A Teacher's Heart, Flights, and Funds

I can hardly believe that it is already April, what has happened to this year????  First of all I want to thank you all for the support from my last blog, I had more views than I’ve EVER had! I was blown away! You guys are seriously the best!

Next, some quick updating.  When I last posted in January I was in the process of getting my substitute teaching license.  I did get it in February and started subbing within days of receiving the paperwork.  I’ve been subbing almost everyday since then, bare minimum of four days a week.  I’ve heard a lot of horror stories about being a sub, but honestly I found it kind of fun.  I have now taken a Long-Term Substitute Position, but I’ll explain more about that in a minute.  I loved the freedom I had with being a sub, the freedom to travel and discover all sorts of different schools, to be able to interact with a huge variety of kids, and being able to be a part of their lives, even if for just a day.  One of the other things I liked, was the freedom to not go back to a school or a classroom.  There is so much peace in knowing that things will only last for a set amount of time, for a day or a week.  So even on days when the students scared me, or refused to listen, there was always a hope and a joy for tomorrow, because who knew what tomorrow would be like? I found so much peace and comfort in that, and I’m working at learning to keep that perspective all of the time. 

As I subbed, I found several schools that I thought were pretty special.  The day before spring break one of these incredible schools asked me to be a long term sub for them, starting the week after spring break and through the end of the semester.  I quickly agreed! Spring break turned into a whirlwind of gathering what classroom supplies I had, and buying the critical ones that I needed.  Then last Monday my newest teaching adventure began with 26 fifth graders. 

These past few months subbing and this past week of being full time has shown me that I really did pick the right profession.  I love helping students discover the world around them.  I love seeing their “light-bulb” moments, answering their questions, and being able to be the one that they look to for guidance.  Being a teacher is such a special, and wonderful thing! I feel so blessed to be able to work with students every day and to get to watch them learn and grow.  They captivate my heart so quickly, that even I’m amazed by the depth of love I can have for students after spending a day with them, or how strongly I can feel towards my own students after a week with them. 

I am currently looking for a full time teaching position for the beginning of the school year next August.  But until then, after I make it through May, my focus is my amazing trip this summer. 

As most of you know, I have the wonderful opportunity to teach English in Asia this summer.  It will be a six week trip from June 20^th to August 2^nd, through an organization called ELIC, or the English Language Institute of China.  They are a non-profit organization that sends English teachers to a variety of countries in Asia, the Middle East, and even Northern Africa. But since they are a non-profit they cannot provide the funds to pay for their teachers to make these trips.  This means that I am having to raise funds in order to bless the students I will be teaching overseas.  This is where I need your help.  I have begun to have funds start to slowly trickle in, but I need to have 70% of my funds in by May 1^st.  Oh, May 1^st, that doesn’t sound to bad, you’re thinking.  But guess what, that’s only three weeks away! (Seriously what happened to this year??) I was also asked to be a team leader for our group since they needed a female in a more leadership role to help out as well.  I am so amazed by this request, and I feel so blessed to be able to do as they ask, but that has also created another financial problem.  I need to change my flights in order to be able to get the leadership training ELIC is providing.  If any of you have ever had to change your flights, you know, it’s expensive! It could cost me more than I paid for the flights in the first place.

Please consider helping me and donating to my cause.  I’ve seen so many people using links on Facebook to donate to whatever non-profit someone decides to share. Instead, would you please consider donating to my trip to be able to help students who don’t have access to education the way our students in America do.  Here’s the link to be able to donate: https://give.elic.org/ and then just enter my name in the teacher box. 

Thank you for reading, and for all of the support you have provided from my exciting overseas journeys starting with YWAM in 2013.  I always get so excited to write to all of you and share this crazy adventure. Please drop me a line to ask me any questions you might have, or to share the amazing things happening in your life.

Bring Me That Horizon

Hello all!

For those of you who had your curiosity piqued by the teaser at the end of my last blog... this is the blog you've been waiting for! And if you are just now tuning in, then you picked a great time to do so.

Knowing that I was graduating in December I spent a lot of time last year thinking about what to do when I graduated. I knew I wanted to teach, but I had a variety of options of how to go about that.  The thought of teaching internationally definitely came into my mind early on.  I spend time talking to others who had taught outside of the USA, as well as looking into organizations, and missions programs that I could join or participate in, but the more I looked the more overwhelmed I felt and the more discouraged.  Nothing I found seemed right for what I wanted or felt called to.  Add in some other life factors and I decided to give up on the idea.  Clearly God had other plans for me, and I just needed to figure out what those were.

Time continued to pass, and by the end of student teaching I had my next step lined up.  I was starting the process to get my substitute teacher license and was ready to do that and then figure out the rest of 2018 after the spring semester.  In November and December a lot of things in my life shifted, and as you would expect, shifts bring change.  These changes made me look back at why I had chosen to put aside my desire to teach internationally.  I also started re-evaluating when I found an opportunity that sounded like a dream come true for me.  I looked into this mind-blowing opportunity and the more I learned the more excited I became.  It was so much of what I had dreamed of, that I found it impossible to say no to it.  After only about a week my mind was made up and I began to take steps to get accepted into this program.  After another week or so and a few phone interviews I was accepted! All this to say... this summer I get the exciting opportunity to go teach abroad! I will get to spend six weeks teaching English in Asia.  As a high school student my dream was to teach in the USA during the typical school year, and then spend the summers teaching in other countries.  While this incredible teaching opportunity may only be for one summer (maybe, I make no promises either way) it still seems like exactly what I dreamed of doing.

If you would like to hear more about this, or if you would like to partner with me in this crazy endeavor, please message me, or comment on this, and we can get coffee, or tea, or lunch, or whatever you would like, and we can discuss all of this! I do have to raise funds to pay my own way, so if you are interested in partnering in finance (or in praying for me!!!) please let me know.  I will also be selling some products in order to raise some funds.  Check out the example pictures below and if you would be interested in purchasing any of these products please let me know and we can discuss details for those as well!

Ketchup

Hello to one and all!

I want to start by appologizing for never posting a blog about how my trip to Belize was last October (and by last I mean 2016). It was a wonderful trip, amazing people, fulfilling work, and lots of growth and strength.  If you didn't get to see my picture recap, or want to know more about how it was I would gladly share more anytime just let me know.  

Now, to the meat of the matter, (to go along with our Ketchup) this year of 2017 has been quite the ride! January brought me to my last semester of college on campus, and it was... well... I'm just glad it's over. By May I was so done with the lightrail, the campus, the crazies, the work, the homework, so the summer came as a welcome relief and break.  It was a rather casual summer, I continued to work some at Lifetouch, while just spending time getting some R and R.  We took a trip to Utah as well as a four-wheeling/camping trip.  Both of those trips were way to short to fill my wanderlust though.  

August has lead to my final step for my college education: Student Teaching.  This fall season has been one of the hardest I've dealt with, in ways I would never have imagined.  Between struggling with communication, doubting myself, my body fighting against me, and all kinds of emotional stress, this semester was tough.  As it's came to a close though I found myself sorry to be leaving, despite all of my struggles.  I left an amazing teacher, who has become an even better friend than she began as, as well as 90 students that I have grown to care about a great deal.

What's next you might ask? Your finishing college, then what? Those are the same questions I've been asking myself for the whole year.  God has slowly been feeding me step by step directions, but not at all making the whole picture clear.  This is the first time in my life that I have not seen clear plans for a year or more to come, and it causing me to lean into God even more and trust his plans for my life.  My next step is this current spring semester.  I am in the process of getting my substitute teaching license for this semester.  I'm hoping that by subbing I can find a school or at least an age that I want to teach at and with.  I look forward to the diversity and the variety that will come with being a substitute.

After this semester I'm looking at some bigger, more exciting things... But I'm not quite ready to share them yet until I know what God approves for me.  But stay tuned! and watch for my next blog post.. it should have some exciting news, soon!