Life has certainly become busy these days. Every afternoon brings an activity and the weekends have not become a reprieve to the crazy schedule. I am learning to better balance my time through this, and I do relish the times that I get to know the students better.
I was talked into playing softball-slow pitch softball. For those of you who know me from my younger years, I was not known for my stellar softball skills. I am viewing this as a ministry, a time to better get to know the kids. Plus they can’t say too much because there have to be three girls on the field and there are only four girls on the team.
I have been experimenting more in the kitchen. I made crackers the other day. They didn’t taste half bad. Well except for the little accident. I forgot two pans in the oven while watching a movie and they were burnt to a crisp. I hated to throw them out because of the time and labor involved. So I have compromised, and I eat them with my homemade, weak, salsa. That is followed by lots of water.
Yesterday I made two apple pies with a couple students. I am a big fan of apple pie. I have learned I’m an apple snob. Haha. I like Granny Smith apples in everything. You can’t always find them, but they did have them yesterday when I went to the fruit stand. I made a big deal of this and the students looked at me like I was crazy.
Then after that, two students came over and made chicken curry. It was fabulous and a definite learning process. You cannot buy chicken breasts. You buy a whole chicken and you have to debone, deskin, and remove all the yucky inside organs. Fortunately, one of the girls was an expert at this.
I know what you’re thinking-I’m making my students cook for me. That’s not entirely true. As you know, getting to know the kids outside the classroom is my favorite part of teaching. It is encouraged here because our lives are so interconnected. I like to cook and I find a lot of my students like to cook as well. It is such a fun time of hanging out, joking around, and building great relationships.
Last night I went to our church’s choir concert. There were 9 choirs there. Let me tell you-it was an African event. The singing was amazing! It was also a great reminder that time is not the most important thing here. The concert lasted four hours. Unfortunately I did not stay for it all. I took video and hope to piece some of it together when I come home so you can enjoy it as well.
Hmmm…what else…
The diplomat spoke at our school the other day. She is a strong Christian and it is great to have people in public service that desire to follow the Lord. I find myself buying into an international view of America, and I don’t always like that. Sure, America has its problems, its vices, etc. I’m not ignorant of those. However, we tend to gloss over all the good features of America-our giving spirit, the chance of opportunity, etc. I am proud to be an American. I wish others around me would be proud to be Americans too instead of focusing on all the negatives. The same should be said of you in America. Yes, acknowledge the problems and try to change them, but don’t ignore the things that make America truly great.
Until next time…
Monday, October 27, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
That punched-in-the-stomach feeling
Written on 10-15:
Life is hard. I keep saying that to my roomie lately.
Today I received the news no teacher likes to hear-a loss of a (former) student. How do you process that? Should I be writing on here, should I be journaling, should I be _______ (fill in the blank). I figured I'd continue this post in hopes that my rambled thoughts can be an encouragement to someone halfway around the world.
I received the email. I bawled. His face kept flashing in my mind all day. I looked at the desk in the second row of my current algebra class and I saw him. I thought about his late arrivals to algebra, his “love” of graphing, and his wonderful facial reactions.
How do you explain to someone the family that is a small school? How can you explain the pain you feel but also the pain you feel for your former students? I mean, they were always more than students for me. They were my kids. What can I do from Senegal? I can’t wrap them in big hugs and take away their pain. That’s what I want to do. I want to take the punched-in-the-stomach feeling away from them.
Americans don’t like grief/the grieving process. People need to know it’s okay to hurt. It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to be angry. “I’m sorry” never seems adequate. It’s the truth though. I’m sorry it happened. I wish I could rewind time. I do. Kids should not have to handle so much pain.
What can I do from Senegal? I can pray.
I know that may sound shallow and trite right now. I mean, I love God. I really LOVE Him, but during the initial news, I reacted in anger towards God. I wanted to control the situation, to know the “why”, to make life fair and not so hard. Then I had to remember. I’m not God. I don’t know all. Some things in life are hard and we may never know the reason “why.” God is not a security blanket for weaklings. He is the Truth. The Truth that does not owe us explanations. I wish we could know everything. I do. I rest in the fact that God does know all. His living Word reveals God’s nature. That is where we need to go to for comfort.
John 11:35 Jesus wept.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
Isaiah 40: 28-29 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth…He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength.
Psalm 71: 12 O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!
Psalm 46:1, 10a God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble….Be still and know that I am God.
Into God’s loving arms I run.
Life is hard. I keep saying that to my roomie lately.
Today I received the news no teacher likes to hear-a loss of a (former) student. How do you process that? Should I be writing on here, should I be journaling, should I be _______ (fill in the blank). I figured I'd continue this post in hopes that my rambled thoughts can be an encouragement to someone halfway around the world.
I received the email. I bawled. His face kept flashing in my mind all day. I looked at the desk in the second row of my current algebra class and I saw him. I thought about his late arrivals to algebra, his “love” of graphing, and his wonderful facial reactions.
How do you explain to someone the family that is a small school? How can you explain the pain you feel but also the pain you feel for your former students? I mean, they were always more than students for me. They were my kids. What can I do from Senegal? I can’t wrap them in big hugs and take away their pain. That’s what I want to do. I want to take the punched-in-the-stomach feeling away from them.
Americans don’t like grief/the grieving process. People need to know it’s okay to hurt. It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to be angry. “I’m sorry” never seems adequate. It’s the truth though. I’m sorry it happened. I wish I could rewind time. I do. Kids should not have to handle so much pain.
What can I do from Senegal? I can pray.
I know that may sound shallow and trite right now. I mean, I love God. I really LOVE Him, but during the initial news, I reacted in anger towards God. I wanted to control the situation, to know the “why”, to make life fair and not so hard. Then I had to remember. I’m not God. I don’t know all. Some things in life are hard and we may never know the reason “why.” God is not a security blanket for weaklings. He is the Truth. The Truth that does not owe us explanations. I wish we could know everything. I do. I rest in the fact that God does know all. His living Word reveals God’s nature. That is where we need to go to for comfort.
John 11:35 Jesus wept.
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
Isaiah 40: 28-29 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth…He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength.
Psalm 71: 12 O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me!
Psalm 46:1, 10a God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble….Be still and know that I am God.
Into God’s loving arms I run.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Dichotomy-say that three times ;)
So I’ve lost count on how many times I’ve tried to write this blog. I think this is the sixth or something. (Power cuts, internet problems etc keep getting in the way.) I really wanted to say something profound, but now I just want to say something. This may not be eloquent as the heat index is 99 degrees (88 with 70% humidity) at 4:30 pm.
I went on a weekend vacation outside of Dakar. One of the missions has a beach house. While there, thoughts started to gel in my head. I’ve hesitated to write about what I see each day. I didn’t want to form opinions too quickly in fear they would skew what I see for the years to come. I guess this is what PFO termed “delaying judgment.”
I’ve come to the conclusion that Senegal is one big dichotomy. (Well, actually it’s probably a bunch of little dichotomies, but you know what I mean.) I think the best way to illustrate is with pictures I took on vacation.
This is a view at the beach house in Ngaparou. Beautiful isn't it?
Standing in the same spot as the previous picture but looking a little bit lower. Those white things in the picture are dead fish.
There are many other examples: I see begging children walk by a parked Mercedes on my way to school, beautiful flowers with piles of trash underneath, etc.
Living here, I understand how our views are shaped by our perspective. I could see the beautiful ocean or just the dead fish, the flowers or trash. What is your perspective at this moment? I’m not implying that it’s good to focus on one while ignoring the other. Seeing both are good. It’s just that if I always focused on the dead fish or the trash, then I would be missing so many wonderful things.
Perspective…
I went on a weekend vacation outside of Dakar. One of the missions has a beach house. While there, thoughts started to gel in my head. I’ve hesitated to write about what I see each day. I didn’t want to form opinions too quickly in fear they would skew what I see for the years to come. I guess this is what PFO termed “delaying judgment.”
I’ve come to the conclusion that Senegal is one big dichotomy. (Well, actually it’s probably a bunch of little dichotomies, but you know what I mean.) I think the best way to illustrate is with pictures I took on vacation.
This is a view at the beach house in Ngaparou. Beautiful isn't it?
Standing in the same spot as the previous picture but looking a little bit lower. Those white things in the picture are dead fish.
There are many other examples: I see begging children walk by a parked Mercedes on my way to school, beautiful flowers with piles of trash underneath, etc.
Living here, I understand how our views are shaped by our perspective. I could see the beautiful ocean or just the dead fish, the flowers or trash. What is your perspective at this moment? I’m not implying that it’s good to focus on one while ignoring the other. Seeing both are good. It’s just that if I always focused on the dead fish or the trash, then I would be missing so many wonderful things.
Perspective…
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