more pics...

confessions of the smell of rain...

at this point, there isn't anything (in nature) much sweeter than the aroma of the rain passing through Brasilia. We experienced the hottest day in the history of Brasilia yesterday. We all definitely knew it and felt it into today as well. In the states-it's no thing-because of course we have all kinds of air conditioning-cars, houses, churches, schools, restaurants, etc, etc. You don't have to go far to get some cool, crisp air. Well, it just doesn't work that way here. You get used to the sweating...but it seemed like the kids just lost their minds...! Ha! Anyway, so I had to take care of another box today-so I invited my Portuguese teacher out on a little adventure. We made it to the post office after hooving it up the hill. Once our business was finished-I remembered that a brand new Subway opened up in our Quadra. We walked there and to our amazement (as we were both melting) it had air conditioning! Word! Then, as we were cooling off and drinking our drinks-we could see the strong breeze running it's fingers through the palm trees-which brought the rain soonafter.

So, needless to say, I'm enjoying the breezy night. Thank the Lord for His provision in rain.

I helped with SMASH In-TENTS this weekend. A serious time of in"tense" worship, testimony, and an awesome Word from the Lord. We had non-Christians and Christians alike attend this all night (and into the next afternoon) service/time of fellowship. We camped (I hung in the hammock), roasted strawberry marshmallows (not recommended), sang, got to know each other, and did some crazy games led by the Smash Leaders. Through all of this, two girls came to us to let us know that they had accepted Christ. We are seeing true conversions in so many of the students' lives. Their brothers and sisters are attesting to their desire for God and His Word. A-Mazing.

Ramon G. getting pelted with cheerios

Ana-taking in the fire, songs, and beauty of the night.

Lucia (to your left) and PJ (white tank, red skirt (in right pic) are our newest sisters in Christ!! We are so excited!

In Kindergarten, I led Chapel last week and we are teaching the Armor

of God-piece by piece. For my turn,

I did the "Breastplate of Righteousness" to which I covered a box in tin foil and wore it around. My kids thought that was the best thing...and wanted to wear it as well. :)

confessions of being a daddy's girl

I love Brasilia-seriously-love it. Even when my chicken nuggets have cheese in them (gross) and ketchup can't even make them taste good or when your body won't let you sleep longer than 2-3 hours.... Despite these silly things.... I love it here.

But as I watch the palm trees sway-I began to miss my earthly father. I miss the feel of his wool suit on my face as he hugs me tight. Or-talking with him about Jesus, Piper, and silly memories. I love sharing MyTime coffee with him and making runs just to get him a bag of those great roasted beans :) Or maybe even cleaning up the coffee mess from our (leaky) cheap coffee pot at home after we've had our morning cup... I love being a part of his life and God allowing me to have a hand in his dreams-such as the John Rice Center and Manchester in general. He is known because he does what God tells him to do. He knows the cost of discipleship. Some hate him, talk about him, and still yet he loves them because most of them are lost. Because He is doing the work God called him to do.

And that helps me get through the day. Pray without ceasing. Hide His words in my heart. To do the hard things. Fight the flesh. To do the work God has called me to do. And to think about my Dad-diligently working, tirelessly, lovingly, and Christlike.

confessions about Children's Day and a few updates

These two are a couple of my little men. The dynamic duo is the most correct term for these guys. They make my days most interesting....

So-Children's Day was really nice. I mean-it was stressful about an hour before because I had no clue what I was/was not doing. :) My kids were tearin' up the room (i mean-they cleaned it and it still looks like a tornado hit it in my opinion) and there was no calming them down. We dismissed school an hour early so we could start
the fun and games.

This little guy-I could possibly have next year. He is 4 and speaks Arabic...

I will admit-it was so worth seeing those beautiful smiles and listening to the glee in their voices as they played games. This concept is for the children and it benefits them as well. Each grade level decides on a game, puts it together, and collects the tickets during Children's Day. The class turns the tickets in for money. We get to pick whatever we want for our classroom! I really want some bean bag chairs for our Reading Center. I have a list of wants like-a grocery store set (so they can play with money) and some new books for our classroom library.


We'll see :)



This is Kaylee Bose-our principals' daughter. I was supposed to have her last year....this was after her "touch up".


This was a fairly smooth week even through all the changes in schedule, switches in classrooms (we moved out last Wednesday and moved completely back in yesterday) etc. My students were excellent and I am amazed at how adaptive they truly are. Once they see me adapting-they just fall into place. I wish you all could see what I see and watch from a distance as they progress. I know what it means to be a teacher-to be blessed beyond measure-to be interacting with these children. Sometimes it is hard, it is not fun, and it wears me out. But then-it starts to come and the victory is 10X's better in the end. (Like explaining-"Draw a group that shows 1 more than the group on top--"for real" is what I have to say). The gains make it all worth while. I ponder a student's conceptualization of something one day--the next they are spouting it out to me. Praise be!



This is Kinza. She has the "Flamengo" soccer club flag on the left cheek and their rivals on the left. I think she mentioned that she almost stopped traffic a couple of times on her way home...

You can pray for the salvation of all students pictured above.....


Funny Quotes from the week:


Keep in mind-we're studying Families


"Yes, if you don't get married, you'll stay little forever."-Nicolas (matter of factly)


"Well, I'm never getting married." -Nana (pronounced Nahnah (not nana) and the only girl in the class)


"But Nana, don't you want to get married?" -Nicolas


"Yes, Nana, you will stay little forever." -Thales


{At this point they are all into the conversation giving their 2 cents}


I quickly intercede at this point because I"m about to bust out laughing-I explain that I'm 26, fully grown, and I'm not married. Nicolas didn't know what to say.





Oh-the best one is today-I'm eating lunch with Nicolas and Caleb. As we eat, I'm trying to have a normal (non-teacher) conversation with him.


"Nicolas, what does your dad do for work?"-me


"Well, he eats, reads to me, and takes out the garbage." -Nicolas


"Okay, what does he do for his job?" -me


"Oh yes, he makes the pencil work and sits at his desk." -Nicolas


The view from the sweetest/hilarious 4 year old. I love the "makes the pencil work"

Reading:

Almost through Hebrews and I think I might linger there for another 13 days. It is that good to me right now. It is amazing how things line up between the books in the Old and New. I am constantly reading things that coincide!

Praise the Lord:

I got my boxes!!!! I dumped everything in the floor and then scrambled for a place to store it all. The kids LOVE seeing all the new "things" and playing in the new "centers." :) We now have two Leap Pad alphabet games (thanks Mom), new Math manipulatives, books, (rainy day) toys, and so much more. My mother is amazing.

confessions in randomness....

Hmm.....I keep thinking that bugs are biting me, but it happens to be the softest breeze tickling arm hairs individually as I sit on the "porch" at the mk's house. I can't help but throw open the sliding doors every morning and every evening. It's one of the most exciting parts about being here this weekend!

And let me just tell you-Brazil has cicadas. They don't hum.......it's more of a siron sound-really weird-only in the daytime and really bad after 12pm.

Currently I'm reading through Exodus, Psalm, Isaiah, Luke, and Hebrews. I've read through Genesis, S of S, Proverbs, Esther, Ecclesiastes, Job, Matthew, Mark, Nehemiah, and maybe a couple more-I don't have my checklist handy. There's not really any order to how I'm reading them-just that I am and I think I really like this method as odd as it might seem to others....

I'm really lovin' Hebrews right now....I mean really, really. I was inspired by this book last fall as I attended some of Ashland Avenue's College Outreach Services, then Piper preached about "going outside the camp" at T4G(for some reason I took notes in my Bible margins-so I see it frequently), and this week, a "homeland" verse caught my attention to which I quickly shuffled it into the mix of my daily chapter reading.


Last week we went to the....


Zoo :) No one loves the zoo more than my students...I'm convinced.

This week, we're going to learn about Jesus Calming the Storm, letters I and D, counting and graphing, and Families. I'm really excited about the Family Unit in Social Studies. We have such a diverse population and some cool "make ups" of families even in my class of 5. I'm most excited about one student that is adopted. :) I have a little story for this bit of information: Every Tuesday is "Bring A Book Day". This is even more popular than show and tell in my class! I get some books in French (they love that I "read" the pictures), some in Spanish, English-whatever. Last week Caleb brought in a book called I Love You Like Crazy Cakes by Rose Lewis. I didn't know what it was about, but I was bawling by the end. I mean-full out tears and almost sobbing through the words. Through each page-Caleb said, "That's me." "That's the airplane my mommy and daddy came on." Oh-and I cried even harder. They laughed and begged me to read the book again. I said absolutely not. I knew I could not make it through again. My heart is inclined to orphans and to adoption. The White's in London, KY are huge inspirations as well as the Caldwell's (whom I've been following since their first adoption announcement). As I read that book, I cried because I know so many orphans are receiving homes. My best friend, Mary, and I have been supporting a foundation called "Holt International" for almost 2 years. So far, we've supported three children during their "middle ground" (the time between orphanage and the actual picking up for adoption). We rejoice in each letter that we receive saying that "Joshua's" been adopted and now we would like to introduce you to " ". We love it. Maybe my heart is inclined so that one day I will financially support an adoption as a wife and a mother. Who knows?! Maybe I will always love and support orphans from afar. James 1:27 will keep me going either way, "Religion that is pure and undefiled before God is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained from the world."
And-the conviction sets in.....because as I love the first component-what am I doing about the other two........

confessions of showers of blessings...and the wise little owl...

The first picture is of the rain. Our first really hard rain. It was really nice at first...I began to take some pictures and video of my window that has been leaking---when I realized that the ceiling was leaking as well....I moved my desk and glanced out the window to admire the rain and to thank God for the coolness the rain brings. As I looked out-there was a little owl braving the wind, and rain on the wall (there are many ledges and places he could have gone to take cover-anywhere around the school). He was looking directly at me as if he was trying to say something. I was a bit mesmorized by him and forgot about the mess. As our campus maintenance man was waiting for me to figure out where everything should go-I showed him the little owl and he went to get another teacher to show her. We were all just admiring him when I turned around and the water started flooding in from our little playground into the hallway. I picked up my suitcase, a few boxes I wanted to keep and set them on my tables. I turned around and the water kept coming and coming....and it would not stop. All of a sudden I heard a lot of loud yelling in Portuguese and pretty quickly my room began to fill up with workers raking out the water. First, I ran to get my laptop and unplug and put up all the computer cords. I barely made it in time for the printer. It was almost ruined. I ran around picking up my carpets, mats, books, posters, bookshelves, tables, and chairs to which the water was up to my ankles. Luckily-I dont' think anything is going to be water damaged. I did however have to take everything off the walls by the windows-most of which was ruined. At the end, all I could do was start singing, "Showers of Blessings" and thank God for the sweet, cool rain he brought us. The next week is going to be hard, I know this. It's going to be hard for the kids because they no longer have a classroom and won't for an undisclosed amount of time. I don't think they will let us back in until they fix the problem. I understand that it will take double the work to have a "portable" classroom" but it's okay. No one is hurt, no one is sick, and this too shall pass. Soon-I will be back in my classroom. The next two picturea are what my room looked like right before I left today. The last picture is what my room looked like yesterday.