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.