Portfolio 1: A Familyof Freedom Fighters

The woman I chose from Jesus' Geneology was Rahab. Rahab's story is found in Joshua 2. She lived in the city of Jericho, a city the Israelites were planning to conquer after their forty year journey thrugh the desert. Joshua, the leader of the Israelites, sent two spies to stake out Jericho before they attacked. rahab, a prostitute, took them into her home and hid them. When the king of Jericho asked if she knew where they were, she sent the kings men off on a fake trail while the spies were really hiding on her roof. After the incident, she told the spies that she would help them if they spared her and her family during the upcoming battle. She told them that she understood that their God was the true God of heaven and earth and that she had heard of his power. The spies agreed to spare her family, as long as she kept the secret plans of the Israelites safe and did exactly as instructed. She agreed, and told the spies to go to the hills and hide there for three days while the king's men looked for them elsewhere. The spies told her to gather her family in her house and keep them there, and to place a scarlet string on her window from which the spies would escape. That way the army would be warned not to attack the house. Her house was part of the city wall, so she let the spies out of her window with a rope, and then immediately tied the scarlet string to it. She kept her promise and told no one of the plans, and three days later Rahab and her family were spared from the slaughter of Jericho.

The inclusion of Rahab in Jesus' geneology tells us a lot about his background. She was a true freedom fighter. Rahab was everything that Jews saw as outside of their religion. She was a woman, a foreigner, and a prostitute. Even in Jericho, the fact that she lived on the city wall and that she was a prostitute estranged her from her own people. Nonetheless, she understood that the Isrealite's God was "the true God," and she was willing to sacrifice everything for him. She risked her life and the lives of her family to help the spies of his chosen country. Rahab showed absolute faith in God and his people. She had no way of knowing if the spies would keep up their end of the bargain and spare her in the mass slaughter she helped to bring about. Rahab did not falter once and kept their secrets safe for three days. In the end, she was rewarded with her life and was even accepted into the Israelite community through her marriage with Joshua. Her story shows that to be accepted by God you must show complete faith in him. It has nothing to do with who you are as a person.

Portfolio 1: What I think I can achieve

I believe that I am capable of earning an A in Parables. I know for ceratin that I can achieve all the B requirements, but an A sounds like a real challenge and having that goal in mind will encourage me to always do my best in this class.

For this semester parables, I make a promise to myself, the class, and Mr. Sutphin that I will put my best effort into completing all of my assignments, actively participating in class, taking the time to learn the material and showing that knowledge, and being respectful to the class through my attendance and behavior.

Portfolio 1: Who is Jesus, Really?

I believe that Jesus taught how to live a simpler and happier life. He contradicted old values, which were mostly influenced by greed and hunger for power. He wanted to bring back the world to God's original message.

Jesus criticized the superficial world we had become. He preached that we must not necessarily live by the word of God's law. He disagreed with the pharisees who took the law to the extreme by enforcing strict rituals and unnecesary laws. Just because we "showed" that we were living God's law, did not mean we believed it. For example, no one could work on the Sabbath, not even if that person was doing God's work. Jesus showed by healing the sick on the Sabbath that God did not intend the law to be interpreted that way. He taught us that we must not complicate our lives with the minute details of God's message, instead we should live by the spirit of his word and aim for "the big picture" of bringing about God's Kingdom.

Another of Jesus' messages is that all humans are equal. He reached out to the poor and opressed when much of the world saw them as disgusting and out of God's favor. He even reached out to the gentiles. He taught us to love our enemies, and to forgive others for wrongs they have done to us. This teaching makes our lives simpler by eliminating hate from our world, which would also remove violence, poverty, and pain.

I believe I am a follower of these teachings, or at least that I try to follow them. In our modern world it is difficult not to get caught up in selfishness. However, I do think that loving everyone, even our enemies, is the key to a happier and simpler life. I have enough to worry about without having to deal with drama and fighting the evils of the world. If we all just looked out for one another, problems would be solved before they were even started.

Portfolio 1: Why We Tell Stories

The story that my friends and family always tell about me is the time I saved my elementary school's volleyball team from losing our first game. It was in the seventh grade against Corpus Christi, our rivals in volleyball. We had a great team at St. Joseph's Elementary. We had never lost a game since we started playing in the fourth grade, including all the games we played in optional tournaments. Corpus Christi really wanted to beat us this year since we were the CYO volleyball champions the year before. Both teams played their best, but at the end of the third game Corpus Christi was up 14-13, meaning one more point and they would win the game. It was our serve, and it was my turn. My mom was the coach, and I was waiting for her to sub me out for one of the people who could do over hand serves, but she never did. I was a decent server, but my serves weren't very strong and occasionally didn't make it.
All the pressure was on me, one miss and our years of being undefeated would be over. I remember I took it one serve at a time, taking a deep breath before each one. The atmosphere was so tense, there wasn't a sound in the gym except some of the girls on my team who were crying, thinking there was no way we could win. Miraculously, all three of my serves went over, all aces. We had one the most difficult game of our volleyball lives.
After the game I asked my mom why she kept me in, there were other players who were much more likely to have made those serves. She told me that although my serves weren't as strong, she knew that I was the best one to handle all that pressure. "There is no other player I would have rather had take that serve." After the game, Saint Joseph fans came up to me and said, "You were so calm! Your deep breaths were the only thing that kept me from bursting from all the tension!" I think my friends and family tell this story about me because it is one of my strongest traits. I can always remain calm and get my job done under pressure. It's one of the things they value most about me, that when everything seems to go wrong I can keep a clear head. This story clearly shows one of my strengths, and I think they tell it so much because they want others to see why they value me so much.