Peru, Here I Come!

Finally, I am figuring out my summer plans! I will be heading to Peru for 2-3 weeks in July. My church is going to be making a trip down there and I am going along with them. I actually joined my church this past Sunday. It was exciting but also made me feel like I am really saying goodbye to Orlando for good, which is bittersweet for me.

I also heard back from Liberty University and I have been accepted to the Master of Arts in Teaching program with a concentration in Elementary Education. I will begin in May! Most of the classes I need will be online, but I will take 3 classes on campus. Liberty is in Lynchburg about 3 hours away from Virginia Beach. My plan is to take one or two this summer and then take 1 or 2 in the fall (they offer the classes I need on campus in 4 intensive weekends per class). My student teaching can be done in Virginia Beach. Looks like I can finish all of my classes by next spring and do my student teaching in either the summer or fall of 2010. Then hopefully I can head overseas somewhere to teach for a year or two.

So no Africa or London for this summer. I am really excited about going to Peru though. We will be working in an orphanage, teaching ESL, and there will be a medical group that will put on some clinics. I am especially excited about working in the orphanage. There are about 15 kids who live there with special needs and it will be neat to interact with and spend time with them.

I also got a job for the month of August. I will be the manager for about 3 weeks at one of the local pools. I worked at this pool when I was 15...actually, it was my first job ever! Well the manager will head back to college in August and I will take over for her until Labor Day. I am hoping to get my job back for the fall and if I do I would start back up again the week after Labor Day, so that works out great. Plus in between all of that my old teammates from Kenya will be visiting me!

Looks like it is going to be a pretty busy summer!

Making Plans

I have been feeling swamped lately. Between work and studying, I don’t have much free time. Fortunately, there was some nice weather last week and I was able to study in Michael and Ashley’s (my brother and sister-in law) backyard, which backs up to a lake. It was absolutely wonderful to be outside after feeling cooped-up for so long. Moving to Virginia from Florida in the winter has been an adjustment and I am ready for Spring! Anyways… I took off Friday from studying and now I just feel guilty about it. Oh well, guess it’s time to play catch up today.

I have been praying about what God wants me to do this summer and there are so many things up in the air right now. What I really want to do is spend the summer in Africa.
However, I am not sure if that is God’s plan for me. I have been talking to World Harvest about going to Kenya for a couple years once I finish my education (which is a whole nother story). Anyhow, the missionaries from Kenya will be in the States this summer, so there will be no opportunity to visit them in Kenya. However, I am hoping to see them while they are in the States.
I have an opportunity to go to Tanzania to work in an orphanage and school that was started by a Tanzanian man and his wife who will be graduating from Reformed Theological Seminary in May and returning. I got connected with them through some friends in Orlando and now I am just trying to see if there is an organization who would send me to work with them (World Harvest will not).
World Harvest has encouraged me to apply for a summer internship in London ministering to South Asians. I have really never had a desire to go to London, but I think God could really teach me many things through this. For one, my life is not my own, no matter how much I sometimes think it is. World Harvest’s reasons for wanting me to go to London are that I will receive excellent training in discipleship and evangelism. I will also be exposed to another cross-cultural setting, and I would be working with seasoned experienced missionaries. All of these things are great and I have applied for the internship. I am praying that God would give me a real desire to serve Him wherever He sends me, including if I end up staying in the States this summer, which would be a real challenge for this wandering girl.

Taking anatomy has confirmed in me that I have no desire to go into the health field. The class is interesting but a TON of work. I don’t want to study this stuff for two+ more years…so now I am just trying to get through the class. I could really use your prayers because my motivation is really dwindling.
However, God has given me a love for teaching. I don’t know why I have fought this for so many years. I have just tried to talk myself out of being a teacher. But it really makes sense…I love kids and I love seeing them blossom and grow. So it makes sense that I would enjoy being a teacher. I love going to work and being in the classroom. I have applied to graduate school to get my masters degree in elementary education. I even found a school in Africa through SIM (Serving in Mission) that allows students to do student-teaching in Africa! Which would be awesome! But I know there will be opportunities for that in Virginia Beach too.

So I am just waiting now…waiting to hear about grad school, and to figure out plans for the summer. I am looking forward to August because all of the interns that were with me in Kenya last summer are coming to visit me in Virginia Beach! I miss them and can’t wait to see them again and reminisce about our time last summer.
I’ll be keeping y’all posted as things fall into place!

Ceiling Fans and Other Electronics

So there is this precious little boy in my class who says the most hilarious things to me and I just thought I would share a few of them. I don’t know if they are as funny if you aren’t there when he says them…but I’ll share anyways.

I won’t give his real name…so we’ll just call him Kiddo :)
Keep in mind that each of these quotes took place on a different day.

1. Kiddo: Miss Stephens I love to go to Wal-Mart and go to the fan department and look at all the ceiling fans.

2. Me: Ok kids, we are going to make a list of things you would like to give or receive as Christmas gifts so you can write about them.
Kiddo: How about a ceiling fan!

3. Kiddo: Miss Stephens guess what I got for my birthday?
Me: What!?
Kiddo: A ceiling fan!
Me: Oh did you put it in your bedroom?
Kiddo: No. It is in the kitchen.

4. Me (during a spelling test): Spell the word hunter.
Kiddo: Miss Stephens! Did you know Hunter is a brand of ceiling fan?

Ok, so then after all of the interest in ceiling fans he moved on to other household appliances.

5. Kiddo: Miss Stephens! Can you still buy a TV with a hump on the back?
Me: I have no idea.
Kiddo: Well what about a computer? Can you still buy a computer with a hump on the back.
Me: Ya know, I really am just not sure.
Kiddo: Well my mom thinks those things will take up too much space if they have a hump on the back.

6. Kiddo: Miss Stephens, did you know that in my house we have defective outlets?
Me: Wow! Really? What do you mean?
Kiddo: Well when I plug in my game cube the outlet sparks. When my grandma plugged in the Christmas Star it sparked. So now we have to use surge protectors.

7. Kiddo: Miss Stephens can you still but a VHS player in the store?
Me: I am really not sure!

Ok, this is his most recent one that he asked me today :)

8. Kiddo: Miss Stephens! Can you still buy a rotary phone in the store?
Me: I don’t know. Maybe at a thrift store or a flea market.
Kiddo: Oh.
Me: How do you even know what that is?!
Kiddo: I don’t know.

He just keeps me laughing everyday!
Third-graders are hilarious. I think I want to be a teacher just so I can hear all the funny things kids say and do. I love them! I think they are so precious. Of course they can be trying at times, but I am really loving being in the classroom :)

25 Random Things/ A Way to Avoid Studying

This is a random list going around facebook that I filled out. It is just 25 random facts about me. I really was filling it out to get out of studying :)

1. I have been outside the US to 3 different countries…Canada, Kenya, and Honduras (oh and I changed planes in France and Nigeria, but I am not sure if that counts).
2. I want to live in Africa and I would go tomorrow if I could.
3. I am trying to figure out what to do with my life. I am thinking about Speech Pathology, Occupational Therapy, Nursing, Social Work, or Teaching (something I could apply overseas as a missionary).
4. I am taking Anatomy and Physiology and it is the hardest class I have ever taken.
5. I should be studying right now instead of doing this, but I am a procrastinator.
6. I am the middle child, and I think it is the best (I have an older brother and a younger sister).
7. I have lived in Hawaii, Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, Missouri, California, Florida, Indiana, and Nairobi, Kenya.
8. I was born in Hawaii.
9. I have been to 5 colleges (University of Missouri, Tidewater Community College, Old Dominion University, Valencia Community College, and Liberty University).
10. I changed my college major 5 times, from Early Childhood Education, to Child Life, to Psychology, to Elementary Education, to Psychology.
11. I graduated in 4 ½ years (even with all the changes) with a Bachelors in Psychology.
12. I change my mind a lot.
13. One day I want to live on a farm and have pet cows, goats and, chickens.
14. I absolutely love the water, and even though I complained about always being wet while I was a dolphin trainer, I miss spending so much time in the water.
15. Autumn is my favorite season.
16. I am a Special Education Assistant. My job is to assist one third-grader with special needs and he is an awesome little guy to hang out with all day.
17. I have trained walruses, harbor seals, sea lions, polar bears, river otters, dolphins, skunks, opossums, and my black lab Meghan.
18. Walruses are my favorite.
19. I trained the dolphins the longest (2 ½ years).
20. My favorite color is Pink.
21. There is a 3-way tie between my top 3 favorite movies of all time…Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, and Gone with the Wind.
22. My favorite TV shows are Little People Big World, Jon and Kate Plus 8, Deadliest Catch, The Office, Survivorman, Dirty Jobs and Man vs. Wild.
23. My favorite meal is spaghetti
24. …and my favorite dessert is chocolate cake.
25. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think about and miss my Grandpa Ed.

Made it through the GRE

I did it! I took the GRE! It feels good to have it out of the way. I would like to take it again this summer, but considering the fact I didn't study for it (since I am focusing on anatomy) I was pretty happy with my scores. Anatomy is going ok. It is pretty hard though and I miss all the free time I had before it started. I have no clue what I am going to do and if I will actually use it. But whether I choose to enter the health field, or not, it is a very interesting class.
I have found a church in Virginia that I love. Trinity Presbyterian. They are in downtown Norfolk and they do a lot of outreach within the community. A couple weeks ago they hosted an event to house homeless people for a week at the church. There is a project here called NEST and all of the churches take turns housing the homeless in the winter. It was cool to go visit with the people who came to stay for the week.
Not much is new. Just working and studying a lot. I am looking forward to the summer. I am not sure what I am going to do yet this summer. I won't be working I don't think. As long as I get my job back for the fall I will take off the summer and continue to be a Special Ed Assistant for another year while I either take more classes or work on my teaching certificate. We'll see...

Anatomy?!

People who know me well know that I am always trying to decide what to do with my life and I am tossing around new ideas all the time. Well one career that I have always tended to fall back on is teaching, and I am not ruling it out, but it never seems to be something I am truly excited about. I have considered MANY careers, and I do still want to spend time on the mission field (eventually). One career path that I have never really considered is entering into the health field. I guess I have just never felt "smart enough" to deal with all the science that comes along with it. Well I am going to give it a shot. I am not exactly sure what I want to do, but what I have decided is that I need to take anatomy. I have signed up to take anatomy this semester and I am taking the GRE on January 30th. So...depending on how the GRE goes, and depending on how well I do in anatomy, will determine what I will do next. I am still enjoying being a Special Education Assistant and plan to do that at least the rest of this school year and possibly next school year too while still taking classes.
Who knows! I know God has the plan all worked out and little by little He is opening and closing doors in my life to lead me exactly where He wants me.

Working Girl!

Work is going great. I am loving the student I work with. He is a great little guy and has a fun personality. I am really enjoying being in a regular third grade classroom, and also getting to spend time with my student in speech, at the occupational therapist and I am getting to work with the inclusion teacher (special edcation). This is proving to be a great learning experience.

I am trying to figure out what to do as far as getting a master's degree. I am thinking something in the education field and something I could apply on the mission field. We'll see...