Last Independence Day

Last week I had every intention of updating, but as I had to make a 'shopping' trip with a coworker into Ikelenge, I ended up being a bit behind. We were held up by a truck that was being loaded with pineapples right after our bridge, but thankfully they were able to get them all on board fairly quickly so we could continue to 'town.'

We were going to look for chetengi for the end of term show, and I was looking for something to use as a cat basket. I didn't find that, but I did find a nice kanga that I had to come home with!

Zambian Independence Day is October 24th, and we always have a busy day of down at the pool. We start by gathering for the flag raising ceremony and a brief message before getting ready for the swimming gala.

Then it's a busy morning and usually first part of the afternoon of swimming races and challenges for all ages. My job is to get the kids to their races on time and keep track of where we are in the program. They were pretty good at listening this year.

This year I took part in the 'drag n' dump' house contest and was enthusiastically pulled across the pool and tipped over three times. I also helped with house dominoes. Part of the reason I got in the pool this year is because it is my last year. Also, I made a deal with one of my students that if I got in, she had to take part in King of the Plank. As you can see, she ended up enjoying herself!

After supper is the bonfire and fireworks. Lots of singing, running, and excitment. So far we haven't had any burn injuries, though this year several kids tripped over the trailer hitch of the four-wheeler while running in the dark.

After that, almost 100 very tired people--student and staff alike!--went to bed so they could get up and start school again in the morning. I think this was one of my most enjoyable Independence Days ever, and I'll treasure the memories I made.

Parting shot: One of the older students wanted to paint my face--you can see the artist in the background and the results.

Oddments and Answered Prayer

Last week was an interesting one; the days/week right after a break or event is always a bit of a struggle with tired/out of focus chillin’s. Not to mention tired teachers! When you work at a school like this, breaks mean you aren’t teaching, but boy are you still doing stuff! We had board meeting last week, a long staff meeting about interviews and student’s progressing (or not) to the next grade, and I was on this weekend. I only have two more weekends on teaching morning and afternoon Sunday school—it’s a bit much!

I found a huge termite mound under the bookcase in my room, and by the time I had a spare minute to deal with it I have over a bucketfull of dirt, and had to get the trowel to chip it out. Thankfully there was almost no evidence of the termites themselves, so hopefully between that and the "Blue Doom" powder I put down I won't have any more issues.

I have been walking carefully but with more confidence on my ankle, and so far so good! In fact, this afternoon I rode my bike on the airstrip for the first time since I left in July. I am so thankful to be getting my life back! It’s been a long road, but God has provided help and resources every step of the way. Here’s hoping that by December I won’t even need the brace! I sure am going to need some new shoes though; the pair I got in May has already developed a hole… Just in time for rainy season!

Another thing I worked on last week was planning my return to the States via Germany. I need to be back by the 15th for my brother’s wedding, but I wanted to take this last opportunity when I was ‘passing by’ to visit my uncle, aunt, and cousins that I haven’t seen for 7 years. There are lots of pieces to account for and plan; getting to Lusaka, which airports in Germany to use, and leaving myself enough time to re-pack a bag for the trip to Colorado. I think things are almost sorted out now; pieces seem to be falling into place, and I’ll be glad to have my tickets booked!

Speaking of Christmas, the kids have been working on Christmas art, and these reindeer in the hall just crack me up. I especially like the fellow at the bottom right with the tinny carol book!

A big answer to prayer regarding my cat, Java, came this weekend. One of the board members told me about another single lady who’s cat had just died, and suggested she might be interested in taking Java. I heard back that yes, she would like my cat, and I am so relieved! Finding a good home for my cat has been much on my mind these last few weeks; somewhere she will be taken good care of and have a chance to thrive. I wish I could take her back with me; Java has been one of God’s greatest gifts to me during my time here. However, it just isn’t practical with the cost, the distance, and the stress it would be on my cat. So, I am incredibly thankful that the Lord worked things out for this seemingly small detail of my transition.

Parting shot: A lovely sunset at the end of a full week.

Second to last Half-Term

I have been pretty insanely busy (I know, what's new?) these last two weeks, but I wanted to update before things got too behind! Friday and Saturday last week were the first half-term, my second to last one, and this is what I did:

* Early morning swim down at the dam with the seniors--lots of joyous/cold noise, and hot chocolate as a reward at the end

* 6+ hours extracting homework from students. I told them it would happen if they continued to not get caught up...

* Auditions for the end of term program

* Ruthie and I organized a nature scavenger hunt for the 3-6th grade girls down at the river. While we were down there, the headmaster came down with the grade 1's who were his 'helpers' as he got the grill set up for later. So cute! They rode around with him that morning and sang as they went.

* The headmaster's wife who is filling in for the cook organized hamburgers for Saturday lunch--what a treat! It was fun to grill down at the river, and we all enjoyed the change of pace.

* I got some much needed sleep and quiet time over my weekend off while I also planned and marked. Time goes by so fast!

The big news for this week is that I'm out of the boot, and just back to the brace and insoles. I have been walking carefully the last few days, but so far haven't had an issues or return of pain. Praise the Lord! Hopefully after 4 weeks I'll be able to just use the insoles. It's been a long, painful journey, and I am so encouraged to be almost done!

Parting shot: I finally had my camera on hand when I walked past one of these cool tunnel webs. I'm constantly amazed at the variety God created in the insect world!

September 2018 Newsletter

Dear friends and family,

As I write this, we are two weeks into our third term of school. After leaving two weeks early from second term to be in the States for my sister’s wedding, it was good to see the students again and hear about their holidays. As this is our last term, everything must be finished in (now) 10 short weeks! I have been very busy with tweaking the grade 6 & 7 curriculum and resources list for the teacher who will replace me next year, getting rid of as many things as I can out of my classroom and house, and choosing and starting to work on all the music that will need to be learned for our special end of term events. I hope to leave Zambia a day or two after term, as I hope to visit some family on my way home for a second sibling wedding. There are so many people in my life, including myself, who are in or about to be in a season of change; I find myself ever thankful for a good God who is in control of all circumstances!

This year has been a very difficult one in my classroom; I have a group of students with a higher proportion of more serious needs which has been very challenging to try to meet. I have students with greater learning challenges, greater attitude challenges, and some who have some serious immaturity issues that affect them in every area of their lives right now. Prayers for wisdom, compassion, patience, and stamina as I am tested more than I have ever been as a teacher before are greatly appreciated. This would be a lot to work through under normal circumstances, but as it is my last year and I have so many other things going on it has been pretty overwhelming. One of the benefits of this year is it has driven me to the Lord and forced me to confront issues in my own life. I am learning a lot about mental patterns, setting boundaries, and obedience in the hard places. Not that you ever stop learning about those things, but this year has been an intensive course!

When I was home this summer I visited the podiatrist two more times as my tendinitis had improved to a certain point, but was no longer getting any better. I so appreciate a doctor who is very sensitive to and accommodating of my rather unique lifestyle! I got outfitted with a walking boot in combination with the insoles and brace at the end of July to immobilize the tendon and allow it to heal further. When I went back a week before leaving for Zambia, he was pleased with the progress I had made, and I will be wearing the boot for a few more weeks, the brace for several weeks after that, and then hopefully I will be able to transition to only insoles and shoes with good arch support. While traveling with and performing my duties around the school with the boot has been more interesting, I am so thankful to be this close to having a normal life again! I also was able to have a very helpful massage session to work on my neck and shoulder which were quite painful. Since coming back to the school they have flared up again, but I am hopeful that starting in December with the lifestyle change and being able to get more regular treatments I will see real improvement there too. So, prayers for grace and healing as I navigate my physical challenges on top of everything else would be greatly appreciated.

I have been working on planning what I can for my return to the States at the end of the year, but it is a little difficult to make too many plans at this stage. At the moment I will be living with my parents in my hometown until I can get a car, a job, and a place of my own. I will look for a full-time teaching job in TX for the time being, but realistically will likely being doing sub work and whatever other part time jobs I can find until the fall. I would like to work for the library to start getting some experience there as well as work for a particular Classical Christian school in my hometown. One of the most pressing needs as I go back is to find an affordable, reliable vehicle so I will have the ability to get a job. I have leased vehicles for Missionary Tec Team when I’m home in the States for the last several years, and they have a contact who often helps returning missionaries find cars. So, please pray for the right car, for the right job, and the right apartment as I move into next year. It is a little overwhelming to think about essentially starting my life completely afresh, but at the same time I am so excited to see what God works in this new phase of my life. I have not had such peace in years, and even though there are many details yet undecided, our God is faithful.

Thank you so much to the many of you who have reached out and encouraged me in various ways this year. I love hearing what the Lord is doing in your lives, and am so grateful for all the prayers over the years. May we all become more like Him as we serve where we have been called.

Busy, Kool-Aid and Yarn

Sorry for the lack of entry last week; it was the first full day of school, and though I was ‘off,’ I didn’t end up getting much down time. I had a bunch of copying to do to get set up for the term, a geography lesson to prepare (I’m teaching geography this term as the regular teacher is on furlough), and a host of small ‘fires’ to put out before I could collapse into bed late that night.

I just survived my first weekend on; talk about tired! There were 6 adults running the whole station for a day and a half, and by the time I got back from prayer meeting last night I was one tired teacher. The weekend went pretty well though, all things considered. God is good!

One of the fun things I did was dye yarn with kool-aid with my grade 3 and 4 handwork group. The big sinks in the bathroom made an ideal yarn soaking location,

and then the girls had fun smooshing their bags of yarn to mix the color in.

We laid them out behind the upper school where they would bake all afternoon in the sun (why I wait until this time of year for this activity),

and when I went around after dishes that evening all the water was almost totally clear, and I had 10 bags of kool-aid smelling wet wool to rinse out and hang up to dry. I’ll get them wound up for the girls over this week, and then they will be able to start using them to make either a hat or some simple fingerless gloves. They are so excited!

One of my usual weekend chores is laundry, so I was working on that as well Saturday afternoon. I do my personal laundry and most of the clean up laundry (microfiber cloths and cleaning cloths) during handwork, and then get it all hung up and folded ready for Monday morning. This time of year I really appreciate how fast things dry! Even heavy bathmats are bone dry in a few hour’s time. Though it’s still really dry season, we had two lovely rains of 5 and 8 cm last week—a real relief from both the heat and the growing dust!

Parting shot- the new quote over the door of my classroom!

The Lord Goes Before

I am now safely back at school in the bush after an uneventful trip back. I am so, so thankful for how the Lord smoothed my way as I traveled back to Zambia; I had been a little nervous about traveling with the walking boot. I had to stand for a long stretch waiting to check in, but my dad scouted out a less busy security station for me so that went quickly and without any hassle despite all the extra hardware. On my long flight, about 14 hours, I had not only an isle seat that I could physically get the boot into (I had been worried about that), but no seatmates! So, I was able to curl up on the seat a bit, and had plenty of room to maneuver.

In Dubai I was able to get some good sleep and spend some time just resting after all the activities of the last month. I was able to get an isle seat again on the shorter flight down to Lusaka, and ended up almost at the front of the immigration line so I didn’t have to stand very long. All my bags came through without issue, and nothing broke. Four of us had a smooth flight up to Solwezi on Friday, were able to get some groceries, and then had an uneventful drive up to the school. I was quite thankful for all my practice with the boot over the last few weeks, as my ability to maneuver and perform certain challenging feats was tested in the form of a long drop and a pit stop in the bush—God has been so good!

Since I’ve been back at school, I’ve been cleaning my house, unpacking, sorting some, working on some professional development, and resting. Today I went over to my classroom and did some big jobs like clearing out papers and other things that are no longer needed, and doing a bit of work on my boards. The students start arriving on Friday, and I need to get my room sorted out and finish my curriculum revision so I can leave things well organized for my replacement to take over next year. There is much to do, and this term we are down both the cook and a secretary/support teacher, so things will be stretched pretty thin. Prayers for help as we redistribute duties this term, and for grace for ourselves and others would be much appreciated!

Parting shot: It was amazing to see how much things have dried out in just the month and a half that I've been away! We are going into our spring, which is also the hottest time of the year. The new tree leaves are sometimes scarlet, and laundry dries on the line in no time flat!

Bonus: How do you deal with a hole in a cement wall that has become too large for its plug? White glue and matches! Learn something new every day...

Last bonus: No meat should EVER be that color!

A wedding, some plans, and a boot

I have pretty much no pictures of my own from the last week or so, because my hands were just about always full of something wedding related. In that time I got some sleep, some shopping done, some quality sibling time, and was a part of pulling of a lovely wedding for my beautiful sister, Mercy. Here is a picture of all of us—7 siblings, two in-laws, and a significant other seizing a quiet moment at our lovely local coffee shop,

And here is a picture stolen from Daniel’s dad’s Facebook of Mercy and Daniel shortly before the ceremony. Aren’t they a beautiful couple?

One of the best parts of this wedding, was seeing how many people love Mercy and Daniel, and were willing to do anything to help with their wedding. It’s always so special when people who love to reach out and serve others are honored for all their service. I look forward to spending the next month with them before heading back to Zambia!

I don’t have a lot of plans for the next month other than a) get caught up on sleep, b) help another of my sisters move/unpack at her new place, and c) continue to process of moving back to the States by consolidating and repacking my belongings into better order. Now that all the wedding rush is over, I also want to catch up with some friends and make some connections here in town for when I’m starting to establish myself next year. From what I hear the end of term went well at the school, and I’ve already got a few commissions of things to bring back for people. After how many times others helped me, I’m glad I’ll have mostly empty bags I can use to bring supplies to others!

A few days before the wedding I made a trip to the podiatrist to have my tendonitis evaluated, and the upshot is that I am now going to be wearing a walking boot for the next few months. It has taken some getting used to and means that my mobility is a little bit lessened, but I am so ready to have my life back and have this issue dealt with. I’m not excited about navigating international travel with such a clunky piece of hardware, but the brace alone wasn’t facilitating healing anymore, so clumping it is!