ABCs of Jesus

Have you ever gone through the ABCs, naming a character/quality of God or Jesus for each one? I was doing that as I went to sleep last night and meditating on those things rather than fears or worries. I need to work on doing that more often! Anyways, A, B, and C were all pretty normal for what I have thought of before. I think I said Awesome, Beautiful, and Compassionate or something. Then I got to D and my mind all the sudden said "daring." I realized what I thought and was like "No, that doesn't fit." But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that my Jesus is indeed daring. Dictionary dot com says the following for daring: "audacity, bravery. 2. dauntless, undaunted, venturesome,audacious, brave" I sure think that fits. My Jesus was dauntless as he came down to save a people He knew would walk away from Him. He had the audacity to do it anyway. Wow. I know I would not have been daring and died for people who would walk away from me. He was brave enough to leave perfect heaven to come to sinful earth, walk on this earth for 33 years, and then die a cruel death. Yes, I would say my Jesus is daring.

What a friend we have in Jesus! I am so blessed that He died to take away my sins, and the sins of anyone who asks Him to take away their sins. He is worth living for. He is worth dying for. May I live my life for Him!

Stuffed Suitcases

How do you fit three years of things in three suitcases? I think I am figuring out the answer...you don't. I am not going to post a picture of what my brother's room, aka my packing room, looks like right now. Explosion city. There is no way it's all going to fit. I might have to take a fourth bag, though it's very expensive and I am tired of spending money. Haha.

I leave a week from today! Woah. I am trying to fit everything in this week. I have been spending lots of time with friends and lots of time shopping. Last week my mom and I went and saw my friend who had her baby 11 weeks early. I have never seen a baby so small! But it was super good to see them and meet the baby's big sister who I had never met. It's been busy around here but good. If you live in Dubuque and want to get together before I leave, let me know!

In Transition

Well, it's been a long while since I wrote on here. Hopefully I will never go that long. Frankly, every time I think about writing I am just not sure where to begin. Leaving the Dominican Republic was very hard. Pulling a sobbing first grader off you twice and having her pulled off you another time is not very fun. I miss my kids, my friends, my life there. BUT I am also excited about what's coming. I am in Iowa for three more weeks and then off to KENYA. I am trying to get everything ready for the big move. It's hard to fit everything in life in just a couple suitcases! This summer I spent a few weeks on the west coast. Unfortunately, I took like no pictures. Sorry! My family took the train out, so that was a lot of fun (and a lot of bumps!) It was great to see my grandma and friends out in Seattle and east of the mountains. I realized that is the last time I will see my brother for a while because he is still in Seattle and won't be back until after I leave. I am not a fan of goodbyes! Oh well.

Several of you have asked if my blog address will stay the same. I am not planning on changing it, but if I do, I will make it very clear how to get to the new one. I won't be in the DR anymore, but that's okay. You all know that.

I am learning a lot about trusting God during this season of my life. It's easy to question what He is doing and what is happening, but then I realize again that He has a plan, that He is in charge, and that if I follow Him, I am right where I should be. I am blessed that I have a job. Several of my teacher friends do not, and my heart aches for them. I have so many blessings to count!

Thank you to all who have been and are praying for me. I hope to keep updating here and then also plan to send out email updates. Please continue to pray for my time in transition, especially adjusting to life in Kenya. I haven't taught second grade before, so it's going to be a lot of adjustments, to say the least! But God is good.

Here are just some fun pictures of my last few weeks in the DR.

At the beach. Usually there are swarms of people right here, but not that day. My friend Amanda and I went for the weekend. It was so great. I miss her a lot!
My crazy class on the last day of school. I miss them too!
One of my church friends on my last day at my Dominican Church.
With Angie, a kindergarten teacher, Jenn, the art teacher, and Eileen, my amazing principal, at Camp David. This is up on the mountain overlooking the city.
Field Day. We were the red team. That yellow glob is a sponge filled with water. I just LOVE that little girl's face! Isn't that awesome?!?!

Have a great week everyone! I will try to write more soon and post more pictures!

Destination: AFRICA!!!

Okay, the word is out. Most of you probably already know, but I am heading to KENYA in July! I will be teaching second grade at the same school where I student taught. I am sad to leave the Dominican Republic but excited at the same time for the new adventures that await me. I am sure life will be very different. I will really miss speaking Spanish, my kids here, and my friends. But I am excited for African church, the students there, and the babies, among other things. I am sure it will be very different than when I student taught there. It is a three year commitment, which is scary but exciting because that way I know what I will be doing, Lord willing, for the next three years. It was really tough telling my students that I am leaving. Now they all want to come visit me in Africa, which is fine with me ;). This year has been really really good for the most part. I have learned so much about God and His incredible love for me. He is truly amazing! My first graders have taught me so much about Him! I love their desire to learn about God and the questions they ask. I wish you could all sit in and hear them when we are talking about God! It blows my mind.

I will post pictures hopefully today. I only have a little more than 6 weeks here! YIKES!!!!

Wow

Can I just say God is amazing? I have been thinking a lot lately about His plan. In the past I have thought about it but never really kept my thoughts there. And now that I have been, let me just say I am falling even more in love with our Creator! I always knew He had a plan for me and for others, but the more I think of it, the more it amazes me. He weaves all of our lives and His plans for each and every one of us into a perfect picture. There are no glitches. He doesn't give me a great plan and then have no way to have a great plan for someone else. And our lives, our plans interweave perfectly. Sometimes it's easy to look at someone else's life and God's plan for them and be jealous or angry and think that God forgot about you, but He totally never did. Your plan still is perfect. His plan for me, despite my imperfections and my weaknesses, is perfect. I am so excited to see how His plan unfolds in my life. Sometimes the road is hard and steeped with sorrow, but God is still there and He is still good. And His timing is never wrong. Sometimes I am tempted to think "Why didn't this happen earlier?" or "Can't it just wait a little while?" But no. That's not His plan for me. That's not what He has in store. Wow. I am swept off my feet by our amazing and faithful God. May I fall more in love with Him each and every day! May I rejoice in His plan for me even when the road is steep and my eyes are filled with tears. He is amazing!

Pictures, please!

It's been forever and a day since I posted pictures. Sorry! And I just realized that my mom was here for a week and we NEVER took a picture together! Uggh! I guess she is going to have to come back :).

At one of their birthday parties. Cute girls!

LOVE her! And she is not even the model, but looks like one here!

This big smile is on her face most of the time--love it!

Spelling bee! My little one is on the left--first place out of first and second grades! I wish I had a video. She was so cute!

Okay, this one needs an explanation. We were on a horse ride at Family Day at school and were acting scared. Yes, Amanda and I are ridiculous. We know :)

This is at one of my girl's birthday parties. You can't really tell, but she lives overlooking the city. It might be one of the most beautiful parts of Santiago!
February 27th was Dominican Independence Day. The kids worked with the Spanish teachers to put on an awesome program! Here are most of my little Native Dominicans :)
My roommate's mom and dad came. She is a kinder teacher, so she came and read to us.
Love this! How many dodgeball balls can YOU carry at once?
Lately when they need to work on an answer as a team, some of the teams do this. So cute :)

Well, there's a little glimpse into my life in the past couple months. I will post some from the beach after I upload them. May you all experience His peace today!

Pleasing men

So a verse has been stuck in my head lately, and I need to get it stuck in my heart too. Man, do I ever need to! Those who know me know I really deal a lot with people pleasing. A lot a lot. A verse that has come up often in the past two years is Galatians 1:10.

Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Unfortunately, many times I still live in the "win the approval of men" thing. More often that I can count actually. But this verse hits me on the head. I need to win the approval of God if I call myself a servant of Christ! It's hard and the road is long, but we serve a good God who walks with me on every step of the journey. God, focus my heart on you!