Club Christmas Drama

I put a few pictures of our Club Christmas Drama on my blog for kids. You can go to www.fieldtriptomexico.blogspot.com if you want to see them.

Lalo y Saul

Lalo and Saul are two brothers on my Thursday afternoon Club route for pick-up and take-home. Lalo is 6 and is also in my Club class, and Saul is 4. The best way I know to describe them is as "such a mess," but they have a very special place in my heart. They are both mischievous and always ones you have to keep a close eye on, but they are also so endearing and adorable. I think one reason that I love them so much is that they remind me of my brother when he was little, both physically and personality wise. :)

Things That Made Me Smile This Week...

• Elizabeth's breaded and seasoned chicken (and salad!)
• The electric radiator/heater in my room that makes it warm and comfortable
• Remembering Jesus' heart for children and what the CFCI vision is during team meeting this week
• Christy's yummy turkey soup
• Chicles climbing up to a high part of the church and using a spotlight to bring Gabriel's announcement to Mary more to life for the Club kids
• Jazmin coming back to Club after a 3 month absence! Yay for answered prayers!
• Karen's homemade sock/rice heater that she made for me
• Singing Christmas songs in Spanish
• The way some of the kids on my Thursday afternoon route really make me laugh
• Listening to Erik's Vision 2010 sermons and being so encouraged and inspired by how God is continuing to lead Four Oaks (my church in Tallahassee)
• Watching the Four Oaks "Rodney videos" online :)
• Practicing for the Club Christmas Drama this morning and seeing how excited the kids are about it
• When I turned on the CD in the van tonight on my way home and it was one of my very favorite songs ("When You Come Back Down" by Nickel Creek)

Rain and Reflecting

It's cold and rainy today in Fresnillo, one of those days where you just want to curl up with a blanket and not leave the house. Thankfully, today is our day off so I am able to do just that. So as I sit here contentedly with a hot cup of tea and leftover Thanksgiving apple pic, in my warm sweatpants and favorite Samford sweatshirt, listening to A Charlie Brown Christmas music, I thought it was a good time to catch up with some blogging and share some reflections...

Over the past several weeks, I have experienced some hard times and challenges. I won't go into all of them here and I recognize that "hard times" is always a relative term, but there have been several times when I just wanted to say, "Seriously, God?! This too?" However, in each challenge, I am trying to see what God wants to teach me from it, and there is certainly an abundance of lessons to be learned from each trial, big or small.

As I was thinking about my thanksgivings for the year and how exceedingly blessed I really am, I was reminded of an important truth: God is ALWAYS sovereign. This is one of my favorite attributes of God, and there have been many times I have joyfully seen the Lord display His sovereignty in my life...from placing me on the perfect hall freshmen year, taking my "unassigned position" and putting me in exactly the school and grade level I would have chosen in the school system, and even the story of how I ended up here at CFCI in Mexico. I love retelling these stories and countless others of God's sovereignty. However, God is sovereign in the tough times, too. While these "negative" examples are not as much fun to remember, they are just as much testimonies to the Lord's faithfulness. God is never looking away and nothing is outside of His hands. I am so thankful for this fact and encouraged by it.

Another lesson I have been learning is that I only have to live one day at a time. While I desire to always be full of praise and a heavenly perspective such as mentioned in the above paragraph, the truth is I do struggle with each challenge that comes and often do not react that way. When I think about the future sometimes, I get overwhelmed because I know there are more challenges ahead always. God recently really encouraged me just to trust Him for TODAY. He will give me the grace and strength I need one day at a time, for whatever challenges arise.

So, today I am thankful for the simple pleasures of today. Tomorrow, through God's grace, I will handle whatever comes... be it a "crisis" or not.

Can you help solve it?

As a way of keeping in touch, some of my former students email me. I always love hearing from them, especially since I don't get to see them in the halls or lunchroom this year like I have been able to in the past. Recently, I received an email from one of my old fourth graders. In the email, he told me about a situation with another (older) student whose mom and dad had both abandoned him. It was obvious that he was really concerned and worried about this situation. The part that gripped me was this though: He wrote, "Could you help him solve that problem?" Never mind that I live in Mexico right now or that the other student's parents had moved very far away, just a simple "Can you fix it, Miss Sloderbeck?" It made me feel both good and bittersweet that he thought I could and reminded me of what a privilege (and also heavy responsibility) it is to be a teacher. I also thought about how we are to have faith like a child. I can see why...

Classic.

This past week, two classic things happened. The first one was classic Mexican. Even though we knew the time was changing on Nov. 1st in the U.S., no one was quite sure when it was changing in Mexico (sometimes they change a week or two before or after the U.S). There was a great debate as we looked on the internet, consulted a Mexican calendar, and asked various people in our church. Naturally, not all of our sources agreed with one another. Finally, about 8:00 PM on Saturday night enough of us were gathered together to reach a consensus and decide that yes, the time was changing tonight (Oct. 24/25). I thought about how different this was from the U.S--they usually post it in the church bulletins weeks in advance and sometimes even send email reminders. We can also look in the newspaper or any online source. I don't even know if there is a newspaper in Fresnillo; there probably is since it's a city of 200,000 people, but that is obviously not our main source of information. Anyway, the whole incident was quite amusing (albeit slightly frustrating) and definitely a cultural statement to me.

The other classic thing that happened this week was in regards to me still learning Spanish and not being able to fully communicate. In the middle of our classroom time at Club, my little girl Fatima kept asking me if she could have the "crayolas." I told her no repeatedly and couldn't understand why sweet Fatima kept asking me this--she knew that we didn't give away the crayons at Club. Once Club ended, she even got her sister go ask me for them! Later, as I was about done visiting one of my other Club girls, I reached in my pocket only to discover Fatima's colored pencils that she had given me to hold for her at the beginning of Club! I felt absolutely horrible! I usually refuse to hold things for the kids precisely for this reason. While it's true she could have more specifically described them, I still felt so badly and could imagine how Fatima probably thought her teacher had permanently taken her precious colored pencils away. So as soon as I finished with my other visit, I ran (literally, since it was getting dark and almost time for my roommates and I to go to home) all the way to Fatima's house to safely deliver the colored pencils back to her. As I tried to explain while also catching my breath, she had a confused but relieved look on her face. All in a day's work...

Brownies and Big Smiles

For a recent Club salida chiquita (small outing), I picked up three of my girls and brought them to one of our ministry buildings. They are precious girls, and we all enjoyed this special time together baking butterscotch brownies, talking about God, and making pictures complete with glitter. It was one of my very favorite moments that I have had here in Fresnillo this fall. Here are two pictures from the day...

The Patio

I put some pictures up of our house (called "The Patio") on my blog for kids. If you are interested in looking at them, you can check them out at www.fieldtriptomexico.blogspot.com. Be warned, however, that the intended audience for the blog is elementary school kids hence the writing style and tone...

The Divine and the Mundane

Fun Times in the U.S.

The first week of October was an especially good one for me, as I got to spend it in the U.S. visiting with dear friends and family. On Thursday, Oct. 1st, I flew up to Louisville, KY, to be a part of the wedding festivities for Bobbi Jo (one of my very best friends from college) and Nick. In addition to the joy and celebration of the wedding, it was such a blessing to have a sweet reunion with my wonderful Samford friends. God truly gave us amazing friends from Day 1 on 4th East and has graciously kept us close even in these post-college years.

On Sunday morning, it was off to Birmingham. My parents came up from Florida so I got to spend time with them on Sunday and Monday as well as see lots of beloved Bham friends over the next few days. I was so thankful to be able to connect and see so many people, even in a short amount of time. A few specific highlights were getting to talk at church and share how I really do feel "sent out" and supported; going to school and visiting with everyone, especially my former students; getting to hang out with my brother a couple of times; lots of fun get-togethers with different friends; and eating great meals whether in my favorite restaurants or in people's homes! :)

On Thursday, October 8th, I flew back to Mexico. The only thing that could have made my visit better was having time to also visit Tallahassee, but I will have to look forward to that for next time. As I headed back to Fresnillo, I was definitely physically exhausted from such a full week but SO emotionally fueled and encouraged. Praise God for such sweet time with family and friends!

Fun Times in Mexico

While I definitely feel like I am right where God wants me to be right now, there are some days that it is really hard. Between learning a new language, adjusting to both a new culture and job, and missing people back home, there are plenty of challenges to say the least. However, God is in it all from the tears to the laughter and all of my highs and lows here. Experiencing difficult times makes me really appreciate and celebrate the joyful times God provides though. Sometimes, it is just a brief moment of encouragement and joy, and other times, it's a whole day of fun. Here are two recent events that I especially enjoyed...

One Monday afternoon (our day off), I was planning on going over to visit with two girls from church Jesi and Susy. Jesi is 15 and Susy is 9, and they wanted me to come meet their new puppy. When I got to their house, I found out that it was their brother's birthday. At first, I felt like I might be intruding, but they and their parents immediately were so excited and insistent that I join their family celebration. We had great baked chicken with tortillas and then had a German chocolate birthday cake for dessert, complete with the coconut icing. Afterwards, I went shopping with Jesi, Susy, and their mom. It was so fun to just hang out with them and look for new clothes. It also felt so normal, like something I might do at home in the U.S. In the picture above, Susy waits outside a store with the new puppy, whom she insisted on taking with us. :)

The next Monday was also a very special day because it was my roommate Elizabeth's birthday. We had been planning a festive day for a couple of weeks...a day trip to Aguascalientes, but what made it even more fun and special was that Elizabeth's sister flew in the night before for a surprise week-long visit. We all enjoyed a wonderful day complete with a meal at Chili's and a movie in English that even had comfy seats. Whether it's going to La Paz or Cocina in Birmingham and having Mexican food or going to Chili's in Mexico and having American food, I love celebrating birthdays with friends!

Reflections from a Velada...

Recently one Saturday evening, our church had something called a "velada." It was simply a time of prayer and worship together. The velada reminded me of "Concerts of Prayer" that we used to have with our high school youth group or that we had at the beginning of each ministry week in New Orleans in the summer. I have always loved intentional times like these, where we spend time seeking the Lord and interceding for specific request together.

The velada was no exception--I loved it and desperately needed it. We had just finished our second week of Club, and it had also been a busy Saturday for me complete with Torta, a Club visit, and helping with the first youth group meeting of the fall. To be honest, I contemplated going home and just going to bed and not staying up at church for the velada. However, I was so glad I didn't because I was refreshed by God's presence as only He can do. As we were singing worship songs together in Spanish, I was just filled with joy over who God is and what He is doing through and in His church--all over the world. I also was powerfully struck by how all that really matters is the CENTRALITY OF CHRIST. All of our various ministry tasks and jobs are pointless if Christ is not central in them. My mind drifted to back home and teaching, and I thought about "why do I teach?" and "why I am here?" I realized that the answer is the same to both of those questions, just as it should be the same for even our reason for living...to glorify God and point to Christ. How that is fleshed out in our lives will look different at various seasons and according to what the Lord calls us to do in obedience, but the centrality of Jesus Christ must always be first and foremost in our lives. When my own soul is anchored in the centrality of Christ, then will He flow into others' lives, whether I am explaining long division or sharing the Gospel or preparing food for those who have none. May Jesus teach us how to abide in Him so that this will be true!

"For In him we live and move and have our being..." -Acts 17:28

Where Did August Go?

As I look at my calendar, I can scarcely believe that it is almost September. This past month seemed to fly by, probably because it was so busy with various things…

The first week of August we had the team from Chicago here (see blog entry below). After that, we spent a week preparing for VBS and also doing team-building. While some people do not always enjoy team-building games and such, I am actually usually a fan of them. (In fact, I was the only one of all my Samford friends that loved Connections/ Freshmen Orientation!) We had a digital camera scavenger hunt that was a lot of fun, and we did some other classics like not falling off a board while you arrange yourselves in a certain order and 2 truths and a lie. My favorite part though was when we all went around and shared what we hoped God would do through our ministry this year and also in our personal walks with Him. It was so encouraging to hear everyone’s responses, and I look forward to seeing how God works this year in and through each one of us.

The third week of August was VBS. We had around 200 kids at VBS each night, and it was great to see them excitedly come and enjoy the songs, lesson, small-group review, crafts, and more. I only got to participate in the first two days of VBS though because this week also included a quick and unplanned trip to the U.S. for me—to attend my grandmother’s funeral. While flying all day on Thursday and then again on Sunday was quite exhausting, I am so thankful that I could be there with my family to weep for our own loss but rejoice at my grandmother’s wonderful gain (Philippians 1:21). I will miss her dearly, but I thank God for the many years I had with my grandmother and for her strong faith.

Finally, this last week of August, we have begun our regular ministry year. It has been a busy but good week. Our 3 different Clubs have begun, and we have also started visiting the children in our respective groups. More on this later! For now, I’m off to enjoy the last few days of August…

VBS

Futbol y Mas

This past week, we had a small team from Chicago come here. The majority of the team was comprised of college soccer players, and they came to do sports outreaches (soccer and baseball) for the kids here. The first session was Sunday afternoon, and then we had sessions both in the morning and in the afternoon the next two days, and we ended with a morning session on Wednesday. The sessions were a mix of playing soccer or baseball games, learning a few new skills or drills, and times where the guys would share with the kids. During these times, the guys took turns sharing their testimonies or explaining the Gospel and doing short illustrations of it. A lot of prayer went into the week, and God definitely answered those prayers as the sports events and the entire week in general really went great. We are also hoping and praying that some of the new kids that attended this past week will come to VBS and Club in the future.

Personally, I really enjoyed the week. As I left the first session on Sunday evening with a sore throat and a huge smile on my face, I was reminded of how much I love recreational ministry. I love playing sports (even ones I’m not good at like soccer), but even more so, I love cheering for kids, helping them understand teamwork, and getting excited with them over even the smallest accomplishment. To a see a child’s face light up when they score a goal for the first time or to give them that high-five and encouraging word when they try their best and still don’t make it yet again, brings me so much joy. Several times this week, I thought about how much I loved doing Challenge Circle in the New Orleans projects and all the cheers we used to do to get the kids pumped up about Jesus and to teach them about the importance of teamwork and not giving up. Challenge Circle in the sultry, New Orleans summer evenings (and my whole summer in general at UIM) is one of my very favorite memories and experiences, and it was so fun to experience something similar to that this week. Encouraging kids and "cheering them on" is one of the parts I love most about being a teacher as well.

I had a few other highlights as well from this week. It was neat to have other Americans around this week and especially more people to speak English with. :) Also, I really enjoyed getting to know some of the ladies and teens from the church better when they would help us prepare the meals for the team. As we’d work together to get the meals ready, shared conversations and laughter would help ease my tiredness and make it fun. Finally, I am thankful for the fact that I didn’t have to say goodbye to kids this week. As the team took last day pictures and headed back to the U.S., I was glad for the fact that I am here for longer…to keep reaching out to these children day after day, in the name of Jesus.

First Few Weeks...

As of Friday, I will have been in Fresnillo for 3 weeks! Certainly, a lot has happened during that time. While we definitely have a set routine during the school year with Club activities and such, the summer is a much more laid-back and flexible time. It is a good time to gradually transition into my life and responsibilities here. So in answer to the question, "What have you been up to?", I'd have to say a little bit of everything! This has included Spanish lessons, work projects like painting and cleaning, visiting with both American team members and Mexican families here, going to church, planning for VBS in August, learning more about Mexican history and culture, trying to how to drive around town, and lots more.

Two things that are pretty constant even in the summer are Torta on Saturdays and Tuesday chores/team meetings. Torta is a free feeding outreach where we typically feed around 300 or more children and youth each Saturday. Naturally, it takes most of the day to prepare for this and then clean up from it. I have helped with Torta a couple of times since my arrival and love being able to serve the children in this way. Perhaps, I'll write a longer blog about Torta another day with pictures. Tuesdays are also still routine during the summer. Every Tuesday morning, we have to do chores at the ministry buildings. Then, we have a team lunch and team meeting in the afternoon to discuss different events coming up.

So in a nutshell, that's what I've been up to my first few weeks here. Adios para ahora!

Refreshment

Today, I had the most refreshing day! Mondays are our days off so they are always nice, but today was an especially great day. My roommate Elizabeth and I went to Zacatecas (the city) for part of the day. We live in the state of Zacatecas, but the capital of the state is also called Zacatecas, and it's quite a bit more modern than our city of Fresnillo. The drive is about an hour or a little longer so it's an easy day trip.

We began our "ZAC" day with a quick stop at Wal-Mart to buy a few supplies, and then we had the wonderful treat of going to Starbucks! I thoroughly enjoyed my delicious chai frappachino and was even able to use the Starbucks gift card I'd been given for my birthday a few weeks ago (thanks, Laura!). So fun!

We then headed to the old convent, which was where we had planned to spend the majority of our time. The convent was built in the 16th century and is now a fascinating mix of ruins and beautiful grounds. The big trees, lovely flowers, and incredible green grass were a welcome sight to this Southeastern girl! Needless to say, that's not the typical sight around here. We split up and each found our own little space among the convent grounds and enjoyed a wonderful afternoon of journaling, praying, reading, reflection, etc.

As I was reading the familiar words of Psalm 139, God gave me a fresh insight into one of the verses. "Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them." (vs. 14) For some reason, the words DAYS just jumped out of the page for me today as I thought about my days here in Mexico. After only being here for just over two weeks, I am not exactly sure what my all my days here will look like. I usually know what I'm doing this week, and I have a picture in my mind of what I think this year will look like, but it's only blurry right now. As I thought about this verse, I was struck by how the Lord knows what EVERY one of my days will be like here. He knows when and why I will have a day that makes me cry. He knows the days that will cause me to be elated with joy as I interact with children and watch them grow in their understanding of Christ. He knew that today I would have a great day, complete with my chai frappachino. As they say in Mexico, "que chido" or "how cool!"

Elizabeth and I with our Starbucks!

the ruins of the 16th century convent

Some girls show how delightful the grass is!

Fresa

In Mexico, visiting people in their homes is very important. People show their love and respect by hosting others in their homes and providing a meal, and you honor them when you come for a visit at their houses. In fact, you're not even supposed to wait for an invitation...you are supposed to invite yourself over! Thus, visiting church members in their homes is something we do a lot of around here to build relationships. Since Felicia and I are new and still learning Spanish, we have been going on various visits with some of our other team members. Each family is so kind and generous, and it is a privilege to be welcomed into their homes.

Today, I went with my two of my roommates, Karen and Felicia, to Dona Olga's house. Dona Olga was one of the very first members of the church and has hosted in her home every missionary who has ever been here (or at least, I think that's what she said!). She has several daughters ranging in age from 12 to 24, and they joined us today for the meal and visit. We had such a blast talking and laughing with them! Olga endearingly calls them "locas" or crazy; they have contagious smiles and laughs and are constantly making jokes or telling stories. My favorite topic of conversation today was about the word, "fresa."

You might know that fresa means strawberry in Spanish. Today, I learned another meaning for the word fresa. It can be used as an adjective and might loosely be translated "girly." A "chica fresa" would be someone who likes to buy new clothes, always wants her outfits to be coordinated, enjoys bright colors, is constantly fixing her hair, etc. Olga named a few people we know who might be considered this, and then looked at me and told me that I was somewhat "fresa" even though she barely knows me. Felicia then heartily agreed with this statement! As we continued to talk about different examples of fresa, they definitely came to this conclusion.

I guess this makes sense because if someone asked me if I considered myself girly, I would say "yes, somewhat." Ever since I was little, I have liked my clothes to match, and I do usually make sure that I have a hairbrush with me at all times. I made sure to explain to Olga that I still loved playing sports though! Makes me think of how my high school volleyball team was very competitive, but yet we all wore matching ribbons in our hair. :)

So, today I learned that I not only love to eat fresas, but I also am a bit fresa.

Bienvenida a Mexico!

Well, I have now spent five full days in Fresnillo, Mexico!  I'm very thankful that all of the travel details and plans went so well.  After a bittersweet time of prayer and goodbyes with my wonderful parents in the Tallahassee airport on Thursday, I flew to Dallas where I (and my bags!) thankfully made a tight connection and then caught a plane to McAllen, TX, with the other new missionary, Felicia.  In McAllen, we were welcomed by three of our CFCI teammates and they drove us to Fresnillo the following day.  We arrived in Fresnillo late Friday night, tired but grateful for how well everything had gone even at the border.

My first few days have obviously been spent meeting lots of people, adjusting to a new culture and home, unpacking, and hearing A LOT of Spanish and speaking SOME Spanish.  I'm thankful to be able to understand a good deal of what I hear, but I feel like I have a long way to go in terms of speaking it myself.  Naturally, all of this can be somewhat overwhelming at times, but the Lord has been so gracious in protecting me and daily uplifting me.  I have truly felt people's prayers and am so grateful for them.  

Rather than focus solely on the transition though, I want to share a few recent highlights of the past few days that have brought smiles to my face...

• the genuine kindness and friendliness of the CFCI team here--I have felt so welcomed and loved already
• Sunday's church service--we sang one of my favorite Hillsong songs, "From the Inside Out" in Spanish
• anytime I get to eat fruits and vegetables (safe ones, of course)
• climbing a nearby mountain on our free day and being outside in nature
• wireless internet in my room here--such an amazing blessing! :) 

More highlights to come soon, I'm sure...

Whirlwind Weeks

The last few weeks have been quite a whirlwind!  To sum it all up would take quite a long time, so I decided to use a stream of consciousness approach that gives a glimpse of recent moments...

Moving out... realizing I need to become way more of a minimalist and less of a pack rat...family vacation to Costa Rica to celebrate Paul's graduation... historic sites, volcanos, coffee plantations, rain forests, beaches, and more... conquering my fear of heights on the canopy zipline... loving the amazing sunsets, time at the beach, and sweet family time... ticos and pura vida, mae... surprise birthday/going away party in Tallahassee with precious time of prayer... back to Bham for going-away parties and goodbyes... laughing with friends at my favorite restaurants: Jackson's, Taziki's, and Zoe's... off to Atlanta for Sara and Matt's wedding weekend...throwing Sar's shower and bachelorette party Thursday night... enjoying being a part of the wedding... God-glorifying ceremony and such a fun reception... spending time with dear friends from 4 Oaks and New Orleans during the weekend... back to Bham one last time... more goodbyes... being commissioned and prayed over at Redeemer--so encouraging... back to Tallahassee... almost all done with my thank you notes... relishing one last delicious sandwich at Hopkins... packing, packing, packing...

Sara's Wedding

Amazing Manuel Antonio sunset

With Susan, Ryan, Paul, & Kara at Volcan Poas

Departure Date: 6 Days Away

It's hard to believe that I leave for Mexico in one week (Thursday, June 25).  Life is full of visiting with people, goodbyes, packing, and seemingly endless to-do lists.  Though the sadness of leaving friends and family increases, my excitement for meeting friends in Fresnillo also grows.  No doubt about it, an adventure awaits...

Since the past few weeks have been so busy, I really enjoyed a few quiet hours yesterday as I drove to Atlanta for Sara's wedding weekend.  While I listened to Sandra McCracken's calming and beautiful song "Rock of Ages/When the Day is Long" (Thanks, Natalie!),  I was filled with peace thinking about how God never changes.  Here is the beginning of the song:

Rock of Ages, when the day is long

From this labor and this heartache I have come

The skies will wear out, but You remain the same

Rock of Ages, I praise Your name.

It also reminds me of a favorite old verse of mine, "Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you."  (Psalm 116:7)

Thus, I will rest in Christ today and always.  There will surely be some more stressful moments in the next few weeks, but may I remember to trust in Christ and abide in His presence.  

Now, it's time to focus on Sara and enjoy her and Matt's wedding celebrations! :)

May 2009-Bittersweet & Nostalgic

Warning: If you don't like things that are sentimental, you might want to skip this blog entry... 

The last month has been full of milestones, moving, and memories.  As I prepare to go to Mexico for a year, the goodbyes and bittersweet feelings are inevitable.  Despite the way they hurt, I'm grateful for them because it means I have been so blessed...

On May 16th, my brother Paul graduated from Samford.  For the first time in eight years, there will not be a Sloderbeck at Samford next year.  As I stood in the Wright Center at Baccalaureate singing the opening hymn of "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee," I was once again reminded of how incredibly grateful I am for the opportunity to have attended Samford.  While amazing friends and UCF (University Christian Fellowship) were the biggest catalysts to my spiritual and personal growth in college, the institution of Samford also played a strong role.  What a blessing to go to college at a place where they challenge you to make a difference for Christ!  I do not take that opportunity for granted.  

Just a few weeks later, it was time for another ending: the end of the school year and my time at Edgewood (hopefully only temporarily).  When I accepted an "unassigned position with Homewood City Schools" in June 2005, I never could have dreamed what a tremendous blessing it would be.  In faith, I hoped for an older grade and was so excited to receive a placement in fourth grade at Edgewood.  For the last four years, I have loved working with dedicated, wonderful faculty and staff and teaching precious, remarkable children.   Receiving lots of hugs and encouragement, I said goodbye for now...

Two days after the end of school, we had to move out of our apartment.   This was probably the least sad because of the less than stellar management there!  Had it not been for the fantastic location and the hassle of moving, I probably would have moved a long time ago.  Still, the end of an era again.

Clearly, it's been an emotional month.  However, I am very grateful for the way God has blessed me over the years and look forward with expectation for how He will continue to work in the future...

The famous hand wall at the Great Shamah

My classroom that I'm going to miss

The fam w/ Mr. Beeson...my parents are glad to be 

done with 16 semester of tuition at least!

Paul and I with the only professor we both had

--Dr. Jensen, one of my very favorite professors

Maggie's Heart

Maggie is a very special friend of mine. She's eight years old, and I have known her for her entire life.  More importantly, she has one of the most precious hearts of anyone I know...

Maggie has always had a very generous spirit.  She loves others through giving with a maturity way beyond her years.  A few weeks ago when we were visiting, she gave me a beautiful, jewelry holder that she has made herself out of clay and then painted.  She wanted me to have it and gave it to me--just like that! At our traditional Easter egg hunt, Mags not only would help her little sister find eggs, but she also would give up eggs for herself and point them out to her older sister! 

However, Maggie's most recent gift touched my heart in a very special way.   Maggie knows that I am raising money to go to Mexico, and she recently gave me $5 to help the children there.  On her own initiative, she told her mom that she wanted to give me all the money she'd received from the tooth fairy.  When you are eight, $5 is an incredible amount of money, too!  Yet Maggie's generous heart led her to give it to help the children in Mexico.  

When I think about Mags' heart, I am so touched by her generous spirit and convicted of my own selfishness. I am also reminded of the widow who gave all she had and how Jesus praised her for her "small, but big" gift.  I thank God for both Maggie and her priceless gift, and I can't wait to tell a child in Mexico how a child in America loved her and wanted to help her.

Commercials-Effective or Entertaining?

I'm not a big TV person.  I grew up in a home where TV was not a central part of our lives, and we didn't even have cable for most of my childhood.  When we did watch TV, we watched PBS (Square One was my favorite PBS show) and Saturday morning shows (Hang Time, Saved by the Bell, and cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with my little brother).   Of course as I got older, I made my own choices about TV and became a devoted fan of my one or two regular shows and anyone who knows me well, knows that I love to discuss and analyze those with fellow fans. :) 

However, even more than TV not being a big part of our lives, commercials were almost absent from them.  Both of my parents practically have a conniption if you don't immediately press mute when the commercials come on.  Since my TV viewing time is still pretty limited, I only see a few commercials.  Lately though, I started thinking about commercials--are they effective or merely entertaining?  I recently (out of the kindness of my heart) took pity on a telephone surveyor and answered a few of his questions.  He kept asking me which phone or cable commercials and companies popped in my head first, and I drew a blank nearly every time.  I'm sure that commercials do subtly influence me, but being the independent, strong-willed person I am, I don't think that really have that much of an effect on me.  

Here are two examples from my current favorite commercials:  There is an ad for a cell phone company where the dad travels around the world for business, each time sending a picture to his wife and daughter of his daughter's favorite stuffed animal.  At the end, the picture is of the stuffed animal in front of the family's house.  The little girl rushes out to see her daddy, and it's sweet, cheesy, and adorable.  However, I don't remember the name of the company nor I am likely to switch my cell phone provider.  It did make me slightly desire a camera phone but not enough to pay the extra bucks for it.  Example 2-The high-maintenance bride who wants a cake with a pattern that matches her veil but a color that matches the bridesmaids' dresses, and the accommodating Publix bakery worker who has whipped up a sample before the bride even gets off her cell phone.  (My favorite part of this commercial is when she comes back to the bakery to show the wedding photos to the worker.)  Once again, a heartfelt commercial I connected with and enjoyed.  Did it change me though? Not at all.  I am already an extremely loyal Publix shopper so much so they should actually pay me for all the free PR work I did for them when they were first starting in Birmingham.  This commercial simply affirms what I already believe about "shopping being a pleasure" there.  If Bruno's did a similar commercial, would I shop there?  Absolutely not.  

So that is my diatribe on commercials.  Are commercials effective or just entertaining?  You be the judge.  It's clear though that at least I like to think that they are not influencing my decisions.  Lastly, it also seems clear that I am a sucker for sentimental commercials...just like Meg Ryan and Rosie O'Donnell in Sleepless in Seattle!

Spring!

Yesterday was the first official day of spring.  To a girl who loves warm weather, that is something to celebrate.  Thankfully, spring has been gradually showing herself for the last couple of weeks (with the exception of the snow we had at the beginning of March!).  While fall is still my "official" favorite season, there is something so wonderful and refreshing about spring.  I love the colorful flowers, the blooming trees, the perfect blue skies, the extended daylight hours, and of course, weather that is warm enough to wear skirts and flip-flops again.  

However, I think there is something else about spring that makes it special...we have to wait for it.  Through the bitter cold months of winter, we wait expectantly for spring to come.  It never disappoints us, although sometimes it takes a little longer than we'd like.  (Actually, I always wish it would come sooner--one month of winter would be plenty for me.)  

The "waiting for spring" part reminds me of one of my favorite old picture books.  The book is called Three Friends Find Spring by Judy Delton and is out of print now.  The story is about three animals, and Duck is very depressed because of the winter so Squirrel and Rabbit try to cheer him up.  Though they try various efforts (including ice-skating, painting Duck's living room bright colors, dying the snow the color of grass, etc.), each attempt fails to cheer up Duck.  I love the end of the book though--Duck joyfully calls Rabbit and Squirrel over to his house because he has just seen the first daffodil peeking its head up, and spring is finally here.  Because I loved reading this book as a child at my grandparents' house, I ordered it for my mom for Christmas.  My philosopher brother read it and told me that the plot was pretty disappointing...the friends try and try to help Duck and never succeed.  As I explained to him, that is the beauty of it!  Sometimes in life, we just have to be there for our friends and wait for things to work out in their own time...they usually do, just like spring always arrives each year.

Freedom vs. Creativity

This past Monday, we had a professional development day at school.  While I would have much rather had Presidents' Day as an actual holiday, a day off from teaching is still nice plus getting a real lunch is such a treat.  Having an hour and half to eat at Zoe's with other teachers is quite a step up from eating in 25 minutes in a noisy lunchroom while being bombarded by the never-ending questions of students... "Can I get more ketchup? Can I go to the bathroom?"  In addition to these usual advantages to professional development days, I was looking forward to this particular day for another reason: our focus for the morning was writing.  Since I love to write myself and teach writing, I was predisposed to enjoy this training more than most topics.  Rick Shelton came to our school, and he both instructed and entertained us throughout the morning.  I have his book Write Where You Are and use several of his ideas already in my classroom, but I enjoyed the discussions and learning a few new tips on teaching writing.

One thing Shelton mentioned that morning particularly struck me, especially from a philosophical standpoint.  He stated that "Freedom does not equal creativity."  Shelton pointed out that students need parameters in order to be good writers.  If you tell students they can write about anything they want, you will probably get sentences like "I have a dog.  She is brown.  She is nice."  But if you model good writing to students and then ask them for specifics like describing how fast their dog is, you are much more likely to get sentences like "My dog rushes to meet me every day after school.  She is faster than a speeding bullet and licks me in the face before I can even set down my backpack."  In my own classroom, I have certainly seen students be more successful when given a more specific task or topic.  They still are creative and write from their own unique perspective, but they have a direction in which to head initially. 

I also thought about this statement in other areas of life.  To be creative, you do not need absolute freedom.  If I am a mother one day, I do not intend to allow my children to color on the walls of our house.  I certainly will buy them sketchpads and encourage their artistic abilities, maybe even provide art lessons for them.  However, I think they can develop creativity without having unlimited freedom.   Of course, creativity does require some degrees of freedom and the statement does not hold true in every situation.  Nevertheless, it did make me ponder some abstract ideas a little...

A Dog, an Ambition, and a Goal

Today, I am joining the world of bloggers. Yes, I know, I am rather late in joining the 21st century.  However, several recent events led me to this point...

Over Christmas break, I read one of the best novels I have read in a very long time: Marley and Me.  Because of John Grogan's easy and entertaining style, I flew through this book and absolutely loved it.  My family was amused as I would often laugh out loud while reading, and then I cried for over thirty minutes as I read the end.  My affection for dogs and my family's enduring belief that dogs are truly members of our families also helped me enjoy the book, too, of course.  However, there was something more than all of these things that contributed to my love of this book... its ordinariness.  Marley and Me is novel about real people and their ordinary lives.  As readers, we experience the Grogan family's life struggles and joys with them.  I think we cling to this because most of our own lives are ordinary, and yet this does not make them any less significant or profound.  Reading a book about an ordinary family and watching them walk through different stages of life reminded me of this and how much people do enjoy simply relating to others.  Being a big detail person, I have always loved hearing details of others' lives, be that one of my friends or even just a character in a book.  I also, of course, love sharing details when I tell stories. :)

As I reflected on these things, I remembered that I had a "secret ambition or dream" to one day write a book.  Reading Marley and Me encouraged me I could write about everyday people and things.  I think if I ever do write a book, I would attempt a children's novel.  I've read a lot of them, I know what appeals to most elementary school-aged children, and they usually all have happy endings.  It truly is just a far-off dream, and I'll still be quite content to die if I never fulfill it.  Still, I'm trying to learn to dream big and be more of a visionary so perhaps one day...

Thus, I made a goal for 2009 that I would write more.  (I don't make resolutions because I feel guilty if I break them; it's ok to break goals.)  I thought having a blog would be a good way to write more so here it goes...solo deo gloria.