Author: kate [loop] hannon

After having her own view of math transformed, Katherine has been researching, writing, and speaking on a biblical worldview of math for more than a decade. Her books on math and a biblical worldview have been used by individuals, homeschool groups, and Christian schools and colleges, and she recently finished a junior high math curriculum. Receive her free Math from a Biblical Worldview e-mail course at mathisnotneutral.com
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Short Story: New Pathways

“Why are you heading down this path?”

It was a good question. To be honest, Will wasn’t quite sure. The path was well worn–one he’d traveled often whenever he wanted to head down to the river for a swim. But he’d never really stopped to think about why he’d chosen it.

“It’s just the path I take to the river,” he mumbled.

“That doesn’t make it the best path,” Joshua pointed out. “There’s all kinds of dangers on this path: snakes, poisonous plants–I could go on. There’s a much better way to get to the river.”

Joshua pointed as he spoke to a barely visible path in the distance.

“But that path is hardly a path!” Will objected.

“That’s just because you haven’t traveled it much,” Joshua replied. “Make yourself travel it every day instead of this one, and it will become a solid path over time too. Come on, Will. New pathways might be hard to forge at first, but it will be worth it in the end to take the better route.”

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Parenting Moment: Think About the End

The End

It’s easy in the throws of parenting to forget that parenting is temporal.

I remember the struggle my mom had as we grew older and then she faced an empty nest. No children to need her. No laughter and silliness ringing through the house. No little “helpers” underfoot.

Sometimes in the thick of the moment, we resent the extra hands and eyes watching our every move. We long for a bit of alone time and struggle to concentrate on the task and our child. Yet there will be a day when we’ll cook unattended…and miss the questions and “help” and giggles.

As we get ready to embark on a new year, let’s let the reality of how short time is help us cherish the moments we have with our children. They pass by all too soon.

New Year Suggestion: Go through pictures from the year with your children. Praise God for all He’s done and is doing. Pray together about what He has for you in the new year.

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Short Story: Merrily Misguided

Everyone aboard the Vapor seemed happy as could be. The band played loudly, people danced, and food abounded.

From a nearby boat on the river, Bryant watched with a tinge of envy. How easy it seemed those on the Vapor had life! Why couldn’t his life be more like that?

But all was not as it seemed on the Vapor. Merry men were at the moment, but they knew not that their boat was being driven by a great evil straight for a steep waterfall, over which none could survive. The men and women on the Vapor would have longed for Bryant’s small row boat that was heading in the right direction if they only knew their peril. Would no one stop to think about where their boat was heading in the end?

For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked….But when I thought how to understand this, it seemed to me a wearisome task, until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned their end. Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. Psalm 73:3, 16-19 (ESV)

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Short Story: When All Is Not Bright

All is calm, all is bright...[1]

Ada found herself mouthing the words to the Christmas carol, but wondering in her heart why life didn’t feel calm or bright. Somehow, presents, family gathering, and as many cookies as she wanted still left her heart anything but calm.

Joy to the world...[2]

It’d been a hard year, filled with loss and health struggles. Ada felt exhausted after trying to do all the Christmas things. She didn’t feel joyful. Now, hearing happiness all around her made her only feel sadder somehow. And she felt bad about feeling bad; she had so many blessings too.

Ada walked towards the back of the room, in search of another cookie. On her way, she tripped.

The world went black.

Ada opened her eyes, not to the room filled with carolers, but to a dusty road. She squinted. There, in front of her, was a young couple. They looked like they belonged in a Nativity play, only more authentic.

“We’re almost to Bethlehem, Mary” Ada heard the man say.

“The baby’s coming, Joseph,” came a faint reply from the clearly pregnant woman by his side. She looked even more exhausted than Ada felt, like she’d been on a very long journey. “We’ll have to have him away from home.”

Away from home? Ada thought. Wasn’t Christmas all about being home for Christmas? Yet come to think of it, that first Christmas had Mary and Joseph away from their home in Nazareth…and Jesus leaving His home and glory in Heaven to become a man.

Ada watched, memorized, as a band of Roman soldiers passed by on the road. The other travelers so clearly resented them. I guess everything wasn’t merry and bright when Jesus came, Ada decided. In fact, hadn’t God used a census and taxes, of all things, to have Jesus born in Bethlehem? And didn’t the Roman occupation allow for the Gospel to go forth like it couldn’t have otherwise, as it brought a common language and passable roads to the whole empire?

The thought occurred to Ada that maybe God was using the tough things in her life–the things she resented–too. She couldn’t see how, but then, could the Jews back at Jesus’ birth?

Ada rubbed her head and closed her eyes for a second. Where was she anyway?

When Ada opened her eyes again, she found herself in a dark field. A smelly, woolly thing–was that a sheep?–brushed up against her. She could dimly make out the shape of men–they must be shepherds–nearby. Suddenly, an bright being–an angel!–appeared overhead.

“Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord,”[3] the angel said.

The angel said more, but Ada didn’t get to hear it.

She’d blinked, and found herself back in the room of Christmas caroling. No one had noticed her fall in the back of the room. The group was still singing Joy to the World.

Joy to the World. After her dream, Ada knew the joy of that first Christmas wasn’t because life was easy, people were home for Christmas, or there were presents under the tree. It didn’t come from lights or even cookies. Jesus didn’t save the people from the hardships of life. Not from the Romans. Not from tough situations. Mary’s life didn’t become easy because of Jesus’ birth. Mary would one day have to watch her son die. The joy the angel spoke of was because a Savior had been born.

Jesus came to save us from sin and death. He brought eternal life to those who would receive Him. That life means knowing God now, in life’s sadness and challenges, and one day for all eternity in Heaven, where the world will truly be bright, as the suffering and death sin brought will be completely wiped away forever.

Ada realized that her days didn’t have to be “merry and bright,”[5] but because Jesus came, Christmas, and every day, could be filled with a joy that can exist anywhere–even in a dirty stable. A joy that came from knowing that Heaven, not Hell, was her eternal destination. A joy that can only be found by believing on the Savior that has been born.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (ESV)

[1] Silent Night

[2] Joy to the World

[3] Luke 2:10b-11, ESV

[4] Joy to the World

[5] White Christmas

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Math Blog: Christmas Budgets

Christmas gifts

Christmas is a great time of year to talk about budgeting with your students. And budgeting itself is a great way to show basic math in action and to discuss biblical stewardship.

You could give your student a real or hypothetical Christmas budget to manage—or even a budget for one person’s Christmas gift. (If you don’t do presents, you could always do a budget for an event or for end-of-year giving.) Then walk with them through all the decisions they’d have to make to live within that budget, pointing out both the math they’d have to use and discussing some biblical truths on wise stewardship.

Say your child’s hypothetical (or real) budget has $100 in it. They could then list the different things they want to buy or give and how much each will cost and total up the costs. Is it more than $100? They’ll have to either readjust what they buy or give or change the $100 budget (which, in real life, would require taking that money from somewhere else in an overall budget). As they work through this exercise, they’ll use a lot of basic math skills, such as addition and subtraction. Want to see what percent they’re spending on what? That will bring in percentages. Want to see how much they’re spending on a particular person? That might require addition…or even division, if they bought a package with multiple items in it and need a per-item price. Need to find a total with tax? That uses percentages.

Not only does this exercise help show students how math applies (which can help students understand why they’re learning it in the first place), but you can also use it to help them think about wise stewardship. At any point in time God’s entrusted us with a certain amount of money. We need to seek Him for what we’re to do with it…and follow the wisdom He’s set forth in His Word.

Did you know there’s more than 2,000 Bible verses on money? There’s no lack of things to explore—a biblical view of debt (especially since many go into debt over Christmas), giving, avoiding the love of money (i.e., escaping materialism), and saving, to name a few. I’ve been amazed as I’ve written my new Consumer Math course (coming out in 2025) just how much God has to say about personal finances…and how much I need to remind myself of those principles regularly. A good place to start is 1 Timothy 6:10.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 1 Timothy 6:10 (ESV)

Discuss with your student that this doesn’t make money evil—just loving it. Talk about what that looks like—and what it might look like for them to steward the Christmas budget out of a love for God instead.

You might also discuss debt, and how the Bible warns about how debt ends up making us a slave in a way (Proverbs 22:7). After all, a recent survey indicated that around 46% of Americans are still paying off last year’s Christmas debt. That means that all year long, rather than having money earning interest, they’ve been paying interest on purchases from the prior year. With teen students, you could explore the concept of interest and how much these people have spent extra for what they bought.

There’s much more that could be explored, but hopefully that gives you a few ideas of how math and budgeting can help navigate Christmas gifting decisions—and of how you can use the time of year to have biblical stewardship conversations with your students. Remember too that children learn by watching, so consider letting them watch you think through some of the financial decisions you’re making.

(Look for more details about Consumer Math in the upcoming months–a full-scale high school curriculum that will help your students explore math in their everyday money decisions from a biblical worldview. We’re in the final editing stages, and I look forward to sharing more soon.)

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Parenting Moment: Wrapped Presents & Our Child’s Gifting

gifts

I smiled as I watched my son do his best to guess what a package contained. He shook it, noticing its sound. He took note of its size. He thought through everything that could possibly fit that description—or so he thought. I know he’ll be surprised when he unwraps the present and sees what is really inside.

Watching him unwrap that gift got me thinking about unwrapping the gifts God has given us in our children. Each one of them is designed for a purpose and gifted in different ways—yet sometimes the marvelous way they’re designed is buried under a lot of wrapping paper that makes their unique gifts hard to recognize.

As a child, I doggedly wanted my way, day after day, testing my mom’s patience with my strong will. That same strong will turned out to be a gift when yielded to God and serving Him, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t seem like a gift when I tried to flush her child training book down the toilet in an attempt to destroy it. My mom did a lot of hard training before my strong will could actually be a gift instead of a nuisance. I’m glad she looked not at who I was, but at who I could be.

I recently listened to a talk by Carol Barnier titled “Don’t Miss the Gift in This Child.” As you might guess from the title, she encouraged listeners to remember that our children are truly gifts from the Lord. I hope you’ll join me in making that title a prayer this Christmas season. As we see gifts around us, may we remember our children are gifts too and ask God for eyes to see the unique way He’s gifted them.

 

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Short Story: Distorted Views

window

Ava walked silently through the town, deep in thought. She’d had a hard day—or maybe I should say a hard month or even year. Nothing had gone the way she wanted. She’d sprained her arm—it was wrapped in a splint under her coat, effectively rendering it hard for her to do much at all. Except walk. She was hoping this walk would help clear her head and lift the fog from her heart.

She paused at the first home she passed, stealing a glance in the window as she did. She saw a little boy laughing and a mom pulling a plate of steaming hot cookies out of the oven. The scene looked so warm…so inviting.

There aren’t any cookies back at my house…and I can’t bake them with this arm, Ava thought to herself. She sighed and walked on.

The next home she passed looked strangely like one from her early childhood. Almost exactly like it, actually. She ventured a longer look inside this time and gasped at what she saw. There was a little girl who looked remarkably like she had, playing with her brother and sister, giggling and laughing. The scene brought back a rush of memories of the fun she used to have with her siblings—siblings that had long since grown up and moved out. If only she could go back in time…

“Ava, what are you doing?” The voice came, not from within the house or her head this time, but from next to her. Her friend Ella stood by her side.

“Just remembering,” Ava replied. “This window—it’s like a glimpse into my past.”

“A distorted glimpse,” Ella replied.

“What do you mean?” Ava inquired.

“Did no one warn you about the windows in this town?” Seeing Ava’s silence, Ella hastened to continue. “They’re coated with a special substance that distorts what you see. They only show the good, not any of the hard or the bad. Take this home, for instance. You see a scene that reminds you of happy moments from your childhood. But you don’t see all the times you and your siblings quarreled, or the hard days you had then too. Like the time you broke your back, remember?”

Ava remembered. She’d had to rest for weeks. The past hadn’t always been easy. “I wish my life could be more like that glimpse I saw in the house over there,” she muttered, pointing back to the home with the fresh cookies.

“You mean the distorted glimpse you saw,” Ella corrected. “If we could look through true glass into that home, we’d find it has struggles too. Is that the Jones’s house? I think the husband just lost his job. You can’t escape hardships, Ella. They come in different shapes and sizes, but we all have them.

“But here’s the deal. You can spend the rest of the day pining after distorted pictures through the windows, or you can head back home and see about making some beautiful memories yourself. Just because you can’t move your arm doesn’t mean there aren’t things you can do.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?” Ava asked. She still wasn’t 100% convinced.

“Like lose to me at a game of chess,” Eva replied with a laugh. “You don’t need two hands for that!”

“That’s true,” Ava replied with a laugh that a few minutes ago had felt impossible. She turned around from the town with the distorted windows back to her reality. She was glad she’d made the positive memories she had in her early childhood, and she wanted to go on making beautiful memories today in this new season, with life’s new challenges…and blessings.

Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19 (ESV)

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Short Story: Only Sunshine?

tomato

It’s raining again, Tommy the tomato plant complained to himself. Why does it always have to rain? I wish we could always have sunshine.

Being just a tomato plant, Tommy didn’t know that the rain is exactly what gave him the water he needed to grow strong and produce plump, melt-in-your-mouth tomatoes. All he thought of is how the wind blew him back and forth and how the rain pelted down on him. He didn’t like it at all.

A few weeks later, Tommy got his wish. There was a drought—a long time with no rain at all. At first, Tommy was very happy. No rain!

But then the soil began to dry up. No problem, Tommy thought. I’ll just dig deeper down into the soil with my roots.

But then that soil, too, became dry.

Tommy no longer had enough moisture to send to all his leaves. They began to wilt. A few began to shrivel up and die. Tommy realized he would soon wither up altogether if it didn’t rain.

He knew now how wrong he had been—he needed rain! The storms gave him something very important he couldn’t live without.

“Not only that, but 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.” Romans 5:3-5 (ESV)
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Short Story: Changing Shells

Crab with Shell

Dedicated to Alice Faye Hannon, my mother-in-law, who has recently entered into God’s presence and her new “shell.”

Jeremy was very sad. His Grammy, whom he loved very much, had just died. Her body was now still; where was she now?

“Let me tell you a story,” his mom said.

Shelly the hermit crab lived in Temporal Aquarium with many other hermit crabs. She was loved by many of the other crabs.

One day, though, the crabs couldn’t find Shelly. Her shell was still there, but she wasn’t inside of it! They all felt sad. What had happened to Shelly?

The aquarium owner had given Shelly a new shell to live in—a beautiful shell that wasn’t tight and didn’t pinch her like her old shell did. He’d moved her into a new home—a great big lake where she wouldn’t feel cramped anymore.

Shelly’s shell was empty because Shelly had a new shell.

“So you see,” Jeremy’s mom explained, “Grammy had to change shells too. When we die, we don’t stop living—we just change shells like that hermit crab. We either live in a new perfect shell with God in Heaven, or we live on in a miserable place away from all that’s good. Grammy put her faith in Jesus; because of that, we know she’s in Heaven enjoying her new shell.

“You see, our sin separates us from God and His perfect place called Heaven. But Jesus died to pay the price for our sin so that we could enter Heaven. You know how when you make bad choices there’s a consequence? Well, Jesus took our consequence. But we have to trust Him and ask Him to make us God’s child. When we do, then our lives change now and forever—and a beautiful new shell in God’s perfect world awaits us when we have to leave this one behind.”

For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 2 Corinthians 15:53 (ESV)

Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8 (ESV)

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Like Sandpaper

thankful

“Go set this on the kitchen table.”

Ruby grabbed plate and “thankful” tag her mom and put together and set it carefully on the kitchen table. She paused just a second to feel the smoothness of the wood. A faint smile crept across her face as she remembered that table’s history.

When they’d first gotten the table, they all got splinters from it. “Ouch!” was the most common word spoken at the dinner table that night.

That’s when Ruby’s dad had hauled the table to the garage and begun sanding on it. Ruby had just been a little girl, but her father had let her watch as he rubbed rough paper against the wood’s grains. “You’re hurting the table!” Ruby had protested, but her father had just smiled. He knew what she didn’t–that this sandpaper was exactly what that table really needed.

He’d been right. The table after sanding and finishing no longer produced splinters. It served its purpose and had been blessing them all since.

Ruby snapped back to the present, thinking about the things in her life that felt a little uncomfortable, like sandpaper. Maybe she should really be thankful for the situations and people that rubbed her wrong. Perhaps they were meant to somehow transform her like the sandpaper had this table.

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28