grace....patience....and a lot of energy!

Whoa, I cannot believe we are already in November. The weather is turning chilly in Colorado, and I just don't like it. I get to school when it's dark and I leave when it's dark...no me gusta por nada! 

I have to admit, school is blatantly just kicking my keister. I cannot seem to get ahead. I keep telling myself that it will get better. I think I entered this year feeling very confident and excited, even though I was going to be in a brand new grade level. At this point, I sometimes want to quit. I feel like a first year teacher all over again. The things I did last year, don't work this year. The lessons I spent hours on last year, don't work this year. It's all new content, it's a whole new level of independence, and there are days like today when I feel like I suck as a teacher. I would like to ask you to pray for creativity, for passion, and for energy over the next 3 weeks. I realized today that in exactly 20 days, I will be sitting in the presence of my amazing family enjoying the thanksgiving holidays...I need grace and patience to reign in me over the next 20 days. Please pray with me...

Life is just busy....

So I had my dear friend Laura over for dinner last night, she was in town visiting an old high-school friend. She repeatedly stated that I was bad at blogging....hmm, I have definitely heard that one a lot in the past. I'm not sure what it is about being so bad at this, but often times I just don't feel like I have a lot going on in my life besides teaching. Though you all love me very much, I doubt you want to read post over post over post about teaching. I am going to attempt....keyword here...to be better at informing people of the happenings in my life. So, here we go....

Last night, as I said Laura came over for dinner with her little button...Sally Jane. Oh my gosh, I swear that she is cutest baby ever! She was so good, and just hung out with us. I got my baby-fix and I forget how stinking cute they are. Remember, I work with 9 year olds all-day, but I miss the babies! :( 

Friday night, I went to a dud of a halloween party with my roommate Brit and some girls from school. We dressed up as the girls from Grey's which was fun....however, the party was lame. We ended up sitting on the couch talking about school, hmm, how fun does that sound? Got home late and crashed, slept for over 12 hours. AMAZING! 

I have come to the conclusion that I am not sure if I like Fall Back, because I worry too much about getting off on my sleeping patterns. I woke up this morning at 7:30 (normal time), which because of fall back is 6:30. I convinced myself that it was too early to get up, so I laid in bed until about 9:00/8:00. Now I have that jet-lag, feeling hungover headache that doesn't go away! Hmm...not so fun.

Well, as I said, here is my first attempt at being better. I will post some pictures from this weekend when I get them downloaded...Later gators! 

Sickie...

So I think I have the stomach flu. I woke up about 2:30am feeling very nauseous, and was up the majority of the night. I skipped school today and just now managed to feed myself some chicken noodle soup...we'll see if I can keep it down. I have come to the conclusion that having the stomach flu is on of the worst things in this world....I hate it! My poor roommate was sick all last week with the same thing, and I had prayed that I had avoided the flu....however, I guess not. Please pray I am feeling better tomorrow because I have about 9 straight hours of parent/teacher conferences!

Hats off to a new year....

I have spent the last 10 days, for anywhere from 8-10 hours a day at school. I have been setting up my room, sitting through an overall beneficial set of in-services, and planning with my grade level team! It is quite bizarre to think that I am starting my second year of teaching in about 8 days...I am so excited about this next year. I am working with a girl named Brit, who is awesome. We click so well, have the same perspectives on life, and it just works. It is such a blessing to work with someone when it is so easy!

On another note, I am so excited to see my old student Dorian. He was a student who I prayed for repeatedly last year and finally made big gains at the end of the year. He is in my class again this year, and I am going to see him on Thursday night. He has been in my thoughts a lot over the past 2 months and I can't wait to teach him again this year! Pray for him this year.

On a more comical side, I am watching Season I of Friends right now...relaxing in my apartment. The scene I just watched was of Ross being attacked by a cat on the room. I am laughing so hard. Do you ever have those moments where you laugh so hard you are crying? Yeah, definitely just happened.

The wrong continent...

The title summarizes what I have been feeling for the past two weeks. I think I am just on the wrong continent...my heart, my soul, my passions, my mind is in Africa...however, my body is in America. How is it that you can be so immensely split over two very different places? How is it that I feel like I need to be in America right now and that is where God has me, yet my heart and every yearning in my body wants to be back in Africa?

I was talking to my friend Sarah tonight, who is still in Sierra Leone. She was asking me how I was coping with being back in the states...and I really struggled to answer that question. In all reality, I am fine. I am not in cultural shock, I don't dislike America, I can handle all the modern conveniences...but I don't really want to be here. Through my discussion with Sarah, I repeatedly said I want to be okay with being in Denver. I want to be content with where I am at right now...I know it is just a season before I pursue my dream of being somewhere overseas. I ask that as I begin this next year of teaching, that you would pray alongside me...for contentment. I want to be impact the place I live...the people I come across...the students I teach. I don't want to constantly live my life wishing I were living somewhere else. Please join me in praying for that process! :)

How can you miss so much?

I have officially been back in the US for one week. It is amazing how quickly time flies and how quickly I have adapted back into American culture. Though that is true, I find myself daily missing the beloved nation of Sierra Leone. It is not that I am necessarily missing the place, but rather the people that are in that place. I was in Sierra Leone for three weeks and formed such amazing relationships over those three weeks. It is overwhelming to think of how much you can miss something that you know so little about. I keep trying to attempt to put into words all my experiences, emotions, and stories...however, this is much more difficult that I ever imagined it would be. I knew it would be hard to share stories even with pictures, share experiences even with video, and share the passions...but the reality of how hard it has been has stirred me to be an emotional roller coaster. I know that it will get easier, but the initial transition has been quite hard.
I had the blessing of calling Sarah today (my dear friend and team leader who is still in Sierra Leone). It was good to catch up with her and see how things are progressing in Banta. I am seriously considering taking a year off and going back to Sierra Leone to live for some time. As I was talking to her on skype, I received a text on my cell phone. It was from Emmanuel (my "teacher" of African culture while I was there). He was telling me he wanted me to call him, so as soon as I got off with Sarah, I got to chat with him for a while. It has been such a blessing to connect with people that I developed such deep relationships with. I am praising God for these moments, which are really making the transition a bit easier.
These thoughts are slightly random, but that is the story of my brain right now. Bear with me as I am trying to vocalize all that is going on inside this brain of mine.

The world is getting smaller....

So, this evening I was sitting at dinner with my family here in Florida when all of a sudden my phone rings. I look at the caller ID and realize it is "unknown," which usually is what comes up when it is an international call. I hesitated answering it, but decided to go ahead anyways. On the other line, I find Albert (one of my friends from Sierra Leone). He had asked for my phone number before I left Sierra Leone and I gave it to him, assuming I would never hear from him. It is really expensive to call from Sierra Leone, and he is a JSS student. He just called to chat. He wanted to make sure I had made it home safely, and was alright in America. We talked for a couple minutes before I got cut off, luckily though, I was able to get his number before we got disconnected. I called him back and we talked for a while...what a true blessing. He told me all about his birthday party on Wednesday, about his church service today, and about his lettuce garden (that I helped him plant). I have been missing Sierra Leone and my friends I made there. Albert was definitely one of those people I think about often and miss seeing everyday. He was one of the first people I saw in the morning, and he always had a smile on his face. His love for Jesus is evident, and he served us with all his energy. He taught me how to wash dishes the right way, even after laughing at me a lot! I know that it is very expensive to call from Sierra Leone, and his effort brightened my day. This is a little tribute to dear friend, who right now is on the other side of the world. I find myself thinking about Sierra Leone daily, and asking God for grace as I attempt to live in America while most of my heart is still over there!



This is Albert and me the last night is Banta: