Jen Russum

ten years

August 20, 2011

Today, up in Washington, my high school classmates are celebrating our ten year reunion. No, we are not there. I don't really know why you would plan a reunion for the very end of August when people who are in school or have kids in school have already started the new school year...but whatever. I don't think a night of small talk in a hotel reception hall is really Micah's style anyway. And although there are a few people I would love to see tonight, for the most part, I have kept in touch with the people I want to keep in touch with from high school. And that is that. However, I LOVED high school. It was a fun, sweet time of laughter, obnoxious antics, great friendships, and only two suspensions :) We did everything we could to make our small town life adventurous! Earlier this year, I stumbled across these pictures on facebook. These are of the Class of 2011 during last year's football season. The special thing about these students is that I was their teacher. Four years ago, right when I moved back to Washington from Texas, I spent a year substitute teaching at my own high school. During the second semester of that year, I took a long-term sub position, teaching these crazy kids HEALTH of all things {aka I taught sex ed to a bunch of 15 year olds!} Now they just graduated and are headed off to college... But even after TEN years, not too much has changed in good ol' Lake Stevens. Here we are a decade ago... And, yes, I'm wearing Micah's jersey... Have fun tonight, Class of 2001. Maybe we'll see you in ten more years. ... Read more

The Grace to Endure

August 19, 2011

***This is re-post from my old Flowers Fade blog, but the grace to endure seems like an important meditation at the start of a loooong school year...*** I am in the midst of reading John Piper's book Future Grace. I recently read the chapter on anxiety, and I stumbled across this beautiful, intriguing phrase..."the grace to endure." Piper was talking about the fear of public speaking that haunted him throughout his childhood and into college. It seems almost funny now, as he is one of the most well known pastors in America, but he was plagued by anxiety about speaking in public for years and years. Like shaky voice, shaky hands, all the kids in the class and the teacher felt bad for him kind of anxiety. And he said he prayed hundreds of prayers for help during those years and God only provided the grace to endure... The grace to endure. What a humbling, intriguing idea. Sometimes God doesn't answer our prayers how we want him to or when we want him to. However, he gives us the strength to keep going despite our trials. Our very lives are a mark of God's grace, so if life is hard, and God gives us the strength to keep going and keep trusting in Him, despite hardship, that is God's grace in our lives. We don't deserve endurance. This phrase led me to the Bible, where I read all I could about enduring and endurance. Here are a few of the things I found... Luke 21:19 "By your endurance you will gain your lives." Jesus is telling his disciples about the hardships they will endure as his followers after he leaves earth. He says they will be mocked, hated, and possibly even killed, but their endurance in persecution is a mark of their salvation. Romans 5:3-5 "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." Love these verses. So not only do we not deserve to endure, but God uses endurance to strengthen and sanctify us. Endurance results in character and character produces hope. The result of endurance is hope in God - and his future grace. I Peter 2:19-20 "Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God." The context of this verse is a command for slaves to be subject to their masters. But this is a truth for all believers. We are to endure suffering, even when we suffer for doing good. This is a mark of God's grace in our lives, because it shows that we are following the example of Christ, and God looks on this kind of endurance with favor and blessing. Hebrews: 12:1-2 "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Here our lives are compared to a race that must be run with perserverance all the way to the finish line. Anyone with running background knows that races are not easy. Race day means you push your body to perform at your maximum level. Races are hard, but it is exciting to finish them well. Here Jesus is, again, the example of the model racer. His race included a cross right before the finish line... He endured more than we can imagine and finished his race perfectly so the rest of us could finish our races with endurance as well. How is God giving you the grace to endure today? How is this producing hope in your life? ... Read more

Meet Teacher Jen…

August 18, 2011

{My morning meeting with my precious TA back when I taught high school. It's probably around November in this picture, so my North Face fleece seems appropriate. However, I was wearing this same exact fleece in a picture taken on the LAST day of school in mid-June. That's Seattle for ya.} I think blogging is starting to influence the way I write even when I'm not blogging. Last year, when I wrote notes to my students on our online class site, I was all prim and proper... "Hello class! My name is.... and I will be your teacher this fall. I like blank, blank, and blank. I am so excited to get to know you better." And my idea of friendly humor was... "I can't wait for college football season. Especially to see those Horned Frogs play! Rah Rah TCU!" And that was that. Here is what I wrote to my new students this year. In the words of Bob Dylan/Skeeter, the times they are a-changin'... My name is Jen Russum, and I will be your instructor for ENG 102. I am a second year PhD student in the English department. I came to ASU to study Renaissance literature (yes, that means I actually enjoy reading Shakespeare), but I took a class last spring on digital literacies and now I am on a whole new research and career path studying the crazy, fun world of blogging. I love the university environment (and the long summer breaks), teaching undergrads, teaching writing, and I am really looking forward to this class. When I'm not reading a bajillion pages a week for my grad classes or grading my students' essays, I like trying new dinner recipes, running, blogging, dabbling in photography, making to do lists, hanging out with friends, serving at my church, organizing closets and cheering on my college football team - the TCU Horned Frogs! If you like sports, you've enrolled in the right class. But if you don't like sports, that's okay, because I clearly have many interests. I was born and raised in the Seattle area, but I spent my teenage years counting down the days until I could move off to college in a sunny locale. When I graduated from high school, I did just that... drove my little car down to Fort Worth, Texas where I lived, studied, worked, and played for my undergraduate experience. After I graduated with a degree in English, I puzzled over what to do next until I finally decided to become a high school teacher. I taught high school English for five years, and I loved every second of it (minus the staff meetings and a few psycho parents). However, in the back of my mind I ultimately wanted to get my PhD and teach at the college level, so a year ago I resigned from my job, got hitched, and moved to Phoenix two days after returning from my honeymoon. My husband and I love, love, love it here, especially the sunshine, so please don't complain to me about the weather. There is a reason 75% of Arizona's population is from out-of-state. If you are an AZ native, you've probably never heard of rain, snow, ice, humidity, or a popular Seattle phrase pronounced "mostly cloudy" but I promise you, there is some scary stuff outside this desert paradise. Sure, I hate burning my hands on my steering wheel when I get into my car in the middle of a Phoenix summer, but 98% of my childhood was spent in the rain, which makes scalding my palms sound almost pleasant in comparison. And please feel free to share in your post why you chose to take this class in hybrid rather than in a traditional classroom setting or completely online. For me... you should know that I can be very OCD. One of my traits is that I must clean my bathroom every Thursday no matter what. Since this class meets online on Thursdays, I never have to worry about missing a bathroom cleaning. I can go scrub my shower and clean my mirrors and come right back to class on the computer. You are probably scared of me now... but I promise I'm not that scary (I don't think...). Please post your introduction. I am excited to meet you all in real life on Tuesday! So what do you think? Would you be scared to have me as a teacher? My evaluations from last semester tell me I'm a "tough grader," but I'm "always available to give extra assistance," and I help people learn how to "wright." Or do I???? ... Read more