As I sit...

Airports are portals...more than just from country to country, state to state or city to city, but into the hearts and minds of people everywhere. The latter may be the most "terrifying" of them all. Oh, how being surrounded by diversity, culture and beauty can be so compelling, thought-provoking and enriching. Yet, somehow, adversely, the opposite can be the byproduct--a piercing spoken word, a cold stare and unashamed contemptuous body language bringing shattering effects upon a moment of carefree expression.

And she continues to dance. In ways, I am envious.

There was a young woman, I am guessing in her twenties dancing with fluidity throughout concourse C of Charlotte's Douglas Airport. Her conscious and spirit-filled movements lofted through the concourse as a fragrance...yet an unnerving freedom began to permeate throughout the on-lookers. Murmurs, laughter, pointing...Whom is it that is so concerning and what is it that has such a suffocating grip upon the viewers of such a carefree demonstration?

I quickly found the looks sickening. Why? I find it troubling to even find words for the animosity that was growing from deep within me. How quickly we are as humans to leap to conclusions, judgments and finalizing verdicts. It was as I could hear the gavel strike. This young woman had no right to be breathing our air...Harsh...I think so, and somehow from her lively, expressive dancing and consequential judgments placed upon her because of it rapidly the conversation spread to political spin and discord that equally made my stomach turn. Not that I know, but from my short stop in concourse C, I am going to gather that N.C. is not a blue state. Funny how one can discovered such things in a very short period of observation.

Then the worst came like a flood; it wasn't the arbitrary comments from those around me, but my own personal discord and angst rising up from my core. This young woman's verdict had been given: judge, jury and executioner...if her fate was that of the people around her, the future would be less than bleak. Yet my judgment, my own condemnation was rising and I very harshly was brought into my own reality. How was all of what was inside of me any different from what was being spewed from the jesting crowd within the concourse? Nothing...and of course I didn't entirely stay silent...just trying to balance out the crowd...

Like a whisper from my inside:
"From the overflow of the mouth, the heart speaks." I wonder how I am doing.... what does my heart look like? I wonder how we are all doing. Do we only see demographics, nationalities, cultures? And are we only examining with skepticism? What is the state of this place? Where are we and where are we to go? I pray that the Lord would bless and teach us all...for it is only him who shows unconditional love and grants us true acceptance which is clearly not a top priority, begrudgingly, even for me I suppose.

I pray for more: for more of what we seem to be lacking...ears to hear, eyes to see, a heart full of love for all. Patience. Compassion. Zeal. I pray that I would be stripped of my own biases, my own angst, the ugliness of my soul that not even I want to examine or acknowledge. I pray it would all be stripped from me and this world and that one day we might see one another not from afar, but from a common ground of humanity.

Time Flies; Memories Made. A Home Solidified.

Time does fly and things do change, sometimes more quickly than we are all aware. Spring/Fall (depending on the hemisphere) as well as Summer/Winter for the most part are a mere memory. It has been a blessing to see friends and family in multiple locations under a magnitude of circumstances. Moreover, what a beautiful thing it has been to introduce my American family to those of my new-found Bolivian family. I had the awesome opportunity to bring my parents down to Bolivia for a quick, yet priceless and precious visit to my new home. We enjoyed time of relaxation and as well as a whirlwind of introduction in Calacoto for a bit over a week. Mom and Dad were able to walk the streets, grace the hallways, corridors and classrooms of ACS and sip the coffee of Alexander's, my favorite cafe here, just a few blocks from my home. I would be remiss to not mention our eventful jaunts in the taxis throughout the city and watching the blazing fire down the street from my apt.
We were also blessed with a wonderful car trip to the Cumbre with friends. The Cumbre, which there are a couple is a peak outside of the city where one is able to take in the beauty of the vast and barren countryside. The mountains take your breath away if the altitude has not already, which will happen as you ascend to this beautiful place.
There were many wonderful memories made while Mom and Dad were here and hopefully many more to come in the future!

As time has past and I have time to take a moment to reflect upon my last year, I can only come to one conclusion...a place of peace and blessing which words to some extent can not grasp. Bolivia and its people which emulate its beauty have stolen my heart. One is truly blessed to have a place with people whom love and support; a place where there is rest and peace. I can't even begin to explain what it is like to have two places that I can consider my home, full of love, joy and peace. To have both overlap, even for a short period of time, was a breath of serenity.
To live and live joyously is a gift in which I try to remind myself each day to grasp and not simply realize, but appreciate and share. Simplicity of daily life is nothing to take for granted or diminish in value, but cherish. Maybe these are the finer things of life that I am just beginning to conceptualize. I pray that all may know this truth and be able to relish and rest within it.

"Be still and know that I am God." Your whispers grace us throughout the mountains as they gently resonate within the breeze.
It is here my heart finds rest.

I hope each of you are blessed to find your Bolivia. You are always welcome to visit mine.

Many Blessings

Time has surely passed since my last update of life, yet the last couple of months have been a blessing in time. Spring break has come and gone and it was an amazing experience staying here in La Paz and just being local and seeing daily life here without being at school. I found that I truly do love it here for what it is, just simple life here, I truly enjoy it. I wondered earlier in the year when the bubble would pop, and I would just want to go back home. Or when the "new and exciting" would wear off and I would wake up to "real life". I think I have awakened and I am still just as enamored with this place and what God is doing here. Moreover, I find myself stopping, astonished that the Lord so divinely would bring me here and not only touch my life, change me and teach me, but use me as the answer to others' prayers. The Lord's work is so mysterious.
Within the last 2 months I have been working with my 7th and 8th graders on a major project, "Voices of Our Youth". As in years past, I had students write, "If I could tell the world..." journal entries. This year they ended up turning into persuasive speeches. Both the 7th and 8th grade presented these speeches in January. Before I knew it, I was sitting in the back of my classroom with goosebumps and tears welling up in my eyes over what these young hearts were saying. Surpassing the actual speeches, the students' interactions and dialogue they were having with one another blew me away. With this my mind and heart began racing and "Voices of Our Youth" came to be.

All Grade 8 students were put into pairs and were assigned to research a nonprofit organization of their choice and write a one page abstract outlining its origin and purpose. (Great way to introduce citations and research) The second part of the project was to evaluate the current work of the organization and how the student thought the organization could improve based on his/her research. Throughout the process the research was turned into a persuasive speech to be presented to the class. The top 3 speeches would present to the 8th grade, the top 2 to the 7th and 8th grade and the winner would be the benefitting nonprofit of a middle school arts evening..."Voices of Our Youth" . This would be a night of what the student thought were important...if they had a captive audience, what would they like to say? Of course they could do this in any format...speeches, poetry, dance, music...etc.

A local nonprofit, Para Los Niños, ended up winning (which was awesome). They are a nonprofit focused on helping the orphaned children of La Paz. They are actually located in a local orphanage, Virgen de Fatima, so the entire 7th and 8th grade got to visit the orphanage and see where the money would go and what the organization was all about. Certain students were brought to tears as they played with the children they encountered at the orphanage. Not one of the students was not with one of the kids of Virgen de Fatima--it was beautiful.
After such an experience, the project really took off. Students had all chosen different committees to be on and work began. Within roughly two months, (from the beginning of the research to now) tickets and promotions were made in tech classes, over 50 different local companies were contacted, 32 making donations, over 200 tickets were sold, 20 performances took the stage and close to $2,000 was raised to benefit the children of Virgen de Fatima Orphanage. Amazing. Thursday evening was truly breathtaking as I watched middle schoolers voice their hearts and minds, igniting an audience into laughter as well as bringing them to tears as the unselfishly came together and gave of themselves for the less fortunate children of Bolivia.

It's been powerful to watch the Lord work through the willing.

Place your VOTE!

Hello All! My 8th graders just finished a blog project, which is also a small bit of a competition! (There may just be pizza on the line.)
Sooooo...with that said would anyone interested take a quick look at the 3 different blogs which the eighth graders created and see which one you think is the coolest. My definition of "coolest" would mean, interesting theme, reader friendly and clearly, aesthetically pleasing. The students were pretty psyched about the project so it would be great to have your opinions. Don't worry about being too picky or not picky enough. The students are aware that this is simply the competition portion of the project and that they were to meet clear requirements given to them on a rubric beforehand and I will be giving them their grades.

Thanks for helping out, the kids will love it. I am going to tell them on Monday who has won. Again, thanks for taking the time.

Here are the blogs They are all the same, except for the class name. Below, use the below url, but to see the two other sites imput tech8b or tech8c
http://tech8a.blogspot.com

Thanks again.
You can comment here!

Back in Action

Back, off and running. As with every beginning of the year, things get going and you just hold on...no difference in Bolivia. It was wonderful being home, comforting, loving, refreshing...and also assuring. I loved beginning home and with that I knew that I was meant to come back. It has been a blessing to be in Bolivia and it remains that way since my return. It has been nice getting back into the swing of things, seeing everyone and exchanging holiday stories. Bible Study with the girls has started, the book study I am in is rolling and track has officially begun. A friend of mine, Jessica, and I are coaching distance and had a turn out of 15, which I was thrilled with. It will be a much different dynamic, as we may only be able to meet for practice 3 days a week. Carnival is also quickly approaching and with it, all the craziness. I look forward to all the cultural festivities!!!! It is all coming quickly, as some of the festivities begin tomorrow.
Lots of rain here, it pours, it's sunny (enough to burn in you a matter of minutes) then rain, rain and more rain...it's the only place that I know of that you need to have sunscreen, sunglasses, an umbrella and multiple layers every time you go out. It's sounds kinda bad, but of course sometimes it is so sunny, but raining. weird. Come, visit, check it out for yourselves!

Entitled...

So when I began this blog, I entitled it as I did because I stumbled upon John 16:33 and connected. Jesus is speaking to the disciples all through chapter 16 telling them that times aren't getting any easier and that things are actually about to get ugly...oh, and he's not going to be around. So he tells his disciples, realize, I have to leave so the Holy spirit can come and that it is going to be ok. And I tell you these things, that people are going to come after you, and threaten you, and make your life awful, so that you know when I am gone that I did warn you. And not only am I warning you, but I am going to tell you the outcome. "Take Heart, for I have overcome the world."
Take heart, because I have overcome the world. Wow. Jesus isn't lying about Christian life...he is laying it out. It is going to be hard and it is going to get ugly, but there's hope...TAKE HEART! I HAVE OVERCOME THE WORLD.

I connected immediately and knew. There is hope, there is Christ, there is the cross. That is some good stuff.
I was fortunate enough to hear a Louie Giglio talk that reminded me of these truths earlier this week. I just thought others might like to here the same.

"Take Heart, for I have overcome the world."

Thank God.

Unwritten

Sometimes, well most of the time, I find my job very amusing, even astonishing. (If you are a fellow teacher, you know where I am coming from.) The students I have this year really like to learn, and some of them are arriving at the realization that learning is a lot more than a 6 and a half hour day and some books. There are many reasons why I am amused throughout the day, but really when it comes down to it, I think it is the pure fact that we teach within four walls and through printed text. That is the last place from which I think my students are actually learning. (Did I just knock my own teaching skills...stick with me.)
Yes, the written word is powerful, but it is the topic of the words that make it so. Life is the true lesson and it is enlightening to watch a student build his/her bridges from books to reality and consistently travel upon them.

I had my grade 8 tech students utilize and analyze a new form of analysis called Tag Clouds. (They're pretty cool, you can check them out @ www.tagcrowd.com) Each student had to decide on an essential question he/she wanted answered and use a tag cloud to analyze a speech as well as a popular song of his/her choosing and explain how the tag cloud was a useful form of analysis or not, as well as the outcome of his/her analysis.

One of my young ladies chose the song, "Unwritten" by Natasha Benningfield. (I'm not sure on the spelling of her name) The results of her analysis were that the meaning of the song was about the unwritten lessons of life and the great importance of those lessons in each of our lives. I was blown away to hear a girl of fourteen confidently speak such truth-what a pleasure.

I have the opportunity to learn everyday and grow. And I enjoy everyday that I get to wake up and be honestly challenged, knowing that my students really do what to know, and they really do desire to live well. I don't challenge the value of the written word, but as I said and my students have reminded me, life is meant to be lived, and some of our most important lessons are "unwritten".