Thankful for- Heather!

Who has the best big sister?  I do!

For keeping me sane, for doing devos in my classroom almost EVERY SINGLE WEEK, for loving me in spite of my often-bad attitude towards teaching.  For the thousands of papers graded!  Thank you!

I couldn’t have made it through this year without her.

Thankful for- Other Teachers

Pictures of thankfulness!

From left to right:
To Emilee, who corrects my Spelling books every Wednesday and is always popping in to make sure I’m making it through the day.  I have appreciated your help and kindness this semester more than you.  If God sent you to Bolivia just to help me make it through, I think it was worth it (although He has sent you for so much more).

To DPo, my lunch buddy and person I can always vent to.  Thank you for being there to talk, thank you for being so tranquila.  Thanks for letting me make fun of your Spanish.  Thanks for letting me invite myself over to hang out.  Gracias por buen tiempos!

To Ally, literacy specialist and good friend.  I love looking at your painting that is in my room, remembering that God has me right where He called me and that He will take me to right where He wants me.  Thank you for sitting with me and figuring out how I can help my kids.  Thank  you for listening to me and giving me suggestions about helping myself.  I have loved seeing your passion this year and look forward to serving with you this summer.

And finally, to Laura, the world’s best principal.  Thank you for Peanut Butter M&Ms when life is hard.  Thank you for always listening.  Thank you for being for me.  You made teaching so enjoyable for me.  Your wisdom kept me from losing my mind.  Your peace in my storms has kept me going.  Your godly example with my kids has made me smile so many times.  I respect you so very much, and I hope God makes me more like you, His servant.  Thank you especially for holding my hand in my first weeks and months of teaching.  I needed it so much.  You shine as a principal.  You should be one next year! 

Last one:  Thank you Ellen.  Thank you for listening to my fears, thank you for the work that you put into my classroom before we even knew who my students were.  Thank you for giving me advice, for understanding what I was going through.  Thank you for Skyping with me weekly, encouraging me with your words and your stories.  I can’t wait to see you face-to-face soon!

So, this is not my typical thank you post, but I wanted to recognize these wonderful people. 

I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.

- Philippians 1:3-4

Showoff

So, I don’t want to sound like a showoff, but I do want to show off what my great friends have done.  I have been so blessed by them as I've lived a continent away this year.  I got care package #3 today!!!  It is from one of my fellow linguistic major friends from college. She is raising support to go to Papua New Guinea, so it extra blessed me that she would send me a package.

Devotional book, Streams in the Dessert, which I can't wait to read!

Cute pot that sadly broke (I will still plant the seeds), Easter ears, stress ball (perfect for my class!), prayer card (my biggest request!), candle, cute bookmark, playing cards, notepad, and yes- DOVE CHOCOLATE!

Also this great candle that I am already putting to good use.  Cherry pie- so yummy-smelling!

Thank you, Catherine!

Feeling so loved!  This package came after a very stressful day at school, and I was so blessed by it.  I knew Catherine was sending me a package, but I was not expecting the mega shoebox filled with goodies. God and Catherine knew how to bring lots of joy to my evening.

Plus, another friend of mine from the camp I worked at last summer sent me an amazing drawing of Mother Teresa, one of my heroes!  I recently had time to frame it and put it with other pictures of friends who were at this camp with us‘

Finally, my friend Samantha who is living here for a year recently brought over both of her Aaron Rodgers jerseys, and we sported our Packer Pride together and took pictures.  So. Much. Happiness.


So thank you, friends, for being wonderful!  Hebrews 10:24.

Thankful for- Random Hours of Service

When I started typing this post, I realized that it truly has taken an army (or at least that number of people) to get me through this year.  Here are some of the people who have spent time in my classroom or outside of it helping with teaching things.

- Heather has come in once a week to do devotion and spent many hours correcting.  She gets her own post later.

- Adreana (my roommate) came in for two days last semester to help control my kids and subbed for me this semester while I was at camp.  She taught me how to be firm but fun!

- Amy came and taught my class a writing lesson, and taught me how to be a better teacher.

- Danielle and her mom Lisa came and offered their services in October.

- Emily has been faithfully correcting my Spelling workbooks each week.

- Hannah corrected some papers and gave me good teaching advice.

- Beth covered my class the week I was in the United States doing visa stuff.

- Sarah and Naomi came in just this week to take some of my kids out for special testing.

- Samantha comes in sometimes to do whatever I ask her to- correcting, hanging posters, organizing).

I’m sure that I’ve forgotten some of the wonderful people who kept me from total burnout this year, so if you didn’t make the list and you helped- THANK YOU! 

Love one another with brotherly affection… Contribute to the needs of the saints.

-Romans 12:10,13

Thankful for- TA’s

Welcome to what I plan to make a seven part series of blog posts about those people have made this year possible.  Some African proverb says something like “It takes a village to teach a child,” and I say, “It takes an army to keep a fifth grade teacher alive.”

 

Last semester I was up to my elbows in grading every weekend.  There was a never-ending pile of papers by my computers, and I was S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D.  My sister volunteered hours of grading every week to help me stay sane, but I was still felt like my work load was growing weekly.  I could not get ahead.  So I asked my principal for help.

 

And man! did she provide.  I now have two TA’s.  Two wonderful junior students who give a few hours of each week to be bossed around by me.  Between their help and my finally becoming wise to the fact that my students can correct their own math papers and help with other correcting I left a reasonably small pile of papers next to the computer when I left school tonight.  Thanks to them, life is livable.

They make my room look wonderful.

They have done devotions with my students.

 

They are gracious to me when I am stressed or unprepared for them.

 

And most of all, they heard of my need and were willing to help.

 

Thanks, Rachel and Nick.  God shows his faithfulness through you.

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

-Gal 6:2

Singleness, Day by Day

I remember blankets pulled up to chins, giggles, and, later, serious talks.  Sleepovers growing up were full of nonsense, but also plans for our futures. My friends and I would lay out our lives, telling each other how many children we wanted, who we thought we would marry, and what jobs we would have.


23.  The age I always said I would get married at.  I am nearly halfway through my twenty-third year, and barring a miracle (which I do believe in) I will not be getting married this year.  Life is not working out exactly as I had planned when I was thirteen years old.


And I've gone through some phases where I pine.  Where I am discontent, thinking that getting married, having kids, and putting down roots is the only way I'll be happy.  I know the legitimacy of these feelings, and Reader, if that is you right now, I feel you.


But lately there have been no pinings.  It has been enough for me to wake up each morning knowing that, for this day, God has me single here in Bolivia.  It's true that I wouldn't be able to teach 5th grade and be involved in so many ministries here if I were dating or married, but my contentment goes beyond that.  It's a new feeling for me; finding what I need in Christ alone.  His Word has truly become my daily bread.  I need it each morning before I face work and ministry.  And I'm seeing that no other relationship could ever give to me what His love, protection, and care provide.


I have seen that being a single missionary is hard.  This year has made me pray that God will provide me with someone before I go on a lifetime assignment.  But for this time and this place, I am at rest.  I have peace.  If life had gone according to my sleepover schemings, I might not know the reliance on God that I do now.


So be patient in hope.  Seek first His kingdom.  Rejoice in the Lord.  Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord.  God's plans are always for our good.

Building Up a 5th Grader

This week we are starting something new in my classroom.  With just over eleven weeks left until summer break, I've been getting to know my students for over six months now.  I have seen their strengths and weaknesses, and I'm sure that they've seen mine.


Back in the very beginning of October, when I had known them for under two months, I chose a phrase to pray for each of my students over the year.  During Christmas break (just over the four month mark), I chose a Bible passage to go with the phrase I had chosen.  You can see those here if you're interested.

So today I brought my students into it.  Each day during morning devotions, one student comes up to the front where their classmates can tell him or her how they see God at work in his or her life.  Then, I share the phrase and verse I've been praying all year and we pray for that student as a class.  Building one another up is my goal (Eph. 4:29).


Natalia went today (Gospel Understanding, 1 Cor 15:1-6).  Our class came together (if only for 10 min.), and I think God was glorified.  I am excited about this new way He is at work in my classroom.


ENCOURAGE is my word for this year, and I'm trying to apply it the classroom as well as other areas of my life.

Feeling Cared For

Care package number two has arrived for me!  I am feeling very loved these days.  Nicola (my roommate of three years) and the girls I affectionately refer to as "my Twin Cities family"  sent me a Christmas package.  The contents:

My favorite granola bars, trail mix (hello crasins!), Instant Snow (can't wait to try this with my class), and a beautiful necklace.

Closeup of necklace

I got to open my package with my friends over Skype (Thank you 21st century!), and I can't even explain how encouraged I felt. 


I write this post to let people know what is going on in my life, but also to encourage anyone who is reading this to think of how you can encourage missionaries (cross-cultural workers) you support or pray for.  I am only here in Bolivia for one year, but think of the long-term workers you know.  My sister, for example, has been in Bolivia for about nine years.  I know that she is unbelievably grateful for even a letter from home, much less a care package.  Or think of families who would love to know that they are thought of.


Here are some practical thoughts if you want to send a package to a cross-cultural worker you know:
- Ask them what they can't get where they are serving.  Can it be packaged?
- Gift cards that can be spent online (iTunes, Amazon, etc.) can even fit in letters
- Think of the workers' children.  How can you let them know that the family of Christ is looking out for them in the country their parents left?
- If you can find someone going to the place where the cross-cultural worker lives, you might be able to send your package in their suitcase and save a lot of money.
- Maybe you don't have the money to send a care package.  A handwritten letter says just as much.
Missionary care has been on my heart for years.  Now that I have some first hand experience about how to encourage cross-cultural workers, I thought I'd post this.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.

Hebrews 10:24

Faces of 2010

People who have made 2010 special for me.

I definitely missed people, mainly because I didn't have pictures of them.  Thank you everyone for friendship!

Cliche

As my missionary friend Catherine said, "I suppose today of all days would be the day to blog."  I agree.  How could I not blog about 2011, especially considering that I will spend the majority of the year here in Bolivia?  How can I not make a plan and share it?


So, I will share three things.


1.  Being.  I want to be in God's presence this year.  Every minute I rely on His provision, especially as I teach, but I so often forget or take for granted His presence.


2. Encourage.  This year I am serving out of my weaknesses.  It's humbling and sometimes disheartening, but I am confident that God is receiving the glory.  However, during this time, I want to make sure that I am also using my gifts.  I want to make 2011 a year of encouraging others.


3. Simple.  I don't want to use more than I need. I want to be generous.  I don't want to complicate my life just to complicate it.  I want time to be quiet.


Ok, so if I could have a fourth it would be that I want to fight for joy each day, especially as I teach. 


What are you seeking this year?

Comfort

I know that God is with me on this day when Christmas will be different from what I know.  Praising Him for keeping me. 

Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come.

- Psalm 71:3

Joy

As you may have guessed from my last post, I have been praying for and fighting for joy in my teaching lately.  Really,I've been fighting for joy in my life lately, which is something that I, the eternal optimist, rarely find a problem.  It's frustrating for me to struggle with homesickness and even to enjoy what I'm doing.


Today, teaching started out as a struggle.  I had to discipline more than usual and was praying that God would make me content wherever He put me.  He began to answer my prayer before lunch, when I started finding joy in teaching again!  When my students came back from lunch and gym, we had just enough time to get our grammar and science lessons in before the end of the day.  I can only think of a handful of better times I have had in class.  I finally paid attention to God's presence in my heart, and it was great!


And if you thought my day couldn't get any better, it did.  My very good friend Abby, who faithfully reads my blog (hi Abby!), knew that I had been feeling down, mysteriously found some people who were coming down here, and sent a care package for Heather and I with them!  WE WERE SO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The letter that she wrote me via snail mail also came today.  Double blessing!

My fav granola bars, teaching clothes (thank you, needed!), post-it notes, pens!, trail mix, and snail mail.  and stickers.  and notes.  We feel so loved!

Close up!

The package also came with Abby's senior pictures, some of which I have on an old frame I found where I hung up my other friend Storm's (and Michael's) senior pics.  I lovingly refer to it as "The Storm Center."  :)

Thank you, Abby, for a wonderful package, and thank You, Lord, for bringing so much joy to my heart today!  Hebrews 10:24!


Edit:  I just looked at the date she sent the package, and it was August 17th.  If the package had been flown down in late August, I would have been moderately happy, but God knew I would need it at the beginning of December.  I got chills when I thought about how He timed it all.  Praise God!

Little Lessons

One of my student's dad owns a Chinese restaurant here.  I LOVE all foods Asian, and other than a questionable Styrofoam box of orange chicken in the Miami airport in October, I haven't had Chinese food since I came here in July.  Heather and I spent yesterday morning together at an orphanage, and we decided that, as our day-after-Thanksgiving, no-school-for-me treat, we would go out to Jorge's restaurant for lunch.

It was a beautiful restaurant, and I was so excited to be able to tell Jorge that I ate at his restaurant.  It's the time of year when Bolivian missionaries pinch pennies because of extra costs that come in December (Bolivia has a cultural tradition of paying all employees a double salary in December), so Heather and I gulped a little at the prices, but we ordered anyway and the food was delicious!  

It was also great to spend time with Heather and chat with her, since when I'm teaching we really only see each other in the early morning and late at night.

When it came time to pay for the bill, the waiter asked us to go to the cash register instead of bringing us the bill, and when we got to the front of the line, the woman working turned out to be Jorge's aunt.  She refused to let us pay for our meal!  I was so blessed.  We also got to chat about my student, and I was encouraged to see his family's concern for his wellbeing and education.


Sometimes I doubt that God will provide for my needs, or I think that He will only do it in traditional ways.  By now, I should know better.  I love God's little lessons, especially those that involve peanut chicken!

Bearing Burdens

I made it through another week of teaching!  The weekend has arrived and I am alive and in a much better place emotionally than I was last week at this time (when I was still at school working).


Part of the reason that my week was better is that people were praying for me.  I have felt prayers every day.  Thank you! if you were a part of that.


Another reason is that people here have been helping me.  Heather has been grading papers almost every night, my housemate Adreana came in to help control my kids Monday and Tuesday for the big production, and today, my friend Amy came to teach a language lesson for me!


Amy is a wonderful woman who writes a great blog that you can find here.  Her main ministry is homeschooling her three kids, and her husband works at the hangar of our mission as an airplane mechanic. Her secret weapon that she doesn't like to remind the administration at the school about is that SHE HAS HER MASTERS IN EDUCATION!!!

And she loves teaching language and grammar.  As a linguist, you'd think that'd be my specialty, but I actually often have a hard time passing my enthusiasm for language on to my students.


Amy had my students listening to and interpreting poems, then creating their own poems about themselves and even about me, all in less than 30 minutes.  I was grateful, inspired, impressed, and most of all, encouraged.

Check out that interaction!

So, overall, from dread in the pit of my stomach Monday morning at the thought of going back to school to big smiles all day today, my week has gone straight uphill, thanks to the help of the body of Christ.

Look at how attentive they are!

Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

- Galatians 6:2

A Taste of Home

Sometimes, I just wish that I could be home wrapped up in my Mom's quilts against the cold air of Minnesota or Wisconsin.  Some things make me feel especially like I'm at home.  Like this:

Straight from the bogs of  Marshfield, WI

Thank you soooooooooooooo much Rachel, Cacey, Nicola, and Lacy for this WONDERFUL birthday gift!  It was the perfect way to make me feel at home here.