It is impossible to believe that we are 2 weeks into the new year and that we have been in school for four months!! I know you think I have abandoned the blog; I simply needed a little hiatus, but hopefully I am back and thrilled to report to you on our first semester.
As I have consistently stated, this school is the direct result of God leading us and we pray that everything we do is only because of His blessing. We had some specific goals and He has exceeded our expectations in so many ways. First of all--God brought us the perfect teacher to begin our journey. Miss Sherry is not only an extremely competent reading and math teacher, but she is compassionate, caring, and very dedicated. She and I work so well together. She is definitely the lead teacher, but her weaknesses are my strengths and my strengths are where she is weak. In a small school we both wear several hats, and have many non-conventional duties, but we share them and for the most part our days are filled with joy!
We asked God to send us the children He wanted to be here. I am disappointed that He brought so few--mostly because it means that Edgar and I must financially support the school for much longer, but am so thankful for the five we have!! The big WIN is that I can assure you, the changes we have seen in our students over the last few weeks can only be attributed to God! We knew that many of the students came to us with a low self esteem and/or a dislike of school, so our first goal was to create an environment where children loved to learn and would feel successful. I truly believe we have met that goal! On the days when I become frustrated with the lack of prospective students, I go into the classroom and look at the incredible children that He has given us! They are learning, they interact more like siblings than peers, and they are feeling so much better about their own abilities.
Lastly, I have loved seeing the children grow in their understanding of God's Word and their desire to learn about Him. We have seen their prayers mature, their ability to memorize scripture increase, and their ability to apply the truths they are learning expand. We are on an incredible journey together and we are so grateful for the opportunity. We still need your prayers, and we long to have more students because we know their are more children who need to be here (and we need the money) but we are more confident today than we were 6 months ago, that this is exactly what we need to be doing!!
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