2nd Semester Craziness

School starts again tomorrow.  It's crazy how it'll be exactly 1 month tomorrow since I've seen these kids and been in the routine of teaching, disciplining, planning, and thinking quickly on my feet all day.  Thursday and Friday we had work days, and I'm happy to say I got quite a bit accomplished, yet not everything I wanted to get accomplished.  There's always more to do. (You teachers out there know this!)

I hope the students and I can jump right back in where we left off....or almost where we left off.  I know there's going to need to be a lot of review after a month of most of them not speaking English!!  And I have a new student, Sabina, who is new to the school, speaks only Spanish, and has a learning disability.  So getting her "caught up" and familiar with the class and our rules and procedures will be another huge thing to add on to other daily routines/lessons/activities.  I hope she can catch on quickly and feel welcome and comfortable in my classroom despite the fact that she doesn't know any English!

This semester is going to be busy.  Last semester was as well, but this semester I have to begin the task of creating the math curriculum for next year.  (I was waiting until I could get some Everyday Math books sent to me over Christmas so I could bring them back with me and help me structure what I do!)  So on top of planning lessons and activities for each week, I'm going to be spending probably a good chunk of my Saturdays or Sundays creating math units... (oh how fun!)  I am also now in charge of leading/figuring out our women's Bible study on Wednesdays.  I have to figure out how it's going to be structured, the rotation of apartments, how to break up and when to break up into smaller groups within our large group, come up with a schedule, and send out e-mails and other logistics.  I also am going to start leading worship on guitar in both our Bible study Wednesdays and in the Tuesday group I go to with other young adults from my church.  So practicing might be good.... :) 

I'm still continuing with tutoring my students, volleyball, and Spanish lessons.  I know I need to make more of an effort this semester to study and practice Spanish, or I won't get very far....

I also brought my yoga mat with me to continue doing that regularly.  (I took some hot yoga classes over break that were INTENSE....3 classes were a combo of cardio and weights and crazy poses in a 95 degree room.)  I feel a lot stronger now because of it, so I want to continue with that.

And in addition to all of this, I am disciplining myself to read the Bible in a year using the "One Year Bible Plan."  I've been pretty good about it so far and really, it only feels like a chore until I pick up my Bible.  Then I get sucked into the stories...a lot of stories I don't ever remember reading, actually.  Or stories I kind of knew, but I'm putting the pieces together, and how they fit in with other stories, and the relations between different people.  I'm using a Life Application Bible, so there's a lot of notes at the bottom that help bring a historical perspective to the text, and little maps so I can see where Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and other people traveled to.  And I'm reading through Jesus' Sermon on the Mount right now in Matthew, and of course that's a powerful and convicting sermon, just packed with a lot of very direct teachings that were so countercultural to the people Jesus was speaking to, and is still countercultural today...."Love your enemies"....there are SO many people that would scoff at that, or maybe believe it but don't practice it, or think that commandment is way too hard to live by.  Honestly I can't think of too many "enemies" I have, yet when you think about it this way--He is essentially saying love EVERYONE--can I really say I LOVE everyone?  And have forgiven everyone completely that has hurt me?  Or everyone that hurts other people or brings about destruction?  It's so hard to separate sin from a person, sometimes.  But they are separate.  We are all God's beloved children...yet some of us are still a slave to sin and have not yet experienced a life lived outside of darkness.  But those people deserve to be loved.  Of course they do.  And by loving them, it could bring them OUT of darkness.

I'm also getting a small dose of Psalms and Proverbs everyday, which are just so relatable...I feel I have compassion for David and cry out with him in the Psalms, and then what Solomon talks about in Proverbs is so applicable to my life, and in my own search for wisdom and understanding and trust in the Lord.   

So I know this semester is going to hit me hard...and in ways I cannot predict yet.  But I'm excited for it, and I'm excited to become more disciplined, because I know I need to grow in that.  (And with all of these things I'm definitely going to HAVE to be disciplined or I'll die!)  But I also know I need to give myself grace and realize I'm only human.

Please be in prayer for me as I try to balance my life with everything I have on my plate.
Pray that my students remain my highest priority and that they can see Jesus in me and know how much they're loved, no matter how impatient and frustrated I get!  (Please also pray for my patience :) )
Pray that I would have wisdom in confrontations I need to have with some people.
Pray for Highlands' ministry and all the students there...pray that we, as a staff, know how to reach them, help them, listen to them, and love them.  There are many students who are hurting from broken family situations, hurting themselves, or hurting others.

God's in control of all of these things, but I have to remind myself that He wants us to be prayerful people who believe He alone--and working through us--has the power to give direction, wisdom, healing, love, and especially change hearts.  And as His disciples, we have that power flowing through us!  Pretty awesome :)

God bless,

Jules