The Month of September

Well the school year is off to a running start. We are half way through the month of October, wow that flew by! I now have 23 students - 10 girls and 13 boys. We are still working on our listening skills in the classroom among many other things.

But since it's been way too long since I've blogged I'll start by giving some of the highlights of things that have been happening on this side of the world. 

First, at the very beginning of the year in our teacher in-service, one of the local car dealerships came and gave a very convincing preview of their cars and introduced their special deal that they were offering for Harvest teachers. In addition, they left two brand new vehicles with us that would be rotated among the staff. One was a 2015 Hyundai Tucson, and the other was a 2015 convertible Fiat 200. All the staff entered their names into a drawing and every two days (or 3 if it was a weekend) a new person would be the lucky winner and get to drive one of the two cars for the day. Well, it just so happened that the second to last weekend in August, my wonderful roommate's name was drawn for the Fiat. So we had the car for 3 days and we took advantage of it and drove it around the island and well everywhere. It was a lot of fun!

Moving on to the month of September, it was also full of lots of adventures. To start out with, it was my birthday month! God has blessed me with wonderful friends and a great roommate (also a wonderful friend) who made my day extra special. I woke up to this sign in our living room. 

Then came into the classroom and found these notes on my desk. 

Later that day after school, we went to watch the sunset and get some coffee. The sunset was gorgeous that day too, which made it even better!

Here is a gift that my "baby" brother - David carefully and thoughtfully made for me. 

The last Friday of September was our International Day at school where all the kids (and teachers) dressed up from different countries around the world. We had a fun day. 
Here are some pictures of my kids on their way to chapel. 

We had a special chapel that included all of elementary instead of just lower, and the upper elementary honors choir had some fun songs that they shared with us.

It was a half day of school and we had lunch served in our classrooms, AND, of all days, I had a birthday party. Needless to say I was glad the day was over at 12:30. It was a good day, though, and fun for the kids. 

Here is a picture of the lunch that was served, and...

...the birthday party.

This was just some fun recess entertainment that I had to take a picture of. :)

God has been so good to me this year. Now that's not to say it's been a perfect year. I've had my share of struggles, but once again He has shown Himself faithful and loving. I have nothing to complain about, but many things to praise Him for. 

Here is a picture of me on my birthday and the gorgeous sunset. 

"...My heart exults in the Lord; ...There is none holy like the LORD; for there is none besides you; there is no rock like our God. Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge..."

1 Samuel 2:1-3 

Beginning of School Year

As I am sitting here writing the weather outside is very wet and rainy! It started raining last night and hasn't stopped! My roommate and I went grocery shopping today and boy was it wet! There were lots of deep puddles in the road, but praise the Lord we made it and enjoyed our little adventure! There are two tropical storms out there and so we are getting lots of rain from them. As of right now it doesn't look like we will get hit bad, just rain and flooding which we already have, but that could easily change, as it's hard to accurately predict exactly what the weather will do. I think the worst is supposed to hit us tomorrow sometime, but so far we still have school on Monday, although the Sunday morning service has been canceled due to severe flooding. Also, both my classroom and apartment has already gotten water inside. Thankfully there was no damage and the apartment was an easy fix. 

As the new school year has begun, I have already seen God start working and teaching me how much I need to depend on him. The day of parent orientation I was sick and unable to go to the inservice meetings which also caused me to not have much of any time to get my classroom presentable for orientation. God was good, though, and many of my coworkers pitched in here and there as they had a couple minutes, so when I was feeling well enough to go in and get a few things done, my classroom was presentable and so much more had been done that I could have done on my own! He also gave me just enough strength to get through parent orientation, because as soon as that was over I was not feeling well again. I was reminded that although it seemed like the worst timing for me, God's timing is perfect and I just need to trust Him because, praise the Lord, it will all work out! I am so thankful for my God and the Harvest family He has given me!

The first two days of school also went well. I have a class of 23 first graders right now (the number may change depending on if I get more or some never show up). They are a lively bunch, but I love them and am looking forward to a good year! 

As a church body this year we will be focusing on Victorious Living and studying through the book of Romans. I am excited for this year and looking forward to seeing what God has in store for me. 

Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

Field Day

Wow, it has been a while again since I've posted. Sorry about that. I think with it nearing the end of the year things have been pretty crazy and my schedule has picked up. Since the last post was also a catch up post, and I don't remember really what's happened between now and then, I will just tell you about the most recent - today, Field Day. 

Field Day is an all day (well actually all morning - we were done by 1:00) event where 1st-6th graders participate in different class competitions. There are team relay races, tug of war, handball, and individual hurdles and sprints along with fun carnival games. It is a fun day for all of the kids and a nice change of pace from being in the classroom all the time. Since this was my first year and my kids first year participating, we really had no idea what to expect coming in to this day. I had heard different things about it, but I felt like I was the blind leading the blind. Praise the Lord it was a great day and everything went really smoothly. 

The day began with the 1st-5th graders parading onto the soccer field through a human tunnel made by the 6th graders. Each class was color coded, first grade was blue.

After a brief "welcome" and fun "reenactment" of a battle from the 6th graders the activities began. We started with the individual competitions of hurdling and dash. I had one student in each event place, which was very exciting for them. The kids got medallions for placing. 

Next, the relay race...

...then Tug of War. Although, we did not do very well in this event, it was a lot of fun watching the parents get into it and trying to strategically place the kids. :) 

Last event....handball. 

Finally, the time that all the kids were waiting for....the carnival! This was kind of crazy with kids and parents running everywhere, but I know they had fun, so it made it all worth it, and I didn't have much to worry about when they were in the gym, which made my job easy. 

The day was a success overall, we had beautiful weather, and although it was a little hot, there was nice cool air to come inside to and cool off. 

We have less than a month left of school before I've made it through my first year of teaching. It's hard to believe, but I am so thankful for the experience and many many things God has taught throughout the year. It will be a crazy next couple weeks and I probably won't get another post done before the school year is over, but thank you to each one of you for your prayers and support. They have been so encouraging and I believe what got me through the year, aside from God's grace and love towards me. I am looking forward to the summer and to see what God has in store for next year. But first, we have awards ceremony and the end of the year activities to get through before I can be thinking too much about next year. :)

Psalm 113:3 "From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised!"

The Beginning of 2015

Wow, I just realized I haven't blogged since the New Year, so sorry! I guess this semester has been pretty busy! As I look back and try to remember what has happened in January and February I can't really think of much. We did have Snow Day, 100 Day, Valentine's Day, and International Day at school, but that is about it. March has already been more eventful than the other two months. My parents were able to come for a short visit, and that was so much fun! I also just survived my second tropical storm, and am on Spring Break. 

Here are a few photos from the different special days at school and my parents' visit.

One of the students that I tutor a couple times a week.

Snow Day! :)

100th Day of School!!

Jump for 100 seconds

Making a 100 Day crown

Valentine's Day

International Day - the students each got to ride a carabou.

My parent's visit!! :)

The first day we went to a beach at the north end of the island called Ritidian.

Snorkeling

We began hiking Mt. LamLam, but did not get very far

Inarajan Pools - beautiful view and waves

Mom observed my classroom a couple days.

I took them to some of my favorite restaurants.

We were able to drink out of a fresh coconut as well

...and of course enjoy a beautiful sunset!

Psalm 19:1 "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork."