Thankful Today

Yesterday was a rough day of teaching, but today was much better. At the end of the day yesterday I was left asking why I was a teacher. In the morning, I had a student cuss me out, try to start hitting me, then bolt from class!!! All because I told him he had to finish his power point (I was teaching technology class). Praise the Lord I had an aid in the room that I could send after this student and she found him and helped him get himself under control. Unfortunately, I would have handled the situation with this student much differently had I known how he would respond to me and why he responded the way he did. Just one example of why relieving teachers need to be told about any special needs of students in the class. oh well, I survived. In the afternoon, my class was all about mocking eachother and talking way too much, I could hardly get out instructions, oh and did I mention hitting. Good grief!

This morning when I got to school I told the Lord I needed some encouragement. I needed something to go right so that I could keep going. Then I remembered Hebrews 12:1-2

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge croud of witnesses to the life of Faith, let us strip of every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now, He is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne." (NLT)

I am so thankful that God's Word is refreshing and new every day. Then I had a wonderful student in one of my morning classes today, it was just the right encouragement I needed to keep myself on top of my game. God is so good.

shout out

Well this is pretty much just a shout out to Nigel from Redoubt North. Every time I go to Nigel and Julia's house or church or see them, he always has a commentary on my blog status and stories. This cracks me up. Honestly, I know my friends and family read this thing but I forget. So good on ya Nigel for keepin' me on my toes and reminding me to keep my blog goin'

Choosing Joy

Over the past few days, life has just been nice, busy but nice. Saturday, I slept in for the first time in a long time. I needed that rest. Sunday, I sang in a contata at Greyfriers Presbeterian Church. The choir I sing in is going to sing "Come Redeemer" many times over the next few months. I don't think I really understood how huge of a deal it was when I joined, but it is fun. On Sunday, we sang two services. We have presentations in June and July as well. "Come Redeemer" is a cantata that is all Scripture put to music. I absolutely love singing it and I'm memorizing Scripture at the same time. Sunday was a day of complete Joy. I was also able to spend time with my friend Serina and help her edit some papers. It was a good day.

Today there were many times I had to choose joy. Teaching intermediate school can be so hard. I just feel like I don't know how to communicate with my students sometimes. I want to enjoy teaching, I want my students to enjoy learning, but this whole school thing is a two way street. I need my students to work with me, listen, and follow directions. But anyway, at the end of the day, I am choosing joy. I would much rather be joyful than frustrated. I'm looking forward to the day when I learn how to effectively teach these students. For now I am praying for strength, energy, and joy!

Washing clothes

Doing wash is so easy in the States! you just go to the machine, stick the clothes in, they come out wet, you stick them in the dryer, they come out warm and dry! Here, we don't really use dryers. Very few people have dryers. Everybody hangs their clothes to dry. Not a problem, except that it takes a few days for anything to dry because it's winter and it rains a little everyday, so the air is damp and sometimes chilly. Not exactly ideal for hanging clothes to dry. So today, I thought I'd go to the laudromat to do my washing because they have dryers! Well, I ended up not having time to dry my clothes all the way because I had choir rehearsal this afternoon and I got a later start than I planned. All in all, I still ended up hanging my clothes out when I got home grr...oh well, it could be worse! I could have to wash my clothes all by hand. I guess, if my clothes still arn't dry tomorrow I might take them back to the laudry and just dry them. We'll see.

Growing

Each of us go through times of growing and being challenged in many different seasons of life. Right now I feel like God is wanting be to grow in so many ways. I've been reading "Woman of Influence" by Pam Farrel and I know God is challenging me through this book. I can feel it inside, it's almost strange. I am not one who usually writes out goals because I generally know what I need to accomplish within myself. I also like to live life as it comes at me, one day, week, month, year at a time. Tonight, I am being challenged to write out some goals. So that's what I'm doing,working on goals, not just a few abstract goals but real ones. I am trying to develop goals for my Spiritual life, Relationships: friends, family ect., Energy: physical life, and Productivity: career, education, ministry. I think this is going to be an intense process. It's going to take more than one night, but at least I'll get a good start. I'm looking forward to this and I think that God is going to use this process to help me better understand myself and who He created me to be.

Pictures at Bethells Beach

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Choir 180

For the past three weeks, choir has been my hardest part of my week. I have choir practice with the kids twice a week, Mondays and Thursdays, I've been getting home utterly exhausted and frustrated by the end of the day. Yesterday, I decided I'd had enough! Before choir I prayed over every single chair in that room out loud. I prayed for every student who would enter the room and I prayed for strength, courage, love, kindness and the right dose of firm. Half way through the rehearsal, I was struggling. My nerves were getting worn down and I needed to get a grip. So I stopped, I asked the students to raise their hands and tell me why they felt the need to mock, swear, hit, kick and mess around in class all the time. I told them that there must be a reason because they did every time they came to choir, so I wanted to hear the reasons from them. Some of my answers: He keeps getting smart, he's touching me, she's mocking me miss, she looked at me. So I said,"Alright, stop getting smart with each other, keep your hands, feet and all parts of your body to yourself, don't mock each other, and look at me, that should solve most if not all of our problems." Now, let's continue. So we did, we went though another song, however there was still too much talking and singing off pitch on purpose. I made it through the song but I was frustrated with them for now disrespecting me. I decided to ask them about that too. So I said, "Now somebody raise your hand and tell me why you all feel the need to disrespect me by talking while I'm teaching, singing off pitch on purpose, and being rude? Again, there must be a purpose and a reason for this, so what is it? Their primary answer: "They're showing off miss" and the expected silence. So I said, "Well, I don't care if you show off on your own time, but don't waste mine." Then I continued: "By this point most of your teachers would be absolutely furious, I'm not angry, my heart is broken for you. I am hard on you because I want you to do well, I don't want you to fail and not learn this music. Then you will be frustrated with yourselves. I need you to work with me so that you succeed!"(By this point I was almost in tears, but I kept my composure). That was it, choir was over. I ended by telling them that our next rehearsal was going to be totally different. They were going to come to choir ready to sing, learn the music, respect each other, and have fun too.

Today was that next rehearsal! I had an entirely different group of students! We made it through four songs, learned new material, successfully learned parts! It was wonderful. God was with me, I know He was. I'm pretty sure someone was either praying for me at that time or prayed for me specifically about that time. I am so thankful this rehearsal! I finally feel like we're getting somewhere and we'll learn the music. I was so encouraged!!! I hope next week goes just as well if not even better, these kids have so much potential. They have great rhythm and really strong voices, they just need to use them correctly and work as a team. This choir I heard today is a 180 degree change from the last rehearsal. Praise the Lord!

Birthday Celebrations

I felt so loved and blessed on my birthday even so far from home. I took off for Bethells beach with one of my friends on Sunday morning and had a wonderful time of journaling, exploring, running, singing. Just enjoying God and thanking him for the life he's given me. Then on Monday night Redoubt North held a carry-in dinner to celebrate with me. I felt so loved and blessed. Thanks to all of you who made me feel special on my birthday!

Netball, painting, and Mt. Wellington

Mmmm....it was sunny today! It was absolutely wonderful. I started out this morning by going to a netball game. Netball is like basketball without dribbling and without a backboard. One of the young girls at Redoubt plays recreation netball. Her name is Bethany and ever since my first Sunday at Redoubt, this 10 yr. old has been my best friend. She is so sweet and really wanted me to come to her netball game, so I did.

This afternoon, I spent the day at Mt. Wellington. It is a big dormant volcano in the middle of the city. I actually use this mountain to help locate where I am and where I have to be in the city. I don't have lake MI but I have Mt. Wellington:) I hiked around, spent some time reading, singing, and just enjoying the day.

This afternoon I was feeling crafty, so I painted. I found some inexpensive concentrated watercolor paints and what not, then just painted for fun. I painted a sunset and tulips, mmm..it was definitely enjoyable. I like painting, I just don't usually have time for it. So it was a nice part of my day today. Tonight I'm going to a birthday party and a house warming party. So off I go.

Jesus shows up

It started yesterday afternoon. My Tues. afternoon class is so difficult. The students just don't want to listen. I waste more time telling them that I will not begin until they are quiet, and repeating instructions because someone wasn't listening or reprimanding students for swearing or you name it...I was/am SICK OF IT!!!!!!!!! For the past two Tuesdays, this class leaves at the end of the day and I'm shot, physically and emotionally. This morning I got to school with a horrible headache, not sure how I was going to face the morning. I sat and prayed for a while, just got honest with Jesus and asked Him to meet me where I was at. I needed His strength today in a mighty way. As you know, Jesus showed up. I turned on some peaceful music, journaled some thoughts and the Lord helped me refocus on what I was there to do. Love these children and teach them music through His love. My headache went away and I was able to enjoy my day. Granted I did keep three students this afternoon for the 2:55 Crew (detention) but I felt good about it. I had a discussion with them when it was finished and we'll see what happens next week. I hope I got through to them at least a little bit! Praise the Lord for helping me through this day and every day! I can only teach because of of Him.

Rock Climbing

Tonight I went rock climbing with Annie, Gram, Nathan, and Aarron. We had a great time. I found out this indoor climbing place is less than ten min. from my house..Way cool! We all had some pretty great climbs. Gram is a great climber, it was amazing to watch him. I am a beginner/intermediate climber, but tonight I definitely had some of my best climbs yet. I usually tire out before I make it to the top, but tonight I made it through at least four or five complete climbs! For me, that's a personal best. Next time I go I'm going to start with one of the harder climbs, tonight, I had already done two faces before I tackled the harder one, so my arms were already pretty sore, but I made it most of the way up. Ok, I think I've rambled enough for one night. I need to get off to bed here soon.

Mission Bay

Last night I went out to Mission Bay for a time of reflection and processing. I wanted to really think about the experiences I've been having and also just spend some quiet time with the Lord. I was so blessed. It was a peaceful night, not too chilly, and not too many people around. It was just serene. When I got there, I jumped over the stone guard wall just like a kid who couldn't wait to play in the sand. Then I just stood and looked around. Looked at the sea, looked at the coast, looked at the islands(volcanoes), look all around. I listened to the waves and the wind, and the slight sound of traffic not too far away and kids who jumped in the fountain. I was just still and it was good. Then I walked down the coast a bit to the playground and just decided to spend some time swinging and singing, it was wonderful. I feel like it's been so long since I had this kind of evening, so peaceful.

After I spent some time by the water, I went across the street to a coffee shop and had a latte while reading. This was nice too. I found a little cove in the corner of the shop that was kinda like a cave, it was perfect. Once I had finished reading I headed for home. When I got home I wanted to look through my Nooma DVDs for a specific one that I want to share with one of my friends on Sat. While I was looking for that one, I ran across another one that I hadn't watched in a while, so I put it in. I hadn't watched this one in so long that I forgot that it was filmed right on Lake MI. I love the water, especially watching the sunset at Lake MI, so when I saw this, it was like God let me have a little piece of home, just for a moment.

I enjoy a busy life, but I also appreciate the time to slow down and reflect. Last night was one of those times. Praise the Lord.

Weekend

This weekend I went to Thames with a family from church. It was Beautiful!! I had a lovely time. We were only gone for Saturday all day and came back Sunday morning in time for church, but it was relaxing and wonderful. I enjoyed the beauty of God's creation and time with friends. It was the perfect ending to a busy week and a great kick-off for the next.

Tonight I went to Shore Grace Church. I was able to see some other friends and worship in a wonderful family of believers. I met some more new people and was incredibly blessed in so many ways. God is so Good and His love is So GREAT!

Weekend

This weekend I went to Thames with a family from church. It was Beautiful!! I had a lovely time. We were only gone for Saturday all day and came back Sunday morning in time for church, but it was relaxing and wonderful. I enjoyed the beauty of God's creation and time with friends. It was the perfect ending to a busy week and a great kick-off for the next.

Tonight I went to Shore Grace Church. I was able to see some other friends and worship in a wonderful family of believers. I met some more new people and was incredibly blessed in so many ways. God is so Good and His love is So GREAT!

Two weeks down

Well, I just finished my second week at Tamaki. I think this is going to be a good fit for me. I am really tired though. This week has been total chaos. I've had something going on every night. In my last post, I mentioned that I have tons of stories, and I do, but there are so many things that happen in one day, that I can't remember what to write about. So I'll give you a rundown of the week:

Monday: School, Mtg, then I head off to Redoubt North Wes. for a meeting about C.I.A (Christ in Action) kids club. This was a planning meeting to discuss what our roles were to be on Thursday. God really confirmed that this is where He wants me to be because of the name C.I.A. At IWU I had an amazing experience traveling with a C.I.A drama team for a summer. Peter came up with this same name for the kids club! God is so cool!

Tuesday: School, Mtg, then I went to see a local high school play. It was a Shakespeare play and I can't for the life of me remember the name of it right now. But the kids did a nice job, they shortened it a bit, which I thought was a good touch. Then I went for coffee to catch up with my friend Sam, who is a youth leader at the Fijian Wes. church which I visited last time was here.

Wednesday: School, then off to a choral directors mtg for the APPA choral festival. This is much like the state honors choir festivals that happen in the states. I am taking our choir in November, I am now learning songs in Maori and Samoan for this festival! Also included in the repertoire is John Rutter's "For the Beauty of the Earth" which I absolutely love, so I'm excited. After this meeting, I headed off to my own choir rehearsal for the community choir that I joined with Ferne.

Thursday: School, No Mtg!!!, then off to C.I.A kids club at Redoubt North Wes. We had a great night. There were six kids from the community that came and a few kids from the church too. It really was the perfect amount of kids for the first time. In two weeks we'll have another C.I.A. we hope to bring in a few more kids for that one, but this week was still a great success. My responsibility was telling the Bible story. Our story this week was about how God called Abraham to move to a new land! How absolutely appropriate!!! It also encouraged the kids to be unselfish with there brothers and sisters, like Abraham with Lot when the two of them split company.

Friday: It's the Weekend!!!! Yay!! No Mtg.!!! Went to get some groceries and now I am headed off to get ready for relaxation. I'm headed to a beach house this weekend with a family from Church. We'll be back Sunday morning, but just having Sat. away will be such a blessing! Praise the Lord! Thanks for all your prayers this week and keep them comin'! I am living in the strength and blessings of the Lord one day at a time.

music notes

So let's forget: whole note, half note, dotted half, quarter note, and eitght notes! Now we use semibreve, minim, dotted minim, crotchet, and quarves. Good grief, it hard enough to get kids to understand all the different notes and now I have to learn all new names too! oh well...

I'm off to a meeting, but I have plenty of strories from today, so I'll post them later.

School Updates

Well, I've almost finished my first week of teaching a Tamaki Intermediate. I am finding that I have a huge range of students. Not only do I have the kids from Tamaki but I also teach kids from outside schools that come in for specials, which are called technology classes here. So my students come from many different types of cultures and lifestyles. My plans are going to have to change for the Tamaki kids because they do not follow instructions the same way the other kids do. I have to spoon feed them everything right now. I hope to get them past that and help them take some responsibility for their education.

As far as my daily schedule goes, it's not too taxing yet. But we do have block schedules so I have hour and a half classes, which can be too long sometimes. I have a lot to learn yet about how to plan for an hour and a half of class time.

Life is still going well and I am enjoying some absolutely beautiful weather. I love going for walks in the afternoon because I live near a wetland reserve and it is such a nice place to explore. We are supposed to be heading into the rainy season, so I've been taking advantage of as much sunshine as possible.

Bewildered

Brent: So what are you feeling right now?
Sara: Bewildered! I can't believe everything God is doing!!

I have arrived safe in New Zealand. I've actually been here for about five days now. God is already doing so much that I don't know where to begin filling you all in. Today was my first day of school and it went fairly well. The kids are a bit rowdy but it will just take a little time to get the kids up to my expectations. It will definitely be a challenge, but one that God will encourage me through.

Transportation: Well, the plan to take the bus didn't exactly work out. I took an adventure on Friday and set off to find the school by myself. Haha....right, this city is like 1.2mil. and I def. got stuck in some random suburb. Well, God was watching out for me because as I asked people around how to find the school and/or what bus to take, I came across a family who lived near the school and they took me there. As I visited with this family and got to know them a bit, they offered to pick me up and and drop me off this week!!! Can you believe that? Some random people willing to bring me to school and back! It turns out that they are Mormons. I'm looking forward to possible ministry opportunities with this family. I've already been able to share a few stories of how I came to New Zealand and the blessings God has provided for me.

Sunday: I went to Redoubt North Wes. Church. This was one of the churches I worked with while I was here two years ago and I really feel a special connection to this church. I think I will prob. attend here while I'm in New Zealand. During the prayer request time, I mentioned that I was going to need a vehicle sooner than I thought. Immediately, someone on the other side of the room shouted, "You can have our Mercedes!" It turns out that Allen and his wife Glennis are going to Singapore for about two months and they are more than willing to let me use their car! But get this, it's a Mercedes bins! Yikes, I'm going to need to find some good insurance!

Saturday: I live with a Sri Lanken woman named Ferne. She is quite sweet and we get a long very well. On Saturday night she had a gathering of many believers in the Sri Lanken community for a prayer and worship service in her home. This was a celebration of two years since her husband has gone to live with the Lord. It was such an awesome blessing to worship with this community! We had a delicious Sri Lanken meal (traditionally eaten with your fingers). I was so blessed at this service. Toward the end of the evening the pastor came up to me and shared a Scripture with me, Ruth 3:11 "Do not fear my daughter, for I will provide everything you ask and this whole city will know that you are a woman of virtue." I've never received this type of blessing before and was overwhelmed with comfort from the Holy Spirit.

So, I think this sums up my adventures in the first five days. I prob. left some stuff out, but like I said, I am just bewildered at what God is doing here and the doors He is opening for me. Praise the Lord and may His Kingdom be build up and strengthened!

Flying Across the U.S.

Today I am traveling to New Zealand. I started in Chicago and arrived in L.A. about an hour or so ago, I head off to Auckland in about 1.5hrs. While I was flying across the U.S., I was so blessed. There was so much diversity in landscape that it was just incredible. I saw the Mississippi, the Rockies, the desert, snow, barren land, the Grand Canyon, and much much more. I was reminded about how small I actually am and how big God must be. Praise the Lord for being so gracious to me and blessing my abundantly.

God is so Good!

For the past week I have been covered in planning and preparing to move over to New Zealand. I have been doing my very best not to have a panic attack(haha) about everything that is happening and has to yet fall into place. I love preparing to go, but there are so many details that have to happen just right. I know God is working every single one of those things into place one at a time.

In the back of my head, I have been a little worried about how all of this was going to work financially, at least getting started, once I'm there for a month or two, I'll be fine. But I didn't want to worry about it, so I kept praying and trying to believe that God was going to come through on this detail too, just as he has with so many others.

On Sunday, I was challenged in giving. Not by the pastor, not by any person. I was moved by the Spirit. I knew God was wanting me to give financially to a ministry that was going to further is Kingdom. In my mind, I couldn't figure out how I could afford to do this, but in my Spirit there was no question. So I did. My plan was not to tell anyone about it and just let this be between the Lord and I. However, the Spirit didn't stop there...

Yesterday, I decided I wanted to buy the Nooma DVD series to use for ministry over in New Zealand. I think they will be a great tool to help teens get who Jesus is and His desire to have a relationship with them. So I researched buying the entire set. My plan was to spend about 150.oo bucks on the set. However, when I called Mars Hill, they put me in connection with the distribution center. I went up to Grandville to pick up the series and found out that they were going to give it to me for 75.00 usually this is a 150.00 dollar value from them or close to 200.o0 dollars at a Christian book store!! How awesome is that? Way Awesome!! God is so Good!!!

But the blessing doesn't stop there. Last night I received a phone call to tell me that my initial financial needs were going to be provided for in any way I needed. Wow!! Looking back on what God has been trying to teach me about obedience in the past few years, is now coming to the forefront of my everyday life in Him.

"Praise the Lord oh my soul, All my inmost being, Praise the Lord!"