New Prayer Cards

This lovely weekend in May has brought some exciting news! My official TeachBeyond missionary prayer cards have just arrived in the mail. :) If you would like to own your very own copy, simply send me an email and I will be happy to get you one. (Thanks to my sister for her photography skills.)

As for other news, support continues to be moving forward! Thanks so much to those who have been financial partners. :) 

A Look at the Numbers

For those of you who like to look at numbers, I've created some handy pie charts as a visual aid to track the progress of my support. Woohoo! I know we all love pie! ;)

First, let's take a minute to look at where your monthly donations will be going. Below is a rough estimate of the distribution of funds. If you haven't already guessed, living in Germany can be pretty expensive. Not only do we have to deal with the conversion rate of the US dollar to the Euro, but there are also a lot of taxes put into place by the German government. (For example, there is a tax for every radio, TV, and computer that you have in your home!) Along with funds for housing, utilities, and taxes, I am also going to need some reliable medical, home, and life insurance...oh, and food. That's always important. :)

While this chart might do a decent job of showing the practical results of your support, it shows very little of the spiritual significance.

Remember that your gifts allow me to:
1. Follow God's call in my life
2. Live and work full-time with missionary kids (MKs) from around the world
3. Use my training and experience as a teacher and a coach for something bigger than myself
4. Mentor young people in what it means to live for Christ
5. Share the Gospel, the message of the good news of Jesus, with the next generation
6. Bless missionary parents by allowing them to continue to serve God overseas
7. Be a part of creating a safe and nurturing environment for MKs to live, learn, and grow

So, thank you, again. I couldn't go on this journey without you!

Now, let's take a look at where I am with the "Monthly Donations." Prepare yourself, here comes another one of those delicious pie charts:

For all of you mathematical people, you've probably already determined that I am currently at 20% of my necessary funding. Yay! (That means we've at least covered the "Insurance" portion of my support. However, I've still got to pay rent, taxes, groceries, utilities...you get the picture. I still have a long way to go! But, definitely making progress!)

 As you probably remember, I also have to raise $5,000 in one-time gifts in order to cover airfare, apartment start-up costs, and TeachBeyond training at Wheaton College this coming June! So, now, it's time for pie chart #3...and, this time, the news is even better!

It looks like we have reached over 60% in the one-time support costs! God is good. :)
Thank you for giving, thanks for praying, and thanks for checking in to see how I am doing!

Life's Latest Happenings

I realize that it’s been a while since I gave you all an update on my current adventures. Well, since the majority of my days have been divided into three main activities (subbing, coaching, and support raising) I’ll give you an update in all three categories.

Subbing

As I’m sure you all can imagine, subbing isn’t always the world’s greatest job. There are so many days when one or two kids (…or, let’s be honest, the entire class…) decides that they are going to make your life as difficult as possible. Of course, these days are mostly spent counting the seconds until the bell rings…funny how students aren’t the only ones who do that!

On the flip side, subbing has also been full of many joys and moments of encouragement. This past Friday, I had the chance to sub at one of the local middle schools. It was one of those days where the office calls in about 8-10 subs and they all take rotations throughout the building, covering for different teachers at different times. They call this type of sub job a “vacancy.” It’s typically a pretty nice gig since you almost always get more than one planning period. ;) Well, Friday was my first time subbing for one of these vacancy jobs. I was told that due to a small gap in the schedule, I would have an hour lunch break, which is, of course, double the usual 30 minute break! I spent my extra time hanging out with the other substitutes and swapping stories about all of our subbing adventures (and misadventures!) It's always fun to find things in common with new friends. :)

Other bits of encouragement that I have found throughout my subbing experiences typically come from the students themselves. Comments like, “I remember you! You’re my favorite sub!” or “Why are you so nice? You’re like the nicest sub ever!” Not to mention, the ever-popular, somewhat cryptic remark, “It’s you again!” This simple exclamation is almost inevitably followed by a none-too-subtle point in my direction and a wide-eyed stare. I still have yet to determine if this is a positive comment, but since they always seem slightly excited, I’m assuming it’s a good thing.

Coaching

For those of you that don’t already know, track meets are notorious for being obnoxiously long and hopelessly behind schedule. I’ll admit that after being spoiled for 5 years by the NCAA with it’s fancy time schedules and exact start times like 12:08pm, I have forgotten what real West Virginia middle school track is like. Here are some things I have re-learned… As a rule, assume the track meet will start at least 45 minutes behind schedule, assume it will take well over an hour to run all heats of the open 100 meter dash, and if your kids are in flight 3 of the long jump, they probably won’t be jumping until after dark. Also, be sure to pack a lunch…and a snack…and a dinner.

Even though it might sound like I’m complaining, in truth, I love to coach. It really is a joy to get to work with such a fine bunch of hard-working kids. I love being able to give back a little of what I know about running, to talk about race strategy with the kids, to plan new workouts, and to have the opportunity to pray together before a race. I’m really going to miss them next year!

Support Raising

I have some exciting news on the support raising front! God has brought me up to about 50% in one-time gifts and just about 20% in monthly support! This is such great news! Thank you, thank you, thank you to those who have already given to be a part of my teaching ministry in Germany! Though I have still not crested the support mountain, I know that with each step I get closer and closer to reaching the goal. God is good and I thank you for choosing to be a part of my journey! If you haven’t yet had a chance to give, please check out the “Join My Team” page for more info on how to get involved.

Thoughts of the Future

Here I am, at home in West Virginia, looking out at what we call our “mountains.” These hills will always speak of home to me. They will remind me of my childhood, of running through the trails of the arboretum, climbing to see the overlook at Cooper’s Rock, playing in my backyard, and watching the leaves turn vibrant shades of red and gold in the fall. This is where I grew up, where I can always find my family, my teammates, and many of my closest friends. 

The hills of Morgantown

In a little over four months, I will watch as these hills stretch into real mountains. I will find myself surrounded by peaks that soar nearly a mile higher than anything I am used to seeing. In a little over four months, I will watch myself step across the threshold of a Boeing 757 (most likely!) and enter a world that is completely new. I will be moving to Kandern, Germany for the next two years to be a full-time high school English teacher at an international Christian boarding school called the Black Forest Academy (BFA). 

My new "Home Among the Hills"

People have asked me how I have the courage to go so far away for such a long time. The truth is, I’m not sure if I do have the courage. I love my family, my friends, my home. I will miss them so very much when I am away. Though I am scared to leave, I know without a doubt that this the right direction for me. It is part of my growing up, my learning, my stepping out into the world to find my way.

Even more important than all of that, I know that this next step is part of God’s plan for me. It has been amazing to see how God has put the pieces together for me to go overseas to become a part of this teaching ministry. There were times when I sat at home this past year, wondering why I had yet to have a classroom of my own. Wasn’t I called to be a teacher? Hadn’t I been preparing for this career for the past 5 years of my life? Didn’t I love to teach? And yet…still no full-time job.

It is starting to make sense to me now. If I had found a full time teaching position in the fall, chances are, I wouldn’t have been ready to leave. I would have been caught up in the busyness of first year teaching and completely distracted from hearing God’s voice as he was directing me to teach at an overseas missionary school. Now that I am beginning to understand his timing, I am beginning to see how truly blessed I am. God knew exactly where he wanted me to teach—Black Forest Academy—and he knew the exact steps to help me get there.