Christmas Break!

     Today was the last day of the first semester.  All my grades have been entered and I have made it through my first semester of teaching.  It was a half day and instead of having a Christmas party in the classroom, we took all of the elementary to a nearby orphanage and had a Christmas party there with the kids.

      Going to the orphanage is, by far, one of my favoite things to do here.  The kids are all so sweet and excited to see you!  They will climb on your lap, play with your hair, hold your hand, and basically just be all over you.  It reminds me so much of my kids at Westside and makes me miss then a lot, but it also makes me so happy to see all the little smiles.

     Today we brought in some chips and cookies for the kids.  We also sang some Christmas songs and did a little play for them.  After the worship service we played games!  The elementary kids were in charge of the whole program, games included.  It all went really well and I was so proud of all my kids.  During the games things got a little chaiotic, but it was great!  Most of the kids at the orphanage speak hardly any English and we only have a few students that speak Swahili and so the kids could not really understand the directions and they all just wanted to run around like crazy anyways. 

    The red noses were supposed to be a part of one of the games.  I think that the plan was for it to be some type of relay race, but I am not entirely sure.  At any rate, that game quickly turned into stick a nose on everyone around you and then run around laughing.  It was a lot of fun!

     After we got back from the orphanage I said goodbye to all my kids for a month.  Many of them are traveling back to the countries that they are originally from to visit their families.  I had the afternoon off then and already am wondering what I am going to do with myself for the next month. 

      We do have several things planned so far including a trip to the Mara and to Mombasa.  I also have quite a bit of lesson planning to do for next semester.  I will be getting two new students next semester and adding a grade so that I will now be teaching first through fourth grade.  I have to say that I am looking forward to sleeping in a little bit (my running has been pushed back to 7 am instead of 5:40) and also to cooking my own meals instead of eating in the cafeteria. 

Photos of School

2nd-4th grade Flat Stanley letters!

More pics of my kids.....

2nd grade

These smiles are the best!

This made my day :)

The elementary is under construction.  We are getting more classrooms added on!

I get this face pretty often.  It makes me laugh every time.

Police, Cats, and "Wolves"

     It has been over two weeks since I updated and so I guess that it is time.  The thing is that I really have no idea what to talk about.  I guess the first thing that I need to do is clarify that the other SMs and I were not almost thrown in jail.  Mom, I know that you read the other SMs blogs and it really was not all that dramatic.  What really happened is that we got stopped by two Kenyan police offices and they drove around with us in the school van for well over a half an hour in an attempt to get us to pay them a bribe for them to let us go.  The female officer was in the front seat torturing poor Tanzi with all kinds of threats that she could not have come through on while the male office sat in the back seat with the rest of us.  He alternated between talking on the phone with people from here at the school who were telling him that our vehicle was up to date on its inspection and they had no right to stop us, yelling another man on the phone in Swahili, and cracking jokes with the rest of us in the car.  The whole thing was really just the officers trying to intimidate us and get us to pay them a bribe so that we could get out of the “trouble” that we were supposedly in.  Really during the whole incident the only thing I could think about was the fact that I was hungry and it looked like it was going to be a while before I could eat.

     Other than that the last few weeks have really been uneventful.  We are a week and a half away from Christmas break.  In the elementary we have been practicing for our Christmas play that will be happening next Friday night.  We have also been trying to wrap things up and make it to good stopping points in all of our lessons.  Its hard to believe that I have been a teacher for a whole semester now.  Time is such a funny thing.  It goes so slowly and yet it just flies by. 

     Jacqui, Taylor, and I have adopted a cat I guess.  Or rather, I should say that the cat has adopted us.  She is pretty friendly most of the time.  She really likes to cuddle up in my lap every time I sit down and sometimes in the mornings when I am getting ready she follows me around the house.  Since she is able to let herself both in and out of the house she comes and goes as she pleases.  I do not mind her being in the house as long as she stays off of my bed.  I think that she knows that though.  She jumped up on my bed one time and after I yelled at her once she quickly jumped off and hid under it for a while.  She has not tried to get on it again.  She is a very smart cat and she is definitely growing on me.

     Last Sunday I had an interesting morning.  It was about 4:50 am and I heard this howling noise outside my house.  I got up, after untangling myself from my bug net and feeling for my headlight, and looked out my window and did not see anything.  I was about to get back in bed when I heard it again. I looked outside again and saw a big dog and it looked really hairy.  Without my glasses on, in the dark, and with the fact that I had been awake all of thirty seconds I immediately thought that there was a wolf in my yard.  Then as my mind started working I remembered that I was in Africa and so there obviously was not a wolf in my yard.  I ended up just getting up at this point because I was supposed to meet Yani at 5:30 to go running.  One our run we saw my “wolf” .  It was just a stray dog, he actually was not that big or very hairy either.  Between the dog and the pouring rain that Yani and I ran in for an hour, it made for an interesting morning.

Camping and Math Class Lessons

The Great Rift Valley

The campsite

The last several days have been so full!  This weekend we took the whole school on a campout.  The juniors and seniors went to the Mara and the freshman, sophmores, and elementary students went to Hell’s Gate National Park.  I went to Hell’s Gate and Friday morning we loaded up three truck/bus type vehicles with a total group of 85 and headed off. It was a great time!  I can not tell you how many tents I helped set up on Friday.  Many of these kids had never done anything like this before.  I live in the biggest city in East Africa and many of the students here come from wealthy families all over East Africa.  It rained Friday night and Saturday morning but it rains just about every time I go camping and so this was nothing new to me.  The kids however, were not too sure about it.  They did not want to get wet!  Thankfully, the weather cleared up and we did some hiking that afternoon.  That was amazing! We were able to hike down in the gorge and see some pretty neat landscape features.  In some places the climbing was a little difficult.  Many of the kids needed help getting up and so Derrick went on top of the rock and I stood below and gave kids a leg up while he caught them and pulled them up.  On Sunday morning we broke camp and I helped with tents again.  After this weekend, I feel like an expert in tents.  The kids then had the option to go rock climbing or biking.  I chose to go with the group that went climbing.  I took rock climbing at Southern my first semester there and I loved it!  I have been climbing with friends several times since then and am hoping to get my own gear when I get home so that I can go more often.   The rock that we were going to climb is the rock the inspired Pride Rock (The Lion King).  It was really neat. I helped a lot kids in and out of harnesses and climbing shoes and had a great time doing it!  A lot of the kids were really scared to do the climb and some only made it up a few feet.  I was really proud of the ones that were willing to give it a try!

School so far this week has just been great.  I have said it before and will probably be saying it for the rest of my life.  But I think that I learn more from these kids than they do from me.  Today Katie (the other SM elementary teacher) and I lost track of time while the kids were out at recess and ended up giving them an extra ten minutes.  This would be fine, except that it cut into math class. Math is the class that I have the hardest time fitting everything in for.  I teach 5^th and 6^th grade math and it is a juggling act for sure.  The first few weeks, I really thought that I was going to pull out all my hair in frustration.  It has gotten so much better though now!  I am able to get it done and feel like the kids actually learned something.  They are all passing too, so I must not be doing too terribly. 

 

Anyways, we called the kids in late.  The 5^th graders came in arguing like they always do and everyone came in wanting a drink.  I also knew that the 6^th graders had had some difficulty with there homework the night before and we needed to cover some of the material.  I was slightly stressed trying to figure out how in the world I was going to teach two different lessons and review yesterdays lesson in my now shortened math period.  I was about to open my mouth to get after all the kids for being so rowdy coming in.  To tell them that they had better sit down and be quiet because we had way too much to do.  Then I looked around.  They were happy and laughing and having a good time, while still getting their books and preparing for class. I realized that I had a choice.  I could yell at them to sit down and then rush through the lesson.  We could have done it.  But as I was sitting standing there and looking around I realized that if I did that I would be taking the joy right out of the room.  They would not be having fun anymore, but would be upset about being yelled at. I would not be happy, but would be irritated because I had to yell at them again.  So I decided to laugh with them.  We went over the homework from yesterday.  We started to cover a bit of the material that we were supposed to cover today, but did not make it through.  I assigned some extra practice from the day before and we made it through the class with everyone smiling. 

Anyone who has known me for a while know that I tend to be very task oriented.  I like to see what needs to be done and get it done.  I do things quickly and efficiently and I really don’t slow down or stop for much of anything.  You cannot always do that with kids.  Its not good for them!  They need you to slow down.  They need you to take the time.  To listen to them.  To understand where they are coming from.  I am again learning my lesson.  Slow down.  My kids are so happy most of the time!  I cant help but think its because they realize what us adults miss.  Life is not an emergency.  It is not something that needs to be rushed through.  There are more important things than your lesson plans or your to-do list.  I think that kids are so happy because they take the time to laugh.  They take the time to wonder at the things around them.

Teaching....

These kids make me think.  Hard. All the time.  And these kids make me laugh so much!  I learn so much from them on a daily basis.  I am learning how important it is to be clear in what you are expecting and how to be more explicit in your explanations.  I tell one student to “grab the door” and he walks over, grabs it by the side and proceeds to say, “Ms. McCauley, its too big for me too carry.”  I laugh because I am not really sure what else there is to do.  I say, “sit down right now” and I have a kid literally sit down right where he is, on the floor, in the middle of the classroom.  I say, “take a seat” and I have a 2^nd grader pick up there chair and ask me where I want them to take it.  I just love these kids. Sometimes they are just being smart.  They think it is very funny to take everything I say very literally.  Other times I am pretty sure that they really have no idea what I was actually asking for.

The 2^nd through 4^th grade and I are currently reading Flat Stanley.  It is a book about a boy who is flat and the adventures that he goes on.  One of the things that happens in the book is his family mails him to a friend to visit.  So as a project we mailed “Flat Stanleys” to some of my friends and family.  They are pretty excited about it and in the three days since I mailed the letters, every day at least one kid asks me if we have gotten any response yet.  I have tried to explain that it will probably take weeks.

In 5^th and 6^th grade math I was asked if I am a tomboy – one of my 6^th grade boys is very interested in that answer and lately, on a daily basis, has been pointing out different things that I do that make him think that I am a tomboy.  Another one of my 6^th graders pointed out to me that “math is mental abuse to humans”.  I also have a 5^th grader that has really been struggling with math this year.  I think that I have done everything short of standing on my head with him to try and help him understand.  We have written out problem after problem.  We have drawn pictures.  We have used blocks.  We have tried examples using pie and pizza (unfortunately imaginary pie and pizza).  We have stood up and walked around.  If you can think of it, we have probably tried it – and then some.  But he is finally getting it!  It is so exciting that math is starting to make more sense for him! I am no longer getting blank stares during math class, but getting answers when I ask questions!  Today this student and I did a little bit of a victory dance in excitement for how far we have come! But then of course we got right to work on homework….

Then there are the students that have to have things explained several times and I have to think of every possible way to say something to help them understand.  It is frustrating when they say, “ok, I get it” and then two minutes later are asking you to explain the exact same thing again.  So it’s back to the drawing board.  How in the world to I communicate this subject to you in a way that you can understand?  It’s a question that I would love to be able to ask these kids and sometimes I do.  However, they typically don’t know either and so it is a lot of trial and error.

            I have a second grader that often asks me what day it is.  Every time I tell him I get a similar response.  Generally it is something along the lines of, “Ms. McCauley, time is going way too fast.”  I can’t help but agree.  These days mostly fly by.  When I am being called in several different directions at once sometimes I think that I might just lose my mind.  Sometimes I get a little short with one of the kids and yell at them when they really didn’t do anything wrong.  Sometimes I am far too lax and let them get away with a lot more than I should.  At any rate I am learning and I think that they are learning too.  Teaching can be frustrating.  But getting hugs from my kids in the morning, having little ones that want to hold my hand when we are just walking around, being called over to the swings to watch as they show me what they can do, and victory dances in the classroom make it more than worth it. 

Slow

Slow.  Just slow.  I am realizing more and more that I am always in a hurry.  I walk fast.  I eat fast.  I shower fast.  What for?  Why am I always rushing?  Hurry hurts people.  Hurry hurts kids.  Here in Africa everything is slow.  Or at least it seems like everything is slow.  The kids walk so slow!  The lines take an eternity.  Mail takes weeks.  It takes forever to get places because of the traffic.  It drives me nuts!  But I am realizing it is so good for me  It is Sunday morning and I was in the shower and I was rushing.  As I realized what I was doing I just started to laugh at myself.  It is a Sunday morning.  I have no appointments today.  Nowhere that I really have to be and while I do have several things I want to get accomplished today, I have more than enough time to get them all done.  So why am I rushing?  How much do I miss out on because I am always in a hurry and always trying to get to the next thing.  

School Days

A note taken from two of my students in class the other day:  Excuse the spelling.  I copied it exactly. 

Student 1: Hey, did you see the look on (that other student’s) face?  I wonder what is wrong with her?

Student 2: No, but she was arguing with Mrs. MacCle and Mrs. MacCle said she shoud stop it.

Student 1: I know.  I think she wants excuses to not do her math or math is too hard for her.

Student 2: Eh, I don’t think that

Student 1: Whatever.  Anywho, lets continue working.  And I think you mean didn’t I think that.

Student 2:  don’t use that word Anywho Arg and don’t tell me that I am using your arg ok I am using my own arg.

Student 1: Ok Ok. Lets continue.

Student 2: Continue what!

Student 1:  CONTINUE INDEPENDENT!  Arg.  We don’t want much homework do we?

Student 2: I did not say we do! Arg.

Student 1:  (Name of student), just continue if you don’t want homework.

Student 2: ok ok ok so never mind!!!!

Student 1: whatever

Student 2: You said we should continue so lets continue ok!

Student 1: ok ok. Don’t give notes back then, ok?

Student 2: ok, you don’t give notes back.  Keep this not ok

Student 1: That’s what I said!  Don’t send notes this time!

Student 2 Hey, I said don’t give note

Student 1: I said it first when I went on this part of the paper L

Student 2: ok ok! Don’t give note and what does this L mean?  And don’t give note answer this when you are done.

Student 1: L means mad and it is made with !! and a (( ok?  Don’t send notes BACK!!!!!!

Student 2: hey didn’t you see what I wrote don’t send notes!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok!

Student 1: too bad.  I said it first.  HeHeHe

Student 2: toooooooooo bad I also said it

Student 1: too bad too too much bad.  I said it first

Student 2: OK it math time

And the note ends there.  Sometimes these kids are so entertaining!   In the last few days I have had to explain to a student that it is not a good idea to pick your nose and eat your boogers, especially in public.  I had a 2^nd grader in the middle of his English homework look up and ask me randomly and ask what the purpose of life is.  Today after assigning homework to my 5^th and 6^th graders one of my 6^th graders said that this was the best Thursday of her life!  Then I had a 5^th grader who was singing his “Thursday blues” because he had more homework than he would have liked.

11/03/12

Before I left for Africa a friend and returning SM said to me that, “mission work really is just life in another country.”  I did not really think much of the comment then, but in the last few months it has come to mind several times.  The truth in that statement hits me occasionally and I just have to laugh.  It is amazing to me how quickly we adapt and how quickly things become normal.  The novelty of something new and different quickly becomes normal, and what was once foreign becomes so typical. 

Now here at Maxwell, we have it pretty good.  I have hot, running water (as long as I remember to turn on the water heater).  I live in a gated and guarded community about a half an hour from the largest city in East Africa.  I eat most of my meals in the school cafeteria and spend a good portion of my days in my little classroom that is hardly a three-minute walk from my house.

One thing that constantly puzzles me about Africa are the apparent contradictions that I see all the time.  On the walk to Roungi I will see Land Rovers and BMWs go flying by me on one side and on the other side of me will be a little kid in tattered and dirty clothes walking to school.  I will see one person in a suit walking around talking on their I phone and then a few minutes later see an old man beating his donkey trying to get it to stop.  Yes, the beat the donkeys to make them go and to make them stop.  I am yet to figure out how the donkey knows what it is supposed to do.  The one that really gets me is when you pass by the grocery store and there are chickens wandering around the parking lot or cows just taking a nap in one of the parking spaces.  All of these things, when I first got here were just astounding to me and I was constantly shocked at some of the things that I saw.

Earlier this week there was an old man and his donkey walking with a cart full of water I am assuming for his family.  He was struggling to make it up the hill.  The water cart, the man, and the donkey were all sliding backwards down the hill.  I quickly ran over to help him push his cart up the hill.  As I was pushing and struggling to help him make it to the top of the hill I was thinking about how easy it is for me to get water.  Here at the school we have water filters built into the sinks and I am able to fill up my water bottle several times a day and yet within walking distance of my home this man is struggling to get water home.  These are some of the contradictions of Africa.

Yesterday was Friday and we had a half-day of classes.  So after classes Tanzi, Emily and I walked into Roungi to some of the markets there.  These markets are just so great!  They are extremely crowded and you never know what you will find there.  The stands are extremely close together.  At the various stands you will find fruits and veggies for very cheap.  Ever wonder what happens to all the clothes that people donate for kids in other countries?  Well, they a lot of them end up in the markets in Africa.  It is so funny to me to dig through some of these piles and find all kinds of brand name clothing from the states being sold. 

Now in the markets, if you are not really interested in buying something you better not stop for too long or you will be attacked.  Not literally.  But if you look at one thing for too long it means you are very interested and the person owning that particular stand or shop will take that as an encouragement.  They will pick up the object and start talking about how nice it is and how they will give you a good price (which if you are white is about three times what you should actually pay for it).  If it is an article of clothing watch out!  They will try to put it on you.  And if it does not go on easily, that is not much of a deterrent.  They can make it fit! This can be extremely entertaining, as long as you are not the one being shoved into a dress. 

It struck me again yesterday as we were riding a crowded Matatu (a form of public transportation in Kenya) back to the school how funny all of this is.  I have grown pretty accustomed to being stared at.  It hardly phases me anymore.  It does not surprise me to see animals in the most random places.  Seeing large spiders and lizards crawling around in my house is normal (although almost stepping on a tarantula in my room at 5 AM this week did phase me a bit).  My mom e-mailed me again and reminded me that I need to post.  I really struggled to figure out what to talk about because its just life.  I don’t have any amazing stories to tell right now.  I teach and I love it. These kids make me think and daily they teach me far more than I think I am able to teach them.  But then I remember what life was like back home and realize that while to me this is just life, but to my family and friends at home it is still foreign and strange.  So this is a little taste of  some of my adventures in Kenya.

Residency, gifts, and visitors.....

Officially a resident of Kenya!

Drawn by one of my third graders.  She also said, "I like you Ms. McCauley.  You are kind, loving, and when I do something wrong you forgive me.  You comfort me when I cry. That's why I like you.  (You are a bit strict)"

I lost my keys for the first time! Tanzi saved the day and wrote me this note.  If I am the tree, does that make Tanzi the squirrel? :)

Some of my classroom visitors.....

Brightest spider I have ever seen!

Now all I see is your face and your smile

A quiet reminder that we’re here just a while

And life is a fragile, dangerous thing

When you think of the pain and injustice it brings

When death shows us his disfigured face

It causes us sorrow, we start losing our faith

But really it’s placing us a little bit closer

To joining our creator, our heavenly father

Death, where is your power? 

You prowl around

seeking to devour

But we have a power much greater than yours,

we have a king who loves and restores

And on that day when he finally returns,

we will watch as your reign

crumbles and burns

For we are not subjects of your wrathful hand,

with GOD on our side we have courage

to stand

To the grave,

I’m not scared, you can roar all you like

And when it’s my turn, I won’t even fight

When you come to me, when you take my last breath

I will see the face of the one who conquered death

On October 18, 2012, one of our senior girls passed away.  She was in the hospital with an infection, she also had sickle cell anemia.  Everyone was expecting her to recover and come back to school in a couple of days.  That morning, however, it was announced that she didn’t make it.  The campus was completely drained of all joy, it was an eerie place.  Rest in Peace, Neema Ojwang, we can’t wait to see you again.  Hopefully it’s soon.

- Jacquie (Another SM here at Maxwell)

This last week it seems has been a week of loss.  Here at Maxwell one of our seniors passed away last Thursday morning.  She had been in the hospital for a few days because she had sickle cell anemia and was being treated for some kind of infection.  She had a beautiful smile and was loved by both the students and the teachers here at Maxwell.  Then I learned this morning that one of the young women that I grew up with was killed in a car accident last night.  This one struck a little closer to home for me.  I cant tell you how many late night conversations and pizza parties my sisters and I have had with her and how many times we all sat up talking.  Trying to make any sense of these things is useless.  The best thing that we can do here is learn.  Learn from this that life is short so don’t take it for granted.  Neither of these girls expected to die and we did not plan on losing them so soon.  We never plan on losing someone in his or her teens.  But the point is that we do not know how much time we will have.  So what are you doing with the time that you have been given?  Is it something that you would be proud of?  Are you just making it through each day, or are you really living it?  What will be said about you when you’re gone?  How much time do you have to make things right?  How much time do you have to truly live?

Now the sad thing is this.  How many will take this in?  Say it’s a sad story and then continue on as if it’s all insignificant.  What good is it is we listen to the sermon, but it does not affect the way that we live?  What good is it if we know the right thing to do, but we don’t do it?  How often do we hear an inspiring story or listen to a life changing truth, but then continue on with our lives the way we always have.  We are too busy. Too stressed out.  Too lazy.  We do not make the changes that we need to make in our own lives because we will get to it someday.  Unfortunately, we really cannot be sure that that someday will come.  So what are you doing with the time that you do have?

The Great Controversy and Glimpses of God

One of the classes that I am teaching here at Maxwell is 7^th and 8^th grade Bible.  For the last several weeks we have been using the Sabbath school quarterly lessons and going through them each week.  In the last few weeks though I had really been feeling like there had to be a better way to do Bible class.  I started looking into some other options and trying to figure out what to do.  I had the kids fill out surveys on what kinds of things they felt like they knew a lot about, what they felt like they had a lot to learn about, and what kinds of things that they had questions about. 

            Some of the kids, as you would expect from 7^th and 8^th graders, gave me some pretty ridiculous answers and treated the thing like it was a joke.  However, there were a lot of sincere answers there as well and some of them really surprised me.  There were a lot of questions about where sin came from and there were a lot of questions about the end of times and Jesus second coming.  So, I thought that going through the last several chapters of The Great Controversy might be a good idea.  I started to read it for myself starting in chapter 29. 

Once I made the decision to go through the book I was faced with a problem.  Where am I going to get 17 copies of the book?  Not really sure where to start I asked Hadassah and she sent me up to the office to ask about it.  On my walk up to the office I caught Roy just was he was leaving.  I asked him, expecting to possibly be sent on some wild goose chase to track down books, assuming that we even had that many copies readily available.  When I asked him about the books he says, “sure, no problem” and then leads me into the office and sitting there is a whole box of The Great Hope (a recent reprint of the book) which had just been dropped off for the students here at Maxwell.  I was so excited!  It had proved to be so much simpler than I was anticipating.  Talk about God knowing our needs before we need them. 

Over the last week we did a little bit of an introduction to the book and did a little research on who Ellen White was and talked about why we would be reading her book.  When we did get into some discussion these kids ask so hard but good questions!  I was amazed at some of the things that they brought up and had a difficult time trying to figure out how to answer some of the questions.  It is all so exciting!

This week has also been Week of Prayer and the theme was Glimpses of God.  Each of the speakers (which included all of the SMs and a few of the students) had a topic about a different character or personality of God.  Some of the topics included creator, leader, warrior, ect…. My topic was God as a healer.  So each talk was supposed to be fifteen to twenty minutes.  We decided on who was speaking about what and when last week. I had my talk written out by this past Sunday.  It was pretty straightforward.  I had three different stories of Jesus healing people in the New Testament that I was using and I pulled the same two points out of each one.

Thursday morning comes around and it was my turn to talk.  I woke up that morning and I knew that I would not be using what I had prepared.   It was 6:00 at this time and I was supposed to talk at 9:45.  It was strange that I was not worried about it at all.  I had no idea what I was going to be saying in just a few hours and I had no time really to think about it. I had classes to teach until it was time to speak.  I had a few minutes after breakfast and I jotted down a few notes that ended up being no use to me because I could not read my own writing.

I walked to the church still not entirely sure what I was going to say, but surprisingly calm about the whole thing.  When asked what my scripture reading was I laughed because I really had no idea.  I told him to used Ezekiel 36:26.  I got up there and I talked.  I know that I touched on the story of blind Bartemaeuos from Mark 10:46-53 and about the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years from Mark 5:23-34.  I made the point that in both cases Jesus healed these people and that he also spoke to their spiritual and emotional needs in the process.

In the story of the blind man, he called out to Jesus – even after being told to be quiet.  When Jesus stopped to talk to the man, he asked him what he wanted. As if God needs us to tell Him.  But I then quoted James 4:2 about how we do not receive because we do not ask.  After this Jesus tells the man, “go your way; your faith has made you well.”

Then I turned to the story about the woman with the bleeding problem.  She was desperate.  The Bible tells us that she had spent all of her money on doctors and that they had been no help to her.  Jesus was her only hope and she knew that. The woman had to recognize her need and then she had to push through the crowd to get to Jesus.  It could not have been easy.  Ellen White tells us that, “in that touch was concentrated the faith of her life.”  Now as she touches Jesus she is instantly healed!  End of story? No, Jesus does not let her just walk away.  He turns and asks who touched him.  She knew that she could not hide and she came forward and fell at Jesus feet and told him about what had happened.  He then says to her, “Daughter, your faith has make you well.  Go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”  Jesus did not let the woman walk away half healed. Though she first had to acknowledge what had been done for her – he acknowledged her and called her daughter. He told her that she was healed and to go in peace.

Then I pointed out what I think is the most important part of these two stories.  Sitting at home and feeling sorry for themselves did not heal these people.  They first had to recognize that they had a need.  Once they recognized that need they had to do something about it.  The blind man called out to Jesus and was told by the crowd to be quiet.  But he persisted in calling out to Jesus until Jesus turned to talk to him.  Then he had to ask for what he wanted! 

The sick woman had to fight her way through a crowd.  Now living in the states I don’t think that we really comprehend what this crowd was probably like.  Americans are pretty big on personal space.  It is not like that here in Africa.  There is no personal bubble.  When you are in a crowd, its like sardines.  There is no room for anything and I am truly amazed that anyone is able to get anywhere.  I like to imagine that this crowd was more like that, and we see this sick woman pushing her way through the crowd to get to Jesus.  She had to fight to get to Jesus! 

I told the kids that the point I was trying to make is that it was not enough to be in the crowd as Jesus walked by.  That was not how these people got the healing that they desperately needed.  They had to do something.  They had to reach out and they faced opposition in the process.  It is not enough to go to an Adventist school. It is not enough to go to church.  God wants to make you whole! But you have to reach out in order for Him to take hold of you.  

This is my house.

My room

More of my room.......

Here is the school.

This is what I do with most of my time.

My desk.

My classroom, busy working.

In the loft.

Our Thanks wall. The kids came up with
 their things  that they were thankful for and they named it!

I made it on the list!

Dad, this one is for you :)

Some of our Science projects.

Yes, there was a cat in my classroom.  Xander saved the day though!