I have been walking on the moon for the past 2 weeks. I lifted off from the comfortable ground of the church world and entered a new territory in the public school system. Oh yes, others have gone before me, but this is uncharted territory for me. I am treading new grounds, making tracks, exploring, and hopefully making a positive impact on the lifeforms I encounter. You may laugh, but yes, they are aliens. They dress differently, speak a different language, and look at me like I’m the strange one. It’s truly an honor to have been chosen to lead such an important mission – to develop new ways of thinking and explore uncharted territories.

I am a Rasco Rocket!

OK – enough with the allegory. I know some of you really want to know how my first few weeks of teaching have gone. Well. . . . I think it’s gone well. I’m still coming home with a smile on my face. I’ve still got a lot to learn, but I feel like I’m moving forward and learning new things every day. My students are great! They get a little out of hand sometimes, but I like them. I feel like I’m getting to know both the other teachers and my students. I’m well aware that I’m still in a “honeymoon” stage, but I feel like this is going to be a good fit for me.

Prayer: Lord, guide me. Give me patience with my students and give me experiences which will sharpen my skills and help me to become a great school teacher. Grant me favor with my students and with my team as well as the administration and other coworkers. Go before me and lead me. I truly want to honor You with this new role. I want to be a positive influence for all my students and will need Your help to do so. As I learn all these new skills, give me peace. When it seems overwhelming, intervene and help me to breathe again, to rest in You. AMEN.

October 12, 2010

Quote: Lighthouse of Holiness

“It is a great deal better to live a holy life than to talk about it. We are told to let our light shine, and if it does we won’t need to tell anybody it does. The light will be its own witness. Lighthouses don’t ring bells and fire cannons to call attention to their shining —they just shine.?”

– D.L. Moody

January 12, 2010

Kesleigh is Walking!!!

She’s just over 10 and a half months old now and she’s ready. She doesn’t like to crawl anymore and seems to want to walk everywhere. The video shows some of her very first steps, but since that time a couple days ago, she’s done a whole lot more. It won’t be long before she’s running with her brother!

Kesleigh Walking from Steve Corn on Vimeo.

January 6, 2010

Footprints in the Snow

I had a little fatherhood metaphor moment over the holidays. Remember the old “Footprints in the Sand” poem? (You know the one where the guy can’t figure out why God left him when things got tough and God said, “That’s when I was carrying you.”) I was walking with my son, Kasen through the snow and he decided that it’s wasn’t much fun so he stopped and cried holding up his hands for daddy to pick him up. I did. Anyway, I went back and filmed the footprints a few minutes later. I wonder how many times, God has picked me up? I suspect that He’s probably carrying me right now as I struggle through this time with no job. Anyway, here’s the video:

Kasen and Daddy Footprints in the Snow from Steve Corn on Vimeo.

Like the “footprints in the sand” poem. You can see that Kasen and I walked together for a while and then he decided he wanted Daddy to carry him.

November 19, 2009

Chocolate Milk & Walking Videos

These are just a few recent videos of the kids. Yeah – I’m one of those guys – the proud father who makes all his friends endure the antics of his children. Anyway, Kasen is learning to talk and some of his words are pretty funny. He’s very careful to speak words separately. “Chocolate . . .pause . . . Milk.” Kesleigh is so close to being able to walk – she’s got the strength and balance, but she just won’t do it. I’ll keep trying.

Chocolate Milk from Steve Corn on Vimeo.

Kasen really wanted chocolate milk tonight.

Daddy trying to get Kesleigh to Walk from Steve Corn on Vimeo.

Kesleigh with Walker from Steve Corn on Vimeo.

June 3, 2009

Walking the Mosquitos

Kasen and I went for a walk this morning. Considering the swarm of mosquitos around us, you might say we took them for a walk. Anyway, Kasen loves it! He points out every car and especially loves the school buses. He also gets excited when he sees birds. It’s fun for me to listen to him as he rambles on about the different things he sees. He still has a long ways to go as far as learning his words, so his rants are interesting. I become a code breaker trying to discern what he means. Anyway, I just wanted to give you a snapshot of our life together this morning.

Here’s a video of some of Kasen’s first words. You know you live in Lake Jackson when your child’s first words include “Mosquito.”

Kasen and the Mosquito Bite from Steve Corn on Vimeo.

June 1, 2009

20%

Well, I’ve lost 10 of what now has become a 50lb goal. That’s 20%!! Pretty good for just 4 weeks of effort. At this rate, (I know the rate will slow down) I will reach my goal by the beginning of October! Of course the real goal is health and that means I’ll never reach the end of these efforts. This is a lifestyle change, not just a diet or exercise program.

All in all, I must say, it really hasn’t been as hard as I thought it would be. I’m sure there will be more ups and downs, but . . . the whole thing really seems like something I can do. I’m sure that when I stop losing weight, some of the motivation will be gone, but. . . well, who knows.

This week during our small group I got a call from my doctor. He had just received the results from my blood test. He prescribed a cholesterol lowering medication that I’m gonna have to take once a day. That’s no fun, but if that’s what it takes for me to be healthy and live so that I can do God’s work, then it’s certainly worth it. Maybe I’ll be able to get off the medication once I get into shape?!?!?!

Here’s the pics for this week:

: Week 4 – 230lbs

May 18, 2009

Seven Pounds

Here’s another pic of what I’ve gotta lose. This burger is 60 lbs. So far, so good.

This week I weighed in at 233! I lost 7 pounds in my first week with this new lifestyle of exercise and better eating.

I also have an appointment to see my doctor this coming Thursday. I’m sure he’s gonna tell me I gotta eat more vegetables and salads and rabbit food, but he’ll probably also want to check my cholesterol again. (It was actually too high to measure the last time.) This time, I’m gonna request the pills to get it down though.

Anyway, keep prayin’ and encouraging me. This is not easy. I’m constantly hungry. And every time my stomach growls, I’m tempted to have a chicken fried steak! My body is simply not used to surviving on “just enough.” It’s used to having all kinds of extra fuel in the tank – and to be more accurate, I probably shouldn’t even call it “fuel” – the junk I’m used to eating, is really more garbage than fuel. (Tasty garbage, but garbage nonetheless.) A sidenote: I’ve noticed that when I exercise, it benefits me spiritually and emotionally too – the sermon podcasts I listen to on the ipod help me to grow in tons of different ways too. I’ll do a post with some of my favorite podcasts later. Here are my pics for this week.

May 11, 2009

Lost Kid

The kid in the picture weighs 60lbs. That’s how much I’ve got to lose.

Right now I weigh 240lbs and according to some website that Miranda got on, at my age and height, I should be 178 to be healthy. That means I’ve gotta lose that kid and a couple more pounds.

I decided that if I blogged about my progress – my ups and downs – I might be more motivated to actually stick to this whole lifestyle change. If I know you guys are watching me and I have to update you every week, then I’ll feel a little positive peer pressure to do well. So. . .I guess this is the beginning of a weekly series of blogs where I’ll update you on my progress. Also thought I’d post a picture each week. (Maybe I’ll actually see the difference and be motivated too. – Of course that could work against me too, but. . .well, I’m gonna give it a shot.)

The good news is that Miranda is doing this with me, but she doesn’t want to be quite so public with it all.

I’m already an “old dad,” and I’m not willing to risk being a “dead dad” so I’ve got to do this. I want to be a part of my kids lives and well. . .I haven’t been so motivated before.

So the plan is – eat more healthy, exercise regularly, and enjoy life. (Oh – I’m also using a cpap now and hopefully sleeping better.) My goal this week is simply to get up and exercise, eat better, and make an appointment with the doctor. I’ll let you know how it goes.

So there’s my first pic. 240 lbs. Yuck!!
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March 4, 2009May 20, 2021

Carry Your Cross Cartoon

This is a fun little cartoon that I received as an e-mail. It’s taken a few years to figure it out, but I finally know who the author is:

Dong Haeng – http://www.donghaeng.net/english/main.htmV

Luke 9:23; Matthew 16:24; and Mark 8:34 all tell of Jesus’ call for us to deny ourselves, carry our crosses, and follow Him. It’s too bad we want our crosses to be “light.” Matt Redman wrote a song (Way of the Cross on the album The Friendship and the Fear) with a lyric that says, “I’ve crafted myself a more comfortable cross.” Anyway, this cartoon reminded me of all of this stuff.

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