As I've been praying about whether or not the Lord wants me to stay here in Jarabacoa for another year, I have had more peace about actually listening to what He has to say. What He wants me to do. I'm selfish and say, "well, I'll stay if so-and-so stays or if such-and-such changes." But I'm challenged to see if those statements are really honoring to God? Why am I putting conditions on God’s will for my life? …because it’s safe. because it would be more comfortable for me if friends stayed. if things at school changed. I know, though, that God doesn’t always want me to be comfortable. If He did, then He wouldn’t have brought me to the DR. I would be in North Carolina, living with my bff, teaching, and living the life. BUT He has different plans for me. Awesome plans, but not always comfortable.
God has blessed me with some pretty amazing gifts here. He's blessed me with good friends, beautiful scenery, and amazing students. I know that I’ve struggled with loving my students this year, but I truly believe that the Lord has opened my eyes in a new way how to love them.
I was talking to one of the girls, Christy, the other night. She is Estheisy’s teacher. Estheisy is the little joy in my life that I am blessed to see 5 days a week (when she comes to school…) Daily, Christy said, she prays for Mrs. Reposa (the aide in the classroom), Christy, and me. What an honor to be prayed for by this little girl. Now, here’s what Christy said about Estheisy (via Mrs. Reposa…) Mrs. Reposa and Christy were talking the other day because Estheisy isn’t doing well in school. She lives with her grandma, aunt, cousins, and who knows who else. I don’t understand why she doesn’t live with her parents, both of which live in the United States, but for some reason or another, they have chosen to live without their daughter. Anyways, Christy was frustrated that Estheisy isn’t performing at the level she should be, and it’s sometimes a struggle to see the “reasoning” behind decisions. Why is this little girl being torn away from her parents when that would be the “safest” thing for her. Mrs. Reposa gently reminded Christy who Estheisy prays for daily. Not her mom or dad, but Christy, Mrs. Reposa, and me. Who are the people who make her feel safe? Pretty big responsibility, eh? Showing these small people who Christ is. Showing them Christ’s love. and praying that they will decide to follow Him. I feel, almost, that if I were to leave, I would be abandoning my kids. these students that I’ve poured so much of myself, so much of Christ’s love, into that it would be so hard to leave them.
I feel like maybe God would want me here for a little while longer?
I feel like it may be easier to go home though?
I just pray for wisdom. pray for discernment. pray to listen. pray for clarity. praying for God to use me where He wants me. not where I want to be (because frankly, I'm not exactly sure where that is...).
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Straight Up Joy!
Hello once again! I have survived exam week and am rearing to go for this new semester! This week was fairly low key...half days of school for my students, hour-long lunches, grading exams, finalizing report cards, preparing for next semester, copying like a mad woman. :) You get the gist. All in all, it was a good week.
Karyn and I have started our Bible study this semester. I'm pretty excited, as it has already been challenging and eye-opening to the ways that satan attacks us. I think that as a "missionary" (I use that term loosely because I feel like I am more of a teacher than a missionary, but in all honesty, this truly is my mission field, where I attest to Christ's love, where I am sharing the Gospel, so yes, I am sort of a missionary.) satan wants to attack even more. He wants to build up walls in our small community, he wants to lure people away from God, he wants us to believe lies that make us forget the Truth. It's good, so good, to be reminded that satan's attacks on us are real. They are hitting us hard and frequently. BUT it's okay. because God is bigger. God is so much more than satan could ever be. Anyways, maybe I'll share more about what I'm learning from Bible study in a later post...
Humorous story of the entry:
I called my mom, and she said she had important things to update me on! She said that one day at school she got a phone call, "Mrs. Brewer, there is a boy from the Dominican Republic on the phone for you." (my thoughts: WHAT?!) My mom is of course in "mom mode" thinking that something has happened to me or I am sick or I am hurt, you know, typical mom stuff. :) She goes to answer the phone. "Hi Mrs. Brewer, my name is Josue and I am in Miss Brewer's class." (my thoughts: OH MY GOODNESS! HOW FUNNY!) It turns out that Josue wanted my mom's home phone number (which he proudly gloats that he has...) and that was pretty much it. :) HOW did he get my mom's school phone number? well, my mom's class and my class have been video chatting back and forth, so my mom decided to give my students some pens and zipper-pulls. and the pens had the phone number for the school on them. I had received questions about whether or not this was the phone number to my mom's school in Indiana, but honestly had never even thought that they would call. How funny is my boy! :)
And today, off to school for another full day of getting ready for next semester, finishing up report cards, and getting life together...
Karyn and I have started our Bible study this semester. I'm pretty excited, as it has already been challenging and eye-opening to the ways that satan attacks us. I think that as a "missionary" (I use that term loosely because I feel like I am more of a teacher than a missionary, but in all honesty, this truly is my mission field, where I attest to Christ's love, where I am sharing the Gospel, so yes, I am sort of a missionary.) satan wants to attack even more. He wants to build up walls in our small community, he wants to lure people away from God, he wants us to believe lies that make us forget the Truth. It's good, so good, to be reminded that satan's attacks on us are real. They are hitting us hard and frequently. BUT it's okay. because God is bigger. God is so much more than satan could ever be. Anyways, maybe I'll share more about what I'm learning from Bible study in a later post...
Humorous story of the entry:
I called my mom, and she said she had important things to update me on! She said that one day at school she got a phone call, "Mrs. Brewer, there is a boy from the Dominican Republic on the phone for you." (my thoughts: WHAT?!) My mom is of course in "mom mode" thinking that something has happened to me or I am sick or I am hurt, you know, typical mom stuff. :) She goes to answer the phone. "Hi Mrs. Brewer, my name is Josue and I am in Miss Brewer's class." (my thoughts: OH MY GOODNESS! HOW FUNNY!) It turns out that Josue wanted my mom's home phone number (which he proudly gloats that he has...) and that was pretty much it. :) HOW did he get my mom's school phone number? well, my mom's class and my class have been video chatting back and forth, so my mom decided to give my students some pens and zipper-pulls. and the pens had the phone number for the school on them. I had received questions about whether or not this was the phone number to my mom's school in Indiana, but honestly had never even thought that they would call. How funny is my boy! :)
And today, off to school for another full day of getting ready for next semester, finishing up report cards, and getting life together...
Monday, January 5, 2009
It's a Christmas Miracle!
Hello friend and family,
After the prompting of 3 important women in my life (Mom, Julie White, and Mrs. Handy) to update my blog, I have decided to concede.
THANKSGIVING
For Thanksgiving, my roommate Kelsey and I headed to an all-inclusive resort for 4 days of sun, surf, pools, snorkeling, eating, tanning, American TV. Can life get any better? I submit that it cannot! :) I enjoyed relaxing, reading multiple books, wearing my bathing suit, eating so much food, watching American TV, and enjoying spending time with Kelsey! (you can check out pictures on my Picasa site...including pictures of the "Taino" dancing) The Taino people are the indingenous people of the Dominican. It was definitely an experience that I won't soon be forgetting!
CHRISTMAS PROGRAM
After many heated debates and deciding against singing Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer (I never realized how inappropriate that song is! especially at a Christan school!) my class and I decided to sing a medley of songs. Michael W. Smith's Prince of Peace and the boys sang N'Sync's Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and the girls sang Mariah Carey's Jesus, Oh What a Wonderful Child and then we ended with Prince of Peace. It was so great! My kids were nervous, which was super cute. :) They did a great job singing (kind of loud). Funny story: during the middle of the performance, one of my boys walked off stage. yep, just walked straight off. came and told me that his stomach hurt. I just said, "okay, just go sit down over there (on a bench)." Other than that, the performance went really well. Highlights: the 2-year olds "danced" to a song called Mi Burrito Sabanero (super cute!) and one first grace class sang "Mamacita, Donde Esta Santa Claus" and the other first grade sang "Jingle Bell Rock" very sassy, if I may say so! :) The fifth graders rapped an awesome song. Then the high schoolers danced to Rumba. All in all, it was definitely a successful program!! Brooke has some pictures that I will be commandeering soon, as well as a video of my kids. Hopefully I'll get that on my Picasa site soon!
DOOR DECORATION
Every year at JCS, they have a door decorating contest and then get judged based on Christ as the central theme and creativity. After MANY days of brainstorming, my class finally decided to split the door into two parts: Santa on a Four-Wheeler and Jesus being baptized (based on Luke 3:22) I must say, it was difficult not to give my input as my students were working (sometimes I did anyways...) I must say that the creation of our door turned out well. My students kept saying, "It looks so ugly. Why didn't you do it for us?" But I think they enjoyed being able to decorate their own door (for the first time). (see the pictures on my Picasa site!)
And now I'm back for semester 2 in the DR. the million dollar question right now is if I will be staying another year. And for all of you wondering, join the club. :) I have no idea what I want to do next year. I'm waiting for God to tell me where He wants me (as soon as I decide to listen to Him!). So there's where I'm at. We have to decide by February, so I've heard, so I will let you all know as soon as I figure it out myself! :)
After the prompting of 3 important women in my life (Mom, Julie White, and Mrs. Handy) to update my blog, I have decided to concede.
THANKSGIVING
For Thanksgiving, my roommate Kelsey and I headed to an all-inclusive resort for 4 days of sun, surf, pools, snorkeling, eating, tanning, American TV. Can life get any better? I submit that it cannot! :) I enjoyed relaxing, reading multiple books, wearing my bathing suit, eating so much food, watching American TV, and enjoying spending time with Kelsey! (you can check out pictures on my Picasa site...including pictures of the "Taino" dancing) The Taino people are the indingenous people of the Dominican. It was definitely an experience that I won't soon be forgetting!
CHRISTMAS PROGRAM
After many heated debates and deciding against singing Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer (I never realized how inappropriate that song is! especially at a Christan school!) my class and I decided to sing a medley of songs. Michael W. Smith's Prince of Peace and the boys sang N'Sync's Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and the girls sang Mariah Carey's Jesus, Oh What a Wonderful Child and then we ended with Prince of Peace. It was so great! My kids were nervous, which was super cute. :) They did a great job singing (kind of loud). Funny story: during the middle of the performance, one of my boys walked off stage. yep, just walked straight off. came and told me that his stomach hurt. I just said, "okay, just go sit down over there (on a bench)." Other than that, the performance went really well. Highlights: the 2-year olds "danced" to a song called Mi Burrito Sabanero (super cute!) and one first grace class sang "Mamacita, Donde Esta Santa Claus" and the other first grade sang "Jingle Bell Rock" very sassy, if I may say so! :) The fifth graders rapped an awesome song. Then the high schoolers danced to Rumba. All in all, it was definitely a successful program!! Brooke has some pictures that I will be commandeering soon, as well as a video of my kids. Hopefully I'll get that on my Picasa site soon!
DOOR DECORATION
Every year at JCS, they have a door decorating contest and then get judged based on Christ as the central theme and creativity. After MANY days of brainstorming, my class finally decided to split the door into two parts: Santa on a Four-Wheeler and Jesus being baptized (based on Luke 3:22) I must say, it was difficult not to give my input as my students were working (sometimes I did anyways...) I must say that the creation of our door turned out well. My students kept saying, "It looks so ugly. Why didn't you do it for us?" But I think they enjoyed being able to decorate their own door (for the first time). (see the pictures on my Picasa site!)
And now I'm back for semester 2 in the DR. the million dollar question right now is if I will be staying another year. And for all of you wondering, join the club. :) I have no idea what I want to do next year. I'm waiting for God to tell me where He wants me (as soon as I decide to listen to Him!). So there's where I'm at. We have to decide by February, so I've heard, so I will let you all know as soon as I figure it out myself! :)
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