Blessed

Today, I graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with a degree in Elementary Education. This means that if I so choose, I could go to a school, convince them to hire me and then they would entrust me with 20-odd little lives to mold and shape for a year. Little minds to cultivate and teach.

I'm sorry what??

When did I get that old? That people would trust me with their children's futures? But I digress, that's a whole other post for another day.

I graduated today, but as I prepared for today, I thought back on this year and college in particular and was just overwhelmed by how blessed I am.

Blessed to be know the One who created me and loves me and to be able to grow in my relationship with Him. I have learned so much over these 4 years about what it means to be a follower of Christ and fallen deeper and deeper in love with him. 

Blessed to go to such an amazing school, in the amazingly beautiful Chapel Hill. 

Blessed to be able to learn and grow and challenge myself as a teacher. 

Blessed to have a wonderful family that loves and supports me.

Blessed to have some of the best friends a girl could ask for (and so many more than are pictured here).

Blessed to have a super awesome roommate. I can't believe we won't be living together for the first time in four years. 

Blessed to have gotten to work with amazing teachers, particularly my cooperating teacher, Nicole, who I learned so much from. 

Blessed by amazing families that have taken me in and allowed me to love their children.

And now so blessed to have such amazing things to look forward to, great things to come in the next year and the rest of my life. 

Thank you for following my journey here. I have not been as consistent about blogging these past 2 years, but it has been a joy to share my life with you all. This will be my last post as An Everyday Tar Heel. My days at UNC have come to a close and a new chapter in my life is opening up and with that new chapter, comes a new blog. Please follow my journey to India over at my new blog. 

I love you all! 

I am truly blessed. 

The Power of a Homework Pass

My student teaching officially ended last week, so this past week I have been entering the life of a lazy college student once more and it has been bliss! Most of my friends are studying and taking exams, but I'm just sleeping, reading, watching Doctor Who... you get the picture. It's quite nice.

That said, it was super hard to leave my class and my school. Even though student teaching was stressful, exhausting, and all-consuming, I loved every second of it (well there were some times that I didn't love too much, but for the most part it was great). I loved my kids, I loved teaching, I loved the school I was at, just about everything and I do really miss it.

This week, I have been thinking back on some of the experiences I had while teaching and some of the things that I learned. There was so much that I learned and so much that I failed at and so its good to take some time to process through it all so I don't forget.

Many of these lessons involved a little girl who tried my patience every day. She is as sweet as can be, but seriously behind in school. Everyday was a challenge to try to find a way to keep her engaged in what we were learning and fitting it to her level.

One of the hardest and most frustrating things in teaching this little girl was that she never did any homework. Every week, we would give her 8 spelling words and her homework every night was a different way to practice those words. Every morning, I would ask for her homework and she would give me a sweet, confused look like she had no clue what I was talking about. And every Friday, she would take the spelling test and get most of the words wrong.

My CT and I tried to get her to do her homework, her mom brought it up in a parent-teacher conference, but she still would never have anything to show.

So we started to get strict. Maybe this isn't the best strategy, but it worked. Every time a child would not have their homework, they had to start doing it during recess. And every day before they would leave, I would ask this little girl what she was going to do for homework that night and what she needed. If she needed a piece of paper or whatever, she could get it and take it home to do her work.

After a few days of not having recess, she gave me spelling homework one morning.

I have never been so excited to see words written out three times each.

I gave her a hug and a high five and she was all smiles. In the class, each student has a pass which is punched each time they do their homework and when they get 10 punches, it becomes a free homework pass. So I gave this girl her first homework pass and she was so proud. She taped it to her desk so she wouldn't lose it.

I'm going to be honest. While I was excited and so happy that she finally did her work, deep down, I was still a little annoyed. I didn't want to give her that pass or be so excited. Why should I be excited for something that she should have been doing all year long? Every other kid in that class turns in their spelling homework every day and I don't make a huge deal out of it, because they do what they are supposed to do. By me making a big deal out of her and celebrating, in a way, I felt like I was rewarding her for not doing her work for so long.

How often do we do this in our regular lives?

I don't want to be thankful when my friends, family, or roommate do something that I feel like they should be doing all the time anyway. Why should I thank them or praise them for something that they are supposed to do?

JD talked about this a few weeks ago in his marriage series, but it applies to every relationship.

We tend to assume the positive and point out the negative.

The temptation on that morning was for me to look at that little girl and say, "Thank you for finally doing what you are supposed to do, for finally following classroom procedure. Every other kid does this every day, thank you for finally doing what everyone else does."

We don't want to praise people for what we feel like they should be doing anyway. If my roommate cleans the kitchen or takes out the trash, I don't want to thank her. If she doesn't do those things though, I am quick to notice and get pretty annoyed.

The hard thing is to assume the negative and point out the positive (not my idea, straight from JD).

We are all sinners, so obviously we are all going to do wrong things, things that are annoying, disrespectful, whatever. If we know this about ourselves and each other, than why are we so shocked when the people around us do something to hurt us or annoy us?

A few months ago, I was driving down 54 to 40 and this woman whips around from behind me and gives me this awful look and flips me off. Apparently, she felt I had been driving too slow and was purposefully blocking her in (never mind that I was already going over the speed limit).

My automatic response was to be super annoyed and want to cut her off back. I did not, by the time I got over the shock, she was long gone.

In situations like that, we want to assume that the other person is just a terrible, rude person and respond accordingly. But we don't know that. For all I know, she had had a terrible day or was running late for something important or who knows what.

So what if instead of responding with anger and frustration when people let us down or are rude, we responded with grace. Instead of responding to road rage with more rage, we said a quick prayer for that person, that their day would go better or whatever.

What if we took the time to point out the good things that people are doing, instead of just the bad.

I definitely do not do this enough, never did it enough in the classroom. It is something that I am learning and wish I had done more of while teaching.

Wow this has gotten long.

Final thing, on my last day of student teaching, I had the kids fill out an evaluation of me. It was pretty awesome reading their responses.

One question was "Was there ever a time that I made you feel good?"

This little girl's response? The time that I gave her that homework pass.

Never Enough

"Everything always gets over and nothing is ever enough."

-From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

I read this book with some students about a month ago and came across this quote and it struck me.

If I had to use one sentence to sum up how I feel right now, it would be this quote. 

Everything always gets over and nothing is ever enough. 

I am in a phase of life where it feels like everything is ending. I finish student teaching on Friday (my last LDOC), graduate on May 12, move out of my Chapel Hill apartment soon after that, and move to India on May 24. 

Everything always gets over and nothing is ever enough. 

4 years at UNC seems like a long time. It certainly seemed like it was going to be very long when I moved into that first dorm room, went to that first class, wrote that first paper. It felt like those 4 years would never end, that they would stretch on and on. That it would be forever before I would be able to go to India. 

Then I closed my eyes and now I'm here. Less than 3 weeks away from graduation. 1 month away from my first extended time in India. 

Where did these 4 years go? When did they fly by?

Freshman year, I was itching to graduate. I was ready to go. I hated the thought of being in Chapel Hill for 4 years. 

Now I'm dragging my feet. I can't believe that it is time to go already. I can't believe that it is time to leave the safe bubble of Chapel Hill, leave my friends, my family, my church, and go to the other side of the world. 

Everything always gets over and nothing is ever enough. 

I am excited to go to India. I am excited to start this new chapter of my life. I am excited to see where my friends are going and everything that God has planned for them. 

But I am not excited to leave. 

If I could live in India and Chapel Hill at the same, oh my goodness, I would! If we could all do our awesome things, while still being all together, oh that would be perfect! 

Unfortunately, that is not how it works. Everything has to come to an end. For the next part of my life to begin, this part has to end. And it is sad, it is hard. I don't want to leave. 

Everything always gets over and nothing is ever enough. 

On a completely different note- when I first read this quote, I'll admit, my first thought was about Harry Potter. It all had to end but wouldn't we just love one, two, or ten more books?

Just so you know

I have started a new blog to document my journey to India. There are many reasons for this, but one of the greatest being that I want to have a different feel to that blog than this one has. I have not decided yet what is going to happen to this blog after I leave for India. I have thought about keeping it for updates when I'm in the states (my sister's wedding etc) but I'm not sure. Part of me wants to just go ahead and end it when I graduate. I love this blog, it has been the perfect way to document my college experience and I would not delete it, but I also feel like it may be time to start something new for this next chapter in my life.

Until May, I will be posting on both blogs, so follow both :) and I will keep you updated about the future for An Everyday Tar Heel.

Go over to my new blog- Trading Ashes in For Beauty- and check it out!

I am so excited for what God has in store for me in the future and I look forward to sharing it with you! 

One of those weeks....

It has just been one of those weeks.

Cold and rainy. Indoor recess.

Sick again. I haven't felt completely well in months. I have just become used to having a runny nose. But this time my voice/throat were soar.

Teaching all day with a sore throat sucks.

I was tired and grumpy all week, so of course the kids seemed worse (at least worse than normal). I had very little patience for their nonsense, for the talking and the goofing off.

Math on Tuesday put me in such a funk that even reading Percy Jackson for 20 minutes afterwards couldn't lift me out of it. (Let me tell you, that is a serious funk)

Tuesday night at small group, we spent the evening talking about prayer and then praying for an extended time. As we were spending time confessing our sin, I thought back on the day- every word I said that was too harsh, every time I didn't have enough patience for a child, and so on. Cause that's what it is, sin.

Oh how I need God's grace for this every day, every hour. His grace to have patience when they just won't stop talking. His grace to have love even with those kids who sit on my last nerve. His grace to take the time to listen to them and not just rush off to the next thing. His grace to stay focused when I want to think forward to India plans.

Grace.

I want these children to see God's love through me everyday. I know that I am not always reflective of His love, but that is my desire and my prayer. That they would see Him when they look at me.


This week hasn't been all bad, of course.

My students have been rocking it out with the writing unit we have been doing. They had to do research on an environmental issue and then write a persuasive essay/paragraph trying to get their reader to do something to effect the issue. This is super hard, but they have been doing awesome! They also have made presentations about their issues and they did a really great job with this. We show the presentations for parents/friends tomorrow. I'm super proud of the work that they have done and I'm excited for their parents to get to see it.

We have also started a new reading unit where we are studying Greek mythology (hence reading Percy Jackson). I personally love mythology (although all my knowledge comes from reading Percy Jackson) but its so fun to learn about. I finally feel like I am contributing a lot to the other teachers on the team- this is my jam. I may not know a lot about teaching geometry, but I know mythology. And the kids are loving it. They are so into reading the Lightning Thief. When I stopped reading yesterday, they groaned, loudly. They are always asking me questions and begging to read ahead. They are also loving reading other books and learning more about the Greek gods and goddesses. All around, super fun.

All around, I don't think this week has been too much worse than other weeks. I have just allowed myself to feel overwhelmed and stressed when I didn't need to be. I am very ready for spring break and it is hard to know that my friends will be on break next week when I still have a few more weeks to go. But I will survive.

My time with these kids is drawing to an end. They were asking me if we could have a party on the last day of school and I laughed and told them that I would be India then. That's crazy. They will be finishing school and I will already have been in India for several weeks.

They are so cute when I talk about India. They ask so many questions and are so interested. I love it. They ask me to send them postcards and I tell them that I will, of course, send them something. (I will have to somehow remember to do that hmm...)

so this post is all over the place so I'm going to stop now. The good and the bad. That's what teaching is I'm realizing. Taking them both and learning to push through the bad for the sake of the good. I do love my kids and seeing them really get it is so exciting. And as much as they drive me crazy, I know that I am going to miss them so much.

(They have also been all up in my personal life lately...)

Here I go....

I've talked about it more than 4 years now...

Prayed about it, dreamed about it...

Each time I left, I looked forward to the day that I would get to stay...


Well, that day is coming. Very soon.

I have already told most of you this, but for those who haven't heard my exciting news...

I'm going to India!!!

(To stay this time!!)

I sent R an e-mail last fall saying, "I've been talking about moving to India for 4 years so I guess its time to do it now...."

I'm graduating in less than 3 months. That alone is ridiculously scary to me. 

I'll be leaving for 3 months in India a week and a half later. 

I used to joke about getting on a plane for India the day after graduation, I guess God took that joke seriously.

Here's what the next year is going to look like for me:

Graduate on May 12

Leave for India on May 23 (with an awesome team from Summit including my mom and brother!!!)

Team will leave India on June 2 (or something like that)

I will stay in India until the end of August.

K gets married on Sept 14(!!!!!!)

I will be around NC doing various things for a few months (more details on that as I have them)

Return to India sometime after Thanksgiving and stay for 6 months (so until about May)

This is more than I could have hoped or dreamed. God has been so faithful in providing a way for me to be in India. I am so excited to get to return and see all of my dear friends. I can't wait to introduce my mom to all my girls at the orphanage and show her and my brother around the place that I love so much. I can't wait to see my brother playing with the boys, they are going to love him! 

I have a lot to do in the next 3 months. I am already really busy with student teaching, but I know that God will provide all the time that I need to get ready. I will be keeping you updated on here about my journey as I prepare to go and raise support, etc. 

I am already getting together my support team (both financial support, but more importantly prayer support). If you would like to be on my support team and receive e-mail updates from me, please message me on Facebook or send me an e-mail as lsdroege@gmail.com. I am looking for people to choose one day of the month to commit to pray for me every month (stole this idea from a friend). If you would like to commit to pray for me, please let me know. I know that it will be encouraging to me this summer to be able to look at my calendar and know exactly who is praying for me that day.

Guys, I am so excited! I hope that you will join me on this crazy journey that God has set before me. It will be May 23 before I know it!! I can't wait!! 

Currently

I saw this post on a friend's blog and I loved it! I want to do update posts, but I get easily bored with the whole "High 5 for Friday" thing. So I think I'm going to start alternating between those type posts and this.

Without further ado, I am currently:

Reading more books than I can list probably. Just finished two kids books- When you Reach Me by Rebecca Stead and Wonder by RJ Palacio. I would definitely recommend both of them. (I keep thinking about adding book reviews on this blog and then forgetting about it). I am also reading Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Revolution in World Missions by KP Yohannan, and (pretending to read) The Fellowship of the Ring by JRR Tolkien. These books all take a long time and so I frequently skip to other books. I also read too many books at one time and don't focus very well. I'll hear about a book that I want to read and then go read it even though I'm in the middle of so many others.

Listening I'm not a big music buff, lately I've been listening to Mumford and Sons on the way to school or the Civil Wars. Other than that, I've been playing my Film Scores Pandora station while planning lessons or while the kids work in class. I love that that station plays Harry Potter music like every other song.

Eating I just made banana bread yesterday which is super yummy. I received more chocolate than is healthy from my kids on Valentine's day last week. Yummy but dangerous. I haven't yet figured out what my diet looks like with teaching and everything, I don't have a lot of time to cook, but last week I made a big pot of soup on Sunday and took that for lunch throughout the week and that worked great. So maybe I will do that again this week. We shall see.

Watching Doctor Who and more Doctor Who, with the occasional episode of Sherlock thrown in. Love to watch Doctor Who while writing lesson plans.

Running Bahaha this was one that my friend had (I took it straight from her blog for today),  um I wish I could say that I have been running. One of these days I will figure out how to exercise regularly with my schedule the way that it is.

Writing lesson plans and more lesson plans, but I've gotten really good at it!

Feeling: slightly overwhelmed, but less so than two weeks ago. Each week, I feel more capable as a teacher and more prepared. I'm still trying to figure out how to keep my life balanced and find time to do everything that I want to do.

Waiting for summer and all the big things that are to come. (stay tuned for some big announcements!!). (And for the next episode of Doctor Who)

Missing my friends and family in India.

Wearing Right now? Exercise pants and a hoodie while I write lesson plans for the week. Usually, figuring out what it means to "dress professionally" while still looking cute and like my own style. I think that I have figured it out :) Its a pain getting dressed sometimes, but its fun to find a new cute way to look like a teacher.

Wanting more free time, but loving the reason why I'm busy. Also, wanting the next episode of the Lizzie Bennet Diaries (check it out on youtube fantastic).

Needing grace upon grace for my kids everyday.

Learning what it means to truly love and have grace everyday. Also just how dependent I need to be on Jesus to be able to do anything. But also that I truly love teaching, as exhausting as it is and how much I miss lazy days and lots of sleep, I really do love teaching. I love my kids and co-workers.

Enjoying tea, Doctor Who, and lesson planning. And kettle popped popcorn for dinner.

Resting in the knowledge that God has his plans for me. 

Saying Good-bye

2 blogs in one night, so crazy! But I needed to process through something that happened this week and this seemed as good a way as any.

One of my students left us today. She just moved houses and is going to be going to a new school.

She had been talking about this coming for a while, but things fell through and then she was still here and then randomly she was all "I'm leaving this Friday" and now she is gone.

Her brother brought her by, she packed up her desk and left.

And that's it.

I will likely never see her again.


I'm not going to pretend like this particular student was a walk in the park. If you have heard me talk about student teaching at all, you have heard me talk about her.

She is difficult, she is sassy, she can be extremely stubborn and disrespectful.

Sometimes I honestly wanted to strangle her.

But I also loved her. She is honestly one of my favorites.

As rude as she could be, she could also be wonderful and fun. She is hysterical and crazy.

Most of all, she is so incredibly smart and has so much potential, if she would only just work hard and do her best.

I'm super sad to see her leave our class, but I am also just extremely worried about what is going to happen at her new school. In the wrong environment, without teachers willing to challenge her (both intellectually, but also stand up to her when she can be disrespectful), I am worried of how she could end up.

So much potential could be wasted.

And we had just been making gains. Two weeks ago, we had the worst week, but since then, we had been getting along a lot better. She was still herself, but I was finding ways to connect with her and get through to her.

And now she's gone.

I don't really have anything else to say, except that his whole thing just sucks. It sucks that our community is being thrown off, it sucks that she has to make this huge transition in the middle of the year, it sucks that she is going to be going to a pretty awful school, and it just all sucks.

And there isn't anything I can do about it.

I have to believe that God has a plan for her. That He knows what is going on here. That He is going to be with her and protect. That she will know that Mrs. S and I loved her and somehow that will have made an impact on her.

Her name is on a list with my other students on my mirror to remind me to pray for them. It will stay on that list.

I'm going to miss that crazy girl. 

Hive 5 for Friday

Another blog from me? Crazy I know! I really am going to try to blog this semester and one thing I want to do is the top 5 thing. So here we go:

5. Almost full-time teaching!!
I am gradually getting the hang of this teaching thing! It's been going well and each day gets a little easier. I absolutely adore my school and students, so even though its exhausting and stressful, I love it!

4. Taking the Praxis
Not exactly a high, but I'm glad that its over. I went and got it over with on Wednesday and I was exhausted and sick, but its done and that's all that matters really.

3. Super fabulous small groups
God has blessed me with 2 awesome small groups that I get to be a part of- the one I lead for college girls and the one that the Rudolphs lead for young professionals (I sort of count as a young pro). My college group is amazing! We have such a great group of girls and I love getting to lead and learn from them. I just feel like every week it just gets better!

2. Lesson planning with Michal and Sherlock
Wednesday night, I got to hang out with the always wonderful Michal Rudolph. Chris was out of town, so she and I ended up getting Moe's and watching an episode of Sherlock while I wrote some lesson plans (they were some awesome lesson plans). It was so wonderful getting to spend time with her, it had been way too long with her crazy life and me being so busy with school.

1. Defying Gravity
Not the Wicked kind, but the trampoline time. I actually just got home from jumping at Defy Gravity with the young pros small group. It was amazing! 1 hour of pure trampoline jumping. I am definitely going to be sore tomorrow, but it was worth it! I will definitely be going again!

Thanks for checking in!!


Also, on another note, here is one of my current obsessions. If you like Pride and Prejudice at all, you should be watching this youtube series, cause its AMAZING!!

I'm still here!!

Believe it or not, I am still here!!

I realize that it has been so long since I've posted that most of you either: don't remember who I am and why you follow me or no longer care.

But I am going to try to revive this blog!!

I'm pretty busy right now, but my life is getting really exciting and I want to be able to share it with all of you!

Here are some of the things that I am looking forward to in 2013 that you will get to hear all about:

1. Student teaching (already off to a start)

2. Graduating from UNC :(

3. Finally heading to India!! (for good or at least for longer!)

4. K getting married!

I suppose I could start calling her by her full name since she lives in the good ol' US of A again, but its more fun to call her "K."

Anyway, 2013 is going to be a big year for me (I realize that we are already solidly into 2013 and it is now February, but humor me). I really do intend on being more active on this blog. I have been lazy, uninspired and just downright lazy about blogging on here, but I do want to get back into the habit of it.

God has big things in store for me this year and I hope that you will join me on the journey! 

Rapunzel- A princess I can love

I would not consider myself a feminist and I don't think that Disney movies are inherently evil and teaching our daughters terrible things.

But after reading a couple of books and having a number of discussions along those lines, some of the arguments against Disney really start to make sense.

As much as I LOVE the Little Mermaid, she sells her voice for a boy. I'm not sure how I feel about that...*

All that to say, tonight I watched Tangled with a friend (not for the first time, just for funsies) and I couldn't help but analyze it for the underlying messages it sends our young girls (I didn't do it on purpose, but sometimes I just can't turn off the UNC mind).

Let me tell you, I love Rapunzel.

I think that she is an awesome princess. She's beautiful, sweet, and totally kicks butt and takes names.

She's the kind of princess I would want a young girl to admire.

She is the balance of innocent and naive, but sassy and observant. She figures out what is going on pretty quickly and stands up for herself. This blonde has some fiest to her.

I love fiest.

And the best thing is, both she and Flynn are great. It seems in these kinds of movies that either the girl is sleeping and the boy saves the day, or the girl is awesome and the boy is a doofus.

Flynn is great. He fights for his girl. And lets be real, no matter how much feminism tells us otherwise, a girl wants a boy who is going to fight for her. A man who is going to defend her. I believe that is what we were created to long for. And in the end, both were willing to sacrifice themselves for the others well-being.

Merida in Brave was hailed as a Disney princess for feminists. She was fierce and a fighter. Like the awesome Katniss Everdeen, she was an amazing archer. And most importantly, she didn't want to get married. I had one problem with Merida...

She was a brat.

I couldn't stand her. The way she treated her family and threw temper tantrums was just annoying. (sorry if you liked the movie- the animation and music was beautiful, but I couldn't stand her).

This is not who I want girls emulating, they get enough brattiness from other TV shows and movies.

Why can't a girl be cute and girly? Why can't she be sweet and naive? Why can't she use a frying pan as a weapon?

Obviously, the person that we want our girls to emulate the most is Jesus first and foremost and then the Bible and Christian history is full of amazing women who gave their lives to God and others.

But when it comes to role models in secular culture, I really like Rapunzel.



*I am all for watching The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast (Belle is my favorite princess), but I definitely think that those movies need to be watched together and discussed (as most things do). However, the ones where the girl literally just sleeps while the prince slays the dragon (Sleeping Beauty and Snow White) nope, just nope. 

I'm not an awesome person

Lately, people have been asking me a lot about my plans after college (almost wrote high school...).

I've been asked a lot if I plan on staying in this area to teach after I graduate and, of course, I say no that I want to teach at an orphanage in India.

And I always get the same response:

"Wow. That is so amazing. That is so great that you want to do that!"

And I never really know how to respond.

Because on the one hand, it is kind of awesome. It is a huge need and I'm so excited to get to be a part of these kids lives and a part of the plan that God has for them.

But on the other hand, its not about me. Not at all.

I had nothing to do with it. I did not choose to do this. I didn't decide to go and do this awesome thing.

God literally reached into my life, lifted me off the path I was headed down and set me on this path instead. It was all his doing. I am simply following his directions. Because I've learned its better not to argue with the creator of the universe. He tends to win those arguments.

And even more importantly, I'm not an awesome person. I'm a sinner. I'm extremely selfish. I have a tendency to be lazy and procrastinate.

There are things about life in India that I dread, to be honest. I am not looking forward to the hot summers. I am not looking forward to be separated from my friends and family. I know that I will be frustrated and short tempered at times. I will not be the teacher that I want to be or imagine myself being.

I don't really know why I am writing this, except to say, I am not awesome.


but GOD is. 

School themed top 5

This was my first week in my placement classroom. Since it was the first week of school, we all went to our placements everyday but starting next week we will only go on Wednesdays. I am in a 4th grade class here in Durham and I absolutely love them! Here are some highlights:

5. My kids are having a really hard (but understandably so) time trying to figure out what my name is. So they are constantly looking at me "um excuse me, Miss Dro.. um Miss... what's your name again?" Its super cute!

4. One of my boys chose the final Percy Jackson and the Olympians book to read. When I asked if he didn't want to start at the beginning of the series, he told me that he didn't need to because his brother had already read them and told him what happened. To say I was dumbfounded would be an understatement. But he's reading it and says he enjoys it. But he's missing out.

3. Not a funny story- but we have a couple of new kids to the school so its been really cool to watch them open up and make friends. One boy in particular has been really quiet and shy and spent a lot of time by himself, but today in particular, he really started opening up and talking with the other kids. That makes me happy.

2. My class makes my bookwarm heart warm. Every time my corporating teacher stops talking (even for just a minute) half the class has a book out! I love it! My CT is constantly having to tell them to put their books away. What a great problem to have!

1. Finally, I just really love my kids! One girl wrote me a really sweet note today saying that she liked me a lot (and my clothes and hair haha) and that she really wants me to stay and teach at Forest View next year :) And when I told them today that I wouldn't be there until Wednesday next week, they were all so upset! They told me I should just skip class so that I can come more haha.

So that was my first week! I'm super excited about the year and will have lots of stories to share in the future :)


Also- on a completely different subject: Doctor Who comes back TOMORROW!!! So excited!!! (even though I won't be able to watch the new episode until Monday) It's going to be awesome!!!!!!!

What I did last week

My week started pretty typically:

I took this precious girl out for her 7th birthday.

We went to Frankie's and she wanted to do the ropes course and let me tell you, this girl is FEARLESS! All the teenagers were super impressed by the 7 year old who was going on the highest ropes. And she made fun of her adult babysitter for being terrified of heights. She thought it was just awesome that I was scared and she wasn't.

Then we went to get frozen yogurt and (because its me) found our way to barnes and noble to read some books. It seems these girls and I have started a sort of book club- trading books back and forth each Sunday. 

Which leads me to a funny story. While driving, A says to me when the topic of me being an adult some how came up- "but you're not really an adult, you're still kind of a kid. Like you like to read kids books and do kid stuff, so you're still kind of a kid."

And you know what, sweet girl, I am totally ok with it. 

Also, at B&N we came across this beautiful collection of books:

(That's Percy Jackson and Harry Potter all on the same table)

Sweet A ran up to the table and proclaimed: "Look! It's all your favorite books!" That's right and I'm proud of it! (I might start doing book reviews, in which case you will hear about my recent love of Percy Jackson.)

Then my weekend took a slightly uncharacteristic turn and I found myself doing this:

I ended up at a shooting range with a few friends. This was the first time I ever even held a gun and, as you can imagine, there was some giggling and squealing when we made our first shots (and several rounds after that...)

All in all, it was super fun. My friend and I call ourselves disney princesses because of a personality test we once took. Well I've never seen a disney princess who could do this:

(don't be too impressed, we were pretty close up)

The shooting range was fun, but I don't think it converted me into a gun-wielder (although I would like to go back some day haha).


Also- on an unrelated note, I've decided to completely embrace my nerd side and have entered the wonderful world of Doctor Who. It's British TV (and everything that that implies) at its finest and I love every second! (and it makes scanning so much more interesting!!) 

HIgh Five for Friday

I forgot to do these for the past two weeks, but here we go again! I'm linking up with Lauren over here. Also, no pictures again this week. Fail.

1. Found out my student teaching placement!!

I will be student teaching in a 4th grade class at a school here in Durham starting this fall! I'm so excited! 4th grade is the grade that I wanted and one of my good friends is going to be at the same school as me, so we can ride together! This also makes everything a lot more real and I'm slightly freaking out over the fact that I will be a senior and a teacher soon....

2. Pool time with an old friend.

Yesterday, I got to go to the pool with my best friend from elementary/middle school. It was super fun to hang out and catch up since we go to different schools now and rarely get to see each other.

3. Painting, painting, and more painting

I helped some friends paint a room in their house this week. I really enjoy painting and have done quite a bit of it with my mom here at our house, so I was happy to help them out. It was also a fun excuse to spend time with a new friend before she leaves me :(

4. New books!

I started a new book series this week, I'm not completely in love, but I'm giving it more time. Its another young adult fiction series by the same guy who wrote Percy Jackson. I'm loving some YA fiction this summer.

5. Celebrating 7 years of this sweet girl!!

Yes, this picture is from years ago (but it was the only one I could find right now haha) but today this little one turns 7 and will be celebrating Tangled style! 

Differences that make me smile

India is a different culture.

Shocking I know. 

And yet, I feel like I am beginning to get a grasp on Indian culture, although I realize that I probably never will completely understand that place and I'm fine with that. As I grow more comfortable with this land that I love, it is so fun to watch people experience the culture for the very first time. That has been one of the biggest joys of these past two trips. getting to introduce people to this culture that has captured my heart and see them learn to love it too. 

I love watching the girls pick out their clothes and attempt to wear a sari (as long as I am not the one leading the sari lesson).

It's awesome watching people attempt to eat with their hands, especially our poor left handed friends who have to learn to use their right (if you don't know why you can only eat with your right hand in India... well ask me in person sometime...). 

And always the best is watching them being welcomed by the kids and other members of the ministry. They are always surprised and so happy when the little ones bring out our welcome garlands the first day and cry when they bring out our farewell garlands on the last day. 

And then there are the differences that just make me laugh. I want to share the best example. 

A few weeks ago, there was construction on 147 (the main highway through my city). For probably 1.5 miles, the right lane was blocked off, but no one was working. I finally reached the work, 1 truck drilling in the road, and then the lane continued to be blocked off for another 1.5 miles. So about 3 miles blocked off, for 1 truck. (these distances may be exaggerated)

When we were leaving India, as we drove through Delhi, we came across construction on a bridge, 1 man working on this like fence thing along the edge of the bridge. He had maybe 5-7 cones set up about 4-5 feet into the lane. Traffic barely noticed him and just kept chugging along. 

I don't know if this makes you laugh, but to me it sums up the difference in Indian and American culture. In India, I just laughed, imagining the traffic jam that would have been caused in America, because you know that lane would have been closed for at least a mile for that one man working. 

I'm not saying one way is right and one is wrong, they are just different. 

And it makes me smile. 

High Five for Friday

So I think I'm going to start doing some more posts just about my everyday life (cause I know you are so interested), one of which is the High Five for Friday posts with Lauren for From my Grey Desk. I think I'm supposed to do these on Friday morning, but who really cares haha.

So here are my weeks top moments:

5. Bike riding with my dad.

My dad and I used to ride a lot, but we had stopped for a while. Now we've gone a few times again and when I say ride, I mean like 30-60 mile rides. Its fun to get to hang out with him, I'm a crazy daddy's girl. We talk about really random things: everything from my plans for India to the latest book series I'm reading (see below).

4. Doing nothing but read for several days in a row.

I am fully taking advantage of this summer to be totally lazy and that means that I have spent about 4 days doing nothing but lay in bed reading. Seriously, that is pretty much all i did for the 4th of July. It has been WONDERFUL. Which also leads me to my next point...

3. Percy Jackson

I am a bookworm, but the books I like best are typically written for middle schoolers (Harry Potter, the Hunger Games, etc). This series is no exception, but I am obsessed! I just finished the last book that is out right now (there are three more coming in the next years, CANNOT wait) and now I am suffering major withdrawal. Which most likely means I will be reading them all again. Seriously though, these books are really fun and good too, I will probably do a review of some sort soon.

2. Seeing favorite friends!!

So this happened last week, but one of my favorite friends returned from 6 weeks in East Asia and so I got the pleasure of meeting her at the airport and then driving her down to Charlotte then spending a few days down there with other good friends. It was so great catching up and seeing people's faces since I hadn't seen them since May. (Bemi also told me to read the rest of the Percy Jackson books, so that led to the craziness of the past week of speed reading).

And although it hasn't happened yet...

1. Zach and Lauren's wedding!!!

I'm so excited to go celebrate my sweet friends' wedding tomorrow near Asheville. I'm looking forward to seeing other good friends as we celebrate Zach and Lauren's love and their new life together.



So that was my week. Hopefully next week will be more exciting haha and maybe I will try to take some pictures, but no promises...

To Care for the Fatherless

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this, to visit the orphan and the widow in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world. 

James 1:27

For almost 3 years, that has been one of my favorite verses in the Bible. 

The command to care for the fatherless. 

For the least of these.

It is all throughout scripture. We are to care for the poor, the fatherless, the widow, and the foreigners. 

Because that is what Christ does for us. 

This past Sunday, Danny Franks preached about this verse and the call to adopt for Christian families. He told his own family's story. They showed a video about their little girl that brought me to tears (granted it doesn't take much). 

I love how this family has lived out James 1:27 for our church. I love the way that their boys have stepped up and loved their little sister. I have been amazed as the boys that I knew as elementary schoolers have truly become young men of God in the past year or so. 

I love that our church is taking this call seriously. I love that there will be a packed house on Wednesday night as families come to learn more about adoption and fostering. 

I love that we want to follow Christ's command. I love that people's hearts are aching for the children around this city, country, and world who are alone tonight. 

I love it. 

I know that many of you were moved by Danny's message and by the words of the God coming alive in your hearts. 

I know that you feel the burden for these children. 

I also know that most of you are not in a place in your lives where you are ready or capable of adopting or fostering. 

I am single, in college, and 21 years old. I'm not going to adopt- that would be just crazy. 

But James 1:27 is talking to me. 

Some of you may be overwhelmed just trying to take care of the kids that you already have. 

James 1:27 is still talking to you. 

Adoption is beautiful. Watch the video of the Franks family, it is BEAUTIFUL. 

Adoption is not the only way to live out this command. 

I know 70 children right now who need someone to support them so that they can go to school. $100 per kid is all that it takes to educate a child for the whole year. 

That is caring for the orphaned. You may never meet the child your money went to, but you still made a HUGE impact on their lives. 

There are kids at the orphanage I work at that do not have sponsors and this breaks my heart. There are children who do not have someone here in America loving them, praying for them, providing for their needs. 

You may not be able to adopt. You may not have the finances for it or the mental capacity, but could you give $50 a month and love a child that you have never seen? 

I have been sponsoring a girl in India for the past 2 and a half years and it is the most fulfilling thing I do with my money. I love my girl more than I can express. She loves me too, she knows me from when I go, but she does not know that I am her sponsor. I don't want her to know. 

This trip, she told me that from now on, I'm her mom. My heart couldn't hardly handle her sweetness. 

You don't have to do either of the things that I just mentioned, but I will ask that you pray, truly pray and seek God's heart for the fatherless and the hurting children around the world. 

Our God is a great Father, and his heart aches for these children more than you or I could even imagine. He wants them to be cared for and loved, even in ways that may look different than we imagine. 

I will say again, this command to care for the fatherless is for every believer. 

So ask God how he would have you live it out. 

College men (cause so many of you read this blog) mentor a middle or high school student. That is a way of caring for the fatherless. 

Moms and Dads, consider sponsoring a child through some organization and tell your kids about it. Show them the pictures and have them write letters. Begin teaching them now to care for the kids like them who are less fortunate. 

I could go on, but I have to go to bed now. 

Above all, pray and then pray some more. God knows the children around the world who are without families. My daughter was not an accident, God knew when she was born and he knew the day that she went to live at that orphanage. Nothing that has happened in her life was outside of his great plan. 

God sets the lonely in families

Psalm 68:6

Here's the video of the super-awesome Franks family.

Thoughts on being home again

I have looked through the pictures about 10 times.

I listen to the music that we sang with the kids (including some awesome songs in Hindi).

I have talked about it some, but I know that with time, the stories will come and I will share more. I always talk about my trips gradually, not all at once.

What I haven't done is write and that is what I need to do the most. Because writing is how I think now.

I miss India, a lot. I miss my kids.

In some ways, this time returning has been the hardest yet. The trip was so short that I by the time I was back adjusted to India and loving it there, it was time to go.

I had to leave before I was beginning to miss friends and family back home, so now all I was left with was the pain of leaving the ones I love in India without the joy of seeing people that I was missing in America. (Not that I didn't miss people, but I wasn't even gone 2 full weeks).

I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, I am so so grateful for the trip that I was able to go on. It was a huge blessing from God. He provided the opportunity and the funding. Completely blew my mind with his provision, not just for me, but for my team members.

I had fully accepted that I would not return to India this summer and then God opened up this door. It was more than I could have asked for.

But leaving is always hard.

And the year stretching out in front of me until i get to return looks very long.

I miss my girls. I miss the boys that I am getting to know. I miss laughing at my terrible Hindi. I miss having chai. I even miss the heat.

God is good. He knows that plan that he has for me and these children. He knows when I will be able to see them again. It may be next summer, for all I know, it could be sooner. I have found that He likes to surprise us when we least expect it.

As it stands now, I may be able to return next summer and when I go back, I may be staying for 6 months. Nothing is set in stone, but R and I are talking about it.

The opportunity to go and stay for 6 months so soon after I graduate blows my mind. I have often said that if everything went my way, I would get on a plane the day after graduation, but that that would not likely happen. Well, now it may.

As I said, nothing is set in stone. I have a lot of praying to do. I do not want to do anything out of the will of God.

All that is to say, that while the year in front of me looks very long, I am begging God to show me how to cherish this final year. For all I know, this could be my last year permanently here in Durham/Chapel Hill. That blows my mind and terrifies me while it excites me.

I want to love this year, not wish it away. I want to cherish the time that i have with the precious little ones that I love here. As much as I miss Rani and my girls in India right now, I will miss the kids here just as much.

Even if I don't leave for India right away, at the end of this year, all of my college friends will scatter. Our friendships will change and adjust. I will miss them all very much. (I am terrified of being a senior, but that is different post for another day).

I am sad to have left India. I always want more time with the kids there and my friends. I am to the point where I feel like I have actual relationships with the people there (not just the little girls) and I miss those people. There are many things about the culture that baffle me, yet there are so many things that I miss.

I would give almost anything to be going to evening prayer with the kids.

But God wants me here. Its not my time to go yet. And so I am begging him to keep me content. And asking him to help me cherish my time here. 

Just checking in!

We are having a wonderful time here in India!! VBS is going wonderfully! Today was our second day. The kids are having a great time and the team has quickly fallen in love with the kids. We are teaching them about the different fruit of the spirit, so yesterday was love and joy and today was peace and patience. We have taught them several songs which they love singing and dancing to. It is extremely hot but the team is being wonderful troopers. I can't wait to share pictures with you when we get back! Thank you for all your support and prayers. You are so wonderful!