I’m not gonna lie…one of the highlights of my Sea Tribe experience is always the food. I can’t get enough of it. Gong-gong (sea snails), cumi-cumi (squid), ikan (fish), kepiting (crab), roti prata (fry bread), nasi (rice), and don’t forget the SAMBAL! Sambal is a spicy condiment made from cabe, garlic and onions crushed together into a paste. It is eaten on everything and is wonderful. Oh, how I love sambal.
I will never forget the sambal I had at Pak Ramad and Ibu Titi’s house…
Our Ibu on the first island was a fantastic cook. One night, she made the best sambal I’ve ever tasted. It was rich, savory and had just the right amount of spice. All I wanted to do was eat as much of that sambal as I could, whether it was with nasi or with ayam, on ikan or by itself. It was phenomenal. Throughout our stay, we couldn’t stop complimenting our Ibu on her gift of cooking, especially when we heard that she didn’t use any MSG! It was all completely from scratch, no flavor enhancment needed! Amazing.
Pak Ramad is the Principal of a High School on Pulau Timun. He and Ibu Titi have a lovely home. It is big, fancy and full of books! Pak Ramad has a Master’s Degree in Education and values learning. His daughter Lilis is an English teacher for elementary students. Their middle son is in university on another island and Ipin is an 8th grader. They are a very devout family take education and religion very seriously. They were very engaged in conversation with us during our stay and asked pointed questions. On the first night, we talked about teaching and what made us want to become teachers. We talked about respect and how being made in God’s image requires us to respect one another no matter what. We told the story of the Good Samaritan and what it means to be a neighbor. Ibu told us the story of how she and the bapak met. She then gave us a mini lecture on marriage: the importance of respect, partnership and compromise. Pak Ramad and Ibu Titi have a nice house, great kids, a strong marriage, and are very well respected in the community. After that first night I couldn’t help but wonder how we would share the saving power of JC with a family that already seemed to have it all together. We asked the Father for creativity and opportunities to share more Truth throughout our stay there. Unfortunately, we were never able to get deeper with Pak Ramad and his family.
In reflecting on that island experience, I realized that God and the message of JC is kind of like that sambal…unbelievably satisfying without any “flavor enhancement” needed. Although it was discouraging not to get to share the Good News with Pak Ramad and Ibu Titi, it was a reminder that it’s not about how creative our strategies are, how many stories we tell, or how many spiritual conversations we have. Instead, it’s about JC, it’s about His name being made great and sometimes that comes in the form of complimenting an Ibu on her culinary talents, helping clean up after a meal or demonstrating His love through the relationships we have with our teammates. God and His plan are good. Even when it doesn’t turn out the way we think it should, God and His plan are still good. I’ll never forget that meal, every time I think about it, my prayer is that one day Pak Ramad and Ibu Titi will get a taste of that Everlasting Goodness so they can share it with others on Pulau Timun.
"Oh taste and see that the LORD is GOOD! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him...those who seek the LORD lack no good thing." Psalm 34:8, 10
"...that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified." Isaiah 61:3
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Cowbell + stomach infection + a little bit of tidak sopan = Most Memorable Weekend Ever!
We adventurers here in the tropics like to take advantage of any time we get off by going on vacation. Although these trips usually include stress inducing situations like crowded transportation, frustrating miscommunication, and the occasional crises, we continue to pack as much activity and adventure into 72 hours as we possibly can with the inevitable result of having incredible stories to share afterward.
This weekend was no different...
The people: Molly, Melissa and Laura
The Plan: Car to Jakarta Wednesday afternoon, plane to Semarang, car to Salatiga, stay in guest house, talk business with international school there and explore Salatiga, attend and make a scene at the Basketball Tournament cheering for our students, car back to Semarang, plane back to Jakarta, car back to Bandung, arrive Sunday evening.
The story: We successfully made our flight on Wednesday evening, successfully caught a ride to Salatiga, and successfully slept through the loud karaoke sessions coming from a wedding located up the street. We spent Thursday connecting with people at Mountainview International Christian School. What a blessing and an encouragement to see what He is doing in other schools in this country. The next day we attended their high school chapel, and cheered quietly for BAIS at their Pep Assembly for the upcoming Basketball Tournament. That afternoon we ventured into town where we did some grocery shopping and ate lunch at an almost literal hole in the wall that I was certain was going to make us all sick. We ventured further to the pasar or local market to buy food for dinner. There we were met with several people ready to sell us anything from kilos of dill to dozens of eel-like fish called lele. Despite our temptation to purchase the dill and lele we opted for a red snapper and some fruit and vegetables to cook up at the guest house we were staying at. Dinner was a success, as was hanging up some signs at the school in preparation for the friendly competition the next day. Our first game started at eight the next morning. After a nutritional breakfast of Fruity Pebbles and caffeine, we headed to the school armed with our "cowbell," jerseys, and school spirit to root for our beloved Eagles. Both the girls and boys won their first game...with the assistance of the cowbell of course. By the end of the afternoon the boys were at 3-0, girls were 2-1. It was a successful day. At the concession stands, the Mountainview parents were serving both Western and Asian dishes for lunch. I, along with several other parents and students chose the BBQ Beef Sandwich. Unfortunately, only two hours later, I learned that my digestive system didn't agree with that decision.
My body was doing everything it could to get that bacteria out of me. After about an hour in the bathroom at the school with it coming every five minutes, I got a ride back to the guest house. After another hour of the same thing, it was decided that I needed to go to the emergency room. It's funny, when you're that close to what feels like death, it doesn't really matter what happens as long as you feel better. Walking into the Indonesian hospital, I could see the syringes on the floor and all the people looking at us like they had never seen a bule before, but all I cared about was getting to a bed before I passed out. I was so dehydrated and my blood pressure was so low that the nurse had a hard time finding a pulse. They hooked me up to an IV. About five minutes later, the vomiting and diarrhea had started again. I spent the next half hour in the bathroom while they decided where they were going to put me. Finally, it was time to head to the room...that was in another building. When I stood up to walk and nearly passed out, they decided to take me in a wheelchair. My room was in a old building that required traveling up a very steep driveway. Even in my half conscious state, I was able to find the image of two men maneuvering my wheelchair up a mountain quite humorous. The minute we got to the room, I made a b-line for the bed. Our "Executive Room" was far from high class with ants crawling in every crevice, a bathroom with a floor covered in water, a toilet that wouldn't flush and AC that would hardly go above 26 degrees Celsius. Fortunately, we had the room to ourselves, except for when the door was open and any neighbors tried to get a peek at the sick bule. The next several hours included my amazing friends and temporary roommates getting up every hour to page the nurses to come and change the fluids I was getting through the IV. Here, the nurses don't check on you regularly. Instead, it is the patient's job to basically take care of herself unless she is fortunate enough to have loyal and patient friends to help. It wasn't until 2:00am that the vomiting finally stopped. By that time the color had come back to my face and I was more alert. Alert enough in fact to experience the check up by the actual doctor. Again, I am not sure this hospital had ever had a white person as a patient. This was made relatively clear by the response of the doctor and his slew of nurses to the size and color of my feet. When I asked what they were doing, the doctor said, "Oh, well when we can see the veins in your feet, we know that your blood is still flowing." Nice cover up, I know you were just discussing how you've never seen feet that big! After gawking at my feet for several minutes he then moved on to poking my stomach asking if it hurt...well, it certainly doesn't feel nice when you press on it like that! He was actually a very nice man who took pride in explaining how the digestive system of Westerners cannot handle the strong bacteria here in the tropics. I can vouch for that one! Around 7:00am, we decided that I had recovered enough to check out of the hospital. A car was scheduled to take us to the airport at 1:00 that afternoon to catch a flight at 3:15. The plan was for the girls to go to the final games of the tournament and for me to rest and clean up back at the guest house. After much negotiations with the hospital staff on the definition of one night versus two, we were able to make it out of the hospital and back to the guest house.
The girls ended up with fourth place overall, and the boys lost the championship game 26-32 against Mountainview. It was a sad loss, but a very close game. Our weekend had come to a close and it was time for us to leave Salatiga. I found out that several of the students and parents that ate the meal I did also got sick, and that someone from Mountainview gave money to pay for my hospital bills and the cost to take care of the others that got sick. What a blessing that school was and such an example of godly sportsmanship as well. Although the food poisoning part was unpleasant, the weekend was quite enjoyable.
But, it wasn't over...
Our car didn't end up leaving Salatiga until 1:30 and it was an hour drive to the airport and there was traffic because it was a Sunday, so we didn't get to the airport until 2:45. The airline counter was closed when we got there, but being the bules that we are we were convinced that they would have no problem letting us on the plane. After some discussion, we come to find out that the airline arranged for a smaller plane than they originally sold tickets for, so there was no room on the plane for us anyways and we would probably have to fly out on a different airline. Oh, but all the other airlines are booked, so we were probably going to have to leave the next morning. They asked us to take a seat and wait while they tried to get us on a flight out that evening. After a lot of strong words, frustration, miscommunication and by God's grace, we were able to get out of there around the same time on three different flights all arriving in Jakarta at 8:30pm...only four hours after the time we had scheduled a driver to pick us up. Fortunately, the school driver was able to come and get us and brought us all home safely by midnight that night.
I am still processing through the events of the weekend, and I am not sure it has quite hit me exactly what I experienced. But, just like all the crazy adventures I experience here in the tropics, I can see His hand in all of it. From the blessing of staying at the guest house that was located so close to a hospital to the people at Mountainview so quick to help out in any way they could, all I can say, despite the craziness is that He's withheld no good thing.
This weekend was no different...
The people: Molly, Melissa and Laura
The Plan: Car to Jakarta Wednesday afternoon, plane to Semarang, car to Salatiga, stay in guest house, talk business with international school there and explore Salatiga, attend and make a scene at the Basketball Tournament cheering for our students, car back to Semarang, plane back to Jakarta, car back to Bandung, arrive Sunday evening.
The story: We successfully made our flight on Wednesday evening, successfully caught a ride to Salatiga, and successfully slept through the loud karaoke sessions coming from a wedding located up the street. We spent Thursday connecting with people at Mountainview International Christian School. What a blessing and an encouragement to see what He is doing in other schools in this country. The next day we attended their high school chapel, and cheered quietly for BAIS at their Pep Assembly for the upcoming Basketball Tournament. That afternoon we ventured into town where we did some grocery shopping and ate lunch at an almost literal hole in the wall that I was certain was going to make us all sick. We ventured further to the pasar or local market to buy food for dinner. There we were met with several people ready to sell us anything from kilos of dill to dozens of eel-like fish called lele. Despite our temptation to purchase the dill and lele we opted for a red snapper and some fruit and vegetables to cook up at the guest house we were staying at. Dinner was a success, as was hanging up some signs at the school in preparation for the friendly competition the next day. Our first game started at eight the next morning. After a nutritional breakfast of Fruity Pebbles and caffeine, we headed to the school armed with our "cowbell," jerseys, and school spirit to root for our beloved Eagles. Both the girls and boys won their first game...with the assistance of the cowbell of course. By the end of the afternoon the boys were at 3-0, girls were 2-1. It was a successful day. At the concession stands, the Mountainview parents were serving both Western and Asian dishes for lunch. I, along with several other parents and students chose the BBQ Beef Sandwich. Unfortunately, only two hours later, I learned that my digestive system didn't agree with that decision.
The next paragraph may be graphic for those with weak stomach's.
Reader's discretion is advised.
My body was doing everything it could to get that bacteria out of me. After about an hour in the bathroom at the school with it coming every five minutes, I got a ride back to the guest house. After another hour of the same thing, it was decided that I needed to go to the emergency room. It's funny, when you're that close to what feels like death, it doesn't really matter what happens as long as you feel better. Walking into the Indonesian hospital, I could see the syringes on the floor and all the people looking at us like they had never seen a bule before, but all I cared about was getting to a bed before I passed out. I was so dehydrated and my blood pressure was so low that the nurse had a hard time finding a pulse. They hooked me up to an IV. About five minutes later, the vomiting and diarrhea had started again. I spent the next half hour in the bathroom while they decided where they were going to put me. Finally, it was time to head to the room...that was in another building. When I stood up to walk and nearly passed out, they decided to take me in a wheelchair. My room was in a old building that required traveling up a very steep driveway. Even in my half conscious state, I was able to find the image of two men maneuvering my wheelchair up a mountain quite humorous. The minute we got to the room, I made a b-line for the bed. Our "Executive Room" was far from high class with ants crawling in every crevice, a bathroom with a floor covered in water, a toilet that wouldn't flush and AC that would hardly go above 26 degrees Celsius. Fortunately, we had the room to ourselves, except for when the door was open and any neighbors tried to get a peek at the sick bule. The next several hours included my amazing friends and temporary roommates getting up every hour to page the nurses to come and change the fluids I was getting through the IV. Here, the nurses don't check on you regularly. Instead, it is the patient's job to basically take care of herself unless she is fortunate enough to have loyal and patient friends to help. It wasn't until 2:00am that the vomiting finally stopped. By that time the color had come back to my face and I was more alert. Alert enough in fact to experience the check up by the actual doctor. Again, I am not sure this hospital had ever had a white person as a patient. This was made relatively clear by the response of the doctor and his slew of nurses to the size and color of my feet. When I asked what they were doing, the doctor said, "Oh, well when we can see the veins in your feet, we know that your blood is still flowing." Nice cover up, I know you were just discussing how you've never seen feet that big! After gawking at my feet for several minutes he then moved on to poking my stomach asking if it hurt...well, it certainly doesn't feel nice when you press on it like that! He was actually a very nice man who took pride in explaining how the digestive system of Westerners cannot handle the strong bacteria here in the tropics. I can vouch for that one! Around 7:00am, we decided that I had recovered enough to check out of the hospital. A car was scheduled to take us to the airport at 1:00 that afternoon to catch a flight at 3:15. The plan was for the girls to go to the final games of the tournament and for me to rest and clean up back at the guest house. After much negotiations with the hospital staff on the definition of one night versus two, we were able to make it out of the hospital and back to the guest house.
The girls ended up with fourth place overall, and the boys lost the championship game 26-32 against Mountainview. It was a sad loss, but a very close game. Our weekend had come to a close and it was time for us to leave Salatiga. I found out that several of the students and parents that ate the meal I did also got sick, and that someone from Mountainview gave money to pay for my hospital bills and the cost to take care of the others that got sick. What a blessing that school was and such an example of godly sportsmanship as well. Although the food poisoning part was unpleasant, the weekend was quite enjoyable.
But, it wasn't over...
Our car didn't end up leaving Salatiga until 1:30 and it was an hour drive to the airport and there was traffic because it was a Sunday, so we didn't get to the airport until 2:45. The airline counter was closed when we got there, but being the bules that we are we were convinced that they would have no problem letting us on the plane. After some discussion, we come to find out that the airline arranged for a smaller plane than they originally sold tickets for, so there was no room on the plane for us anyways and we would probably have to fly out on a different airline. Oh, but all the other airlines are booked, so we were probably going to have to leave the next morning. They asked us to take a seat and wait while they tried to get us on a flight out that evening. After a lot of strong words, frustration, miscommunication and by God's grace, we were able to get out of there around the same time on three different flights all arriving in Jakarta at 8:30pm...only four hours after the time we had scheduled a driver to pick us up. Fortunately, the school driver was able to come and get us and brought us all home safely by midnight that night.
I am still processing through the events of the weekend, and I am not sure it has quite hit me exactly what I experienced. But, just like all the crazy adventures I experience here in the tropics, I can see His hand in all of it. From the blessing of staying at the guest house that was located so close to a hospital to the people at Mountainview so quick to help out in any way they could, all I can say, despite the craziness is that He's withheld no good thing.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Chasing After Him and Reaping the Benefits
Not gonna lie, the last couple weeks have been difficult. Perhaps it has been the jetlag or the craziness of spring semester, the amount of pre-teen hormones in my classroom or the combination of all three. Tough times require us to lean that much more on the one who leads us beside quiet waters. I was reading a devotional last week that was stressing the importance of seeking not after blessings, but after His face. When we seek after what we think is best for us, we usually end up disappointed and even more stressed than before. But, when we seek after His face, those blessings just fall into place and usually show up in the most unexpected ways. In spite of the hard stuff, I have striven to seek His face and have ended up with eyes to recognize some blessings.
So, here's a few ways that He's blessed me in the past couple weeks:
1. High Schoolers: Last Friday, I spoke at the youth group about living intentionally. It was a smaller group, but I was confident that He hand picked the students He wanted there to hear what He was going to say through me. I had them do some reflecting on their "theme" for 2009 and challenged them to come up with a desired theme for 2010 (thanks to Pastor Bob for the idea:)). I am blown away by the high schoolers at BAIS. He is writing such incredible stories in their lives and I am so humbled that I have been written into some of them. Please be lifting me up as I continue to connect with them and attempt to pour into their lives.So, here's a few ways that He's blessed me in the past couple weeks:
2. Stories: We are continuing to prepare for our trip out to the islands in April. Our last meeting was focused around stories...my story, your story and how those connect to His story. It was so cool to hear some of the encounter testimonies from the students and leaders and to see His clear hand of provision, protection and power. He's put together a pretty strong team this year. I am anxious to see what He's got in store for us. Please be lifting up the team and the finances as our deadline and departure date quickly approach.
3. Dancing: Last semester, along with trying to learn "Thriller," I taught my students and several other classes the "Cupid Shuffle." This semester, I brought back two new songs for my kids to try: "The Electric Slide" and the "Cha Cha Slide." With fourteen students on the verge of their teenage years, times can get a little tense in the 5th grade, so to provide some relief, we dance! After they agree that dancing is cool and not lame, they have a blast and afterwards, everyone is in a better mood:)
4. Singing: I have also found that another method of relieving stress is karaoke. I confess that I have a slight obsession with this pastime. After a day of crowds and traffic, a few of us decided we needed to do a quick session of karaoke before a birthday dinner we had to go to. Now, here in Asia, they do karaoke differently. It isn't in bars. Instead, you rent private rooms with a TV, karaoke machine, micrphones, and couches. You can order food and drinks to be brought to your room as you are belting out Shania Twain and Kelly Clarkson. It is a beautiful thing and definitely a reason to visit me here in Indonesia:) I am still trying to come up with a creative and educational way to integrate karaoke into the 5th grade curriculum, but in the meantime I will do outside the classroom any chance I can.
5. Sharpening "Sisters": I am blessed with some amazing "sisters" here in Indo who are incredible listeners, strong shoulders to cry on and solid sources of wisdom and truth. He is so good to provide people like that who can tell it to us straight, but do it in love. I have been blessed by their friendships here and am humbled each time He uses us to strengthen and support one another.
My prayer for you is that you would seek His face intead of the blessings and that you'd have eyes to clearly see how His love and beauty are chasing after you each day.
5. Sharpening "Sisters": I am blessed with some amazing "sisters" here in Indo who are incredible listeners, strong shoulders to cry on and solid sources of wisdom and truth. He is so good to provide people like that who can tell it to us straight, but do it in love. I have been blessed by their friendships here and am humbled each time He uses us to strengthen and support one another.
My prayer for you is that you would seek His face intead of the blessings and that you'd have eyes to clearly see how His love and beauty are chasing after you each day.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Off to a good start...
Today was our first official day of the new semester. Monday was a workday/recover from jetlag/catch up with all the peeps/prepare for the week. Oh how I love this community I work in. It is truly like a family, which makes it hard to be productive in the classroom and try to catch up on what we've been up to during the past three weeks. Nevertheless, the kiddos came today and reality has begun again. Plans for the week include beginning Maniac Magee and writing persuasive essays in Language Arts, multiplying and dividing fractions in Math, and understanding the parts of plant and animal cells in science. In Bible today, we spent most of the time sharing what we did over Christmas Break, but we also came up with some goals for our last semester of 5th grade. We talked about New Year's Resolutions and their purpose, then came up with personal goals. We put them up in the classroom, so that we can help keep each other accountable. Although my perfectionistic ways have mellowed a bit, I still tend to get a little carried away with wanting things in my classroom to run smoothly and in the process leave out that oh-so-important element of compassion. So, I decided that my goal for the last semester of this 5th grade class was going to be to each day remember specific reasons why my 5th graders are the best. In other words, intentionally recognizing the ways that they blow me away each day. Tomorrow, we will be coming up with classroom goals that we can aim for collectively. I am anxious to see what they come up with:)
It is so good to be back...back in Indonesia, back in a routine, and back in my classroom!
It is so good to be back...back in Indonesia, back in a routine, and back in my classroom!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
A New Year's Resolution and a Semester in Review...
You will be happy to know that one of my 2010 resolutions is to update my blog more often in order to keep you more in the loop on my teaching adventure in the tropics!
I have been in Flagstaff for the past few weeks for Christmas Break and have had a wonderful time catching up with friends and spending quality time with my family. Despite the freezing weather (yes, I have become a wuss to the cold thanks to my time in the tropics), it has been a blast being here over the holiday. As the calendar year is wrapping up and I get ready to head back for semester number two, I can't help but reflect on this past semester and give Him all the glory for what I have gotten to experience.
The contrast between the first and second year of teaching is unbelievable. Even though I moved up a grade this year from 4th to 5th, it has still gone remarkably smoother than last year. I definitely have more confidence and a stronger relationship with my kiddos, but I attribute it more to the fact that we have AC in the classroom this year! It's amazing how much better I teach when I am not completely drenched and cranky. It's great. Actually, I really think teaching has become easier because I have lived in Indonesia for over two years, the land of "rubber time" and flexibility, and it has rubbed off on me. Yes, structured and perfectionist Molly has chosen to no longer sweat the small stuff but rather embrace the chaos:)
I LOVE 5th grade. There are a few more tantrums, breakdowns and squabbles, but there are also more in depth conversations, more growth and deeper relationships. He is doing some amazing things in the hearts of the 13 ten-year-olds in my classroom which constantly reminds me of Philippians 1:6. He is doing a great work and I am privileged to play a role in it for this season. A few highlights of our semester have included a field trip to the lake, hands-on learning activities about the digestive system, spending a week in "Antarctica" during I Love to Read Month, dancing the Cupid Shuffle, How-To presentations, and a bowling party! This semester we have the Lock-In to look forward to where I am hoping they will agree to do karaoke with me:)
It has also been amazing to be in our second year at the new campus. Again, remarkably smoother than last year! This is partially due to the fact that BAIS has been blessed with some pretty amazing new staff. With an addition to administration and a couple extra hands in the business office, we have become an even stronger team. New staff means new friends and new friends means new adventures! We had a blast last semester taking random motorbike trips to different locations, spending a week in Malaysia, and celebrating Thanksgiving at the beach. All of which of course included adventure dining. The best thing I ate this semester was at a place in Penang, Malaysia called the Wet Market. It was full of vendors selling breakfast foods. We became pretty tight with an Indian man and his wife. He made the Roti (fried bread) and she made the kopi susu (pulled coffee with sweetened condensed milk). Amazing! Although this community that I live in can feel like a bubble sometimes, I have certainly been sharpened by my brothers and sisters. What a blessing!
Another highlight of the semester was a week devoted to serving outside the walls of our campus called Week Without Walls. Everyone in the school participates in projects created and run by the teachers. The theme this year was Love-ology. I was in charge of a project for high school and middle school girls that included working with the Islamic School down the street to create "Boxes of Love" for local kampung girls. It was a phenomenal experience where He showed me that love comes in all kinds of forms. We were asked to wear head coverings while working at the Islamic School. Although this was a bit outside of our comfort zones, it was humbling to see Him work through those insecurities and allow real friendships to blossom among the two groups of students. During our time with the kampung girls, we got to spread the love through games, singing, dancing and giving gifts. My favorite part was dancing the Hokey Pokey with 60 students between the ages of 3 and 17. Yes, love comes in all forms:)
Looking back at this semester, all I can say is "Great is His faithfulness." Every good thing comes from Him and I love that He has given me eyes to see those good things: good friends, an amazing class, challenging tasks, and fun adventures. It's in the joy of remembering His faithfulness that I have the strength to look upon the coming year with anticipation for what He's going to do!
I have been in Flagstaff for the past few weeks for Christmas Break and have had a wonderful time catching up with friends and spending quality time with my family. Despite the freezing weather (yes, I have become a wuss to the cold thanks to my time in the tropics), it has been a blast being here over the holiday. As the calendar year is wrapping up and I get ready to head back for semester number two, I can't help but reflect on this past semester and give Him all the glory for what I have gotten to experience.
The contrast between the first and second year of teaching is unbelievable. Even though I moved up a grade this year from 4th to 5th, it has still gone remarkably smoother than last year. I definitely have more confidence and a stronger relationship with my kiddos, but I attribute it more to the fact that we have AC in the classroom this year! It's amazing how much better I teach when I am not completely drenched and cranky. It's great. Actually, I really think teaching has become easier because I have lived in Indonesia for over two years, the land of "rubber time" and flexibility, and it has rubbed off on me. Yes, structured and perfectionist Molly has chosen to no longer sweat the small stuff but rather embrace the chaos:)
I LOVE 5th grade. There are a few more tantrums, breakdowns and squabbles, but there are also more in depth conversations, more growth and deeper relationships. He is doing some amazing things in the hearts of the 13 ten-year-olds in my classroom which constantly reminds me of Philippians 1:6. He is doing a great work and I am privileged to play a role in it for this season. A few highlights of our semester have included a field trip to the lake, hands-on learning activities about the digestive system, spending a week in "Antarctica" during I Love to Read Month, dancing the Cupid Shuffle, How-To presentations, and a bowling party! This semester we have the Lock-In to look forward to where I am hoping they will agree to do karaoke with me:)
It has also been amazing to be in our second year at the new campus. Again, remarkably smoother than last year! This is partially due to the fact that BAIS has been blessed with some pretty amazing new staff. With an addition to administration and a couple extra hands in the business office, we have become an even stronger team. New staff means new friends and new friends means new adventures! We had a blast last semester taking random motorbike trips to different locations, spending a week in Malaysia, and celebrating Thanksgiving at the beach. All of which of course included adventure dining. The best thing I ate this semester was at a place in Penang, Malaysia called the Wet Market. It was full of vendors selling breakfast foods. We became pretty tight with an Indian man and his wife. He made the Roti (fried bread) and she made the kopi susu (pulled coffee with sweetened condensed milk). Amazing! Although this community that I live in can feel like a bubble sometimes, I have certainly been sharpened by my brothers and sisters. What a blessing!
Another highlight of the semester was a week devoted to serving outside the walls of our campus called Week Without Walls. Everyone in the school participates in projects created and run by the teachers. The theme this year was Love-ology. I was in charge of a project for high school and middle school girls that included working with the Islamic School down the street to create "Boxes of Love" for local kampung girls. It was a phenomenal experience where He showed me that love comes in all kinds of forms. We were asked to wear head coverings while working at the Islamic School. Although this was a bit outside of our comfort zones, it was humbling to see Him work through those insecurities and allow real friendships to blossom among the two groups of students. During our time with the kampung girls, we got to spread the love through games, singing, dancing and giving gifts. My favorite part was dancing the Hokey Pokey with 60 students between the ages of 3 and 17. Yes, love comes in all forms:)
Looking back at this semester, all I can say is "Great is His faithfulness." Every good thing comes from Him and I love that He has given me eyes to see those good things: good friends, an amazing class, challenging tasks, and fun adventures. It's in the joy of remembering His faithfulness that I have the strength to look upon the coming year with anticipation for what He's going to do!
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