I have been back in Japan for a little over a week now, so I think its about time to write on the blog again.
Today I listened to a sermon from my church back in Santa Barbara. It was about recognizing God, the ways he is at work and the things he is teaching us. I definitely needed to hear that right now and it got me thinking about where I have seen God, especially this summer. So to recap my summer I will tell you all the ways I saw God at work throughout this summer
He gives rest to the weary.
At the end of last year I was worn out and in bad need of some rest and relaxation. Usually summers are good for that (unless its a furlough summer with my family :). My family ended up not being able to come to the States for their planned furlough summer, so I was really bummed that I didn't get to see them this summer, but I think it did make it easier to have a more relaxing summer. Now I just can't wait to see them this Christmas! God knew all along what I needed most, and even though I thought I needed to see my family I think he knew that I needed rest, and I think my family did too.
He smiles on good friends.
The first thing on the schedule was a visit from one of my best friends since first grade, Becka! We went to different colleges and now she is teaching in Indonesia, so we haven't seen much of each other in the last 5 years. The amazing thing about our friendship is that after a couple hours it feels like we have never been apart. We were able to talk about anything and we had a great time just hanging out together. It felt like being with part of my family and I was so blessed through talking with her about everything that I was feeling and thinking about.
He is a God of relationships.
One of Frank and Loriann's favorite places is San Francisco. So it was really fun for me to get to go along with them to visit there this summer. We did a lot of fun things including going to the Exploratorium, the zoo, a Twins and Giants game, the beach, Golden gate park and riding a trolley. But, I think the things that stick out most in my memory are the people I met there. The first night we had dinner with friends of Frank and Loriann's from their time teaching in San Francisco. They were such a fun family to hang out with, very generous, kind, fun and a bit quirky, but it was great! While we were there we stayed with one of their other friends. She lives alone, but has a 2 bedroom place, so Frank and Loriann and the kids always stay with her when they go visit. She was incredibly hospitable and fun to be around. She is one of those people you just want to hang out with and who can pretty much always make you smile. I feel like I could almost see God smiling down on all these people and especially their relationship with the Mastromarinos.
He loves beauty.
We went camping for about 5 days for Alysse's birthday. Our campsite was about a 5 minute walk from Convict lake which is near Mammoth mountain in California. It was a beautiful location, quiet, secluded and perfect for us. We enjoyed hiking around the lake, kayaking on the lake, driving to Mammoth, "swimming" in the hot springs and watching the beautiful sunset each night. We were surrounded by God's beautiful creation. There was even a deer that frequently came within 5 feet of our campsite before we would notice it!
He enjoys music and lights and fun.
Frank, Loriann, Alysse, Aeson and I enjoyed a fun packed day at Disneyland again this summer. It was full of rides, songs, magic, fun and joy. We had a wonderful time and definitely made the most of our day. One of the highlights for sure was the World of Color show that we got to watch at the end of the day. It was an amazing show with water, lights, music, fire and even a story of sorts. I was in awe pretty much the whole time. Afterwards Frank said that he cried because he was thinking about how someone thought of this show with all its lights and water and music and fire and how amazing that was. I am sure that God would enjoy a show like that, all the beauty, lights, music and people watching in wonder. I am not saying that I think God supports Disneyland or anything, but I think he enjoys it when we enjoy things. He was probably sitting up there so proud that his creation can create something like that!
He has a special place for family.
No matter where I go, what I do, how long its been since I have seen her, when I see my sister it feels like I am home. We have so many experiences in common, she is the only one I share my genes with (since the rest of my siblings are adopted), she understands what it means to be a Hardeman (but also sometimes not feel like one), she makes me laugh at things no one else can and I always end up having a great time with her. This summer I saw here for a little over a week up in Oregon in our Aunt's house. So of course my Aunt joined in on most of the fun, which was great because she is an incredibly fun person. We had a great time doing fun things like tie-dyeing, going to the zoo, playing games, watching the dick van dyke show and seeing the last Harry Potter. But, we also had fun just talking, singing along to songs, shopping and reading books. I think God definitely made us for Families and finds great joy when we are together.
He delights in the details.
While I was listening to the sermon online today I hear the unmistakable laugh of someone I know. It instantly brought a smile to my face and made me marvel at the small details God must delight in putting in there just to brighten our day. So, thank you Judy for laughing during the sermon and for having an unmistakable laugh :)
Well, we start school in less than a week. I am nervous, excited, and overwhelmed, but I am trusting that God knew what he was doing when he opened the door for me to teach 3rd grade this year. So, my challenge is to recognize him, his work, and what he is teaching me each day!
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
parties, animals, and goop... its been a full month
How did it happen that a whole month has gone by since my last post...
A lot has happened in a month, but I will just give you the highlights. I'll try to keep it to 10...
Highlight #1
My middle school basketball team, that was falling apart in the last post, had their end of season tournament. It didn't quite end how we had hopped, but they did get 3rd (out of 7 teams). We lost our second round game to the team that won the tournament. The girls played a great game though, the best they have played all year. In the end it just wasn't quite enough to hold the other team. Then we went on to beat the team that we lost to the week before when we fell apart. It was nice to be able to show them how we can really play when everyone is healthy and uninjured.
Highlight #2
We went to the zoo with our first graders. It was a crazy field trip, but also really neat. We also took the 10th grade Biology class, so each of our first graders had at least two 10th grade buddies and it was so neat to see them bond. The first graders had a great time and really wore out their buddies. I of course loved the zoo as well, it is so neat to see the creativity of God through his animals. My favorites were the camouflaged geckos that were so well hidden it took us 5 minutes to spot them! One looked like a dried leaf and the other like the bark on the tree. My second favorite were the giant salamanders. They were huge, about 3 or 4 feet long. I did not know that they even existed! I thought salamanders were all small and cute, these guys were huge and ugly, but so cool!
Highlight #3
Getting to go to all the end of the year concerts and recitals. It is so cute to see some of our first graders get up on stage and play the piano, and they all did it so well. I was very impressed! It was also fun to see some of the kids in 2nd grade (who I teach PE to and will be teaching next year). At one of the concerts a 2nd grade boy saw me come in and motioned for me to come sit by him and his classmates. They were so excited that I came to their concert, which made me smile! I have also enjoyed seeing the middle schoolers and high schoolers perform in these recitals and also in their end of the year concerts. The band concert, orchestra concert and the choir concert; each concert has been so different. So many of these kids are great athletes and they can play an instrument and sing, its amazing!
Highlight #4
Field Day! A day were each elementary kid gets celebrated and they get to show off their athleticism. In the morning we went around to different stations as a class and the kids got to participate in different events that they had signed up for, like standing long jump, ball throw, soccer dribble and jump rope. It brought back some fun memories. Then in the afternoon all the students (first through fifth) were divided into 8 colored teams with a teacher to lead each one. In the gym we did a tug of war and a bunch of relays where we got points for time and lost points for not following the rules. I was on the yellow team and we had a great time cheering for each other and going all out. Many time we could tell that we were the second ones done in the relays, but I don't think we were ever first. At the end they announce which team had the most points and I am proud to say that my team won by one point! It was pretty exciting :)
Highlight #5
Spending time with the Richters. I have continued to go over to their house for dinner once a week and have really enjoyed it. I love playing with Levi and Eva and I have great conversations with Joel and Megan. A couple of weeks ago we decided to go to the mini gym and play around up there and we had a great time trying to do pullups, jump-roping and just running around. I am really going to miss them next year.
Highlight #6
A team sleepover. For each sport we have an end of the year party and my middle school girls wanted to have a sleepover. So, I agreed and we spent the night in my classroom at school. In hind sight I should have had the party start later, they just had way too much time. They ended up going onto the dark playground to make a music video, playing with the play-doh, looking through the I spy books, reading kids books to each other, scaring each other in the dark hallways, and making palaces with the shape blocks and base 10 blocks. It was actually quite entertaining to watch them. They ended up staying up until 1:30 (which is fine), but then a couple of them woke up at 5:45 to draw on their sleeping friends. They were not very quiet, so they woke me up too, so I did not get very much sleep that night and was pretty much a zombie the next day. Their music video turned out quite well though :)
Highlight #7
JV team sleepover. It has been a long time since our season, but we had not had a chance to have our end of the season party because so many of them were playing a new sport and I was coaching. Oh, and then the earthquake happened, which caused the seasons to be squished in a shorter amount of time. Anyway, this party was quite different from the one before. We didn't have quite as much time because the high school choir concert was that night and some of them were in it, so we had to pause the party for that. These girls mostly wanted to sign each other's yearbooks, roam the halls in the dark (screaming at random times out of fear), and just talk. They stayed up until 2, but they didn't get up until 8:30, so I wasn't a zombie the next day. It was fun to have them all together with them again, they are pretty hilarious.
Highlight #8
Goop. If you don't know what it is, or have never played with it you should look it up. Its really great. For our science experiment one week we played with goop, its both a solid and a liquid, its fascinating. I told the kids a little bit about solids, liquids, and gasses (but I don't think many of them got it). Then we made goop and just played with it. My hands were green and my pants were kind of white afterwards, but it was totally worth it. The kids had a blast and I got to keep what was left. So, I took it up to the Richters and we played with it for about an hour. It was great fun, even Joel got pretty into it.
Highlight #9
Animal reports. Our kids wrote animal reports 2 weeks ago, made a visual of their animal to bring to school and then gave a short presentation about their animal. They were pretty cute. Some of my favorite lines from their written reports were:
"The prairie dogs should survive from predators. They should survive."
"Dolphins can paint a picture. Dolphins can make noise. Dolphins ring bells. Dolphins are mammals same as people. Dolphins have hair arud their mauths."
"How did God make monkeys special? They have a good name! And they like to climb trees."
"Penguins are protected by laws like don't go far away and don't go without permission."
"Sharks are fish. Their nostrils are very small. They can smile with their noses"
"Bats don't look - they hear! They say something then if they hear something something is in the way!"
"A whale will blow the water and the whale will save their baby."
"Before bears hibernate, they need to eat lots of food, then they could be fat and relax. Bears yummy food is fish and berries!"
"Snakes are take the skin off and snakes are special because God make it."
"Eagles are a bird of pray. I so won." (the second sentence is supposed to say, I saw one.)
"Kangaroos are mammals that have a porch."
"God is creative so he decided to make Pandas."
My all time favorite: "God made lions special because he loves them. Did you know that lions don't know God?"
Highlight #10
Graduation. High school graduation was on Friday. It was great to be able to celebrate the seniors, but it was also pretty emotional. One of the seniors had died in a traffic accident on his way to school on his motorcycle on Tuesday. After all that has happened this year, it was crazy to hear this. He was so young and only 3 days away from his graduation. How does something like that happen? The seniors were of course very emotional all week as were their teachers and principal. It made for a very different week than was planned for the high school, especially those first couple days after. On Friday at graduation they had a moment of silence for him and both the senior speaker and the faculty speaker talked about his death in their speeches. Not so much that it was overwhelming, but enough that you could tell he was valued and missed. Then when they called all the seniors up individually to receive their diplomas they still called his name and everyone clapped for a good while for him, it was touching. I did not know this senior, but I have been touched by the response the school, the seniors, his teachers and others have made to his passing. And in the end graduation was still a celebration, a celebration of a huge milestone passed for all the seniors.
We are almost to the end of this year here at CAJ, we have 3 and a half more days of school. I cannot believe that I am almost through my first year of teaching. It has flown by. I also cannot believe that I leave on Sunday, but I am really looking forward to spending most of the summer in California.
If you want to watch a real celebration you should watch this video. No one celebrates a new train like the Japanese :)
A lot has happened in a month, but I will just give you the highlights. I'll try to keep it to 10...
Highlight #1
My middle school basketball team, that was falling apart in the last post, had their end of season tournament. It didn't quite end how we had hopped, but they did get 3rd (out of 7 teams). We lost our second round game to the team that won the tournament. The girls played a great game though, the best they have played all year. In the end it just wasn't quite enough to hold the other team. Then we went on to beat the team that we lost to the week before when we fell apart. It was nice to be able to show them how we can really play when everyone is healthy and uninjured.
Highlight #2
We went to the zoo with our first graders. It was a crazy field trip, but also really neat. We also took the 10th grade Biology class, so each of our first graders had at least two 10th grade buddies and it was so neat to see them bond. The first graders had a great time and really wore out their buddies. I of course loved the zoo as well, it is so neat to see the creativity of God through his animals. My favorites were the camouflaged geckos that were so well hidden it took us 5 minutes to spot them! One looked like a dried leaf and the other like the bark on the tree. My second favorite were the giant salamanders. They were huge, about 3 or 4 feet long. I did not know that they even existed! I thought salamanders were all small and cute, these guys were huge and ugly, but so cool!
Highlight #3
Getting to go to all the end of the year concerts and recitals. It is so cute to see some of our first graders get up on stage and play the piano, and they all did it so well. I was very impressed! It was also fun to see some of the kids in 2nd grade (who I teach PE to and will be teaching next year). At one of the concerts a 2nd grade boy saw me come in and motioned for me to come sit by him and his classmates. They were so excited that I came to their concert, which made me smile! I have also enjoyed seeing the middle schoolers and high schoolers perform in these recitals and also in their end of the year concerts. The band concert, orchestra concert and the choir concert; each concert has been so different. So many of these kids are great athletes and they can play an instrument and sing, its amazing!
Highlight #4
Field Day! A day were each elementary kid gets celebrated and they get to show off their athleticism. In the morning we went around to different stations as a class and the kids got to participate in different events that they had signed up for, like standing long jump, ball throw, soccer dribble and jump rope. It brought back some fun memories. Then in the afternoon all the students (first through fifth) were divided into 8 colored teams with a teacher to lead each one. In the gym we did a tug of war and a bunch of relays where we got points for time and lost points for not following the rules. I was on the yellow team and we had a great time cheering for each other and going all out. Many time we could tell that we were the second ones done in the relays, but I don't think we were ever first. At the end they announce which team had the most points and I am proud to say that my team won by one point! It was pretty exciting :)
Highlight #5
Spending time with the Richters. I have continued to go over to their house for dinner once a week and have really enjoyed it. I love playing with Levi and Eva and I have great conversations with Joel and Megan. A couple of weeks ago we decided to go to the mini gym and play around up there and we had a great time trying to do pullups, jump-roping and just running around. I am really going to miss them next year.
Highlight #6
A team sleepover. For each sport we have an end of the year party and my middle school girls wanted to have a sleepover. So, I agreed and we spent the night in my classroom at school. In hind sight I should have had the party start later, they just had way too much time. They ended up going onto the dark playground to make a music video, playing with the play-doh, looking through the I spy books, reading kids books to each other, scaring each other in the dark hallways, and making palaces with the shape blocks and base 10 blocks. It was actually quite entertaining to watch them. They ended up staying up until 1:30 (which is fine), but then a couple of them woke up at 5:45 to draw on their sleeping friends. They were not very quiet, so they woke me up too, so I did not get very much sleep that night and was pretty much a zombie the next day. Their music video turned out quite well though :)
Highlight #7
JV team sleepover. It has been a long time since our season, but we had not had a chance to have our end of the season party because so many of them were playing a new sport and I was coaching. Oh, and then the earthquake happened, which caused the seasons to be squished in a shorter amount of time. Anyway, this party was quite different from the one before. We didn't have quite as much time because the high school choir concert was that night and some of them were in it, so we had to pause the party for that. These girls mostly wanted to sign each other's yearbooks, roam the halls in the dark (screaming at random times out of fear), and just talk. They stayed up until 2, but they didn't get up until 8:30, so I wasn't a zombie the next day. It was fun to have them all together with them again, they are pretty hilarious.
Highlight #8
Goop. If you don't know what it is, or have never played with it you should look it up. Its really great. For our science experiment one week we played with goop, its both a solid and a liquid, its fascinating. I told the kids a little bit about solids, liquids, and gasses (but I don't think many of them got it). Then we made goop and just played with it. My hands were green and my pants were kind of white afterwards, but it was totally worth it. The kids had a blast and I got to keep what was left. So, I took it up to the Richters and we played with it for about an hour. It was great fun, even Joel got pretty into it.
Highlight #9
Animal reports. Our kids wrote animal reports 2 weeks ago, made a visual of their animal to bring to school and then gave a short presentation about their animal. They were pretty cute. Some of my favorite lines from their written reports were:
"The prairie dogs should survive from predators. They should survive."
"Dolphins can paint a picture. Dolphins can make noise. Dolphins ring bells. Dolphins are mammals same as people. Dolphins have hair arud their mauths."
"How did God make monkeys special? They have a good name! And they like to climb trees."
"Penguins are protected by laws like don't go far away and don't go without permission."
"Sharks are fish. Their nostrils are very small. They can smile with their noses"
"Bats don't look - they hear! They say something then if they hear something something is in the way!"
"A whale will blow the water and the whale will save their baby."
"Before bears hibernate, they need to eat lots of food, then they could be fat and relax. Bears yummy food is fish and berries!"
"Snakes are take the skin off and snakes are special because God make it."
"Eagles are a bird of pray. I so won." (the second sentence is supposed to say, I saw one.)
"Kangaroos are mammals that have a porch."
"God is creative so he decided to make Pandas."
My all time favorite: "God made lions special because he loves them. Did you know that lions don't know God?"
Highlight #10
Graduation. High school graduation was on Friday. It was great to be able to celebrate the seniors, but it was also pretty emotional. One of the seniors had died in a traffic accident on his way to school on his motorcycle on Tuesday. After all that has happened this year, it was crazy to hear this. He was so young and only 3 days away from his graduation. How does something like that happen? The seniors were of course very emotional all week as were their teachers and principal. It made for a very different week than was planned for the high school, especially those first couple days after. On Friday at graduation they had a moment of silence for him and both the senior speaker and the faculty speaker talked about his death in their speeches. Not so much that it was overwhelming, but enough that you could tell he was valued and missed. Then when they called all the seniors up individually to receive their diplomas they still called his name and everyone clapped for a good while for him, it was touching. I did not know this senior, but I have been touched by the response the school, the seniors, his teachers and others have made to his passing. And in the end graduation was still a celebration, a celebration of a huge milestone passed for all the seniors.
We are almost to the end of this year here at CAJ, we have 3 and a half more days of school. I cannot believe that I am almost through my first year of teaching. It has flown by. I also cannot believe that I leave on Sunday, but I am really looking forward to spending most of the summer in California.
If you want to watch a real celebration you should watch this video. No one celebrates a new train like the Japanese :)
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Restart Button
Some days I wish that I had a restart button and I could go back to when I woke up and restart the day. Today was one of those days. It started out ok. I woke up on time. I made it to the station on time and almost all of the middle school basketball girls showed up on time to head to our game (we had one that was late, but was able to meet us down there). Debi (one of the other coaches) and I were able to lead us all to Seisen (the other school we were playing) without getting lost. Which was kind of a big deal since JuShin usually does the directions for train trips, but she is in the states visiting her brother.
Once we got to Seisen was when things started to head down hill...
One of my girls who usually starts told me she didn't feel good. She said her stomach hurt, but she didn't feel like she was going to throw up. I told her to take it easy until our game at 11:30. Then we walked in the gym and I got a funny feeling that instead of playing C, B, A (beginners, intermediate, and advanced) we would be playing the A team game first. I immediately asked the Seisen coach to confirm the order of the games and instead my hunch was confirmed. Since they were having an event that afternoon in their gym we had to be out by 12:30, so they wanted to play the A team game first since it actually counts for the season record and the tournament (whereas the other teams don't have a tournament). So, I got all my girls together and told them to get ready because we were actually playing first at 9:00 instead of last at 11:30. They of course were nervous and thrown off by this, but I tried to reassure them and they quickly got ready and began to warm up.
I have 9 girls on my team and I love them all. This season has been so much fun (even though we had a month break in the middle). On this day though, I only had 8 girls that could play because one had gotten kneed in the thigh in one of our games 2 weeks ago and it had torn her thigh muscle a little bit and she was still recovering. Then there was my girl from earlier that had told me she didn't feel good, she warmed up a little bit and then came and sat on the bench because she still didn't feel good. So, I ended up starting the game with only 3 of my normal starters.
The game started out well. Seisen played a fast paced game, but we matched them. Then one of my players tweaked her ankle that she had sprained earlier this year and I had to go out on the court to help her hop to the bench where she iced it for a while. After she iced it for a some time she said it felt better and she was able to play again in the second half.
Shortly after that one of my other players went for a crossover move and her knee didn't follow the rest of her body as it should and she ended up rolling on the floor, holding her knee and crying in pain. We had to take her off the court on a stretcher so we wouldn't move her knee. She iced it in another room while the game went on. Eventually she was able to get some crutches and come out and watch the end of the game.
That left us with 5 health players and 1 sick one (who couldn't play more than a minute or two at a time).
Right after the half one of my girls was sitting on the bench and she looked kind of down, so I asked her if something was wrong. She said she didn't feel totally well, that she felt kind of dizzy. But that she still wanted to play after she sat for a while.
Then later in the second half one of my players went up for a layup and when she came down she fell on the floor and was clutching her knee and was obviously in pain. Debi and I carried her over to our bench and we gave her ice to put on her knee. Once the game got going again I asked her what happened and she said that it was straight and then went too far, so I think she must have hyper-extended it. Later she said it hurt to straighten it and so she kept it bent the whole time. We got her a pair of crutches too since she was crawling around on one knee to get places.
Thankfully at this point the girl that had tweaked her ankle was feeling better, so we still had 5 healthy players and 1 sick one (who ended up throwing up on the way home, poor girl).
Then one of my other girls somehow injured her finger. I don't know if she jammed it on the ball or injured it some other way, but it was pretty swollen, she couldn't move it and she said it hurt a lot. She is a tough one though, so she wanted to play through it, but I made her tape it before she could play again. I hope it is just a bad jam, but it could be broken.
At this point my injured player who didn't even bring her uniform or shoes asked if she could play. I told her she had to have her mom's permission. So, she called up her mom who said she could if she was careful. So she ran off to borrow a jersey from one of the C team girls and shoes from one of our other injured players. Thankfully she was able to play and I could sub out the girl who was really too sick to be playing and then give some of the other girls a break who hadn't had many all game. She even scored and fouled in the little bit of time she played.
We ended up loosing by 20. We had only 2 girls who were uninjured and healthy at the end of the game. And yet my girls came off the court cheering. The other team was cheering because they won, so my girls decided to cheer because they lost. It was mostly a cheer that it was over, that we had made it to the end of the game. Today ended up not being about wining or losing, or even really playing well, but it was about surviving, about making it through a tough game you just wanted to be over. I am proud of these girls for sticking with it, for finishing strong and playing tough to then end while battling sickness, injury and even an earlier start than we had planned.
Today I wish that I had a restart button that I could push to restart the day and hopefully have some better results, but at the same time I am glad that I can say I made it through, that we made it through. It was one of those games that you just want to throw away, but hey everybody has one and we survived despite the circumstances. At least we didn't have an earthquake in the middle of the game like we did 2 weeks ago :)
Hopefully we will be better because of today. But also, hopefully these injuries aren't long lasting because we have our tournament in a week. It would be nice if everybody could play!
Once we got to Seisen was when things started to head down hill...
One of my girls who usually starts told me she didn't feel good. She said her stomach hurt, but she didn't feel like she was going to throw up. I told her to take it easy until our game at 11:30. Then we walked in the gym and I got a funny feeling that instead of playing C, B, A (beginners, intermediate, and advanced) we would be playing the A team game first. I immediately asked the Seisen coach to confirm the order of the games and instead my hunch was confirmed. Since they were having an event that afternoon in their gym we had to be out by 12:30, so they wanted to play the A team game first since it actually counts for the season record and the tournament (whereas the other teams don't have a tournament). So, I got all my girls together and told them to get ready because we were actually playing first at 9:00 instead of last at 11:30. They of course were nervous and thrown off by this, but I tried to reassure them and they quickly got ready and began to warm up.
I have 9 girls on my team and I love them all. This season has been so much fun (even though we had a month break in the middle). On this day though, I only had 8 girls that could play because one had gotten kneed in the thigh in one of our games 2 weeks ago and it had torn her thigh muscle a little bit and she was still recovering. Then there was my girl from earlier that had told me she didn't feel good, she warmed up a little bit and then came and sat on the bench because she still didn't feel good. So, I ended up starting the game with only 3 of my normal starters.
The game started out well. Seisen played a fast paced game, but we matched them. Then one of my players tweaked her ankle that she had sprained earlier this year and I had to go out on the court to help her hop to the bench where she iced it for a while. After she iced it for a some time she said it felt better and she was able to play again in the second half.
Shortly after that one of my other players went for a crossover move and her knee didn't follow the rest of her body as it should and she ended up rolling on the floor, holding her knee and crying in pain. We had to take her off the court on a stretcher so we wouldn't move her knee. She iced it in another room while the game went on. Eventually she was able to get some crutches and come out and watch the end of the game.
That left us with 5 health players and 1 sick one (who couldn't play more than a minute or two at a time).
Right after the half one of my girls was sitting on the bench and she looked kind of down, so I asked her if something was wrong. She said she didn't feel totally well, that she felt kind of dizzy. But that she still wanted to play after she sat for a while.
Then later in the second half one of my players went up for a layup and when she came down she fell on the floor and was clutching her knee and was obviously in pain. Debi and I carried her over to our bench and we gave her ice to put on her knee. Once the game got going again I asked her what happened and she said that it was straight and then went too far, so I think she must have hyper-extended it. Later she said it hurt to straighten it and so she kept it bent the whole time. We got her a pair of crutches too since she was crawling around on one knee to get places.
Thankfully at this point the girl that had tweaked her ankle was feeling better, so we still had 5 healthy players and 1 sick one (who ended up throwing up on the way home, poor girl).
Then one of my other girls somehow injured her finger. I don't know if she jammed it on the ball or injured it some other way, but it was pretty swollen, she couldn't move it and she said it hurt a lot. She is a tough one though, so she wanted to play through it, but I made her tape it before she could play again. I hope it is just a bad jam, but it could be broken.
At this point my injured player who didn't even bring her uniform or shoes asked if she could play. I told her she had to have her mom's permission. So, she called up her mom who said she could if she was careful. So she ran off to borrow a jersey from one of the C team girls and shoes from one of our other injured players. Thankfully she was able to play and I could sub out the girl who was really too sick to be playing and then give some of the other girls a break who hadn't had many all game. She even scored and fouled in the little bit of time she played.
We ended up loosing by 20. We had only 2 girls who were uninjured and healthy at the end of the game. And yet my girls came off the court cheering. The other team was cheering because they won, so my girls decided to cheer because they lost. It was mostly a cheer that it was over, that we had made it to the end of the game. Today ended up not being about wining or losing, or even really playing well, but it was about surviving, about making it through a tough game you just wanted to be over. I am proud of these girls for sticking with it, for finishing strong and playing tough to then end while battling sickness, injury and even an earlier start than we had planned.
Today I wish that I had a restart button that I could push to restart the day and hopefully have some better results, but at the same time I am glad that I can say I made it through, that we made it through. It was one of those games that you just want to throw away, but hey everybody has one and we survived despite the circumstances. At least we didn't have an earthquake in the middle of the game like we did 2 weeks ago :)
Hopefully we will be better because of today. But also, hopefully these injuries aren't long lasting because we have our tournament in a week. It would be nice if everybody could play!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
April 4th
I got back to Tokyo safely on Thursday, March 31st. Things seem to be relatively normal here. It is the most normal thing in the whole world to be back and at the same time one of the strangest feelings ever. It feels like time must have stood still and yet so much has happened in the 3 weeks that I have been gone. It is good to be back and so hard to be back.
We are scheduled to start school again tomorrow, Monday, April 4th. I am ready for tomorrow, but I have no idea what it will bring. How will our students respond to being back at school? How will I respond to being back at school? How are our first graders doing emotionally? What will they need to talk about or not talk about? Will they dive under the desks and/or start crying every time there is an earthquake? Will I start crying when there is an earthquake? (I was pretty scared when I felt my first one since being back.) What about the kids that aren't coming back right away? What is normal and when will things be normal again?
So many questions that I cannot answer. I just have to trust that God has us all in his hands and he has a good and perfect plan. Our community could use your prayers as we start on this school journey again.
This picture always makes me smile, it brings me hope :) It is a picture of a little girl helping to pass out food at a shelter in northern Japan. I don't know this girl, but she is adorable. This picture reminds me that God is at work in all of this.
We are scheduled to start school again tomorrow, Monday, April 4th. I am ready for tomorrow, but I have no idea what it will bring. How will our students respond to being back at school? How will I respond to being back at school? How are our first graders doing emotionally? What will they need to talk about or not talk about? Will they dive under the desks and/or start crying every time there is an earthquake? Will I start crying when there is an earthquake? (I was pretty scared when I felt my first one since being back.) What about the kids that aren't coming back right away? What is normal and when will things be normal again?
So many questions that I cannot answer. I just have to trust that God has us all in his hands and he has a good and perfect plan. Our community could use your prayers as we start on this school journey again.This picture always makes me smile, it brings me hope :) It is a picture of a little girl helping to pass out food at a shelter in northern Japan. I don't know this girl, but she is adorable. This picture reminds me that God is at work in all of this.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Pray for Japan
Earthquakes are interesting things, I have felt so many of them over the years it seems normal, but none of them were anything like the one that recently hit Japan. I have been told by many people that the earthquake that shook Japan on March 11th 2011 was the longest and strongest one they have ever felt. I wasn't there, so I cannot tell you, but I definitely believe them. As many of you know I was in California for a friend's wedding when the earthquake happened.
I flew out of Narita on March 11th at 1:00 am and got to California around 5:00 pm (0n March 10th). Shortly after I got to Santa Barbara around 10:30 my sister got a text from a friend that said "Praying for your homeland." She was kind of confused because we had no idea that anything had happened, so we looked at the news online and found out about the earthquake and then the tsunami. I was totally shocked, but also totally jet-lagged, so nothing was really processing right. I emailed some of my friends at CAJ asking if they were ok and if everything was alright. Then I got an email from the school saying that all the students were on the field, accounted for and safe and parents should come get their kids as soon as they can. That was when I started to really worry.
We also started watching the news on TV. The footage they showed of the tsunami was totally devastating. It was hard to watch, whole houses being washed away, cars bobbing around, boats flowing through rice fields. It was terrible. This was all up north of our school, CAJ, in Tokyo, but it was right where our cabin is in Sendai. I couldn't believe it was really happening. Thankfully I got emails back from some of my friends after that saying that they were alright, but that the earthquake had been really scary. It was good to know they were alright.
At that point CAJ was planning on having school on Monday and things seemed like they would be relatively normal at least in the area were I live. Slowly over the next few days that all changed. I found out that school was canceled on Monday, then got an email that it was also canceled for Tuesday and Wednesday. Also, as I was getting ready for the wedding I got an email from the family I live with saying that I should call the airline and see if my flight was still scheduled to fly into Narita and I should consider moving my flight date back. They said that even if I could get into Narita there was no guarantee that I could get from there back to our house because the trains weren't running and the roads were pretty clogged with traffic. I called the airline and found out I could still fly in, but that I could also reschedule my flight once. So, after much debating, emailing back and forth, and discussions with family and friends I decided to reschedule my flight to leave here on Thursday and get there on Friday, March 18th.
Over the next few days it was really hard. I had a lot of different emotions, thoughts and questions. One of the days I didn't have a whole lot to do, so I was watching the news and reading up on what was going on in Japan and I got an email from our headmaster. He forwarded on this video that a CAJ graduate had made of pictures from the earthquake and tsunami set to music. It is really well done. The first time I watched it I cried almost the whole way through, and every time since I have definitely teared up at least. It has a lot of hope, but it is hard to see the devastating pictures, many of them probably up in Sendai.
We have some very good family friends that live in Sendai. Thankfully we found out that they are ok. Their house was quite shaken and everything thrown around, but the tsunami didn't reach them. Their two youngest sons, Caleb and Luke, lived with us when they were in high school so that they could go to CAJ. Their youngest son, Luke, still lives in Japan and just recently drove up to Sendai to bring supplies up there, see his parents and help out in any way that he could. Because of what he was doing he ended up being able to give a first hand account to BBC news, which was recorded in this video. It is great to hear that people are helping out and making a difference.
While Luke and some friends were up there they were asked to go check on a friend's Grandma who lives in an assisted living home. Thankfully they were able to find her safe and sound and took this wonderful picture of her. I don't know this woman, but the smile on her face brings a smile to mine.
As I was getting ready to leave and making sure I saw everyone one more time before I left I got an email from the school saying that they were canceling school until April 4th. I was pretty shocked. That meant that we would miss 2 whole weeks of school (the third week was our scheduled spring break). They decided to cancel school for that long because the trains weren't running very predictably (and that is how a good majority of our students get to school) and they were supposed to have scheduled blackouts each day. The administration just decided they didn't feel like they could make a good decision about school just yet, so they decided to cancel it until after spring break.
Since we didn't have school I didn't have to go back, so once again I rescheduled my flight. This time I will be flying out on Wednesday and getting there Thursday, March 31st. In many ways I was relieved to not have to go back yet and deal with all that is going on there, especially the stress of it all. At the same time I was feeling the strain of having been gone too long and feeling like I should be there. Overall though I was glad to be able to stay here in California and be able to spend more time with people I have missed a lot this year.
So, I will be heading back to Japan in a little less than a week and I don't really know what I will find there. Some things I know, the school hasn't changed, the area I live in wasn't damaged, but what will it be like to go back to a place where everyone experienced this crazy earthquake except me? What do I tell my students? How will they be feeling? And eventually, what will it be like to go back to our cabin? There are a lot of unknowns, but I know that CAJ is where God wants me this year, so I know he will be with me. I don't know why God had it in his plan for me to be in California when this massive earthquake hit, but he must have a reason. I may never know that reason, but I wouldn't have left the day before if it wasn't part of his plan.
This next picture was taken up near our cabin. Our cabin is part of a community of cabins on 2 different hills, so most of the cabins are fine, but the area between and surrounding it was pretty devastated by the tsunami. This shows some of the devastation, but I love that it captures the woman smiling.
Please be praying for Japan, especially the people most affected by the earthquake and tsunami, but also for all the people who live there. There are many big decisions that need to be made, many people that need help and many others that just need God's peace. I recently read a prayer by John Piper for Japan. It is a beautiful prayer and so I want to finish this post by sharing the end of the prayer.
"May every heart-breaking loss—millions upon millions of losses—be healed by the wounded hands of the risen Christ. You are not unacquainted with your creatures' pain. You did not spare your own Son, but gave him up for us all.
In Jesus you tasted loss. In Jesus you shared the overwhelming flood of our sorrows and suffering. In Jesus you are a sympathetic Priest in the midst of our pain.
Deal tenderly now, Father, with this fragile people. Woo them. Win them. Save them.
And may the floods they so much dread make blessings break upon their head.
O let them not judge you with feeble sense, but trust you for your grace. And so behind this providence, soon find a smiling face.
In Jesus’ merciful name, Amen."
I flew out of Narita on March 11th at 1:00 am and got to California around 5:00 pm (0n March 10th). Shortly after I got to Santa Barbara around 10:30 my sister got a text from a friend that said "Praying for your homeland." She was kind of confused because we had no idea that anything had happened, so we looked at the news online and found out about the earthquake and then the tsunami. I was totally shocked, but also totally jet-lagged, so nothing was really processing right. I emailed some of my friends at CAJ asking if they were ok and if everything was alright. Then I got an email from the school saying that all the students were on the field, accounted for and safe and parents should come get their kids as soon as they can. That was when I started to really worry.
We also started watching the news on TV. The footage they showed of the tsunami was totally devastating. It was hard to watch, whole houses being washed away, cars bobbing around, boats flowing through rice fields. It was terrible. This was all up north of our school, CAJ, in Tokyo, but it was right where our cabin is in Sendai. I couldn't believe it was really happening. Thankfully I got emails back from some of my friends after that saying that they were alright, but that the earthquake had been really scary. It was good to know they were alright.
At that point CAJ was planning on having school on Monday and things seemed like they would be relatively normal at least in the area were I live. Slowly over the next few days that all changed. I found out that school was canceled on Monday, then got an email that it was also canceled for Tuesday and Wednesday. Also, as I was getting ready for the wedding I got an email from the family I live with saying that I should call the airline and see if my flight was still scheduled to fly into Narita and I should consider moving my flight date back. They said that even if I could get into Narita there was no guarantee that I could get from there back to our house because the trains weren't running and the roads were pretty clogged with traffic. I called the airline and found out I could still fly in, but that I could also reschedule my flight once. So, after much debating, emailing back and forth, and discussions with family and friends I decided to reschedule my flight to leave here on Thursday and get there on Friday, March 18th.
Over the next few days it was really hard. I had a lot of different emotions, thoughts and questions. One of the days I didn't have a whole lot to do, so I was watching the news and reading up on what was going on in Japan and I got an email from our headmaster. He forwarded on this video that a CAJ graduate had made of pictures from the earthquake and tsunami set to music. It is really well done. The first time I watched it I cried almost the whole way through, and every time since I have definitely teared up at least. It has a lot of hope, but it is hard to see the devastating pictures, many of them probably up in Sendai.
We have some very good family friends that live in Sendai. Thankfully we found out that they are ok. Their house was quite shaken and everything thrown around, but the tsunami didn't reach them. Their two youngest sons, Caleb and Luke, lived with us when they were in high school so that they could go to CAJ. Their youngest son, Luke, still lives in Japan and just recently drove up to Sendai to bring supplies up there, see his parents and help out in any way that he could. Because of what he was doing he ended up being able to give a first hand account to BBC news, which was recorded in this video. It is great to hear that people are helping out and making a difference.
While Luke and some friends were up there they were asked to go check on a friend's Grandma who lives in an assisted living home. Thankfully they were able to find her safe and sound and took this wonderful picture of her. I don't know this woman, but the smile on her face brings a smile to mine.
As I was getting ready to leave and making sure I saw everyone one more time before I left I got an email from the school saying that they were canceling school until April 4th. I was pretty shocked. That meant that we would miss 2 whole weeks of school (the third week was our scheduled spring break). They decided to cancel school for that long because the trains weren't running very predictably (and that is how a good majority of our students get to school) and they were supposed to have scheduled blackouts each day. The administration just decided they didn't feel like they could make a good decision about school just yet, so they decided to cancel it until after spring break.
Since we didn't have school I didn't have to go back, so once again I rescheduled my flight. This time I will be flying out on Wednesday and getting there Thursday, March 31st. In many ways I was relieved to not have to go back yet and deal with all that is going on there, especially the stress of it all. At the same time I was feeling the strain of having been gone too long and feeling like I should be there. Overall though I was glad to be able to stay here in California and be able to spend more time with people I have missed a lot this year.
So, I will be heading back to Japan in a little less than a week and I don't really know what I will find there. Some things I know, the school hasn't changed, the area I live in wasn't damaged, but what will it be like to go back to a place where everyone experienced this crazy earthquake except me? What do I tell my students? How will they be feeling? And eventually, what will it be like to go back to our cabin? There are a lot of unknowns, but I know that CAJ is where God wants me this year, so I know he will be with me. I don't know why God had it in his plan for me to be in California when this massive earthquake hit, but he must have a reason. I may never know that reason, but I wouldn't have left the day before if it wasn't part of his plan.
This next picture was taken up near our cabin. Our cabin is part of a community of cabins on 2 different hills, so most of the cabins are fine, but the area between and surrounding it was pretty devastated by the tsunami. This shows some of the devastation, but I love that it captures the woman smiling.
Please be praying for Japan, especially the people most affected by the earthquake and tsunami, but also for all the people who live there. There are many big decisions that need to be made, many people that need help and many others that just need God's peace. I recently read a prayer by John Piper for Japan. It is a beautiful prayer and so I want to finish this post by sharing the end of the prayer.
"May every heart-breaking loss—millions upon millions of losses—be healed by the wounded hands of the risen Christ. You are not unacquainted with your creatures' pain. You did not spare your own Son, but gave him up for us all.
In Jesus you tasted loss. In Jesus you shared the overwhelming flood of our sorrows and suffering. In Jesus you are a sympathetic Priest in the midst of our pain.
Deal tenderly now, Father, with this fragile people. Woo them. Win them. Save them.
And may the floods they so much dread make blessings break upon their head.
O let them not judge you with feeble sense, but trust you for your grace. And so behind this providence, soon find a smiling face.
In Jesus’ merciful name, Amen."
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Highs and Lows
Its been a while since I have updated, so to keep my thoughts in order I am going to write a highs and lows list. Highs being things that I enjoyed the last few weeks, or that made me laugh. Lows being things that I didn't enjoy, that we hard, or that made life kind of complicated.
High: My show and tell is myself.
Sometimes we do show and tell on Fridays in our class. The rules are they have to tell us what their show and tell is, where they got it and why they like it. Then they get to call on one of their classmates to ask a question. Often our students forget their show and tell, so we have had some interesting ones... backpacks, shoes, shirts, and towels. This time one of the boys got up there and he said, "My show and tell is myself. I got myself from no where. I like myself because God made me special. Any questions?" Another boy raised his hand and asked "why are you so fast?" He lifted up his shoe and said "because I have fast shoes" :) I love first grader logic!
Low: A broken nose.
In one of our games last week two of my players collided going for a ball and one of them hit her nose against the other ones head and broke her nose. Apparently its not a bad break, but she has to wear one of those mask things and she hates it (understandably so, its hard to play in and looks kinda awkward).
High: This is when I was Japanese.
Each week in our class we have a star student. That student gets to sit on the stool in the front and share about themselves for about 15 min. They get to bring in some pictures, tell us what they want to be when they grow up, their favorite color, food, and thing at home, and answer some questions from their classmates. This past week one of our Korean boys got to be the star student. As he was sharing one of his pictures he says, "This is when I was Japanese." Immediately another boy says, "your face is the same." (Julie and I look at each other and try not to burst out laughing). It was actually a picture of him when he was in Yochien (Japanese pre-school).
Low: A sick day.
We had 5 kids sick on Monday, 4 kids sick on Tuesday and then 5 kids sick on Wednesday again, so we canceled school the rest of Wednesday and Thursday. It was kind of sad to not have them at school and it made me so confused about what day it was. There were 2 kids that we didn't see at all last week because they were sick the whole week. I hope they are all better by tomorrow.
High: Barbie, Barny, same thing.
The same kid who said he used to be Japanese also said that he dressed up as Barbie. In another one of his pictures he was dressed up for Halloween and he says, "This is when I dressed up as Barbie... I mean Barny." :) It was hard not to laugh.
Low: A scary film.
There was a clip of the Jesus film shown during chapel that just wasn't quite age appropriate for kindergarten through 5th grade. It was the scene of Jesus walking to the cross, being nailed to the cross and the cross being put up. Its a hard scene for anyone to watch and not really appropriate to show at school to kids that age. We had 3 kids in our class crying. When we got back to class we had to have a 20 min debrief of chapel. Most of the kids thought that was actually Jesus dying on the cross, so we had to tell them it was just an actor, yes he really died, but that wasn't him. It was a good talk, but it made for a stressful day.
High: Snow!
It finally snowed! On Wednesday when I was walking to school I realized that it was snowing, and it was so beautiful. It didn't stick at all that day though and stopped after a few hours. Then it snowed again on Friday, all day. It didn't really stick much that day either and was mostly just wet, but it was so fun to watch it falling and to go outside and get snowflakes all over. On Saturday we had our JV basketball tournament and at Zama (the base where the tournament took place) there was a little more snow and it was still kind of powdery, so we had a mini snowball fight with our team. It was fun! We are supposed to have more snow this week, I just hope that some of it sticks!
Low: 6th out of 8.
In the JV tournament this weekend we placed 6th out of 8 teams. Its not really a huge low, that is kind of where we are in the league anyway, but I was hoping they would rise to the occasion and we would do a little better than that. We were able to win one game, so at least we didn't get 7th or 8th.
High: A valentine.
I got my first valentine today :) Ty made valentines in his Sunday school class and he decided to make one for me. It was so sweet. I love this family that I am getting to live with, and their two boys are just fantastic. It is great to have Ty in class and he is so good about it all. He even said to Julie the other day "guess what Miss Johnson, at home I get to call Miss Hardeman by her first name." He thinks it is the coolest thing, so of course on the valentine it says Kelsey, which is fine with me :)
I'm sure there are more, but I cannot think of them right now. These next few weeks are going to be kind of crazy, it seems like everything is either starting or ending (besides school), but I will do my best to write updates when I can.
High: My show and tell is myself.
Sometimes we do show and tell on Fridays in our class. The rules are they have to tell us what their show and tell is, where they got it and why they like it. Then they get to call on one of their classmates to ask a question. Often our students forget their show and tell, so we have had some interesting ones... backpacks, shoes, shirts, and towels. This time one of the boys got up there and he said, "My show and tell is myself. I got myself from no where. I like myself because God made me special. Any questions?" Another boy raised his hand and asked "why are you so fast?" He lifted up his shoe and said "because I have fast shoes" :) I love first grader logic!
Low: A broken nose.
In one of our games last week two of my players collided going for a ball and one of them hit her nose against the other ones head and broke her nose. Apparently its not a bad break, but she has to wear one of those mask things and she hates it (understandably so, its hard to play in and looks kinda awkward).
High: This is when I was Japanese.
Each week in our class we have a star student. That student gets to sit on the stool in the front and share about themselves for about 15 min. They get to bring in some pictures, tell us what they want to be when they grow up, their favorite color, food, and thing at home, and answer some questions from their classmates. This past week one of our Korean boys got to be the star student. As he was sharing one of his pictures he says, "This is when I was Japanese." Immediately another boy says, "your face is the same." (Julie and I look at each other and try not to burst out laughing). It was actually a picture of him when he was in Yochien (Japanese pre-school).
Low: A sick day.
We had 5 kids sick on Monday, 4 kids sick on Tuesday and then 5 kids sick on Wednesday again, so we canceled school the rest of Wednesday and Thursday. It was kind of sad to not have them at school and it made me so confused about what day it was. There were 2 kids that we didn't see at all last week because they were sick the whole week. I hope they are all better by tomorrow.
High: Barbie, Barny, same thing.
The same kid who said he used to be Japanese also said that he dressed up as Barbie. In another one of his pictures he was dressed up for Halloween and he says, "This is when I dressed up as Barbie... I mean Barny." :) It was hard not to laugh.
Low: A scary film.
There was a clip of the Jesus film shown during chapel that just wasn't quite age appropriate for kindergarten through 5th grade. It was the scene of Jesus walking to the cross, being nailed to the cross and the cross being put up. Its a hard scene for anyone to watch and not really appropriate to show at school to kids that age. We had 3 kids in our class crying. When we got back to class we had to have a 20 min debrief of chapel. Most of the kids thought that was actually Jesus dying on the cross, so we had to tell them it was just an actor, yes he really died, but that wasn't him. It was a good talk, but it made for a stressful day.
High: Snow!
It finally snowed! On Wednesday when I was walking to school I realized that it was snowing, and it was so beautiful. It didn't stick at all that day though and stopped after a few hours. Then it snowed again on Friday, all day. It didn't really stick much that day either and was mostly just wet, but it was so fun to watch it falling and to go outside and get snowflakes all over. On Saturday we had our JV basketball tournament and at Zama (the base where the tournament took place) there was a little more snow and it was still kind of powdery, so we had a mini snowball fight with our team. It was fun! We are supposed to have more snow this week, I just hope that some of it sticks!
Low: 6th out of 8.
In the JV tournament this weekend we placed 6th out of 8 teams. Its not really a huge low, that is kind of where we are in the league anyway, but I was hoping they would rise to the occasion and we would do a little better than that. We were able to win one game, so at least we didn't get 7th or 8th.
High: A valentine.
I got my first valentine today :) Ty made valentines in his Sunday school class and he decided to make one for me. It was so sweet. I love this family that I am getting to live with, and their two boys are just fantastic. It is great to have Ty in class and he is so good about it all. He even said to Julie the other day "guess what Miss Johnson, at home I get to call Miss Hardeman by her first name." He thinks it is the coolest thing, so of course on the valentine it says Kelsey, which is fine with me :)
I'm sure there are more, but I cannot think of them right now. These next few weeks are going to be kind of crazy, it seems like everything is either starting or ending (besides school), but I will do my best to write updates when I can.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
A Litte More Right
Last weekend at church was my first service back at KBF, my church here, after coming back from Christmas break. I was in Japan the week before, but Tashia was here visiting me and she was leaving that day and had felt sick the night before so we didn't go to church that morning. So, last week was my first service back. I usually sit with the Richters and help keep Eva and Levi distracted and quiet during the service. Last week though Eva didn't last long at all and was on her way to the nursery with Megan when I arrived a little bit late. So, I sat with Joel and Levi during the service. Levi has decided his new favorite instrument is the drums, so every time we are singing a song he is using his hands as drumsticks on the seats in front of us. He really gets into it, its pretty cute :) So, while he was doing that and we were singing I started to look around and I realized I was looking at a lot of people that I know and care about and that I had missed them over Christmas break. I started to get teary eyed as I realized that for the first time I felt like this is where I am supposed to be right now. I have known for most of the year that this is where God wants me, but for some reason during church that week for the first time I didn't just know it, I felt it too. For some reason God wants me here in Japan right now, this year. I don't really know what his reasons are, but this past week everything has felt a little more right, a little more like God has a good and perfect plan for me.
Like I said in my last post, over Christmas break I moved. Now I have a family again :) I am living with Steve and Tanya Hall and their two boys Ty and Noah. So far it has been great. They are a really easy family to live with, very considerate, always asking me if I have everything I need, or if I like this or that. I love being able to come home to people who say, "Hi" or "Welcome Home" or "How was your day?" or "How was the game?" It's so much better than coming home to an empty home. I also love watching Ty and Noah play together, they have such great imaginations. And, Steve and Tanya were my coaches in high school! Steve was my basketball coach and Tanya was my volleyball coach, so we have some great conversations about sports and my basketball team. Ty is also in Julie and my first grade class, so I have the pleasure of teaching him and living with him. It has been great to live with a family again!
I think that having a family again is a lot of the reason that this past week has felt a little more right and a little more like God has a good and perfect plan for me. Having a family to wake up to each morning and to come home to each night has almost totally taken away my loneliness. I am still adjusting to living with people again, but I love it! Family truly is one of God's greatest inventions :)
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