In Pictures

School has become busy. And by busy, I mean I am currently taking a break from writing about an English Language Learner (ELL) who I interviewed, analyzing a unit plan for 3rd grade Language Arts, writing a math lesson that incorporates technology, and researching for my Senior Integration Paper (SIP). I am thankful for the weekend. A chance to sleep more, catch up on everything I have to do, and relax a little in between. This – blogging – is my relaxation. 

I'm sniffling up a storm right now. Someone told me that student teachers and first year teachers always get sick more throughout the year because they are exposed to so many more germs. I should have been more aware of all the coughing and sniffling first graders I was around, but I wasn't. Whoops. I have been coughing and sniffling all week and today I just feel plugged up. Vitamin D and I have become friends again, as well as lemon tea and tissues. But a cold has not been all that has been going on in my life. I decided the easiest way to share a little update on life would simply be to post some pictures. And so, without further adieu, a little update on my life. 

Pancakes. Damarise and I have begun traditions for our house and Saturday morning pancakes is one of the traditions (actually, it may be our only tradition at the moment...). Some Saturdays we'll have groups of people over, and other Saturdays it'll be just the two of us, but pancakes are always a must and we've had fun spicing them up in different ways. This morning's pancakes were pumpkin spice with chocolate chips. Yum! 

Guitar playing. I am so thankful for the guitar that Dad left behind in storage. When I feel stressed or just unable to think, I play music. Piano was the only instrument I knew and finding a piano to play on campus was always a bit of a struggle. I knew that living off campus this year it would be even harder to find a piano to play, so I began to learn guitar. I love it. I'm not that great at it, but I love picking it up after a long day and listening to the strings sing while being plucked. 

Kilter! I wasn't sure if I'd go to Kilter this year, but I figured that since it was my senior year, I should probably go. And seeing as I never see Kent around campus because both of our schedules clash so badly, I decided to ask him so that we could at least catch up on each other's lives. It was great! We went as Shaggy and Velma from Scooby Doo, and had a great time hanging out together.

 I love this girl! Faith has been a blessing and I am so thankful to have met her over the summer!

Pomegranate. I had a pomegranate once. It was in the backyard of Ouma and Oupa's house in South Africa. It was the first time I'd ever eaten one and I couldn't believe it was just a big ball of seeds covered in juice. It looked funny, but as soon as it hit my tastebuds I was a pomegranate fan! Since that day I have looked everywhere for pomegranates because I wanted to eat another. I even resorted to looking on Amazon, thinking that maybe they sold them. They did, but for $40 a fruit I decided it was not worth it. Then we went to Aldi. And in a little corner by the rest of the produce was a box with three pomegranates left. I couldn't believe it! I was elated! (Not only were they amazing looking, they were so cheap!) I picked up those pomegranates and have been slowly enjoying them. Yum! If you have never eaten a pomegranate, I highly recommend them. 

Tissues. Buying tissues has never been something we've done. We've always used toilet paper to blow our noses. But the other day, Damarise and I decided it would be cheaper for us to buy a box of tissues rather than use our toilet paper. Ah. They have been a soft blessing to my tender nose. 

World map. We got our world map in the mail a few weeks ago. We hung it up and marked everywhere we've visited and lived. I love it. 

And there we have it. A little bit of a peek into all that's been happening in my life. Relaxation time is over, and I should get back to all my assignments... until next time. 

Like Riding Giraffes to School

The other day it struck me, my life isn't quite normal, at least not to most people.

Damarise and I tend to tell some over exaggerated stories. Don't worry, we always correct them. But sometimes it is fun to pull someone's leg. Like when people ask us if we saw giraffes in our backyard while living in Africa. "Oh!", we reply, "Giraffes! Of course! We rode them to school unless we wanted to go nice and slow, then we just lassoed the nearest tortoise we could find." False and false. But you see how easy it is to just go along with their question. And it definitely makes our life sound anything but boring.

The other day Damarise and I were sharing some stories and I realized that some of our stories do sound over the top. I mean who's lived in Canada with no running water (showering in a bath house and then walking up in -40º weather and having your hair turn to icicles), lived in a house built out of duct tape and plastic, seen many african animals, lived in Europe, had hook worm, eaten cow tongue, took their SAT with 2 other people, and can't drive at 19? It sounds absurd, and yet, that is my life.

As I was talking with Mom on the phone the other day she was telling me all about their life right now. "Well, we're trying to figure out how long it'll take to get renewed passports, visas, our stuff from Mozambique to South Africa, plane tickets, and pack our stuff up to move." She went on to say where they would be the next week. It involved staying in two different states and three different houses. I just laughed. This is our life.

It never seems unusual to me until I tell someone else about my life. Like the people who talk about going home for break and how they can't wait to sleep in their own room with their own bed. Damarise and I just look at each other and smile. (Christmas break involved two houses and four different bedrooms for us. Yet it was SO fun!) When they turn to us and ask if we're going home for break we simply reply, "Nope, we don't have a home. Our family will be living in Africa." Their expression is usually the same, a mix of shock and confusion. But this, this is normal. This is life.

Maybe to everyone else this life seems weird. A life where I know that at the end of this month of February I will head back to Missouri to say goodbye to my family as they leave for Africa. Not very many people have that scheduled in their planner for part of their life. But, this is where God has our family.

My life isn't abnormal, my life is just the way God planned it. And that is comforting. It's comforting to know that even though my life may seem anything but normal to some people, God knows everything and He knows just how my life will be, crazy over-the-top stories and all.

Four Minutes

In Youth Ministry class we take turns giving our life story. This Tuesday I was picked to share my life story with the class. We have a time limit of four minutes for our life story and three minutes for people to ask questions. No big deal right? Yah. Right...

Well, I got up and began to tell my life story (which consisted a lot of, "And then we moved from there..." :) ). I had just finished saying that we had moved to Mozambique when the person timing me held up 1o fingers. I looked at him shocked. Only ten seconds left?! There was so much more to tell. I quickly squeaked out the story of Ian's miraculous healing in 10 seconds and then it was time for questions.

After class I began thinking about all that has happened in my life. It really is impossible to tell about everything that has taken place in a four minute time slot. The more I thought about my life the more I was amazed at all God has done in my life. He has led me and my family all around the world... or at least a few continents. He saved Ian from dying of malaria, and healed Dad from what he had in Portugal. He's provided friends everywhere we have moved. He's provided shelter, food, and clothing. He's provided the funds for Damarise and me to attend Covenant College. And He has given me an amazing family!

Someone in the class asked me during the question time if it was hard to move around so much. I smiled. Hard? Maybe, in a few ways, but no, it was amazing! I told her that God has given me an amazing family to move all over the place with. It's like moving somewhere new with your best friends all around you. I don't think it was ever too hard because God has been gracious to me. He's provided me with two amazing parents who follow where God leads and who include all of us kids in their ministry. Whenever we moved somewhere it was never just Mom and Dad going, it was the whole family. I love that!

Telling my life story made me realize, again, how gracious God has been in my life. What an awesome God we serve! He is powerful, sovereign, and deserves all praise and glory.

Busy!

I figured that I should probably update since I haven't done it in a while. It's been hard to find time though. Right now it is 10:01pm and I am wiped out, but here is a little bit of what I've been up to the last week. 

Busy. The word is describing my life. We got back from Beira and started into school again plus prepared a little something for the SIL conference. Damarise, Esther and I are doing the child care this week. I have never been so worn out! We get there at 8am and don't leave till about 4:30pm. It is a long day. We only have two days left. Yeah! An extra bonus to add to the busyness, I'm taking the SAT again. Damarise and I are both going to retake it in October (less than a month to study. Eek!). We've been looking at more colleges and realized we need to get our grade higher in order to apply. Please pray for us! It'll be a lot of cramming. On a less busy note, we get to go to the beach with the Stolks for a much needed time away. I can't wait! After all of this busyness, it will be good to unwind and hang out with the family. 

So, there's a mini update, sorry for not updating much. Hopefully once everything settles down I can get back to writing. Until then, "adieu adieu to you and you and you..."

Lessons from a sparrow

Today when mom came in to wake us up she told us that Sarah's little baby bird had died. The guard across the street had given the baby bird to Sarah, cause everyone knows how much she loves animals!!! Well, she also has a turtle in the porch and I guess the bird drank out of the turtle's water which had diseases and Sarah watched the poor lil' bird die:(..... It made me think about how quickly life comes and goes!

"I am a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow,
a wave tossed in the ocean, a vapor in the wind."
-Casting Crowns

Life doesn't last forever, and what are we doing with our lives while we do have some! Are we honouring the Lord? Are we glorifying Christ? Is Christ's Love shining through our lives in every action of it? ...

Anyways, those were my thoughts on it:)