Well, it's only been 2 weeks since my last post! I'm slowly moving up in the world! This one will probably not have any pictures, but I wanted to give you an update on my life in the past couple of weeks. Let's see...
-One highlight was definitely going whale watching this past weekend. The DR is the only place in the world where humpback whales come to have their babies. They come from as far away as Iceland EVERY YEAR! We went out on Friday and were able to see a baby and its mother. Wow. God truly showed me that He is a big God. He created a huge creature who has the ability to travel thousands of miles every year! And that's only one of the things He made! Isn't he awesome? If I ever figure out how to post a video, I will post one I got of the mama whale coming right up by our boat. She is about 50 feet long. It was incredible.
-This week is Spiritual Emphasis Week at school. A group of highschool seniors from a Christian school in the states came down to help with it. We had our first chapel today, and the kids loved it! Highlights included puppets, songs, and skits. We are looking forward to the rest of the week!
-Hmm, on a not so fun note, I managed to sprain my ankle this weekend. Another stupid injury to add to the list. No exciting stories, though I tell people I am going to say that I fell off the whale watching boat, got swallowed by a big fish, like Jonah, and then got spit back out and hurt my ankle. That's a cooler story than falling off a single step in the dark! I am supposed to be on crutches all week. Today was killer trying to teach with them. We'll see if I make it that long with them! Even through this, I have learned that God is bigger than the little things that get in our way. I can still teach and serve Him even with a hurt foot! Please pray for fast and complete healing.
-Falling more in love with our big God every day. Sometimes I struggle with seeing Him in the little things and spending time with Him every moment of every day, but it is so worth it. Today I had an AMAZING conversation with my kids about God. We could have talked all day! It made me so excited to talk about my favorite subject with them. Their hearts are open--please pray that they would not only ask Jesus to take away their sins, but that they would serve Him the rest of their lives. These are the kids who are the future leaders of the DR. May they really love Jesus with all their hearts! What a blessing their childlike faith has been to me. Wow. God is so big, and I love how he shows me that in the little ways each and every day! May you see that as you go about your day as well.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Happy Valentine's Day!
Wow, I said I would get better at this, and I still haven't. Sorry to all my readers out there who even bother checking this since I don't really write much. Hopefully that will change soon. I haven't written much mainly because I haven't taken many pictures and I didn't want to just write a word post. Let's see if I can remember what has been happening in the last month...
-I have been able to teach every day since Christmas! My voice has held out, and for that I am so thankful! It is scratchy by Friday, but I can still teach. It definitely has changed. I cannot sing as high as I used to nor can I change pitch very well by the time Friday rolls around. But I am very thankful that I have been able to be in the classroom everyday!
-I finally decided for sure to regularly attend the church down here that is similar to the ones I grew up in. I am the only American and therefore the only one who doesn't speak Spanish who goes there out of about 300 people, but it's good. People have started to talk to me. One couple, their daughter, and the wife's mother have taken me home a few times. That's been quite the trip! The first time, there were 7 of us in their little car! When the first one got out and there were only 6, it felt like a luxury vehicle with tons of space! Last week, the dad was trying to talk to me, and his Spanish is very hard to understand. The funniest part was everything I would say in Spanish, the grandmother would repeat in Spanish for the dad! I was already speaking in Spanish, so it made me laugh! I probably misunderstood half of what he said, but oh well.
-Two weeks ago I had the privilege of going to an English speaking Women's Retreat in the mountains. It was an amazing time of reflection and meeting other Americans on the island. God taught me a lot through it. On Saturday, a group of us went for a very long hike in the mountains. It was beautiful! I went back down on a motoconcho, which is like a motorcycle taxi, with a friend because she had really bad blisters on her feet. That was quite the adventure to say the least! It was a really good weekend, and I am sad it only happens once a year.
-Yesterday at school we celebrated Valentine's Day. My room literally looked like a candy store--it was ridiculous! I am glad it was only a half day, because my kids were crazy the whole time! My mom had sent me stuff for them to make Valentines for their moms, which they absolutely loved. We did that earlier in the week and they took them home on Friday. Here are some pictures of making Valentines and other fun things associated with that....
Making Valentines for our moms and having a fake smile when Miss Seeman pulls out the camera :).
Yes, I can make a Valentine for my mom even with a broken arm!
Amanda and I making cookies for our classes. We ended up with a few more than we had planned--she and I only needed 40 and in this picture there are about 90--we ended up with over 150 cookies when we only needed 80 total for four of us to give to our classes. We spent over 6 hours making and decorating cookies, but it was exciting.
Happy Valentine's Day! One of my girls brought in this cake--notice how big it is. The heart shaped cakes I had always seen were about a third as big as this one!
Thank you Mrs. Seeman for the cool pencils, stickers, and heart candies! My mom sends them a lot of things, and they love it! In one girl's words yesterday, "Your mom sends us a lot of stuff and she's not rich!" They couldn't believe it that my parents didn't have a ton of money after all the things she has sent us. It was a good opportunity to talk about generosity.
Let's see, what else...
-Hundred's Day has come and gone. I can't believe we have been in school for over a hundred days! I am still enjoying my kids, so that is good.
-I have been introducing many new subjects/concepts since Christmas. We have started to learn multiplication. I am hoping they will really understand it and be plenty ready for fourth grade! So far they are doing well. Now they have to just memorize all of them! We also started Science, which they absolutely LOVE! We have done many experiments. Right now we are talking about living things, and we were talking about metamorphosis. A couple weeks ago I saw some tadpoles in a little creek right outside the school. I thought it would be exciting for my kids to go out and look at them. We looked on Thursday and they LOVED it! I knew they would want to keep one, so I told them we could. I brought a jar to catch them, hoping one of the maintenence guys would be willing to. Unfortunately, I could not find one yesterday. The kids were so excited about it that I went down into the nasty, slimy creek to try and catch one. They are super fast, and it was taking a while. The kids were all telling me where to catch one. Meanwhile, the guard comes over and starts watching me try to catch one while my kids are all smashed up against the fence telling me what to do. I am sure it was quite the sight! I am so thankful there is a fence there or all my kids would have fallen in the creek! So the guard tells me to scoop faster, and finally I catch one. I get the kids all together and start to head in, and then the guard tells me it's not a tadpole but a guppy instead. So I had to do it all over again! I finally caught one, so now we have a tadpole sitting in our room! I have a feeling it will be dead by Monday, but we will see. Does anyone know how to keep them alive?
I love that here in the DR, today is a day of love AND friendship. I want to say thank you to all you readers who are my friends. I appreciate you a lot! On this day set aside for love and friendship, I can't help but think about the One who is my true friend. He will never leave me nor forsake me. Jesus gave up His own life to show me that love. God gave up His only Son because He loved me! There is no greater love than one who lays down His life for His friends! Thank you Jesus for laying down your life for me and for calling me your friend! May you truly feel the love of our Savior today.
-I have been able to teach every day since Christmas! My voice has held out, and for that I am so thankful! It is scratchy by Friday, but I can still teach. It definitely has changed. I cannot sing as high as I used to nor can I change pitch very well by the time Friday rolls around. But I am very thankful that I have been able to be in the classroom everyday!
-I finally decided for sure to regularly attend the church down here that is similar to the ones I grew up in. I am the only American and therefore the only one who doesn't speak Spanish who goes there out of about 300 people, but it's good. People have started to talk to me. One couple, their daughter, and the wife's mother have taken me home a few times. That's been quite the trip! The first time, there were 7 of us in their little car! When the first one got out and there were only 6, it felt like a luxury vehicle with tons of space! Last week, the dad was trying to talk to me, and his Spanish is very hard to understand. The funniest part was everything I would say in Spanish, the grandmother would repeat in Spanish for the dad! I was already speaking in Spanish, so it made me laugh! I probably misunderstood half of what he said, but oh well.
-Two weeks ago I had the privilege of going to an English speaking Women's Retreat in the mountains. It was an amazing time of reflection and meeting other Americans on the island. God taught me a lot through it. On Saturday, a group of us went for a very long hike in the mountains. It was beautiful! I went back down on a motoconcho, which is like a motorcycle taxi, with a friend because she had really bad blisters on her feet. That was quite the adventure to say the least! It was a really good weekend, and I am sad it only happens once a year.
-Yesterday at school we celebrated Valentine's Day. My room literally looked like a candy store--it was ridiculous! I am glad it was only a half day, because my kids were crazy the whole time! My mom had sent me stuff for them to make Valentines for their moms, which they absolutely loved. We did that earlier in the week and they took them home on Friday. Here are some pictures of making Valentines and other fun things associated with that....
Making Valentines for our moms and having a fake smile when Miss Seeman pulls out the camera :).
Yes, I can make a Valentine for my mom even with a broken arm!
Amanda and I making cookies for our classes. We ended up with a few more than we had planned--she and I only needed 40 and in this picture there are about 90--we ended up with over 150 cookies when we only needed 80 total for four of us to give to our classes. We spent over 6 hours making and decorating cookies, but it was exciting.
Happy Valentine's Day! One of my girls brought in this cake--notice how big it is. The heart shaped cakes I had always seen were about a third as big as this one!
Thank you Mrs. Seeman for the cool pencils, stickers, and heart candies! My mom sends them a lot of things, and they love it! In one girl's words yesterday, "Your mom sends us a lot of stuff and she's not rich!" They couldn't believe it that my parents didn't have a ton of money after all the things she has sent us. It was a good opportunity to talk about generosity.Let's see, what else...
-Hundred's Day has come and gone. I can't believe we have been in school for over a hundred days! I am still enjoying my kids, so that is good.
-I have been introducing many new subjects/concepts since Christmas. We have started to learn multiplication. I am hoping they will really understand it and be plenty ready for fourth grade! So far they are doing well. Now they have to just memorize all of them! We also started Science, which they absolutely LOVE! We have done many experiments. Right now we are talking about living things, and we were talking about metamorphosis. A couple weeks ago I saw some tadpoles in a little creek right outside the school. I thought it would be exciting for my kids to go out and look at them. We looked on Thursday and they LOVED it! I knew they would want to keep one, so I told them we could. I brought a jar to catch them, hoping one of the maintenence guys would be willing to. Unfortunately, I could not find one yesterday. The kids were so excited about it that I went down into the nasty, slimy creek to try and catch one. They are super fast, and it was taking a while. The kids were all telling me where to catch one. Meanwhile, the guard comes over and starts watching me try to catch one while my kids are all smashed up against the fence telling me what to do. I am sure it was quite the sight! I am so thankful there is a fence there or all my kids would have fallen in the creek! So the guard tells me to scoop faster, and finally I catch one. I get the kids all together and start to head in, and then the guard tells me it's not a tadpole but a guppy instead. So I had to do it all over again! I finally caught one, so now we have a tadpole sitting in our room! I have a feeling it will be dead by Monday, but we will see. Does anyone know how to keep them alive?
I love that here in the DR, today is a day of love AND friendship. I want to say thank you to all you readers who are my friends. I appreciate you a lot! On this day set aside for love and friendship, I can't help but think about the One who is my true friend. He will never leave me nor forsake me. Jesus gave up His own life to show me that love. God gave up His only Son because He loved me! There is no greater love than one who lays down His life for His friends! Thank you Jesus for laying down your life for me and for calling me your friend! May you truly feel the love of our Savior today.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
2008
I had lots of deep and profound things to write until I sat down to write them....hmmm. I think my brain fell out! Well, the rest of my break was wonderful. It was awesome to have my parents here, and then my friend Katie came. We got to do a number of things together, including snorkeling, lying on the beach, WHITEWATER RAFTING for my birthday!, and a baseball game. Dominican games are very different than American ones! We stayed with a great Dominican family when we went to the beach, so that was a good experience too.
Now I am back in the swing of things with my kids. It is good to be back with them. They were really quiet all week, which is not normal, but it was really nice! We started multiplication this past week, which they absolutely LOVE! It will be interesting to see if they continue to love it!
I am starting to fall in love with my church. It has taken me a while, but I am so glad it is happening. I am going to a church that is the same kind I grew up in, but in a church of 300, I am the only American and the only non-Spanish speaker. Talk about standing out! I met a lady though who speaks English, so sometimes she translates the preaching for me. I understand a lot more when she does, but I am slowly starting to understand even without it. I love that it is the same format as my churches back home. I love worshiping the same Lord with believers who speak another language. Today we were singing about all languages confessing that Jesus is Lord. I love that I was singing it in another language with believers that speak another language. Isn't our God awesome? People are slowly starting to realize that I know a little Spanish, so they are talking to me, which is always nice. It is good to break out of my comfort zone and do things in a language I don't fully understand.
Looking back on the year 2008 reminds me so much of God's faithfulness. He has brought me a long ways this year and has shown Himself in so many ways! The first day of 2008 I was traveling to and arriving in Kenya, and the last day of 2008 I spent in the Dominican Republic. During that time I went from college student with no job prospects to college graduate teaching third grade in another country! My verse for the year was Romans 12:12--Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. God taught me a lot through that verse. I had many opportunities this year to be joyful in hope: playing with my first graders in Kenya, holding precious orphan babies, counseling at camp, teaching third graders, seeing God transform my life in so many ways, and more. I also had plenty of opportunities to be patient in affliction: not being able to talk for two weeks twice, skin problems, not knowing where He wants me to teach or do, and many other things in my life that He was changing to make more like Him, but the process was so hard. And of course, I had many opportunities to be faithful in prayer! I am so thankful for all He did in my life in 2008! He shut many doors (slammed some) and opened many others.
I am so glad He brought me here though! I have not been able to spend any time at an orphanage, and that has been so hard, but so many other opportunities have been great. I love my kids, I love my roommates, I love my church... God is good! I pray that you have seen that in your life this year too!
On to 2009...I have no idea what it will bring, but I am excited for it! I am excited to have God work more in my life this year. I am still praying about a year verse, but it might be a couple. My goal is to truly get to know God better. How can I fall completely in love with Him when I don't know Him? I don't just want to know about God, I want to know God! May I truly do that this year. I am so thankful for our faithful God who does no wrong! May you experience His faithfulness in your life this year. Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Now I am back in the swing of things with my kids. It is good to be back with them. They were really quiet all week, which is not normal, but it was really nice! We started multiplication this past week, which they absolutely LOVE! It will be interesting to see if they continue to love it!
I am starting to fall in love with my church. It has taken me a while, but I am so glad it is happening. I am going to a church that is the same kind I grew up in, but in a church of 300, I am the only American and the only non-Spanish speaker. Talk about standing out! I met a lady though who speaks English, so sometimes she translates the preaching for me. I understand a lot more when she does, but I am slowly starting to understand even without it. I love that it is the same format as my churches back home. I love worshiping the same Lord with believers who speak another language. Today we were singing about all languages confessing that Jesus is Lord. I love that I was singing it in another language with believers that speak another language. Isn't our God awesome? People are slowly starting to realize that I know a little Spanish, so they are talking to me, which is always nice. It is good to break out of my comfort zone and do things in a language I don't fully understand.
Looking back on the year 2008 reminds me so much of God's faithfulness. He has brought me a long ways this year and has shown Himself in so many ways! The first day of 2008 I was traveling to and arriving in Kenya, and the last day of 2008 I spent in the Dominican Republic. During that time I went from college student with no job prospects to college graduate teaching third grade in another country! My verse for the year was Romans 12:12--Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. God taught me a lot through that verse. I had many opportunities this year to be joyful in hope: playing with my first graders in Kenya, holding precious orphan babies, counseling at camp, teaching third graders, seeing God transform my life in so many ways, and more. I also had plenty of opportunities to be patient in affliction: not being able to talk for two weeks twice, skin problems, not knowing where He wants me to teach or do, and many other things in my life that He was changing to make more like Him, but the process was so hard. And of course, I had many opportunities to be faithful in prayer! I am so thankful for all He did in my life in 2008! He shut many doors (slammed some) and opened many others.
I am so glad He brought me here though! I have not been able to spend any time at an orphanage, and that has been so hard, but so many other opportunities have been great. I love my kids, I love my roommates, I love my church... God is good! I pray that you have seen that in your life this year too!
On to 2009...I have no idea what it will bring, but I am excited for it! I am excited to have God work more in my life this year. I am still praying about a year verse, but it might be a couple. My goal is to truly get to know God better. How can I fall completely in love with Him when I don't know Him? I don't just want to know about God, I want to know God! May I truly do that this year. I am so thankful for our faithful God who does no wrong! May you experience His faithfulness in your life this year. Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas and Feliz Navidad! Wow. To express thankfulness for all Christ did for me coming down as a baby is impossible. I am so incredibly thankful for the love of my Savior, that "God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." I, a sinful creature, can have eternal life. Not only that, I have the presence of my God with me all the time! What greater gift is there than that! What a wonderful God I know and serve! John 3:16 was my third graders' memory verse this past week. I absolutely LOVED hearing them say those words, the words that tell us God loved us enough to send His Son down to die for us. It was amazing having them explain to me what that means and how we can get to heaven. I so often take for granted all that my Savior did for me! May this year be truly different. May I live each and every day in awed reverence of what My Savior did for me all those years ago. My students were amazed that Jesus came over 2000 years ago. Yet the offer he gave 2000 years ago still stands today. Wow.
Christmas this year has been different. My family was able to come down and visit me here in the DR. They spent last week at the beach while I taught. They came down and met my students last Thursday. To say my students enjoyed it was an understatement! Eric played some games with them, and my family also did a craft with them. I loved showing my family my life down here. I was able to go spend time with them last weekend at the beach before we all came down here. What a beautiful country I live in! I was able to go surfing--yes, surfing over Christmas. I am used to going skiing in the snow, not surfing in the ocean! It was great. My dad, brother, and I also had the experience of going to a Dominican baseball game. Boy was it different than any other game I have ever been to! Let's just say I should have worn earplugs! A group of guys were playing the drums and horns and ended up sitting right behind us for a few innings. Trying to talk to each other was impossible! Santiago's team won, and it was a great experience, despite the noise.
The night my parents came in, we had an SCS teacher and staff banquet. Amanda, my roommate, and I had dresses made for it. It was nice to get all dressed up and celebrate Christmas together. I also was invited to one of my student's houses for a Christmas party. They have one every year for all the teachers who have or have had their children. The whole extended family has children at SCS. Paul was so excited for me to come! I was a little late, and he was out pacing the balcony waiting for me. Every time the bell rang, he would run and see if it was me! I love that my students still think it's exciting to hang out with their teachers. We played a couple card games and Battleship. It's neat seeing my students outside of school.
My family left this morning, and I already miss them a lot. I am so glad they could come see my life down here in the DR. I can't wait to see them again in another 6 months. It seems so far away! My friend from Emmaus, Katie, is coming tomorrow to spend time with me. I am excited to see her and show her around this beautiful place!
Today, and every day, may you stand continually amazed at the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the reason we can have hope! My prayer is that each and every one of you will know the hope of the risen Savior! Merry Christmas!
Christmas this year has been different. My family was able to come down and visit me here in the DR. They spent last week at the beach while I taught. They came down and met my students last Thursday. To say my students enjoyed it was an understatement! Eric played some games with them, and my family also did a craft with them. I loved showing my family my life down here. I was able to go spend time with them last weekend at the beach before we all came down here. What a beautiful country I live in! I was able to go surfing--yes, surfing over Christmas. I am used to going skiing in the snow, not surfing in the ocean! It was great. My dad, brother, and I also had the experience of going to a Dominican baseball game. Boy was it different than any other game I have ever been to! Let's just say I should have worn earplugs! A group of guys were playing the drums and horns and ended up sitting right behind us for a few innings. Trying to talk to each other was impossible! Santiago's team won, and it was a great experience, despite the noise.
The night my parents came in, we had an SCS teacher and staff banquet. Amanda, my roommate, and I had dresses made for it. It was nice to get all dressed up and celebrate Christmas together. I also was invited to one of my student's houses for a Christmas party. They have one every year for all the teachers who have or have had their children. The whole extended family has children at SCS. Paul was so excited for me to come! I was a little late, and he was out pacing the balcony waiting for me. Every time the bell rang, he would run and see if it was me! I love that my students still think it's exciting to hang out with their teachers. We played a couple card games and Battleship. It's neat seeing my students outside of school.
My family left this morning, and I already miss them a lot. I am so glad they could come see my life down here in the DR. I can't wait to see them again in another 6 months. It seems so far away! My friend from Emmaus, Katie, is coming tomorrow to spend time with me. I am excited to see her and show her around this beautiful place!
Today, and every day, may you stand continually amazed at the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He is the reason we can have hope! My prayer is that each and every one of you will know the hope of the risen Savior! Merry Christmas!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Life
Hello to my blog readers. I do not know if anyone even checks this anymore, since I struggle to update it. Hopefully I will get better at updating! As I sit here in the 70 plus degree weather it's hard to remember that Christmas is coming. The Christmas music I am listening to doesn't seem to fit. I am excited that Christmas is near. I love this time where we sing and talk about and meditate on the birth of Jesus. What a wonderful gift! God has given me several other gifts recently that have reminded me how amazing he is.
Gift 1: A voice! This is really made me realize that everything I am, everything I have, and everything I do is totally and completely His. He can take away and He can give back. I have been able to talk since Tuesday. It has been nice. I also realized that sometimes it's better not to talk because what I say is not necessary. Hopefully I will remember that.
Gift 2: Being back in the classroom. I missed my kids so much! Though they sometimes drive me up the wall, I love them. I have received about a billion hugs the last couple days, even from my little boys! They are sunshine to me. I hope each and every one of them come to know my amazing Savior. Please pray that God would open their hearts.
Gift 3: My parents and brother are coming TODAY! I can't believe it is already December 13th! That day has been in my head for months as the day my parents come. It's hard to realize that that is now.
Gift 4: My friend Katie is coming the day after my parents leave. I will only have to spend one night alone here. Wow. I am excited to show her around and relax with her.
Gift 5: Grace. I love that God shows me grace each and every day. Praise the name of Jesus! I am so grateful for the gift of His Son! I pray that you will feel His grace today.
Gift 1: A voice! This is really made me realize that everything I am, everything I have, and everything I do is totally and completely His. He can take away and He can give back. I have been able to talk since Tuesday. It has been nice. I also realized that sometimes it's better not to talk because what I say is not necessary. Hopefully I will remember that.
Gift 2: Being back in the classroom. I missed my kids so much! Though they sometimes drive me up the wall, I love them. I have received about a billion hugs the last couple days, even from my little boys! They are sunshine to me. I hope each and every one of them come to know my amazing Savior. Please pray that God would open their hearts.
Gift 3: My parents and brother are coming TODAY! I can't believe it is already December 13th! That day has been in my head for months as the day my parents come. It's hard to realize that that is now.
Gift 4: My friend Katie is coming the day after my parents leave. I will only have to spend one night alone here. Wow. I am excited to show her around and relax with her.
Gift 5: Grace. I love that God shows me grace each and every day. Praise the name of Jesus! I am so grateful for the gift of His Son! I pray that you will feel His grace today.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Blessed be the Name of the Lord
Wow. It's been a long time since I've posted. Sorry about that. I am afraid this is going to be a rather long post to get you caught up on all the happenings around here. I know some of you are dying to see pictures, so I will try to post a lot.
Let's see, where to even start? Well, the last time I posted I said I had my voice back. What a blessing to get it back! I was able to go back into the classroom, which was a huge blessing. I couldn't talk very loud, so my kids had to learn how to listen. They did a great job! They learned to listen as soon as I said something and not to talk when I was talking. I should have thought of training them that way at the beginning of the year! Lessons for next year I guess. I did try, but since they had to listen, I think that really helped. About two weeks ago, I got a cold. My voice started to get scratchy and I was a little nervous. By a week ago Saturday, my cold was gone but my voice was still scratchy. I started to get a little more nervous, and so on Monday I talked to the nurse at the school, Linda, and she said she would take me to the doctor. So she called the doctor and we headed out, only to get there and find out he had already left for the day. He asked us to come back the next day, Tuesday. My rommate Amanda and I were hoping I would go there and he would laugh at me for coming back and say it was just a cold. Unfortunately, there was no laughing at the doctor on Tuesday. He looked down my throat and saw another nodule. Last time there were two, but this time there's only one, but it is way bigger than last time. He said it was not the same ones but was really fast for another one to come, since it had not even been 4 weeks since the last ones disappeared. He said there might be an infection in my throat, but he doesn't know. So I am on vocal rest again for two weeks, which means once again I can't teach. I am a little frustrated at this point, but i am hoping it will go away quickly and i will get to go back to my kids in a week and a half. Thankfully part of my silent time has been over Thanksgiving break, so I don't have to miss that time with my kids.
I've been thinking a lot lately about the song, "Blessed be the Name of the Lord." My kids sing it and do motions for it too. That song has a special place in my heart, as it was very dear to a friend who died of cancer last year. I've been thinking of the line, "You give and take away." The Lord sure does give and take away, and I am thankful that what He has taken from me is not as big as it could be. I am glad He has given me a voice for the past 21 years. I can only imagine what it would be like to never be able to talk. This has made me all the more thankful for the voice I have had. I can still say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord!"
I haven't posted much about life around here lately. It's exciting, crazy, interesting, funny, hard, good, busy, and so much more all rolled into one. I sure have some funny stories! I am enjoying getting to know my 21 busy third graders more. We have had a lot of fun in class. They love to laugh, move, dance, and draw! That class could draw all day long, and if you know me, you know I'm horrible at drawing! Some, or probably most, are better than me. Here's a class picture we took on "Jean Day" when they are allowed to be out of uniform.
And here is my class being their true selves!
In the last few weeks, we have been studying about Native Americans. They had a ton of fun making Southwest pueblo houses out of cardboard that came from between the dishes I bought. It was so good for me to see them get excited about such a simple craft! Some of my friends also sent me pictures of what the SW looks like, which they loved. Thanks guys! My kids' favorite part was that the pueblos didn't have doors and you often had to go in through a hatch in the roof. They had fun making that, as you can see!
Because we were studying about Native Americans, we just HAD to have a feast for Thanksgiving, even though the third graders didn't last year. I was supposed to be on vocal rest for it, but I asked my doctor if I could at least talk through the party, since I went to him the night before, and he said yes! It was bittersweet--I was glad I could talk but sad that it would be my last time with my kids for a while. Here is my class writing down three things they are thankful for:
And of course, you have to have one Native American trying to stab another one!
And the Indian chief with his princess!
I had quite a few moms come in and help. Here is one, who is Dutch, helping my girls with the art project. Yay for moms who are good at that kind of thing!
And the finished project--a turkey puppet! Lesson learned--paper bags are impossible to find here, so bring them down with you!
In November, we had been collecting food for a food drive. On Monday, the third and fourth grade classes had the chance to take their food to the people who would receive it. It is a great thing for my very rich kids to see poverty, which they do not see almost at all, though they are surrounded by it. My kids will pray for the poor people, and we are trying to help them see that they can do something about it too. I told them that some people don't have enough food to eat 3 meals a day and they may only get one every other day or less, and they were shocked. Please pray that these kids who have a ton of material possessions would be willing to help! Here are some of the kids waiting to hand out their food bags.
After our party on Wednesday, Amanda, the nurse Linda, and I set out for the Caribbean side of the island, about five hours away, to spend our Thanksgiving break. No snow for us! Be prepared to be jealous! On Thursday, we took a catamaran out to this island called Isla Saona. I didn't think places like that existed--clear greenish bluish water, white sand beaches, palm trees...the works! It was gorgeous! What a way to spend thanksgiving! Though I couldn't talk, I was reminded of all the things I do have to be thankful for. Not having a voice is nothing compared to all my blessings. Here is where we spent Thanksgiving:
My mom likes to send me crazy things in the mail, as you all probably know. This time, I received a little stuffed turkey that makes noise! Of course, he had to come to the island with us on Thanksgiving. Here he is, in the sun with me!
We had pizza for Thanksgiving dinner at a little Italian place. I had a pie left over from our feast that we wanted to eat for dessert. Unfortunately, we didn't have any utensils to cut or eat it with. But when it's Thanksgiving, and you really want apple pie, you think of a solution!
I've never had pie circles cut with a glass before! It was great though.
Here is a picture of Amanda, me, and Linda at this beautiful art school we stopped at on Friday. This country is gorgeous!
Most of you probably remember that my mom sent me a rubber chicken in the mail that was bound and gagged. She seems to think it was prophetic, since he couldn't talk, and shortly after receiving him, I lost my voice. I finally ungagged him, so hopefully that will be prophetic too! Here we are, both not able to talk!
There has been some funny stories that have resulted from not being able to talk. On the boat on Thursday, one of the Dominican guys who was working for a resort and taking pictures for the tourists kept asking if we spoke English. I was carrying a notebook to write down what I had to say, and he saw it and was like, "That's English. Let me see!" So he starts looking at it. I was sitting in the aisle with Amanda on one side and a lady across the aisle on the other side of me. Linda was next to the lady. As he was looking at my notebook, Linda said, "She can't talk." Then the random lady said, "She's deaf!" Amanda and I got a huge laugh out of that as Linda proceeded to explain to her that I am in fact NOT deaf!
Another funny thing happened today. Amanda can't speak Spanish, and I can't speak at all, so it's interesting going places together. We needed to go to the store today, so we walked over to it. All went well until we tried to check out. I checked out no problem, and then it was Amanda's turn. Things were going okay until something funny happened to the computer and the checker didn't notice, so she thought she was ringing things in and wasn't. Here we are, I can't speak and Amanda doesn't know the language, trying to explain to the lady that some of her things didn't ring in! The lady behind us thought she understood, but totally didn't, so then they were trying to take other items off her bill! The item she tried to take off we finally convinced her that we wanted it, and I tried writing down that some of our other things didn't ring up, but they never figured it out! So we ended up leaving the store, being forced to steal things! We tried to tell them, but it didn't work!. We left and busted up laughing in the middle of the parking lot. I have now seen someone be forced to steal something!
I will try to also post a movie on here for the first time. This is at our Thanksgiving meal. Both third grades were in my room, and while they were working on their puppets, I turned on a cd with songs they sing in chapel. They started to sing along, especially to, "Our God is an Awesome God." It almost made me cry seeing these third graders worshipping God while working. Most of them don't hear anything about Him at home. I love that they are learning about Him at school, and that I get to share in that!
Okay, I tried posting the video, and it didn't work. It was "uploading" all night, but never came through. Do any of you bloggers have any advice on how to do that?
Our God truly is awesome! I am so glad that I know Him and can share Him with others! I love being here, and I am so glad that my parents and my brother are coming on the 13th. It will be good to see them and have them get a taste of my life here. My friend Katie is coming on the 26th, and I am so excited for her to come too! I am hoping to go explore some orphanages with her. I haven't been able to do that yet, and it's killing me.
Please be praying that my voice would heal completely and quickly and that this is the last time I ever hear the word "nodules" again. that would make me unbelievably happy! Pray for my kids too. The sub is going to be the same one they had before, so that's good. Pray that God would open their eyes and show them their incredible need for him. You can join me in praising Him for all His blessings. He truly is awesome, and I can say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord!"
Let's see, where to even start? Well, the last time I posted I said I had my voice back. What a blessing to get it back! I was able to go back into the classroom, which was a huge blessing. I couldn't talk very loud, so my kids had to learn how to listen. They did a great job! They learned to listen as soon as I said something and not to talk when I was talking. I should have thought of training them that way at the beginning of the year! Lessons for next year I guess. I did try, but since they had to listen, I think that really helped. About two weeks ago, I got a cold. My voice started to get scratchy and I was a little nervous. By a week ago Saturday, my cold was gone but my voice was still scratchy. I started to get a little more nervous, and so on Monday I talked to the nurse at the school, Linda, and she said she would take me to the doctor. So she called the doctor and we headed out, only to get there and find out he had already left for the day. He asked us to come back the next day, Tuesday. My rommate Amanda and I were hoping I would go there and he would laugh at me for coming back and say it was just a cold. Unfortunately, there was no laughing at the doctor on Tuesday. He looked down my throat and saw another nodule. Last time there were two, but this time there's only one, but it is way bigger than last time. He said it was not the same ones but was really fast for another one to come, since it had not even been 4 weeks since the last ones disappeared. He said there might be an infection in my throat, but he doesn't know. So I am on vocal rest again for two weeks, which means once again I can't teach. I am a little frustrated at this point, but i am hoping it will go away quickly and i will get to go back to my kids in a week and a half. Thankfully part of my silent time has been over Thanksgiving break, so I don't have to miss that time with my kids.
I've been thinking a lot lately about the song, "Blessed be the Name of the Lord." My kids sing it and do motions for it too. That song has a special place in my heart, as it was very dear to a friend who died of cancer last year. I've been thinking of the line, "You give and take away." The Lord sure does give and take away, and I am thankful that what He has taken from me is not as big as it could be. I am glad He has given me a voice for the past 21 years. I can only imagine what it would be like to never be able to talk. This has made me all the more thankful for the voice I have had. I can still say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord!"
I haven't posted much about life around here lately. It's exciting, crazy, interesting, funny, hard, good, busy, and so much more all rolled into one. I sure have some funny stories! I am enjoying getting to know my 21 busy third graders more. We have had a lot of fun in class. They love to laugh, move, dance, and draw! That class could draw all day long, and if you know me, you know I'm horrible at drawing! Some, or probably most, are better than me. Here's a class picture we took on "Jean Day" when they are allowed to be out of uniform.
And here is my class being their true selves!
In the last few weeks, we have been studying about Native Americans. They had a ton of fun making Southwest pueblo houses out of cardboard that came from between the dishes I bought. It was so good for me to see them get excited about such a simple craft! Some of my friends also sent me pictures of what the SW looks like, which they loved. Thanks guys! My kids' favorite part was that the pueblos didn't have doors and you often had to go in through a hatch in the roof. They had fun making that, as you can see!
Because we were studying about Native Americans, we just HAD to have a feast for Thanksgiving, even though the third graders didn't last year. I was supposed to be on vocal rest for it, but I asked my doctor if I could at least talk through the party, since I went to him the night before, and he said yes! It was bittersweet--I was glad I could talk but sad that it would be my last time with my kids for a while. Here is my class writing down three things they are thankful for:
And of course, you have to have one Native American trying to stab another one!
And the Indian chief with his princess!
I had quite a few moms come in and help. Here is one, who is Dutch, helping my girls with the art project. Yay for moms who are good at that kind of thing!
And the finished project--a turkey puppet! Lesson learned--paper bags are impossible to find here, so bring them down with you!
In November, we had been collecting food for a food drive. On Monday, the third and fourth grade classes had the chance to take their food to the people who would receive it. It is a great thing for my very rich kids to see poverty, which they do not see almost at all, though they are surrounded by it. My kids will pray for the poor people, and we are trying to help them see that they can do something about it too. I told them that some people don't have enough food to eat 3 meals a day and they may only get one every other day or less, and they were shocked. Please pray that these kids who have a ton of material possessions would be willing to help! Here are some of the kids waiting to hand out their food bags.
After our party on Wednesday, Amanda, the nurse Linda, and I set out for the Caribbean side of the island, about five hours away, to spend our Thanksgiving break. No snow for us! Be prepared to be jealous! On Thursday, we took a catamaran out to this island called Isla Saona. I didn't think places like that existed--clear greenish bluish water, white sand beaches, palm trees...the works! It was gorgeous! What a way to spend thanksgiving! Though I couldn't talk, I was reminded of all the things I do have to be thankful for. Not having a voice is nothing compared to all my blessings. Here is where we spent Thanksgiving:
My mom likes to send me crazy things in the mail, as you all probably know. This time, I received a little stuffed turkey that makes noise! Of course, he had to come to the island with us on Thanksgiving. Here he is, in the sun with me!
We had pizza for Thanksgiving dinner at a little Italian place. I had a pie left over from our feast that we wanted to eat for dessert. Unfortunately, we didn't have any utensils to cut or eat it with. But when it's Thanksgiving, and you really want apple pie, you think of a solution!
I've never had pie circles cut with a glass before! It was great though.Here is a picture of Amanda, me, and Linda at this beautiful art school we stopped at on Friday. This country is gorgeous!
Most of you probably remember that my mom sent me a rubber chicken in the mail that was bound and gagged. She seems to think it was prophetic, since he couldn't talk, and shortly after receiving him, I lost my voice. I finally ungagged him, so hopefully that will be prophetic too! Here we are, both not able to talk!
There has been some funny stories that have resulted from not being able to talk. On the boat on Thursday, one of the Dominican guys who was working for a resort and taking pictures for the tourists kept asking if we spoke English. I was carrying a notebook to write down what I had to say, and he saw it and was like, "That's English. Let me see!" So he starts looking at it. I was sitting in the aisle with Amanda on one side and a lady across the aisle on the other side of me. Linda was next to the lady. As he was looking at my notebook, Linda said, "She can't talk." Then the random lady said, "She's deaf!" Amanda and I got a huge laugh out of that as Linda proceeded to explain to her that I am in fact NOT deaf!Another funny thing happened today. Amanda can't speak Spanish, and I can't speak at all, so it's interesting going places together. We needed to go to the store today, so we walked over to it. All went well until we tried to check out. I checked out no problem, and then it was Amanda's turn. Things were going okay until something funny happened to the computer and the checker didn't notice, so she thought she was ringing things in and wasn't. Here we are, I can't speak and Amanda doesn't know the language, trying to explain to the lady that some of her things didn't ring in! The lady behind us thought she understood, but totally didn't, so then they were trying to take other items off her bill! The item she tried to take off we finally convinced her that we wanted it, and I tried writing down that some of our other things didn't ring up, but they never figured it out! So we ended up leaving the store, being forced to steal things! We tried to tell them, but it didn't work!. We left and busted up laughing in the middle of the parking lot. I have now seen someone be forced to steal something!
I will try to also post a movie on here for the first time. This is at our Thanksgiving meal. Both third grades were in my room, and while they were working on their puppets, I turned on a cd with songs they sing in chapel. They started to sing along, especially to, "Our God is an Awesome God." It almost made me cry seeing these third graders worshipping God while working. Most of them don't hear anything about Him at home. I love that they are learning about Him at school, and that I get to share in that!
Okay, I tried posting the video, and it didn't work. It was "uploading" all night, but never came through. Do any of you bloggers have any advice on how to do that?
Our God truly is awesome! I am so glad that I know Him and can share Him with others! I love being here, and I am so glad that my parents and my brother are coming on the 13th. It will be good to see them and have them get a taste of my life here. My friend Katie is coming on the 26th, and I am so excited for her to come too! I am hoping to go explore some orphanages with her. I haven't been able to do that yet, and it's killing me.
Please be praying that my voice would heal completely and quickly and that this is the last time I ever hear the word "nodules" again. that would make me unbelievably happy! Pray for my kids too. The sub is going to be the same one they had before, so that's good. Pray that God would open their eyes and show them their incredible need for him. You can join me in praising Him for all His blessings. He truly is awesome, and I can say, "Blessed be the name of the Lord!"
Sunday, November 2, 2008
A Voice!
I just wanted to let everyone know that I can talk now! I went to the doctor on Thursday and he said my vocal chords are 98% better. There is still some irritation on them, but he said as long as I am careful they will be fine. I am going to be able to teach tomorrow. Please pray that my kids would learn to listen, as I won't be able to talk very loud. Hopefully I will be able to use a headset mike that is portable as well. It has been strange talking again. I enjoy silence a lot more now. Sometime soon I will post some of the things God taught me during this time. Please pray that I would continue to remember all the lessons I learned. Thanks for the prayers!
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