1) God is present.
Even though there have been SO many times when I have curled up in bed crying, or laid on my floor with tears running down my cheeks, I know that God is still here. He is still with me. Which makes those hard moments just a little more bearable.
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2) It's okay to be alone.
I love being around people. I love cuddling. I love it when people play with my hair. I love watching TV with people. I feel so full and complete when I am surrounded by others. Here, in the DR, none of those things happen. And it feels SO lonely sometimes. But, it's okay to be alone. I don't need to always have other people around me. I feel so much more content in that than when I first arrived in August.
3) Love.
Every Thursday I go to a girl's home and volunteer. Those days are easily my favorite. I love spending time with these beautiful girls. I get to love them and play with them every week. I have the most amazing students. They make the job challenging, but I sure love them. Love makes life special. Love makes people feel good. Everyone is searching to be loved.
4) Celebrate the little victories.
I made it to the store and back on my own? √ I made it through a conversation in Spanish with someone who cuts off the ending of every single word? √ I made it through week 1 of the plank challenge? √ I understood all of the church service? √ I'm ahead on lesson planning? √
5) It's okay when things aren't perfect.
I had this amazing pottery idea do connect art and characters from one of the novel's we read, but who knew that dough doesn't work well with humidity. It completely flopped. But you know what, the boys still liked playing with the dough. They were still sort of thinking about how the pot would reflect their character. I should have had them draw out their plan before sculpting, but that's okay. I am not going to be a perfect teacher. I am not going to have perfect students. I'm not going to have a perfect classroom, but that's okay. We live in an imperfect world.
Countdown: 35 days till the fam arrives in the DR!
Even though there have been SO many times when I have curled up in bed crying, or laid on my floor with tears running down my cheeks, I know that God is still here. He is still with me. Which makes those hard moments just a little more bearable.
.
2) It's okay to be alone.
I love being around people. I love cuddling. I love it when people play with my hair. I love watching TV with people. I feel so full and complete when I am surrounded by others. Here, in the DR, none of those things happen. And it feels SO lonely sometimes. But, it's okay to be alone. I don't need to always have other people around me. I feel so much more content in that than when I first arrived in August.
3) Love.
Every Thursday I go to a girl's home and volunteer. Those days are easily my favorite. I love spending time with these beautiful girls. I get to love them and play with them every week. I have the most amazing students. They make the job challenging, but I sure love them. Love makes life special. Love makes people feel good. Everyone is searching to be loved.
4) Celebrate the little victories.
I made it to the store and back on my own? √ I made it through a conversation in Spanish with someone who cuts off the ending of every single word? √ I made it through week 1 of the plank challenge? √ I understood all of the church service? √ I'm ahead on lesson planning? √
5) It's okay when things aren't perfect.
I had this amazing pottery idea do connect art and characters from one of the novel's we read, but who knew that dough doesn't work well with humidity. It completely flopped. But you know what, the boys still liked playing with the dough. They were still sort of thinking about how the pot would reflect their character. I should have had them draw out their plan before sculpting, but that's okay. I am not going to be a perfect teacher. I am not going to have perfect students. I'm not going to have a perfect classroom, but that's okay. We live in an imperfect world.
Countdown: 35 days till the fam arrives in the DR!
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