Saturday, May 21, 2011

Life After College Continues

I originally planned on doing a blog for the sole purpose of my trip to Spain, but as it turns out, I am not done traveling yet-probably won't be for quite a while! That being the case, I thought I would update all of you to what God has been doing in my life, and what He has for me this summer.
I praise God for His faithfulness; I did indeed have the privilege of having a teaching job right out of college. However, at first I thought that I would just be subbing. A week before school started, I received a call from a local christian school to be an assistant teacher in the 4th grade. I was thrilled! The grade was younger than I was planning on, but the year has been wonderful. I love my fourth grade class- all 28 of them! I even had the blessing of having my own classroom (we split up the class at certain points of the day) and working and learning from a great teacher. These kids have been such a challenge and encouragement to me this year. Teaching definitely has its challenges, and I have spent many days in prayer asking the Lord for wisdom. I still feel like I have so much to learn about being a teacher. Through it all, the Lord has provided and been kind to teach me through my mistakes too.
One thing I started doing with my class just for fun was teach them Spanish words. The kids absolutely loved it! Every week I would try and teach them new words. As I began to do this, the Spirit began to stir some thoughts in me about Spanish. Why don't I try to teach Spanish? As silly as it sounds, the thought had never really occurred to me. The more I thought and prayed about it, and the more I started to ask advice of those around me, God seemed to be opening the doors for me to work on my Spanish endorsement. That is currently my new goal as an educator, to get my Spanish endorsement for K-12.
As soon as I told my dad about this, he came up with the idea that I should return to Ecuador for the summer to improve my Spanish ( a definite need of mine). Any of you who know my dad will not be surprised by that fact at all. I was a little hesitant at first because I already had some options I was thinking through for the summer, but God again directed, closed some doors, and showed me that Ecuador is where He wants me this summer. That is where my next adventure will take place! June 15-July 20 I will be in the city of Quito, Ecuador.
Quito is not the city I grew up in, but I have some good family friends who have been kind enough to let me live with them for the five weeks. In fact, they are basically planning my whole time down there-all on their own initiative I might add! I will be helping at a school one week, a children's camp for two weeks, and spending time with friends for the other two.
I am looking forward to it, but a little nervous at the same time. This is a wonderful opportunity, but I must admit that I am not as adventurous as I thought I was. What I mean to say is that I kind of struggle going out to do this things on my own...but I know this is what God wants me to do, and He gives such peace. I am truly excited too! Ecuador is my second home; I leave in 24 days :) I would greatly appreciate your prayers, that I would have a soft heart to what my Father wants to teach me. I am not sure exactly where God is leading in this life He has given me, but I love walking with Him. He's got it all planned out.

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