We are HERE!

So after a full month of training and over a full day of travel, we are here in OSTRAVA, Czech Republic! We left for LAX at 10:30 am Pacific time on Thursday the 20th. It took an hour and half of rearranging and reorganizing, but we got all of our luggage and ourselves checked in. We left on time and flew over 10 hours to Frankfurt, Germany. I sat by a sweet girl and her boyfriend on their way home from their first trip to the US. She wanted to practice her English and let me tell you she was much better than I will ever be at my German. 
Then, we got stuck in customs for a few minutes. We literally had to sprint through the entire airport and ask them to hold the plane so that we could all make it for the flight. Thankfully, they would! Then, we had a short hour flight to Prague. We picked up our baggage. Every single piece made it! YAY! For every teacher on the Czech team which is a major blessing! 
After we picked up our luggage, we met Eva (our boss's sister-in-law) and she took on a bus and two subways with all our luggage so that we could catch the train to Ostrava. The train took about 4 hours to get here. It was a beautiful trip with lots of the countryside, although I'm not gonna lie, I did sleep for most of it. :-) 
Then we arrived and were met by the best welcoming committee you could ask for. While the five of us were concerned with getting our 20 pieces of luggage off the train before it started moving again, 4 people came dashing up to us asking if we were with Fishnet and began grabbing our stuff and helping pull it off the train. They gave us phones, keys, took us to our flats, showed us how to get to our teammates flats, made sure we could get on the internet, directions to church, and they gave us information for the week. It was great! We felt really blessed!
Well, we are here. Our flat is great! Tomorrow, we are going to a little bit more exploring. We are also going to be going to our first Czech church. It will be translated for us into English. I ask that you would pray with us that we would begin to mold into the community that we will be a part of. 

"Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." Romans 12:10-12"

Also, this is a video of my new flat so click on the link and you can watch. Hope you are having a great evening!   My new flat!

Humbling...Yet Redeeming

In life, there are a few things that I feel I am talented at. 1) Talking—I can talk your ear off if I’m in the mood too and for those of you that have ever met me that is pretty much all the time. 2) Being independent—I am extremely confident in my ability to do things on my own. I’m ready for whatever it is that God has called me to in life as long as He is with me. And 3) Teaching—I have always been given great reviews on my teaching abilities in college and even as a high school student it was always where I felt the Lord had called me to be, mostly because I was good at it.



Nothing like setting yourself up for a fall, right?


Here at training we spend endless hours (or so it seems) in classes that teach those of us going with TeachOverseas how to teach English as a Foreign Language. I thought, “Not a problem” (or as I have since learned to say in Czech “Neni zac”). However, the Lord sometimes has other plans for us. Or should I say lessons for us to learn. The first night I went out with confidence. I was teaching a lesson to a beginner class on classroom objects. (Words like board, eraser, pencil, pen, notebook, and marker) Before it began, I was thinking that “this would be a great lesson!” No, I had never taught ESL, but I am a certified English teacher. How hard can it be?


Oh how the mighty do fall!


That night and the night that followed were some of the most humbling experiences I have ever had. Not only was I unable to communicate the definitions of the vocabulary to my students, but I did not even complete the tasks that I needed to in order to have a comprehensive lesson! For the first time as a student and as a teacher, I had utterly flopped. For those of you who have ever been in school with me, you know that does not bode well. My pride definitely began to show that week. In fact, God had to do a major humbling in me. I have had to entirely reevaluate the way that I teach. I have had to learn that teaching ESL is in fact nothing like teaching English. It is in fact more like teaching Spanish or French in an American high school and that is exactly what I will be doing. For some reason though, this had not clicked in my pea sized brain before. I needed to realize that, unlike me, my future students were going to mean business and I needed to figure it out.


This was a really hard thing for me to handle, but the Lord gave me a verse this week. It’s one of my favorites. “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Romans 5:3-4 I love that God tells us that no matter what we are going through when we rejoice in the bad times He is going to help us endure and it is going to be a cycle that will produce a well spring of hope and character. We tell our students and our children to persevere in all things, why shouldn’t we?


Next step of humbling—shutting UP! That’s right, I need to learn how to shut my mouth and let others do the talking. Not only in my classroom (GOAL—teacher talks 20%; student 80%), but also in life. I want to learn more about those that are around me and if I want to do that I need to close my mouth first—listen more and talk less. Doing this, I can find out more about what they want and need. I am also learning I do not say as many of those smart comments that I so often regret when I just hold my tongue a little while longer. Also, God can also speak to me through what others are saying if I just take the time to listen.


So I challenge you to memorize my scripture of the week with me. This week it is on asking the Lord’s help in keeping your mouth guarded.


“Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.” Psalms 141:3


I ask that you would pray for me in these areas that I have been struggling with and that you would let me know if I can pray for you in any similar circumstances. I would love to hear from you! I miss you all!!

Theme of the week…TEAMWORK!

     Hey hey! I wanted to let you in on a little of what I’ve been learning about this week. Session after session, we have been learning about the importance of teams. Common phrases “sit with your team,” “discuss this with your teammates,” “how would you and your teammates resolve this situation,” have been repeated during this past week of training. I began to wonder why. I mean I know we are going to be roommates (for the record, teammate=roommate), but I’ve had other roommates and even when it was difficult (and trust me I had some very difficult roommate situations) it always worked out and was peaceable. Being a studious little one, definitely the teacher in me, I decided to figure out if there was a biblical reason why.
     Low and behold, there is! Shocker! Throughout the New Testament, especially in Acts, the disciples and many of the early missionaries go to spread the word in pairs or groups. Paul works with several different men (Barnabas, Timothy, etc), Peter first sets out with John, and many others go in pairs. As teachers living out our Christian faith in nations that are known for their atheistic beliefs, it is important to remember the values that come from having fellowship with other believers.

“Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.”

Matthew 18:19-20             

                      

     Each session or class that we (the teachers here at Teach Overseas Training) have been taught about a different facet of living together overseas in our city. For some, it means they will be the only foreigners. For others, they will be the only known Christians. My team and I learned that we have a high reputation to live up to. Teach Overseas or ESI has a long standing history in our city and school. Our school is excited to be getting more teachers, but we have also been told that this may make it more difficult to befriend colleagues or students since they know that we will probably only be there for a year or two.
     I have learned that while teams are important for the obvious reasons. While we are gone, we truly are the only human contacts that each other has to lean on. We provide fellowship, family, friendship, and familiarity. We are even one another’s co-workers. We do everything together. It is so much more than just a roommate situation. Our apartments or “flats” are our ministries. And our students, neighbors, colleagues, and national friends will know who we are by our love…or lack thereof.
    

I wanted to introduce the team...Ashley--the cutie from Indiana is the tiny one in the middle. Shelly--the one with the great smile is on the right and is proud to be from Texas.

    I ask that over the next few weeks you would pray for me and my team as we get to know each other. I will be praying for you and your “team” at home as well. Make sure and email me any special prayer requests. I would love to stay updated on everything going on!

Southern California is Super Cool...(At Least Figuratively w/o AC! :-)

So I made it!! Yay! Luggage and all (aka me) made it safely to Pasadena, California. I had a few delays. My first flight left on time. However, when it landed in Phoenix, the gate was not ready for our plane and we had to wait for almost a half an hour. This was a problem because I only had a half hour lay over to start with. By the time I got off the plane and made it to my next flight it was already boarding. Needless to say, I made it in the nick of time. The next flight was delayed about an hour due to plane malfunctions. But they got them fixed and we made it. I was able to catch the shuttle late which was actually a blessing in disguise, because I met 4 other Teachoverseas members on the same shuttle! Happy Moment!

The schedule since I have arrived is jam packed! We have lots to do! In some ways, I have realized that it is a lot like camp. We have a lot of bonding to do, but at the same time we also have a ton of learning. We are going to be studying about our specific regions and also learning how to teach English as a Second Language. The past two days have been crammed with meeting lots of people that are going to many different countries and with meeting my own teammates.

My roommates while I am staying here are Annie and Gwen. Annie is going to Hungary and Gwen is going to North Africa. We are roughing it by staying in an AC free room. And according to the locals, LA is having a heat wave this weekend. (I totally believe them! It is hot!)

My teammates are great and have a lot of the same questions that I do. So we are going to be learning lots together over the next few weeks. Ashley, Shelly, Erica, and Jess are the four other girls going to Ostrava with me. We have had a blast getting to know each other so far. We have decided it is going to be a fun city to be in for the fact that we will be together!

Today, we had a pool party to cool off and spend some down time bonding a little. Tomorrow, I hear they bring out the heavy artillery. I'm going to call home before it is super late for you guys and then get to bed early myself. Hope you are all doing well!

Less than a Week!

Less than a week…it is looming. Hanging above me like a big cloud, but not a scary storm cloud. More like the big happy sun hanging in the sky. It is pretty and beautiful, but almost too bright, you know? Exciting, but the whole gist of it is a little intimidating. Like perky people in the morning, you know? ;-) I’m not nervous or afraid, but really trying to get prepared and not sure how.

I think that is the most daunting part of it all. How do you pack for an entire year? I mean for anyone that has ever checked out my wardrobe, you totally know that it is not going to fit in two 15x18x48in suitcases…even if they are vacuum packed. So then the downsizing begins, right? Where do you start with that? What is a necessity? What is just sheer luxury? And really how do you cut out all of the shoes?! MY SHOES! (Mind you, this is just the clothes problem) So then you move on to the other items they tell you to take. Bible (missionary—obivious), games (don’t have to tell me twice, I am the child of a card shark!), medicine (the ridiculously expensive prescription meds I got? Oh, yeah, those), pictures of home, essential documents, 3-ring binder full of training materials, training book…oh my BOOKS!

If you have ever met me, you know that at any given time I have at least one fiction with me, one non-fiction book being read somewhere at home, and probably another spare “just in case.” Books are heavy! What to do? Well, thank heavens for wonderful family! Mine decided to bless me with the gift a Kindle. It is fantastic! I have downloaded so many free books (because most of the classics are free) that is insane! I am going to get to take an entire library with me in only a small little electronic device.

So the next week will be a whirlwind of suitcases, clothes, lists, and vacuum bags. :-) Hopefully, I can cram everything needed into the limited space within the weight limit. If not, I guess I’ll have to buy what I can’t fit when I get there. It’s not as though they won’t have stores.

The past few weeks have been wonderful and bittersweet. Kate and Jenna, my two forever friends, planned a fun and relaxing day at the river for us. Then, they had a great surprise party with our friends from high school. We had a blast! Silent Marco Polo, anyone? I also had to say goodbye to some of my grandparents and aunts and uncles. We had dinner which was very nice and relaxing. Also, some fantastic food was had! I also got to see my best friend from college, Sara, and her husband, Justin. My Sunday School class also did some very sweet things for me. I am very glad to know that I have their love and support while I am gone.

I have realized though that while these past few have been great, the reason I am actually getting to see everyone at once like this is because I am leaving in a week for an entire year! It is just now starting to sink in some. I know that I’m leaving, but in some ways I don’t think it will be truly sunk in until I have been gone for a while and I can’t just jump on the plane and be home in a few minutes. That’s the weird part.

But for now, I’m excited, ready to go, and just praying that God would lead me every step of the way. I know that it is going to be a long road and it is not going to be easy at times. It might not even be easy any of the time, but He will guide me if I am willing to follow.

So I ask that those of you that are reading this would partner with me in making that my prayer for the next year. Pray the Lord will guide my steps and that I will have a heart that is open to listen. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1

God-things

So since my last update, I have found out all sorts of cool and exciting things. I have found out the names of my roommates for one thing! I’m pretty psyched about that. Their names are Ashley and Shelly. They seem very sweet and as excited as I am.



A few cool things about them. First, I had barely even opened the email, found out their names and logged on facebook to “friend” the two of them, when I saw that I had a post on my wall from Matt Friedlund. His message said that I was going to be rooming with a friend of his. How small of a world right? Total God-thing as one of my favorite book characters would say. :-) I find it very exciting that God is sending me a mutual friend along for the ride in Ashley. Shelly, on the other hand, I have learned has already spent a good chunk of time in the Czech Republic and will be able to give me some great insight into the country. I’m really excited about the knowledge and love of the people that she possesses. It already provides me with even more of a peace about who God has chosen for me to live with while I’m talking to others about Him. I’m just ecstatic and I haven’t even met them yet!


This week I send in the second half of my visa paperwork. Major prayers that I understood all of the language stuff and did all of the details correctly!


Speaking of prayers…HUGE yes answer was that I managed to get all of my medications for the entire year today. Even though I had to pay for it out of pocket, I was able to do it thanks to the help of a lot of prayer, a lack of prescription health care coverage, and a very kind doctor and nurse that know me and my situation well.


Well, I have the 11th annual Grace Youth Retreat this weekend!! YAY! I’m so excited! I love these guys! Pray we have open hearts, safety, and for once, decent weather! Lol. Talk to you all soon! Thanks for everything!

Time Flies and All That...

Well, the past week and a half have been a crazy week for news and events in regards to this whole experience. To start with, I was preparing to speak at Trinity EC which was really exciting. I felt a lot more relaxed and ready to go than I did when I went to my last speaking engagement. As Pastor Mark and I discussed, I felt like I had just word vomited all over those kind people and that’s just cruel. So, I was less stressed (no musical this time. Lol) and was just more myself. I think I surprised my mom. I think the organization of it surprised her which is not a shocker… (a not so well kept secret except from my young cherubs at school, I am about the least organized person on the planet. However, I rarely am so disorganized that I completely do not do what I need to do or do not accomplish things in a somewhat ok manner. I like to think that my life is somewhat controlled chaos), but I am a teacher at heart. It is my passion in life. :-)


Ok, I’m back from the bunny trail. Where was I, oh yes, big things the past few weeks. Trinity and all of the wonderful people there were a fantastic and generous blessing. I really enjoyed visiting there and speaking to them about all that I am learning about the Czech Republic. They also really helped to get closer to my financial goal and I am so grateful for that. It is amazing what God has done to put all of those details in place so quickly for me.


Also, in the last two weeks, I received two big phone calls from TeachOverseas. I had to make two different decisions. Both to me were unexpected, both will affect the next year of my life. One made me laugh at God’s humor and the other made me ask “why isn’t there a manual for this?” One, for me, was easy to make while the other was heart wrenching.


About two and a half weeks ago, I had sent in my information all about me packets. (Basically, the data in order to allow the TO Formation Committee to choose who would go where and with whom, like you fill out your freshman year of college). The next week I got a phone call from Laura, my extremely sweet and patient Regional Director, asking if I would be interested in working part of the time overseas with elementary age students. (For you who don’t know, I am a Secondary History, English, and Middle School Math Teacher. High School age kids are my deal. I like working with little kids and babysitting, but teaching younger ones was never my plan.)


Now for those of you that go to Grace, you may know that I help teach the 1st and 2nd grade Sunday School class. It can quite the wild bunch some days. There are about 12 of them in the class and they are mostly boys. I often feel as though it can be related to taming feral cats. Lol. In my mind, I often think of it as a temporary position, elementary has never truly been where I have felt called to be long term.


In fact, one Sunday after church I left so exhausted I flippantly said to my brother that I couldn’t wait until July when I wouldn’t be teaching little kids anymore because they tire me out!


He then said, “Wouldn’t it be funny if you ended up going to the Czech Republic and God had you teaching elementary school all year!”


Adam, you must be the new magic 8 ball! j/k. The long of it is I told Laura that I would work with the younger kids. It will be nice I think to have a variety of students. And I’m really looking forward to it. But God does have a funny sense of humor.


A few days later the phone rings again. It was Laura. This time she has another proposition for me to consider. While the Formation Team was meeting, they had some shifting and rearranging amongst the schools take place. At that point, they needed one person from the Czech team to move countries to Hungary. She wanted to know if I would be willing to consider doing so. This was a complete surprise to me. I was not ready to say yes immediately (In my heart, I have been preparing to go to the Czech Republic for almost a year and a half at this point) so I asked Laura for a few days to pray about the decision.


It was a rough couple of days. I wanted to make sure and do what God wanted me to do. I didn’t want to be in the way of the ministries that I know He has planned. Both places have their pros and cons. The Lord is going to do incredible things in both places. However, I was torn over the decision. One of my big concerns was the fact that I have been raising my support for quite a while now with the express purpose of going to the Czech Republic. I asked for prayer and the opinion of a lot of different people. My mom asked for prayer at her group that she goes to and at Wednesday night prayer meeting. Unfortunately, I still didn’t feel as though I had a definite answer. I called Laura back at the set time. Told her my concerns and she got me fired up and ready to go to Hungary. I told her that I was ready to go wherever it was that God needed me to go.


We hung up. (Me thinking that I’m now going to Hungary and Laura telling me that she was going to talk to a few other team members and call me back). I tell my mom, “I’m going to Hungary.” A few minutes later, Laura calls back.


She says, very excitedly, “You’re staying in the Czech Republic!! Another team is going to switch!”


From there on, things have begun to fall into place very quickly. I now know where I’m going to be, who I’m going to be living with, and all sorts of other details. I can’t wait to fill you all in. BUT since I have officially written a short novella this time, I am going to log off, get some other things accomplished in life and tell you all about it at another date. I turn the big “23” (which isn’t that big) in a few days and I have some extra work to do for SMILES and the Youth retreat to do so I should probably get crack –a-lackin’ as I tell my students. ;-) Talk to you all soon!! Things are going to be hopping from here on out! Blessings and Peace!