La Sonya

This is my plan. To teach and love others in the same way that Mike the Mailman does. What about you?

Yesterday I was putting on my coconut pineapple lip gloss, a gift from a friend while I was in Tanzania, and as the sweet sent hit my nose I was reminded of such a delightful story that I took a moment to remember it and those in it. This is my memory. While living in Tanzania I was able to be the caregiver to a sweet little girl, Happy. Happy she was, especially when she had her chapstick to put on. Her previous caregiver had taught her all about the tastiness and glamor of applying things to our lips. So she always wanted some and if I was to put any on then I must do so without her seeing it or I would have to share (not that sharing is bad :) This was also during the time that we were testing out Happy sleeping in her bed without the crib wall up. Which we soon realized she needed because of the many nights I woke up to a little girl crying in the living room or standing by my bed in my room wanting me. On one such night I woke up to her crying in the living room ...

We've been reading about King David in worship with my students and are now reading about his son, King Solomon. We learned all about the Temple that he built, how they did it without loud noises, it's covered in gold and such. Yesterday we read about the dedication of the Temple. We read King Solomon's prayer. How he asked God to bless the people, to be a God they could turn back to and be forgiven, how the Temple would be a place of refuge and a home for God. Then at the end of King Solomon's prayer, God accepted the sacrifices in a GIANT funnel of fire. The presence of God filled the  place and the people knew He had found their gift acceptable. A few of my students had big eyes at the thought of giving God a gift and Him taking it. They wanted to know how that worked. I told them about giving God my life, letting Him live in my body and help me make good choices and forgiving me when I didn't. I told them they just have to do their best and then tell God it...

I feel like he must have when King David made him king. He was young, and inexperienced at being king. So when God came to him and asked, “What would you like me to do for you?” He responded, “Wisdom, please give me wisdom”. So God did. Each morning, I pray for that wisdom, each time I talk to a parent, I pray for that wisdom and each time I have to interact with a student, I pray, please God give me that wisdom. I don’t care if the school grows or becomes the best school in the conference; I just want to do right for these kids. Please Lord, give me wisdom.

This year I've decided to call "A Year of Jubilee". This  might not make much sense to you, but it's a Biblical concept that I've taken as my own. In Biblical times this is what it was: debts forgiven, slaves set free, land restored to original owners, and land given a rest. (Wikipedia) This is what it means to me: a year where people are forgiven, no matter how much they have hurt, personal property is given freely (money and actual items), life is restored to the default joy setting, burdens are set down and love is picked up. This is a year to live life fully without any burdens, a year to try new things, a time to rejoice at what God has given and a time to accept what you have learned from the past harvests, no matter how plentiful or hard they were. I will celebrate all things because they too have been made new, they deserve the opportunity to start over and try again. People are free to change and I am free to rest my soul. How can one not be excite...

Sonya said to  God , “Look, you tell me, ‘Lead and teach these people,’ but you don’t let me know whom you’re going to send with me. You tell me, ‘I know you well and you are special to me.’ If I am so special to you, let me in on your plans. That way, I will continue being special to you. Don’t forget, these are  your  students, your responsibility.” God  said, “My presence will go with you. I’ll see the school year to the end.” Sonya said, “If your presence doesn’t take the lead here, call this school year off right now. How else will it be known that you’re with me in this, with me and your people? Are you teaching with us or not? How else will we know that we’re special, I and your students, among all other people on this planet Earth?” God  said to Sonya: “All right. Just as you say; this also I will do, for I know you well and you are special to me. I know you by name.” Sonya said, “Please. Let me see your Glory.” God  said, “I w...

If you know me at all you know I love space, stars and I love to lie in my bed at night, look out my window and stare at Orion and feel a closer connection with God. In school we are studying creation and are on day number four, the day He created the sun, moon and stars. Ahh, how amazing and wonderful it would have been to be with God as He called each star into existence by name, by name , now that would have been beyond anything I could dream up. "He counts the stars and calls them by name" Psalms 147:4 Our class had a party this Thursday and to do something special we watched this clip of Sunita Williams in the space station. She’s flying, free of gravity hair products and eating astronaut ice cream! My students were as much in rapture as I was and we all decided we wanted to live in space. So please watch this video, enjoy the wonders of space and know that when we get to heaven, we’ll be flying around in my zero gravity house eating astronaut ice cr...