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.