I wish that flying wasn't so expensive or that I was independently wealthy or that I bought lottery tickets and won a million dollars. Then, I could hop on a plane anytime I wanted to go and see my kids. I talked to my Kenyan kids on the phone today. They sound so happy and full of life. They love school and the fact that they get to go swimming.
I talked to Deborah and I sent her a "kiss" over Skype and she just started cackling. The laugh that I always hear in my head when I think of her. I'm so glad I got to hear it for real. How I miss that girl. She told me her hair is long and that her sister had a baby and that she likes the house she lives in at school and that she came in first place in cross country. Then she told me she misses me and loves me. Then she asked when I was going to come to Kenya. Someday, someday. That was all I could tell her. I don't know when, I just know someday.
Those children will always be in my heart. My, how I long for a hug from them, to sit close and read a book, to hear them sing.
I'm longing for just a little bit more time with each one of them.
Friday, June 3, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
The Midlynns :)
Here is a link to see Jodi, Michelle and I rockin' out the house (more like a coffee house than a rockin' house, but let's not get technical). We're not too shabby. We did a little medley.
After the Gold Rush and Landslide
After the Gold Rush and Landslide
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Moments that Make it Worthwhile
This last week has been one of many highlights that remind me of why I really love teaching. Last Wednesday, our choir embarked on its annual choral trip, this year to Banff, AB. After some pretty crazy days of wondering whether or not we'd even be able to go (what with all the pending strike action and such), I was pretty happy when the school board and the government made plans for negotiation, thus saving us from striking (at least for now).
The choir spent an incredible 2 days in Banff learning from an amazing conductor and clinician, Scott Leithead. Scott directs a choir in Edmonton called Kokopelli (you should check it out here). If I lived in Edmonton, I'd go to every concert they have....heck, I'd audition for the choir. I learned so much from Scott in those 2 days and my students have told me numerous times how much they enjoyed our clinics. Scott has spent an incredible amount of time in Africa and taught both Concert Choir and Honour Choir a couple of African pieces that we are hopefully going to add to our final concert program. I loved hearing the African music again and while it made me smile, it also made me long for a concert with my babies. I'd give anything to hear Ritah sing Mwijje again.
Amazingly enough, we took 104 students to Banff and had no major problems. In fact, several of the shopkeepers commented on how polite and well behaved our students were. That made me so proud. The trip wasn't perfect, but I couldn't have been more pleased with how my students behaved. They are still the chatty bunch they've always been, but as they began to absorb what Scott was sharing with them, they seemed to pull together and sounded better than they ever had.
One of my students commented on how much she enjoyed our clinics and I said I hope to be like Scott one day, and she just looked at me and said "Miss A, you already are". This from a girl who isn't afraid to share what's on her mind, is in grade 12, and really loved the previous director, a teacher she'd had for 3 years of choir. I could have cried. Coming into a new position is always difficult, but being a choir director makes it even harder. More than anything, you need to make sure your students trust you with their hearts and their emotions. If they don't, you'll never achieve music that not only has technical requirements, but pieces of their heart held out to you. I feel like the time on this trip helped me to connect with a lot of my students in a new way. Time spent on the bus visiting, going up the gondola, singing karaoke, hearing their stories of bike rides around Banff - it all helped me to get to know them just a little bit better. Already, I see a difference and we've only been back at school for 3 days.
Tonight, one of the groups from the Entrepreneurship 30 class organized a talent show (which Jodi, Michelle and I sang at...we were pretty awesome, but ya know...whatev :). I was absolutely amazed at the talent of the students. Some of them I teach, some I'd never met before. Michelle leaned over and said that it should be called 'Hidden Talent' because we'd never have known these kids could do this if it hadn't been for this night. One of the guys played guitar like the boy from August Rush (great movie, by the way...you should watch it). He was incredible. Another guy played guitar and sang - sounded a little bit like John Mayer with his smooth style and light falsetto. Two of my students sang together and I was blown away by how well their voices blended and the harmonies they created. There was a duo that did improv narration and it was well timed and very funny. One of my students - a boy that struggles with attendance and commitment - turns out to be an amazing beat boxer. Literally, I was blown away. With each student that came on the stage, I was amazed by the talent I saw in them. That's part of what teaching is about. Discovering hidden talents. Every student has them, the question is whether or not I will dig deep enough to find them and then be willing to push the student to develop that talent.
I'm grateful for these moments because there are days when I wonder why I bother and then I'm reminded - this is why. The faith these students had in themselves tonight and on our trip is what makes teaching worthwhile. They found value and they valued others. They discovered that they could do it. That's pretty much what every teacher hopes for. It's been a good reminder.
The choir spent an incredible 2 days in Banff learning from an amazing conductor and clinician, Scott Leithead. Scott directs a choir in Edmonton called Kokopelli (you should check it out here). If I lived in Edmonton, I'd go to every concert they have....heck, I'd audition for the choir. I learned so much from Scott in those 2 days and my students have told me numerous times how much they enjoyed our clinics. Scott has spent an incredible amount of time in Africa and taught both Concert Choir and Honour Choir a couple of African pieces that we are hopefully going to add to our final concert program. I loved hearing the African music again and while it made me smile, it also made me long for a concert with my babies. I'd give anything to hear Ritah sing Mwijje again.
Amazingly enough, we took 104 students to Banff and had no major problems. In fact, several of the shopkeepers commented on how polite and well behaved our students were. That made me so proud. The trip wasn't perfect, but I couldn't have been more pleased with how my students behaved. They are still the chatty bunch they've always been, but as they began to absorb what Scott was sharing with them, they seemed to pull together and sounded better than they ever had.
One of my students commented on how much she enjoyed our clinics and I said I hope to be like Scott one day, and she just looked at me and said "Miss A, you already are". This from a girl who isn't afraid to share what's on her mind, is in grade 12, and really loved the previous director, a teacher she'd had for 3 years of choir. I could have cried. Coming into a new position is always difficult, but being a choir director makes it even harder. More than anything, you need to make sure your students trust you with their hearts and their emotions. If they don't, you'll never achieve music that not only has technical requirements, but pieces of their heart held out to you. I feel like the time on this trip helped me to connect with a lot of my students in a new way. Time spent on the bus visiting, going up the gondola, singing karaoke, hearing their stories of bike rides around Banff - it all helped me to get to know them just a little bit better. Already, I see a difference and we've only been back at school for 3 days.
Tonight, one of the groups from the Entrepreneurship 30 class organized a talent show (which Jodi, Michelle and I sang at...we were pretty awesome, but ya know...whatev :). I was absolutely amazed at the talent of the students. Some of them I teach, some I'd never met before. Michelle leaned over and said that it should be called 'Hidden Talent' because we'd never have known these kids could do this if it hadn't been for this night. One of the guys played guitar like the boy from August Rush (great movie, by the way...you should watch it). He was incredible. Another guy played guitar and sang - sounded a little bit like John Mayer with his smooth style and light falsetto. Two of my students sang together and I was blown away by how well their voices blended and the harmonies they created. There was a duo that did improv narration and it was well timed and very funny. One of my students - a boy that struggles with attendance and commitment - turns out to be an amazing beat boxer. Literally, I was blown away. With each student that came on the stage, I was amazed by the talent I saw in them. That's part of what teaching is about. Discovering hidden talents. Every student has them, the question is whether or not I will dig deep enough to find them and then be willing to push the student to develop that talent.
I'm grateful for these moments because there are days when I wonder why I bother and then I'm reminded - this is why. The faith these students had in themselves tonight and on our trip is what makes teaching worthwhile. They found value and they valued others. They discovered that they could do it. That's pretty much what every teacher hopes for. It's been a good reminder.
 |
| Scott, clinician extraordinaire |
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Whispers to my Heart
I find that God speaks to my heart a lot through music, especially lyrics. Sometimes, I will have heard the song a thousand times and sung it just as many, but for some reason a verse will catch my attention and speak right to my heart. This morning, I was singing for worship and during the song "At the Cross", my heart was just overwhelmed with God's nearness. The very first verse has been running through my head since service ended.
"Oh Lord, you've searched me
You know my ways
Even when I fail you
I know you love me"
I fail God everyday. It seems the harder I try to not fail, the more I fail. But, at the end of it, He still loves me. Faults and all. His love for me doesn't change even though I fail more consistently than I succeed. He's searched every part of my being and knows all the things I do, both good and bad and yet, he still loves me.
Being that it is Easter, I have been thinking about how Jesus never fails me. Right up to the moment on the cross when He could have called the angels to come and fight the battle, He held on for me. Me. What an overwhelming thought. At the moment when Christ was dying, he was thinking of me. He was thinking how much he loved me. Me. The one who fails him on a regular basis. The one who has all sorts of good intentions but comes up short so often. Someday, I will stand before Christ and even in all my failures, He will look at me with love and say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant". He won't say them to me because I have been perfect and in my own perfection have come before him. He will say them to me because I took His love, I wrapped myself in it and in even my smallest amount of belief, I understood that he loved me and because of that, He saved me.
I jokingly said to some friends today after turning down a lunch invitation that everyday is an Easter celebration and we could have our own Easter next Sunday, but I realized just how true that is. Since Christ died for me to cover my sins and since I fail daily, his sacrifice covers me everyday and I need to be as mindful of that sacrifice on an ordinary day as I am during the Easter weekend.
Thank you, Lord, for dying for me. Thank you that even though I fail you, you love me. Help me to remember your sacrifice and to remember it daily. May I be more mindful of it as I strive to be more like you. Amen.
"Oh Lord, you've searched me
You know my ways
Even when I fail you
I know you love me"
I fail God everyday. It seems the harder I try to not fail, the more I fail. But, at the end of it, He still loves me. Faults and all. His love for me doesn't change even though I fail more consistently than I succeed. He's searched every part of my being and knows all the things I do, both good and bad and yet, he still loves me.
Being that it is Easter, I have been thinking about how Jesus never fails me. Right up to the moment on the cross when He could have called the angels to come and fight the battle, He held on for me. Me. What an overwhelming thought. At the moment when Christ was dying, he was thinking of me. He was thinking how much he loved me. Me. The one who fails him on a regular basis. The one who has all sorts of good intentions but comes up short so often. Someday, I will stand before Christ and even in all my failures, He will look at me with love and say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant". He won't say them to me because I have been perfect and in my own perfection have come before him. He will say them to me because I took His love, I wrapped myself in it and in even my smallest amount of belief, I understood that he loved me and because of that, He saved me.
I jokingly said to some friends today after turning down a lunch invitation that everyday is an Easter celebration and we could have our own Easter next Sunday, but I realized just how true that is. Since Christ died for me to cover my sins and since I fail daily, his sacrifice covers me everyday and I need to be as mindful of that sacrifice on an ordinary day as I am during the Easter weekend.
Thank you, Lord, for dying for me. Thank you that even though I fail you, you love me. Help me to remember your sacrifice and to remember it daily. May I be more mindful of it as I strive to be more like you. Amen.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Ode to an April Snow Day
I'm dreaming of a white Easter
Unlike the ones I've ever known
Where the treetops glisten
And children hasten to see
Eggies in the snow
I'm dreaming of a white Easter
With every Easter egg I buy
May your be days be merry and bright
And may all your Easter times be white
Sunday, April 10, 2011
30 Day Challenge - Day 26
Day 26 - A picture of something you're afraid of
I despise spiders. They do scare me. Why, I don't know, but anytime I see them it is an immediate sense of impending doom. In fact, even this picture gives me eeby-geebies. Ew.
I despise spiders. They do scare me. Why, I don't know, but anytime I see them it is an immediate sense of impending doom. In fact, even this picture gives me eeby-geebies. Ew.
Monday, April 4, 2011
The Greatness of our God
We sang this song at church yesterday (my favourite version is by "One Sonic Society" should you care to youtube it). The lyrics to the chorus are:
No sky contains
No doubt restrains all you are
The greatness of our God
I spend my life to know
And I'm far from close to all you are
The greatness of our God
It struck me while we were singing that it doesn't matter if we doubt God. If we doubt him, it doesn't change his greatness. God's greatness is not dependent on me. His greatness simply is. My small recognition of his greatness doesn't change it either. I may never fully understand how truly great God is, but that doesn't change the fact that he is simply full of greatness.
I will spend my life trying to know of his greatness and each glimpse of it will draw me that much closer, but I will never be able to fully recognize it on this earth. And you know what? That's alright. I'm learning to simply trust in his greatness. If he is greater than I can ever know, then he is greater than anything I may struggle with. It's not scary to not know God's greatness, it is freeing, peaceful. How wonderful that my God is greater than me. God is greater than what I know, he's greater than what I don't know. It's not about finding my greatness - it's about resting in his.
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