God is working all over the world

What I've been reading:  In the fall, the girls read an autobiography called Evidence Not Seen by Darlene Deibler Rose.  This story captured and broke my heart at the same time.  Darlene was serving as a missionary during WWII.  She was placed in a labor camp in the South Pacific.  Her amazing survival story empowered me to be more prayerful.

from: here

In preparation for our Haiti field trip, Annie spent the year teaching us French and Bible.  One morning in Bible she shared a story from one of her favorite novels, The Insanity of God.  A missionary in northern Africa was struggling to see how the church could survive under persecution.  He traveled all over the world studying and learning from persecuted Christians.

One of the mini stories this missionary collected was about a guy named Dimitri.  He was a pastor in a communist country who was imprisoned.  He spent each day in his prison cell waking up, turning to the east, and singing a heartsong praising God.  The other prisoners would throw poop at him and yell at him to stop.  If he found any little scrap of paper he would write as much scripture on it as possible and he would put it on the wall of his cell as an offering to God.  The guards would beat him and tell him to stop.  Eventually they were so fed up with him, they brought him down to be executed.  As they were dragging him away, all of the prisoners in the building stood up, faced east and sang Dimitri's heartsong.  The guards were so astonished and scared they did not kill Dimitri, but let him go.

from: here

Another story the missionary collected was from youth in Russia.  When they were under communist rule, they memorized chapters and books in the Bible so they would not forget them.  Now that they are free to worship, the youth don't even know the names of the gospels.  The author also mentioned how we are so complacent in our faith in the US that the devil doesn't want us to be persecuted.  Persecution would bring us closer to the Lord.  The novel gave me a lot to think about.

"Those of us who have grown comfortable with the teachings of Christ have allowed His teachings to lose their edge."  Nik Ripken  

The Cross and the Switchblade was one of the required Bible books for school this year.  It was a fascinating story about a small-town preacher who goes to New York to work with gangs.  God called him and he wasn't exactly sure why or what he was going to do.  I can definitely relate to that.  This is a story about redemption, forgiveness, and the amazing power of the Holy Spirit.  

One of our students recommended The Little Woman, another missionary novel.  Christin read it; she told me that I needed to read it next.  The beginning of the story is so much like my own life.  Gladys felt like she was supposed to go to China.  She had no plan or idea what was in store for her.  I feel that way about my next journey to Costa Rica.  I don't know what God has in mind, but I want to be faithful and obedient.

from: here

Another friend recommended a book about missionary Amy Carmichael.  I don't know anything about her life, but I want to gobble up this book to find out all about it.  I am excited to be able to spend time this summer reading and relaxing and resting.

What are you reading?  Any recommendations?  

Con mucho amor.

Creative Math

What the boys have been making:  My goal for math this year has been to include more projects and note taking so the boys are not simply on the computer doing the Teaching Textbooks program every day.  Here are the last of the projects we did in math for the year.  Unfortunately, we will not have time to do any special final math project.  I hoped to have them math a math dictionary, but there are other ways I want to spend our last four days together.

Math secret code coordinate graphs - We were learning about coordinate planes.  I found a great website that had a secret drawing.  The boys had to follow the coordinates and connect it together to see the image.  This forced them to learn the true importance of whether x or y comes first.  :)  Then I had them make their own and swap with a classmate.  It was interesting to see what secret drawings they came up with.

Stem and leaf plot projects - We studied different ways to display data.  If there had been more time, I would have loved to have the boys pose a question and ask people to gather data.  However, I gave them a list of data points that they had to creatively express in a stem and leaf plot.  They also had to find the median, mode, range, and mean of the data.  I thought it was so neat they took the assignment and ran with it.  I hadn't even thought of making a tree instead of a flower.

I still cannot believe I am almost done with my second year of teaching.  How are you finishing up? 

Con mucho amor. 

How beautiful are the feet...

...of those who bring the good news! - Romans 10:15

The first week of May, the Reyes Academy and Comunidad Multicultural, a local Haitian/Dominican church, ventured together across the border to our neighboring country of Haiti.  It was a crazy two nights and three days full of heat, sweat, and a lot of Jesus.

We took a bus from Santiago to Dajabon, a town in the north part of the DR.  We crossed the border on foot, and we stepped into a whole new world.

Over the three days, God taught me that everyone is searching for love.  When we were in the baby rescue center, there was a little boy who looked so sad.  Christin asked if she could pick him up, and the workers said yes.  She held him while I tickled and played with him.  His face lit up.  He was bubbling over in laughter.  He wanted to be noticed.  He wanted to be loved.

When we were at the orphanages, the older kids loved talking and connecting.  The little ones loved holding hands and playing.  What can you do to love the ones around you a little better today?

God taught me about stereotypes.  I have heard that Haiti is dirty, hot, and like a desert.  I was so surprised when I we were driving to the Citadel.  There were trees everywhere.  Looking out at the top of the mountain I could see mountains beyond mountains beyond mountains.  They were all green and beautiful.

God taught me to lean on Him for strength.  Climbing the Citadel was a huge task.  The mountain was high and the walk never-ending.  We started off singing as we were walking, but then we were so out of breath that didn't work.  Eventually Christin and I took turns praying.  We prayer walked up that giant mountain.  We prayed for the trip, the ministries we met, our school, our students, our families, and for the country of Haiti.  When we keep our eyes fixed on the problem or the mountain, we will fail.  But when we fix our eyes on the LORD, He will help us.

God taught me about what heaven will be like.  I loved serving on a team with people from different countries.  We had Haitians, Haitian-Dominicans, Dominicans, Americans, and Dominican-Americans.  It was a mixture of skin colors, cultures, and languages.  And it was amazing.  We would sing in English, Spanish, and French.  We would lift our voices together in prayer in Creole, English, and Spanish.

When we were at the top of the Citadel, we had communion together, thanking Jesus for all He has done for us.  One of the leaders of the other group mentioned how we are in such awe and wonder of the beautiful view and of the amazing Citadel, but how we need to be even more amazed and in awe of what Jesus did on the cross.  It just gave me such a beautiful picture of what heaven will be like.

"After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne before the Lamb."  Revelation 7:9

I learned the power of communication.  I never thought I would learn a third language, but I can have conversations in French and tell the story of the calling of the first disciples.  Annie taught it to us before we left for our trip.  We stopped at Fort Liberty to walk and pray with the people.  We came across this little beach where people were bathing and washing clothes.  A little girl came up to Christin and I, and we asked her if she wanted to hear a story.  We shared Matthew 4:18-22 with her in French from memory.  She actually understood us, and she repeated the names of the disciples back to us in French.  Walking along the water, imagining what the story was like, I realized what it truly means to be a disciple.

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will send you out to fish for people."  Matthew 4:19

I loved watching the boys interact and play with the kids at the orphanage.  One of them asked to pray for a woman on the beach who was studying for a test.  They washed plates, they hiked the mountain, they amazed me.  It was incredible to see the fruit after two years working with them.

God, what do You have up Your sleeves next for me?

Con mucho amor.

National Poetry Month

What we've been writing:  April is one of my favorite months because it is National Poetry Month!  (Here's how we celebrated last year.)  It was a fun month full of creativity and poetry.  I loved being able to have the girls with us to share and push the boys to be even better poets.

Poetry calendar:  I saw this idea to have a calendar with a different poem a day.  The boys were so curious when I was creating the calendar.  It was fun to practice reading poetry out loud.  We often read a poem and then studied that type that day during writing.  I thought it was the perfect opportunity to expose the students to different types of poems.  Plus, it made a really fun display on the chalkboard wall.

I am - art poems:  We started our first day of poetry with combining writing and art.  The idea came from here on Pinterest.  The kids wrote "I am" poems, and then using oil pastels and watercolors to paint the background.  These turned out incredible!!

Poetry stations:  I had lots of different ideas for short poems.  Since we are always short on time, we made a day of poetry stations.  I came up with some of the ideas from this blog.

• Station 1: Poe-TREE with haiku baggies  The kids wrote haiku poems based on random objects found in baggies.  Then, they hung them on the poe-TREE.  The poems turned out really funky, but it was good to expose them to the poetry form.

• Station 2: Magnetic poetry   Mom gave me some magnetic poetry words last year, and I found a cute magnetic board when I was in the US last summer.  When the boys saw this station, they said, "Wow, so cool."  Christin also had magnetic words.  They took selfies with their magnetic poems. 

• Station 3: Dice poetry  The kids rolled the dice to see how many lines, how many words, and the topic of their poem.  The boys all happened to get one line poems, and then sat there doing nothing for the rest of the ten minutes of the station.  Next time, I would make sure to specify they need to write three or four of these, especially if they are that short. 

• Station 4: Art and senses   I found this amazing art book over the summer, so the kids wrote poems using their senses, focusing on one of the art pieces.  These poems were really cool, and they forced the students to think about art and writing in a different way.  

• Station 5: Magazine poetry  This station could have been a whole day in itself.  The boys created really short poems, and just kind of glued words onto the page.  Next time, I would have this be an activity on another day.  They could focus more, and I could keep an eye on the situation. 

Intravista poems:  I found this awesome book called Friday Poetry Anthology.  It is a great resource for middle school Language Arts teachers.  It has a poem a week for 6th, 7th, and 8th grade.  It includes prompts and connections to the Common Core State Standards.  One of their poems was called an intravista poem.  It had a hidden message within the poem.  The boys LOVED writing these.

Sonnets:  We read A Wrinkle in Time during April, and there is a great quote connecting sonnets to life.  Christin led the kids in some structured notes about two different kinds of sonnets.  Then, they wrote sonnets in groups.

from: here

Poetry Party:  Christin and I had the great idea to have a poetry slam and go to a cafe to have the students share the poems they wrote.  We invited their families, also.  We picked a cute cafe downtown and even called to check and see what time they would open.  However, when we arrived at the cafe at 8am, it was not open.  We decided the only other place open that early was McDonalds, which was conveniently down the street.

The kids were so proud of their poems.  They did a great job sharing, and the noise in McDonalds forced them to speak loudly and with confidence.

Corinne also shared a poem she wrote, which I loved.  It was great for the kids to see that people write poetry for fun.  Corinne didn't have a teacher forcing her to write.  :)

What's your favorite poem?  How are you encouraging people to read poems?  Have you ever found a poem that impacted your life?

Con mucho amor.

Weary

What I've been learning/doing:  Rain pattered on the roof.  Lightning flew by the window.  Avenida 9 flooded.  The cool air wrapped around me as I snuggled in bed.  The past two weeks the weather has been perfect.  It has been such a nice change from the 90 degree temperatures we had at the beginning of April.  I even got to wear my scarf a few days this week.

I have been so tired lately.  I haven't had time to journal or paint.  I have been working working working.  Teaching and serving can quickly lead to burnout.  The good thing is that I know that, and I have been trying to not plan activities and hanging out with people as much.  I need to rest.  (I've even been drinking some coffee to help me wake up in the morning or afternoon!)

Last night I had the apartment to myself, and I blasted worship music as I reflected and soaked up Isaiah 40.  I know that I literally cannot teach and serve on my own strength.  God, please come fill me up so I can overflow into the lives of others.

"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."  Isaiah 40:29-31

Prayer requests: 

• Chloe and I are sharing at youth group at church this Saturday!  Pray that the Holy Spirit puts the Spanish words in our mouths.  Pray that girls show up and that they take something away from the message.  Our topic is: Que te llena? /// What fills you?  We will be talking about body image and confidence.  
• Tuesday we leave for our mission trip to Haiti.  Please pray for safety and protection.  Please pray for ease as we cross the border.  Please pray for God to teach my students and I something big.  Pray that we can make new friends and touch hearts.  
• My future.  I'm trying to figure out what's next as my time in the DR ends.  God has been sharing and showing me little by little.  Pray for wisdom and guidance as He reveals what's next.  He has a big adventure for me, that's for sure.  :) 

Need any prayer?  Write down a request in the comment section below!

Con mucho amor. 

Atmosphere

What we've been learning:  We just wrapped up a unit on the atmosphere and ozone layer in Science class.  We looked at the layers of the atmosphere and watched The Inconvenient Truth.  The boys had a tic-tac-toe board for their final.  Two of them showed me their test before they were done because they were so excited about what they created.

Here's Isaac's poem about the layers of the atmosphere.

The stratosphere is the layer with the most ozone.

It's depleting so now everyone's in a rumble.

It gives you skin cancer, so now we're gonna struggle.

But lets forget about that, let's focus on the troposphere. 

The layer closest to us in the whole entire atmosphere. 

The thermosphere so hot, it will give you shock. 

The mesosphere protects us from all the rocks. 

Lets not forget the ionosphere where radio waves bounce back. 

The exosphere furthest away, we're done with that. 

Here's Andrew's cartoon about what someone can do to help the Earth.

Next we are going to focus on how humans are impacting the Earth.  We will be watching several documentaries such as Food Inc., Tapped, and The Bee Movie.  Bring on the last month of school!

Con mucho amor.

Lead me where my trust is without borders

What I've been learning:  This weekend God did something crazy.  Saturday we had an event at church called Noche de Gala.  It was a beautiful evening full of prayer, unification, and treats.  I was one of the leaders of the event.  I had a table that a I decorated for nine women.  The pastor, his wife, and family are moving back to the United States.  We were lifting up the new pastor's wife in prayer.

Saturday morning Kelly, the pastor's wife, was explaining the events of the evening.  She mentioned that she wanted one of us leaders to be the voice of the prayer for Milly, the new pastor's wife.  Her idea was to have eight or ten women surrounding Milly as one of us leaders prayed out loud. 

I went home that afternoon to rest and pray before the evening.  While I was praying, I felt like God was saying, "You.  You are going to be the one to pray in front for Milly." 

What. 

What.

What. 

I thought.  "I don't think You have the right girl, God.  I am the least qualified person to get up at the front of the church and pray in Spanish for Milly in front of 100 women.  God, I cannot do this.  This is crazy."

How do I know it was God telling me?

"My sheep listen to my voice.  They know me.  They follow me."  John 10:27

I continued to pray. "Lord, I am sure Kelly already has someone to pray for Milly.  But here's what I will do.  If Kelly already has someone [which I am sure she does], then I won't pray.  But if she doesn't have anyone yet to pray in front, then I guess that's my sign to do it."  

Needless to say, when I approached Kelly she said no one had approached her yet.  I explained how I was nervous, and that I was the least qualified person to do this job. 

Kelly said, "You aren't going to do it in your strength.  You will do it in His."

"That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in my weaknesses.  In the hardships, persecution, and troubles.  For when I am weak, then He is strong."  2 Corinthians 12:10

The evening was going well.  I was having fun with the ladies, laughing and getting to know each other.  

My friend Jill was next to me at my table.  I told her that I was going up front to pray soon, and I asked her to pray for me while I was up there.  Kelly said she would be praying for me while I was praying for Milly also.  

When I got up to the front of the church, my hands were shaking and my knees wobbling.  But, I could feel the presence of God.  Spanish flowed from my lips.  I prayed for the longest time I ever have in Spanish.  It was incredible.  I was obedient and I was able to bless others.  I didn't do it on my own.  I didn't do it in my strength.

When I made PRAYER my word for 2016, I never ever expected God to push me and use me like this.  It makes me feel like He is preparing me for what is next.

How is God pushing you?  Who do you need to pray for today?  How can you be taking steps out of your comfort zone? 

Con mucho amor.