My Sixth Week Teaching

It has been almost six weeks that I have taught. I work long hours trying to keep up with everything I have to do. I am very tired but most of the time it is worth it. I have fourteen students that have great personalities and I am having a good time getting to know them all. They are also very challenging. Everyday is a new challenge in class room management. I am learning by fire. I have pretty much decided that God willing I am moving back to Oregon in May when this adventure is over. I will have a year of teaching under my belt and a whole lot of new perspective. I want to live in Oregon. I know that now better than ever. I think that is one reason why God moved me here. I wanted to have an adventure by teaching overseas. God knew I would have a lot of trouble living away from home. He knew it but I did not. So He sent me here to clear my vision on what I want and where I want to live. I love Oregon and living near my family. It is amazing how this adventure has brought me closer to my family then we were when I lived down the street. I will get to spend two weeks with them in Christmas and hopefully a week with my sons in Houston on spring break. I can hardly wait. I miss my small group, my friends, my family, the pine trees and the ease in which I could get to stores and food.
I miss going out to eat more often and going to the movies at least once a week. The people in North Dakota are so friendly and helpful and welcoming but I long for home. I am saving money and hopefully God's plan will include me moving back home. I am sorry I have not written more often in my blog but I will do better. Thanks for reading it and your comments.

Life is sweet

I finally have my satelite connected and my dsl on. I am settling in. Its funny I can live without a cell phone. I have even lived without any kind of phone before. I can little for awhile without a tv. But I cannot live without my laptop and internet. I did not realize how addicted I have become to keeping in touch through the internet. I have been dealing with a very dim signal on wify but it was difficult to do anything. It took so long for me to blog or check my email and respond. I would startup my computer, click my e icon and go get myself some dinner. Then I would check my email and eat my dinner while I waited for it to down load. Then I would wait some more and wait and wait and wait then maybe I could get on facebook and maybe not and it took forever to send an email and don't get me started on trying to pay any bills or change service online. It was a nightmare.

But life is sweet now becuase God has provided me with a some of lifes little pleasures. So here I sit. In one of my two chairs in my cute little living room. I was up till midnight working on planning next weeks lessons with my teacher mentor. God bless her heart for staying up so late to help me. But I am staying up late tonight to celebrate my simple pleasures by watching movies and playing on the internet. Oh God is soo good. And I have taught for three weeks already. Amazing.

Oh and to top it off it is raining today. I am a native Oregonian and the rain is soo sweet to this dried out transplant. It feels soo good. The air is crisp and cool and the rain is light. I am hoping for a thunderstorm. There was one in the middle of the week and it was bright and loud. The thunder rolled and it shook the house when it cracked. The lightning lit up the sky and my room and danced across my room walls. The storm seemed to hover over my house. It was so awesome to see, hear and feel God's power and might and to feel safe in his arms as the storm raged around me.

Today when I came home from school my birdfeeder had been knocked down and my bird bath was tipped over. I think it was a porcupine. The dog next door tangled with one last night and had a couple of quills in her side. I saw a porcupine along the side of the road and it was very large. I could not believe how large they were. Wow.

Powwow

I went to my first big powwow in North Dakota. It was fantastic. The dancers were wonderful and their outfits were spectacular. This gentelman let me take his picture because I had on my t-shirt that says "The few the proud the Marine Moms." He and his wife were selling beautiful handmade jewelry. I bought myself a beautiful tourquise and silver neclace. The tourquoise are carved into bears. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love bears. I toured the little town of New Town and we ate at the casino. I took pictures all over. I saw some of my students there. They did not seem happy to see me. I must be doing something right. I have to be tough for at least the first part of the year and hopefully I can loosen up soon. It did kind of hurt my feelings though. My teacher friend that moved from Vancouver WA the same time I moved from Oregon teaches art for all the grades. All the students said hi to her and were happy to see her. But I understand I can't be a pal right now I have to teach them life skills and they don't like the unfamiliar structures. I can only hope that they reflect on the year in the future and see how much I cared and that they in turn will say hi to me in the halls when they are no longer in my class. It is nice to have a three day weekend and to have had company for a night. My teacher friend and I did not know each other till we met the day before orientation began. We have been fast friends ever since.

In the pictures I have attached here and at flickr, the native outfits are hand made. The bead work is all sewn by hand and they cannot dance until they have completed their outfits. At one point of the dance competition everything came to a halt because an eagle feather fell off a dancer's headdress or fan and was found laying on the ground. No one but an elder who has permission through a ceremony can pick up an eagle feather. So we waited until an elder was found and a short ceremony of the elder picking up the feather very reverently and giving it back to the owner was performed. It was a very serious matter. I found it very interesting.

I am still on the hunt for a pair of moccasins for my grandson. All that was for sale during the Powwow were beautifully beaded but also priced right for the work and above my price range for my grandson to wear. So on I look. I have heard of a couple of other places to go look.

Today (Sunday) as I write this it is sunny, warm with a nice breeze and except for my windchimes it is very quiet. I am told we are in fall. There are a few leaves that have turned, not as colorful as Oregon. We have Elm here and they change to yellow but I have only seen a couple of leaves turned. To me it is a beautiful Indian Summer. Friday night I went to dinner with my neighbor. We ate at a place called Tabacco Gardens. We asked how the place got its name and were told that Lewis and Clark camped there and thought they found tabacco growing so they picked it and smoked it and discovered that it was only a weed they found.

The cafe is in a resort where there is rv and camping spaces, little bunglos and a boat launch. The water is from an inlet from the little Missouri and this is the first year it has been reopened. For several years this inlet and this part of the Little Missouri has been dried up. Along the banks in the water you can see tops of elm trees that had grown up while the inlet was dry and now stand in the water. It looks like the Columbia when it is high and the trees along the islands are standing in water. It is not as big as the Columbia but has the same look where the trees are. My neighbor did not know why this place had been dried out for so many years. It could have been because the Corps of Engineers decided to divert the water to South Dakota or the snow melt in Montana was not enough to feed the tributary.

My brother and his wife will be here soon. Oh another highlight now is I finally will have TV tomorrow. The satelite people will be coming out to hook me up. It will be nice to have a little company via TV to occupy my evenings when I finally get home. I have made it through two weeks with students and this is my first weekend off. I am starting to settle in and love it where I live. I like walking to work but I do find I need to leave town occasionally to get away from the shadow of my work.

One more thing before I sign off. On Thursday, I found a wasp in my spare room. No biggee he probably got in when I walked in. Then when my friend and her daughter came to spend the night after the powwow I had three wasps inside and a milipede. They slept in the living room last night and today I began smashing wasps, I killed six or seven and another millipede. I thought they were getting in through the hole in the wall were the cable for the satelite came through the wall. Then we looked and two of my double hung windows the top of the windows had slid down and of course they were the windows without screens or storm windows. Luckily my friend is tall because I am not. She was able to shut the top and we locked the windows and now no more bugs. I am glad because I lost at least a half hour of sleep last night trying to figure out how I was going to drive 35 miles to Watford City get a bug bomb, bomb the house and air it out before I drove back to Watford City to meet my brother and his wife. Then I remembered that Watford City is closed on Sundays except the gas stations and a couple of restaraunts. Such is life in the boonies.

Wednesday

I am spent. It was a very hard day today. I feel like I have lost all control and with the behavior issues I feel like I am above my head. God is the only reason I am still standing because I have nothing left and two more days to go before the blessed weekend. I cannot wait for a three day sabath. I have so much to do before I can have three days off. I need rest so I am plowing through.

A relative/friend sent me a scripture today it fits. " I have to reshape and remold her ...to renew her to what I had planned for her to be. It has not been easy for her or for me." Jeremiah 29:11

I gave Cricket the dog back to his original generous owner. I discovered I don't like pets. I don't like the mess, walking and picking up the piles, or the interuptions when I am trying to work. Plus the final straw, I got a call in the middle of class stating that my dog was running loose in the street all over the neighborhood. I am lucky that I have a teacher and a para that could cover for me so I could get Cricket back into the garage. I do not have the patience nor the energy to love this dog after my days teaching, Giving Cricket back was the highlight of my day. He has a new home with kids already. I know he will be happy.

God is still good all the time even when I am homesick. Boy this journey with God is going to be a fun rollercoaster ride. I better buckle my seatbelt. I have a feeling that I have not reached the highest part of the ride yet.

My first week teaching

I have prayed everyday that God will give me the grace, mercy, patience and knowledge to reach my students. Everyday He has been faithful. I have fifteen seventh graders who are all taller than me. My class has a lot to learn about self control and behavior. We are working on that together. I survived my first week of school and I am now into the second week. I love my students and the challenges they bring with them. They are a great bunch of rowdy kids. They want to learn they just don't know it yet.

I have a wonderful teacher who has become my mentor and is my neighbor. She seems to know the perfect times to come over and wisk me out of my house and the little town I live in. I literally have to drive out of town to get away from my job. I can see the school from my house. I never thought I would miss driving an hour one way to work but it did allow me to unwind.

I feel that I am in a season of God's blessings. I was finally able to get my license from North Dakota so I can now teach solo and I think I am ready to fly on my own wings. I actually got home before 7 p.m. tonight. That is a first in a week. But I love my job and my carreer.

I have been looking for a new church to call home. As of yet, the Lord has not revealed where. I went to an Assembly of God but it is a half hour drive then two hours for Sunday school and service then half hour back. SO very long for my only true day off. I will do as the Lord leads. I am totally surrendered to Him.

After the big panick last week a peace and contentment has settled in my soul. I feel very well looked after and a sense of freedom and peace as I surrender myself to God completely. He is truely leading me into a season of abundance.

I have decided to give my cute little dog back to his original owner. Cricket at first had a little trouble adjusting to life indoors. He has figured out that outside is his potty place so that is better. However, I come home soo tired and late that I don't have energy or patience for poor Cricket. I take him for a walk grudingly and put him a little. Then I need to do something for school the next day so he gets to lay around the house but has very little of my time or attention. Plus I don't like to have to deal with the mess and care for a pet. I cannot give Cricket what he deserves because he is such a great dog. I pray that God will find him a great owner that will spoil him rotten.

My brother and his wife are coming to visit me this weekend and I am very excited to show then around. I hope to be able to show them some of the beauty I am surrounded by both day and night. I am also going to my first big powwow this weekend. I plan on eating buffalo and enjoying the native dances while sitting next to my native friends who can tell me the stories that go behind the dances.

Tonight at least, I am home. God is good all the time.

Blessings