Dec. 4, 2016
11:30 pm
Beijing, China
I know that might be a huge surprise, considering how inactive I’ve been on here lately. I’ve actually hit a new record, 3 days in one blog. I’m hoping not to get to this again any time soon.
So here’s the deal with why I’ve been MIA, I’ve barely had time to breathe! I mentioned last time I posted that Susan got hurt. Apparently she did something to her back and her doctor basically put her on bedrest for a while. So she obviously can’t come teach classes. As a result, our center has been kind of crazy trying to fill her classes. Most of them, as you can imagine, went to Brian, myself, and Laranda (because she is now allowed to teach classes on her own). Of course, I hadn’t been planning to add three extra classes to my schedule this weekend, so I was in a bit of a rush. I’ve had to stay late the past two nights to finish planning and I’m still not sure they were the best classes. Hopefully when Susan comes back I won’t have ruined her classes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like Susan is coming back soon. Maybe Friday, but it could be another week. If you could all keep pr–ing for her, I’d really appreciate it. She needs healing right now.
In addition to covering her classes, I also had my own classes to plan. I had a couple of them finished before Susan got hurt, so they were ready, but there were two others that I hadn’t finished. I was going a little nuts trying to plan 5 classes in a day and a half. And, as if that weren’t enough, today my regional manager observed my Trailblazer class to help determine if I would pass probation. I have my actual meeting to discuss whether EF is going to keep me on as a teacher this coming Saturday. Of course, that means that this class was a pretty big deal. It’s not my worst class (thank goodness she wasn’t watching my High Flyers), but I’ve only had the class twice and I still really don’t know the best way to teach the material. It was nerve-wracking.
That all being said, this weekend went okay. Friday was tough. I don’t usually have classes on Friday and this week I had two Small Star classes. The kids were pretty good, but I was tired from teaching. Saturday wasn’t great, but that wasn’t because of Susan being gone. I didn’t have any of Susan’s classes, just my own. I had an early morning Small Star A class that went fine. In the afternoon, though, I had my High Flyers. I literally have no idea what to do with that class. They’re too young to do all bookwork and a few games, but it’s what the curriculum calls for. I haven’t figured out how to balance it yet. Also, there’s this one kid who is just super difficult. I’ve tried every method I can think of besides actually throwing him out of class. Any of you teachers out there who want to give me some advice, I’m all ears! Today went pretty well. My Small Star Blues (3-year-olds) were actually great. Adam’s (long story) High Flyers were wonderful. My Trialblazer class actually went pretty well, in my opinion, but I probably didn’t teach it the way that my regional director would have wanted. For example, I spent more time on the context rather than the grammar and I pushed an activity that was supposed to be covered in the first hour to the second hour because of timing. That said, I think the students learned and we enjoyed the lesson. I just hope the not-so-great organization doesn’t come back to bite me.
To cap off this crazy weekend, I had a pretty great night tonight! I read some of my new book. Taylor came over after she got home and right after she sat down, my dad FaceTimed. He wanted to check up on me because, like you all, my parents hadn’t heard from me in over 48 hours. So I talked to my family for a bit and then talked to Taylor for a while. We had an awesome conversation about Young Life–well, I did most of the talking. I just love talking about it and she asked the questions, so it’s kind of her fault. And to finish it all up, I was able to talk to a few Young Life people for a while. It was wonderful to be able to reconnect, even for just a little bit of time, and I love witnessing Abba’s work, even when it’s sometimes hard to see.
Words to Remember: Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13; Isaiah 40:1-11; 2 Peter 3:8-15; Matthew 3:1-12
Challenge: Week 2 is the week of peace. It is the week to remember the peace that the L—d brings with Him. It’s also a time to reflect on His return. Are you ready for it? This week, I encourage you to:
Do a peace review each day. Just as coaches and athletes sometimes watch game-day videos so they can analyze and improve their skills, imagine you and J—s are watching a video replay of the previous day. As you reflect on your [day], consider two questions: ’In what ways did I experience peace with Abba and others?”’and ‘In what ways did I fail to experience peace with Abba and others?’” (Max Lucado, “Because of Bethlehem,” 157)
Goodnight and Bless,
Kristen
