Reflections from a First Week

Well, it's been quite an adventure here in Sentul this week. The first day, as most of you readers know, was excellent. It couldn't have been a better day than it was. I was dreading the start - mostly because of nerves, but I easily got into the swing of things and I love my classes.

In Grade 3 English we are learning about nouns and pronouns. We went on a noun scavenger hunt (which ultimately turns into a game of Scattegories - if you don't know what that game is - ask a parent or a grandparent....it's old school). For Bible we are beginning our focus on the theme of the SPH this year - Saved to Serve (the verse comes from Revelations 1:4-6). For our Social Studies (which Budi and I are teaching together) - we are focusing on one of the (27,000) islands of Indonesia. It's called Nusa Tenggara. Out of all the islands we had to get this one - there is literally no information on it. However - the only bit of information we found out was that it was the home of the man eating crocodile. The kids got a kick out of that.

Those are the only subjects I teach in Grade 3 (Budi takes Math, Bahasa, and Art). I also teach Grade 6 English. They are wonderful kids - very rambunctious - but a ton of fun. As of Tuesday we are beginning a novel study of the book "Holes". I'm so excited - it's a great book and I know they are going to love it.

On Wednesday we had a half day. In fact every Wednesday we have a half day. At 12:30 we usually have a half hour of professional development, then get an hour or two to plan, and then end the day with staff chapel. All of the new teachers had to give their testimonies - which included me. I was almost sick about it - just because I hate public speaking (teaching is not public speaking in my eyes). It went fabulous. I focused on how I never wanted to be a teacher, but then got convinced by my late professor to join her education class. The rest is history. Then I told about how God has made me really content and happy with serving kids so that they can be further educated. I ended with how I got to SPH, and now as I sit here thinking about it, I realize just how extremely providential God has been in this journey of application, acceptance, and change. I am so blessed to be where I am right now. I have never been happier. This is truely my calling from God.

The week ended with celebration. A few of us teachers ordered our martabak manis (which basically translates into the cake that will be the death of you by means of heart attack). We went to a stand and they fried about a stick of butter, added cake mix, a gob of sugar, more butter, an obscene amount of chocolate, more batter and condensed milk. I only needed a piece to feel be satisfied.

The weekend will be nice to kick back and relax. All of my lessons are made and all of my homework is printed out for the week.

Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement! What a week.