Simplicity

Every morning I like to start my day by drinking a cup of coffee (for physical energy) and reading through my daily devotions (for spiritual energy). I read through one a couple of days ago that I thought was very fascinating and thought-provoking because it delivered a message I have grown up hearing but from a different viewpoint. It has been the focus topic in the past few whole-group devotions we hold once a week with the primary grades. I also recently had a conversation with the pastor of our church here with the same theme. I feel like God has been hinting at it in my life in many ways so I am sharing my thoughts. Here it is: (from “The One Year Walk with God Devotional” by Chris Tiegreen)

Death, the Equalizer
All can see that wise men die; the foolish and the senseless alike perish and leave their wealth to others. Psalm 49:10

IN WORD     It is one of life’s greatest mysteries. We who were created for eternity and given the capacity for eternal affections often place those affections on transient things. We are all capable of the Sinai treason: While God was speaking eternal truth to Moses on the mountain, the Israelites were in the valley worshiping a golden calf. A piece of metal. No breath, no life, no power – just an earthly material that shines. God still speaks eternal truth by His Spirit and the Word, and we still worship gold. The mysteries of life rarely change.
                Perhaps “worship” seems a little harsh. We all know that having wealth isn’t the same as wealth having us. We can own it and use it without being controlled by it. But our sense of mastery over our possessions is often an illusion and always a dangerous temptation. Far too easily, our things begin to own us. We do not bow down and sing their praises, but we would bow down in grief if they were taken from us. We’re far more attached than we think.
                This wisdom psalm by the sons of Korah is right: Death is the great equalizer. Those who have wealth and those who do not will all have exactly the same amount when they breathe their last breath. We leave this world as we came into it – naked and destitute. We may have been well taken care of in our stay here, but none of our comforts last. Wealth for its own sake it only as meaningful as the dirt we’re buried in.

IN DEED     What is our way out of this trap? Most of us do not resolve to go through this life as ascetic monks and nuns or as poor beggars. We have money and we use it often. What is the spirituality in that? We can leverage temporal wealth for eternal purposes. God has made that possible. The money that decays tomorrow can be invested in the lives that last forever. Riches and godliness can be a powerful combination. Wisdom ensures that they are.

When I read this I immediately thought of an incident with my friend a few summers ago: she got in a minor car accident and although she walked away from the accident injury-free, she could not stop wailing about her car being totaled. She kept saying that she had really loved that car and worked so hard to buy it, and it was such a nice car for a great price and she was never going to find another one like it… I could not believe that we were having that conversation! I would have expected her to be rejoicing that she was unharmed in the accident instead of complaining about her vehicle. Her well-being and potentially her life vs. a material possession that could be replaced.

It’s a message we commonly hear: do not have any idols or worship material things. Or even: your life is not measured but what you have but by what you have done. Moving to Honduras has really put those thoughts into perspective for me. It’s a lot harder to notice the hold that material things have on me when they are in my hand than it is when they are stripped away from me. While I may not think that I am making material things idols, taking them away from me really puts things into perspective. I have had to give up a lot of my material things, and I often find myself whining that I do not have them or desperately wishing that I could have them again. But the more time I spend in La Unión and witness the people who have spent their whole lives here, I realize that my life is better without all those things that I think I ‘need’ or simply ‘cannot live without.’

Take for example cell phones. When I was home over the summer I could not help but notice how glued to their cell phones people have become. It is a giant pet-peeve of mine when I am sitting with someone having lunch, getting coffee, or just hanging out and they are more hypnotized by their phones than focused on having a genuine conversation with a real-life person right in front of them. It’s not only entirely irritating, but I find it very rude and embarrassing. Do we really need to check Facebook or our email every 10 seconds? Are we really that determined to get to the next level in a game and have bragging rights over our friends? But here, I hardly ever use my phone is and I could care less if I knew where it was. Anyone I need to talk is within a two minute walk and I would rather see their face than read their message. (In fact, we’ve been living here for more than a month now and I still don’t have all the teachers’ phone numbers locked into my phone.) I’ve learned that I really do not need all those apps to make my life interesting.

My life is so de-cluttered here. Living simply is not that difficult – it may be shocking at first and hard to cope with at times (especially coming from somewhere like the US) – and it is entirely rewarding. Look at the people who live here: their lives are drastically different but I would not say that they are worse off because of it. They have developed different talents and skills to get through their daily lives, most things that I, simply put, cannot do. There may not be a washer or dryer in the whole town, but these women can make the most stained clothing item look brand new. Kids won’t learn how to use a computer until they are much older, but they can still computer numbers, write papers, and create their own games to play. No one owns a lawn mower but they have machetes to trim the grass around their homes. The list could go on and on and my friends and family back home are always shocked to hear how people live here. There is always this moment of feeling sorry for the population of La Unión but it seems silly to feel that way since this devotion tells us that we, as citizens of a first-world country, will leave this Earth on the same level of these people from a third-world country.

The pastor from our church here took his family on a trip to the United States for the first time ever this past summer holiday. He told me that after seeing the US he now has a deeper appreciation for the teachers who come down here. He kept talking about the great sacrifices we make by leaving our homes, families, and comforts just to teach the children here; he focused so heavily on the material lives that we come from and how much easier it is where we call home. I wanted to stop him during his rant to tell him that we were incredibly blessed to be down here. We are given such a unique opportunity to see a different way of living and to learn from the families we interact with. I feel like I am becoming a better person by minimalizing certain areas in my life so that I can grow in new ways. I do not have fast food restaurants or even grocery stores with easy-to-make dinners so instead I am learning how to cook things from scratch, and loving it! I am building incredible relationships with people just by spending my time sitting and talking with them rather than watching tv or surfing the internet. I can take a shower and flush the toilet without any running water in the vicinity, both very valuable life skills.

My relationship with the Lord has been affected the most. Without all these constant distractions in my life I find my mind wandering into praise more and more often. I have plenty of time to contemplate and mediate on my devotion every day since I do not have tv, internet, my phone, stores, etc. to demand my attention. I am surrounded by his beauty found in nature and in the genuine goodness found in people’s hearts. We often find ourselves getting into religious conversations about our pasts or things we witnessed throughout the week. And we get to share our faith with our students and help them develop into men and women of God. The only word I can think of to accurately describe how it feels to surround myself with pure and holy things is: refreshing. Even the people in this town have shown a deeper and more intense faith than I am accustomed to see. Since they do not have resources like medicine, education, or food, they pray fervently to the Lord every single day (you can hear their prayers rising up from the church or from their power circles or from their homes) and they rely on him to meet their needs and answer their cries. It is incredible how many miraculous things happen in this community. If you need to renew your faith, come here. A great majority of the people in La Unión has figured out how to live their lives in full devotion to the Lord, and the day that I die, I will leave this Earth just like them – empty-handed. 

If these boys were Superheroes

As soon as I knew that I would be returning for a second year of teaching here I started to scope out the 2^nd graders since they were my future students. I wanted to identify and know them before starting the school year in August so I could anticipate what my class would be like. My assumptions and expectations have been smashed by some and amplified by others. Here they are in their cute forms!

Abner ­– The Gentle Giant. This guy may be large but he is full of sweetness. (His older brother is in my 8^th grade math class and they are two of a kind.) He is so jolly all the time and can turn into the biggest giggle-bug in the classroom. He is not very smart but he makes it easy on me to be patient with him and work a little harder. He wants to succeed and I love that attitude in him. Whenever he knows the answer and is dying to give it, instead of yelling “Miss! Miss! Miss!” like the others, he puts both hands in the air (touchdown style) to increase his chances of being called on. He is very artistic and draws some hilarious pictures – to emphasize his boyish kindness he recently decorated one of our vocab cards with flames and hearts. He has a big crush on Kara and is already planning out his moves on how to take Lenny’s place in her life.

Carlos – The Bouncy Ball. Boy does this little guy have energy and he never tires out during the day. It would take bungee cords and superglue to keep him in his seat, and a leash to keep track of him when we go outside. For how energetic he is, I am really impressed with the excellent grades he gets. I would have thought that with all that bodily activity going on he would hardly have any time to pay attention in class, but he does! He gets some of the best grades in the class and it still surprises me. My favorite thing about him is that whenever he raises his hand, he always seems to forget why he put it up. There is an inevitable time lapse between when I call on him and when he remembers his question for me. (Almost like his body just had a major twitch that resulted in his hand inexplicably going in the air so he feels like he needs to ask something.) He also gets a really concerned look on his face when he asks to go to the bathroom so I hardly ever say no to him – I don’t need any accidents in my classroom!

Elman – The Repeat… he’s back! This face may be familiar to you because he was in my class last year. If a student has a failing average (from all the quarter grades) in any class by the end of the year, it is Honduran law that the student gets an opportunity to take a cumulative test in that subject. If they pass this recuperation exam, they move up to the next grade but if they fail then they are considered for being held back. Elman had 5 recuperation tests to take: Reading, Language, Spelling, Science, and Basic English. He actually passed two (Spelling and Basic English) but failed the other three so the principal and I had a meeting to decide what was best for him. He struggled all year in my class and I highly recommended that he be held back. His English was low and he would always be at the bottom of his class if he continued on. I wanted to give him the chance to succeed. Since I was his teacher last year, I already know how to work accommodate for him. The repeat material would be really great to develop his English. He is already doing great in my class! He has his moments of confirming my decision in holding him back because of low grades, but he equally has his moments where I am proud of his progress. I still love this little guy with a fierce love.

Francis – The Musician. If you hear desk-drumming or singing in my classroom, I guarantee you it is coming from Francis. Because of him, I am looking for more ways to incorporate music into my classroom and lessons because he is, without a doubt, musically-minded. He is famous amongst the primary grades for his solos during our weekly devotionals. (He is a Honduran Justin Beiber in the making.) He is too smart for me to keep up with. Also because of him, I need to come up with challenging extra work for early-finishers because he races through anything I give him and almost always gets 100%. When that happens, the artist inside of him gets working right away on a drawing or a paper creation. For now I let him work on those types of things because I know he understands the material and this way he is staying quiet and well-behaved. He is also too cute for me to punish because he has some killer dimples on those cheeks!

Gersan – Mr. Smooth. Just thinking about this little boy makes my heart flutter – he is beyond adorable! I know he is 9, but doesn’t he have such a great baby face? He is such a little gentleman and would look great in a miniature tuxedo. His intelligence is out of this world and he is always eager to participate in class – he practically crawls out of his seat and onto his desk trying to reach his hand higher while shouting “I! I! I!” He is such an obedient child and will do any task that I ask of him. He is one that I want to protect and to not let Honduras change his kind heart; his innocence is something I genuinely admire. He helps anyone in class and keeps the other kids in line for me. I could see him being a great pastor some day.

Juan – The Monkey Man. It may sound cruel but look at that face… and paired with his monkey noises? The resemblance is uncanny. Juan is my oldest at 11, but has the tiniest little body (despite the size of his head). Whenever I see him outside of school he runs and jumps on me with a giant monkey-hug. His smile is the definition of contagious and I will do anything to see it each day. He is a little lower on the academic level but just needs additional work. I recently had to spend extra time with him practicing addition-with-carrying math problems; after 20 minutes of working together something finally clicked and he has not gotten a problem like that wrong since! When he finally understands things, those are the moments when I feel the most proud as a teacher. He will raise his hand as many times as it takes for him to get the right answer in class.

Matias – The Strongman. He is already too grown to be one of my cute little boys. He doesn’t give out hugs and he doesn’t draw me any hearts. Thankfully he doesn’t have a sour attitude or make fun of the other boys, he just isn’t into all that sentimental junk anymore. (I think I can excuse him for this because I get my fair share of hearts and hugs from everyone else.)He isn’t very outspoken in general. He just kind of sits in his chair in the back corner and decides to participate every once in a while. He does have a soft side and will help the girls who sit around him with their work. He is decently smart but could benefit from paying attention a little more. I have no real complaints about this kiddo! He’s just your average kid – not a real tough guy but certainly not a softy.

Please pray for each of my little men by name. Pray for their spiritual and academic growth throughout the year. Pray that the Lord would provide me with the right wisdom and techniques to teach them in the best way. Also pray for their homes and families, because each one comes with a story that would surely break your heart. Living here is no dream but these boys are given an opportunity for a significantly better life with this education.

My Pretty-Pretty Princesses

As soon as I knew that I would be returning for a second year of teaching here I started to scope out the 2^nd graders since they were my future students. I wanted to identify and know them before starting the school year in August so I could anticipate what my class would be like. My assumptions and expectations have been smashed by some and amplified by others. Here they are in their cute forms!

Bessy – Confession: she could pass as a relative of my previous student, Geovanny, whom I had a particularly difficult time finding positive things to say about and being patient with in class. I was worried that every time I would look into her face I would see his and just cringe. Thankfully that is not the case! (Not only did I learn to like Geovanny but I also never think of him when I see this little girl.) She is very intelligent. She gets excellent scores on any assignment that I give her and since alphabetically she is at the top of the list, I typically use her papers as an answer guide for the rest. It is super encouraging as a teacher to start off grading with such an academically-strong student!

Emelyn – Emelyn reminds me of a fairy. She is really clever and catches onto new concepts quickly, but she is usually lost in her own world while learning. I frequently find her wandering over to something on the wall or to another student’s desk, but without her really realizing that she’s out of her seat. When she’s doing her work, she just sort of whimsically sits there until she completes it, and then her little voice pops up to participate in the group lesson or let me know that she is finished. She is also very girly with her beautiful long hair and assortment of bows and head bands. She has a weird obsession with organizing things on my desk and after one occasion when she completely rearranged my bookshelf, making it frustratingly difficult to find anything, I have had to keep a close eye on her and ask her to stop.

Eny Yulisa – This little one embodies the word ‘precious.’ She is the tiniest girl in my class, possibly even in the whole school. Her noggin barely reaches my hips when she hugs me every morning and her feet do not quite reach the floor while she’s sitting in her desk. She is incredibly smart, loves to use her English, and she works carefully through class, hardly getting anything wrong. She’ll spend her lunches just sitting with us teachers and chatting away; just the way she talks can almost be characterized as proper and poised, she could talk even the cruelest person into saying ‘yes’ to her! My favorite thing she does is she will ask to use one of my markers and when I say yes, she will run across the room shouting “Wahoo!” Then she will ask to switch out her one marker for a different a color and when I say yes again, she will bounce right back across the room shouting “Wahoo!” And let’s be honest, how can you not love those dimples?!

Gabriela – She may not be the smartest crayon in the box, but she has her shining moments. She is actually really clever in Reading class and I am impressed with how developed her comprehension skills are. She is a slow worker and loves to color coordinate all her notes. When she smiles her eyes crease and for a moment I have a little “chinita” in my classroom. (Although, this picture makes her out to be a tough girl.) Whenever we do a fun, physical activity she gets into it the most and always ends up at my side loving every moment of the lesson. Her inner joy for life is so contagious.

Gissela – (The ‘G’ is pronounced like an ‘H’) She is ridiculously quiet but when she starts giggling, you are guaranteed to erupt with laughter because she is so dang cute. She is such a soft-spoken and sweet little girl – whenever I glance over at her she is usually swinging her legs, twirling her hair, and grinning back at me. I have already grown a soft spot in my heart for her because she is not the most popular or social girl in the class, but there are countless things to cherish about her, she just needs a little encouragement to come out of her shell. She is a very slow worker so I constantly have to stand over her to keep her focused. She loves bringing flip books over to me and making me guess what is underneath each flap.

Karla Nohelia – What a smarty pants this one is. I was nervous about having her in class because she is our principal’s daughter, and her father is a teacher at the public school, but she is great. She knows the answer to everything and has a hard time raising her hand before talking or keeping her mouth shut when someone else cannot figure out the answer. (We have had a little conversation about giving everyone an equal chance to participate in class.) She is also very girly and is constantly twirling her way around my classroom or doodling flowers and hearts on her page. She is a leader in the classroom amongst the girls and very confident in herself. I can always count on her to help me out if needed.

Lenny – Lenny is very shy. She is quiet like Gissela but barely even interacts with her classmates. (However, I have seen her at home and that is where she comes alive!) Jake told me that the first time he sat down with her and her family to let them know that she had gained acceptance into our school, she bawled her eyes out. I’m very glad she is at the school because she has a lot of great potential. She is extremely smart and will always do well in school. I make sure to call her every time her hands go up because it is such a rare occurrence. I wish everyone would behave like her because she spends most of her time just sitting quietly in her chair and waiting for directions. She is also very artistic and creative. When we made our class puzzle pieces, she turned hers in last and had created a masterpiece. She is such a diligent worker and always turns out amazing work!

Noemi – She is my little shadow. She is also a bit on the soft-spoken side but she sure loves to talk to me. If she’s not glued to my hip, I am guaranteed to find her trailing close behind. I am already falling in love with her greatly because she seems like one who undeservedly lacks a lot of attention at home. She is so curious during class and always rummaging through my things to discover something new. She participates more frequently in class and learns the new material pretty rapidly. She absolutely hates reading so I am going to have my work cut out for me trying to change her mind. She is full of love and has already drawn me a beautiful picture that reads, “I love you too much.” Gah, my heart melts for her!

Ricxi – She is another sweetheart in the group but a little more sensitive than the others. Her father told me that she has been bullied in the past by the other girls so I keep a careful eye on her. She gets fussy when things don’t go her way either with her friends or is she does not understand the lesson. She constantly asks me to check her work step-by-step so that she is confident there will be no mistakes. I think it’s fair to say that she requires a little more patience from me, but I never want one of my students to feel inferior. She draws me some beautiful pictures and makes sure to say thank you as often as she can. She is the most willing to help me pass things out, clean up, collect papers, or organize the classroom. I sincerely hope this year is better for her.

Rut – Rut is by far my sassiest girl. She can get the attitude that she runs my classroom or like she is entitled to anything she wants; she is not one to take the word ‘no’ easily. Because of this she is probably my most troublesome girl in the bunch. She doesn’t like listening to my orders so I find myself having to shout to get her attention and repeating requests with her. However, her energy is infectious and she is always smiling. (I just need to learn how to channel her energy into productivity.) She loves to dance! She likes to organize and lead a group of girls in a dance number for the weekly primary devotions. It is absolutely adorable to watch her up there shimmying and shaking her little booty in front of everyone. She is a fearless risk-taker!

Sofia – Her verbal English is outstanding. Rolando (one of my spectacular students from last year) is her cousin, and her two older brothers are in 9^th grade so she gets a lot of practice and exposure to the language at home. She can carry a normal conversation with you in English and she often translates for her classmates if no one understands what I am saying. However, every superstar has their weakness and hers is math. It does not come as easily to her so I have to find extra time to work with her. She may be pint-sized but she has a loud presence in the classroom. She is small but also comes with a lot of sass. She is another leader amongst the girls and is never afraid to voice her opinion. I hope she learns to use that power for good because a lot of the other girls really do look to her for help.

Xotchil – (Pronounced “so-chi”) She is the psychologist’s daughter. The psychologist joined our team last February when Abundant Life’s orphanage moved to La Unión and her daughter ‘audited’ 2^nd grade. Xochtil was smart enough to be in 3^rd grade last year, but she did not know English so she sat in 2^nd grade for half the year to learn it and try to catch up. Her English is still notably the lowest in the class but she is learning quickly. She is a smart a little girl once she understands the words. Her first week of school was a little rough because she was constantly disturbing my class by talking to others since she was not paying attention to me (for a lack of understanding anything I was saying) and would frequently copy answers off of her neighbors’ papers. But after talking to her mom that behavior is gone. She is much more attentive in class and dedicated to learning on her own.

Please pray for each of these little girls by name. Pray for their spiritual and academic growth throughout the year. Pray that the Lord would provide me with the right wisdom and techniques to teach them in the best way. Also pray for their homes and families, because each one comes with a story that would surely break your heart. Living here is no dream but these girls are given an opportunity for a significantly better life with this education.

Too School for Cool

I love being a teacher. Of all the names that I have accumulated over the years – BrookeO, Brookie, Brookers, Awesomecabbage, O’Sasquatch… just to name a few – ‘Miss O’ is by far my favorite.  I may have only found my calling 4 years ago, but I know for certain that I am in the right field. I am more eager to shop for my students than for myself, and I will typically back away from a $30 pair of jeans but will drop $100 on classroom supplies without hesitation. I get overly excited about the lesson plans I have created before I even start to teach them. I eat, dream, and breathe my students.  So here I am, in a job that I am animated about every day, starting my second year of teaching in Honduras.

I went into and completed my first day feeling eons more confident about myself as a teacher after one year under my belt. This time I knew my way around the school and the rules, I knew who all my students would be and what level they would start the year at, and I knew quite a few of my fellow teachers and was thrilled to be working alongside of them again. (Put aside working in a new school, moving to La Unión is an adjustment itself and I’ve already conquered that transition as well.) I put on my usual navy blue pants and picked out my finest white button-down shirt (I based my decision on which was the brightest white and least crunchy), stepped into my new (and yet already slightly dusty) black shoes, and braced myself for my new batch of kiddos! Man, was I looking put together and sharp!

These are some highlights from my first week back at school: 

*Since the theme of my classroom is ‘zoo animals’ I bought foam animal masks to make with my students. The pieces were already all cut out so all the students had to do was help me glue and then make their most ferocious animal noise! I had one student wear his zebra mask during an entire math lesson and credit his speedy addition skills to the power of the mask.

*I am already incredibly impressed with the level of English that my students are starting at! There is a large majority of them that understand what I say and/or translate for others in the class; they are already surpassing my last class with how well they read short stories and answer questions; their vocabulary is more extensive than I imagined; and they are very clever and easily pick up new concepts that I teach. They are contributing greatly to my confidence in teaching since they are a little bit smarter, they make me feel like I am doing a good job of teaching!

*Each student got to decorate a puzzle piece that I will put all together on the wall for a ‘Third Grade’ mural. Innocently, one of the boys decorated his piece like this... all of the teachers are questioning his intentions but I am fairly positive that he had (and still doesn’t) no idea of his… eh em… coincidental mistake.

The main joy of my week rests solely in my students; they really do steal the show. I greatly miss my students from last year but I am lucky enough to be their neighbor at school so I see them daily and most of them will not leave school without giving me a hug. I know they are ready to conquer fourth grade with Mrs. Turcios as their teacher, and they will surely make me proud more than once throughout the school year. But now I have a whole new bunch of munchkins in my classroom and they are tiny vessels ready to be transformed! I have 19 students – 12 girls and 7 boys. I absolutely love having more girls because they are very well behaved and dominate the classroom with that attitude. Some of the girls are so itty bitty that they barely reach my hips! Their feet do not reach the floor from their desks and sometimes I feel like they are dolls for me to play with. However, the boys are not completely lost in the princesses’ shadows. They are making their presence known, but not in the most pleasant way – almost every other day one of them is digesting something foul and the smells that come out of them are toxic. I have been worried about a few and actually asked another teacher to follow one or two to the bathroom to make sure no accidents happened in their pants. Boys will be boys.

(I am posting different blogs to introduce you all of my students. But since I have so many of them, I figured it would be easier to read about them separately. Go check out their adorable little faces!)

As well, I am teaching a couple secondary classes this year. I teach the 8^th grade math class – Pre-Alegebra – and I am a huge fan of that class right now. (I taught 9^th grade math – Algebra 1 – last year but refused to move up with them to teach Algebra 2 because of how difficult that class was. That group of students is not very math-minded and I struggled all year trying to teach and get through to them. I graciously handed that task off to one of the new teachers.) I have always liked the quirkiness of middle school-aged students and I get plenty of that in this class. They have a ton of energy and are always eager to participate – I even have to calm a few down sometimes when they start bouncing out of the chair trying to answer a question. Sometimes appearances take priority over math and I have to confiscate mirrors, hairbrushes, lip gloss containers, and spray deodorants just to get my students to focus on their work. The only thing that I do not appreciate about them is the smell that trails behind them when I teach them immediately following lunch on Fridays. We are working on solutions to this problem.

I also supervise the 12^th grade students when they teach English at the public primary school once a week. These students are teaching because they are required to complete a social service project over the year, and they are doing a phenomenal job. Originally they were going to rotate in groups and just teach to the 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th grades but since the original ten have been performing so well, the public school requested that all of our students come and teach every section of grades 1 through 6. They have been generating really helpful and creative ways to teach their lessons. I even find myself learning from their teaching style: for instance, when introducing the alphabet, they wrote out the alphabet based on the phonetic sounds in Spanish. I really hope they are learning to appreciate the job teachers do and are feeling the satisfaction of giving back to their community through these little kids. Big things are going to happen through this social project!

I am truly looking forward to what this year holds for me as a teacher back in Honduras. I get to teach a phenomenal group of 19 little 3^rd graders, an enthusiastic group of 18 quirky 8^th graders, and a life-changing group of 27 determined 12^th graders. Without a doubt, each class will teach me new things as a professional and as a person. I know the Lord has big plans for me to grow in great ways because of each student that I get to interact with. Will you be praying for me this year? It’s time for me to start my prayer requests again because I know that I need international support. I cannot do this alone. I have encouraging coworkers and incredible students, but I am nothing without my loving Father and the prayerful support of people back home. Thank you in advance for sending your love and protecting me through your prayers :) This week I am asking for prayer for my fellow teachers. For the returning teachers, buttons are being pushed and tempers are rising as if we never took that summer vacation. For the new teachers, the school, city, and students can feel overwhelming more often than desired. Pray for patience, perseverance, endurance, and most importantly, love, in the heart of every teacher at our school. We are all in this for the long haul of 10 months and we need to start strong. I am not ready to start seeing my coworkers defeated. We need the strength of our Lord.