A Few Things I Should Say...

I say the same thing over and over at the beginnings of these things... so let's just go with it.

1. If you haven't already noticed, I adore lists. I just work better with them.
2. I leave for Africa tomorrow. I have my bag packed, my malaria medicine, and every other medicine imaginable between Alicia and I. I have too many clothes, but feel like they might not be enough. How do I pack when I've never been there for that long?
3. Things I've done in the states today because I'm not going to be able to for a while: go to Target (please... who knew I wouldn't go there?), eat pizza (even though I'm not supposed to with this new esophogitus mess I have), and eat ice cream (who can get enough of such a good thing?).
4. I'm ready... peace, peace, peace today about leaving and being there. Thank you Jesus!
5. Exciting... what an adventure I'm on and what a great God to serve!

Lastly, please feel free to leave comments or e-mail me... I would love to hear from you! Love you all! -Melis

P.S.

A few things I should mention:


1. Ed left The Bachelorette last night... I am sad about that.... liked him...He was about to be fired so it was definitely reasonable but it just makes me wonder what life could be like for me in the future... not that he would be in it... I'm a little more rational than that.

2. In one of the the pictures on a previous blog... Robert is on the left, Bruno is on the right.

3. I am so overly emotional, I can't stand it... I am watching Madea Goes to Jail and it's not really helping the balance of emotions at all.

4. I am so nervous. I have peace about what God wants me to do in Africa and that he wants me to be there but as mentioned before... I keep feeling gross.

5. I move into my house officially tomorrow but I am a wimp and I'm a little scared to sleep there, so I will probably be sleeping on Katie's couch which will offer enough laughs for an entire year.

6. Last but not least, something that I should have mentioned before. This past Saturday, I got to hang out with 3 of the most amazing girls ever! We watched music videos (I miss that!), just talked, laughed, and ate ice cream-- my favorite things. Plus the Brownie Sundae was AMAZING (and I'm not exaggerating)! Girls-you're the best and you made my weekend!

Peace...

This past weekend was little wild to say the least. I was a little, let's say, not myself. I got very sick on Friday night-- no fun, scared Rae, my roommate, and then didn't do much because I was a little afraid to eat... not really ready to sleep and I am on the worst possible schedule ever. Maybe I should have considered teaching in a year round school, but probably not. I have never used WebMD so much in my life and read so much about health and symptoms and treatment and on and on and on. The never ending story. Unfortunately, even though my body felt very unlike me, it was more stress causing all other kinds of aches and pains than anything... Last year, the shingles, this year a little panic attack. Stress doesn't like me in the months of May and June, for very obvious reasons.

I may or may not have been stressed because of the following:
1. Leaving
2. Moving
3. Money
4. All of the above

It just becomes a bit too much, but in the process God always reminds me of His faithfulness. And in His faithfulness, He always grants peace... so much and I am so thankful. He provided a way for my money, time for me to pack to move, a house to move into, confirmation from His Word that there is no doubt in my mind that He wants me in Africa this summer, and sleep. I even was able to eat a normal meal today which was amazing. So it's working out like it always does but in my very narrow, hollow, small mind, I like to pretend that God is not who He says He is and He doesn't do what He says He can do. I know in the absolute depths of my heart how untrue that is and I choose to believe Him, not just believing in Him, like Beth always talks about, but actually believing. He is who He says He is and He will do what He says He can do... and in essence that only leaves one emotion for me to feel or sense or breathe or believe... peace.

5 Rants of the Day

The following are things on my mind: (in no specific order or anything)

1. I love rap music... and would listen to it more if it were a little bit cleaner, I can even handle the profanity but it's just all the other stuff that kills me. Give me a break... let's make it a little more positive. There are only a billion 13 year olds that listen to it. And I speak from experience of my BET days when I was 13 and I thought everything I listened to was good and wholesome. Welcome to 11, almost 12, years later when everything becomes a little clearer.

2. Found out today that I have a house... yay and it has a pool. I'm excited and I will be moving this weekend. It's not next to my school but much closer than now.

3. Messes... my life is full of them and it is currently my project of pictures from this school year. I thought I would sit down and be finished quickly but now it's just a mess in my floor that I should be cleaning... obviously.

4. Today I went to see the refugees. I went with Lindsey and I worked with refugees from the Congo and Uganda. The refugees from the Congo were 4 little girls who live with their mom. Their father was killed in the war in the Congo. The girls were beautiful and were so precious as we taught them Bible stories and English words. They are so eager to be able to understand!

5. Pictures and things... I have a ridiculous amount of pictures and things in my mess to make my big picture from 2 of my students-- Robert and Bruno. They were hilarious and knew that they could get out of trouble if they made me laugh... they were crazy as the picture will illustrate.

More rants to come- Melis

Africa... here in Vegas?

So I leave for Africa in 13 days... I am moving to a house sometime within the next 13 days and my life will be a little wild. I also am "borrowing" internet from a neighbor and am not even sure that I will get it at all at my new place until after I am back. Since I am on summer break, I have some extra time, so I am doing some other things like getting shots for Africa, getting malaria medicine, getting a haircut, packing, moving, blah, blah, blah. However, I could possibly see or do one of the most important things before I leave tomorrow. Las Vegas is one of 10 cities in the U.S. that currently accepts refugees from other countries. A refugee, my geography students should know, is a person who has been displaced or fled from their country because of war, persecution, the economy, etc. Right now, there are refugees from all sorts of places fleeing to the U.S. from very harsh refugee camps in other countries where they are mistreated and can be left there for up to 30 years, which is insane. One continent that they are coming from in large quantities right now is Africa. If you watch the news or read it on the internet, you know that war is consistently going on in the region of Darfur, in the country of Sudan, and that war from Uganda (where children were having horrible things happen to them) has spread into a very large country in central Africa called the Democratic Republic of the Congo. If you also remember within the last 20 years, war has taken place in the countries of Rwanda, child soldiers in Sierra Leone and several west African countries, and even racial separation (otherwise known as the Apartheid) in South Africa. The continent of Africa has seen it all. So with that, people from those countries who have been in refugee camps are now being sent to a few countries in the world, one being the U.S. and a few cities, one being Vegas. So tomorrow I am going with a group of people who have been working with these refugees to see what it's all about. I'm not sure what to expect, but I know that I will get a little taste of sweet Africa with them. They don't know how to wash clothes, how to store food, and they have little or no furniture and other items that we take for granted. Be prepared... I'm sure that after that experience, I will learn a few things that I will be sure to share with you soon.
-Melis

Sweet Things...

So I've decided to make a list of things I would consider sweet, especially after watching a few ridiculous men on The Bachelorette be somewhat stupid, it is good to be reminded of some sweet things in my life... (Note: I could go on forever, but will obviously have to stop somewhere)

1. Sweet Tea (I am from the South... this is top priority.)
2. Jake, Kiptyn, and Ed on the Bachelorette (the girls I watch it with would more than agree)
3. Notes that were never asked for (I've gotten so many from students this year and some, okay maybe more than some, have brought me to tears as I have read them over and over again over the last few days.)
4. Boys opening the door (Oh a gentleman- where is he to be found?)
5. A good laugh, especially the ones that bring me to tears (especially with Katie, what a goof)
6. Good books
7. Chocolate or food in general (I have been told by R that he always sees me eating... it's probably true.)
8. A pool--- it is so, so hot here, sometimes I wonder what I was thinking
9. T-shirts (I hate dressing up all the time.)
10. When He speaks because I have not listened in so long
11. Last but not least, the inspiration that so many of my students have given me in e-mails, blogs, cards, notes, or pictures... they mean the world to me and I wish I could adopt them all... maybe one day! They make my job worth it!

The Craziness I Call a Classroom

I have one more day of "teacher time" at school, which is quite honestly a little boring seeing that I normally have at least 6 hours of entertainment a day from 14 year olds. They are absolutely hilarious. I feel like I must not stop laughing, unless they do something really ridiculous, which also happens. So I thought for their sake, I might just write a few things that have happened this year down. There are definitely more things to come.

Field Day was last Monday and I have to say that I think I was more excited than most of my kids. My 4th period and I had quite the competition going. There were some threats and promises made about who was getting who and I just let them know that if I got wet with water that "revenge would be sweet." Oh it was, especially for D. He loves to drive me crazy and he must have poured bottles of water on me all day long. After lunch, I had filled up a bottle of water which another student grabbed before I got to D and poured on me. (I'm not really sure why I thought this was a good idea.) So I gathered a few, I mean about 15 girls, that he has tramatized all year long and we all filled up water bottles. We must have chased him up and down the stairs until we backed him into a corner. One of the girls just held him for about 30 seconds while the rest of us poured water all over him. So D and I were equally soaked, what glory.

My 1st period had quite the personality. O made this personality at the beginning of the year with threatening to cut people, jokingly taking the scissors off my desk. It was actually quite hilarious if you are familiar with Bon Qui Qui, which I am huge fan of. He was our class Bon Qui Qui and when 2nd semester started and we were making citations, they decided that we should definitely add "cutting" as a reason to be cited. When another teacher or class asked one of the students, it was as if it was a secret that no one else could know.

I had the best Drama Club in the entire world, and that is not being dramatic. They worked so hard to do well at our play which was basically what they called the 'ghetto' version of Cinderella. Obviously I am not very ghetto so they modified where it was needed. It was so funny watching their parts become them. I had most of the kids in my classes or in Student Council and instead of them becoming their parts, they made their parts fit them. They were amazing, if I must say so myself and I so enjoyed working with them.

So to my kids who are reading this... I will be posting more things from the year, if you want to remind me of a memory, comment or send me an e-mail! Happy Saturday or the 30 minutes left of it.

Oh the Heartache...

Tomorrow is officially the last day of my 1st and 2nd Period classes for the year 2008-2009. It is honestly tragic. I have waited and have been so glad that the year was almost over, but now it's here and I am not incredibly happy about it. I have had so many good connections with my kids this year. They make me laugh so hard, they make me cry, their stories make me cry, their stories make me laugh and sometimes they just drive me nuts (which is actually their personal favorite I believe). I absolutely love them. I said before that I didn't realize that teaching would become so personal. On some days, I wish I had an office job that I could get paid more for, never have to buy supplies for, and never really have to think about and work between the hours of 9 and 5 but it would never be me. I was never called to that.

For some reason, God saw in His grace to use me, sometimes I don't at all understand how or what he's doing but He did and He does. I am constantly amazed at the things I know He has me pour into them that I think they never heard, and when I least expect it, they remind me of the expectation I had of them before. They keep me on my toes. They make me better. They make my job worth it to not get paid as much or to have to do some extra work instead of just sit at home. They become the adopted, the broken that needs healing, the poor that needs to be given to, the lover that was never loved. They become me, in my great reality of what Jesus does for me. I become Jesus to them, in ways that are not possible within my own strength or power. In Jesus, I become the adopted, the healed, the given to, the loved lover. They show me Jesus, even though most of them have no idea who He is! And in His grace, He uses them to teach me and me to teach them, but along with that comes heartache. The heartache of goodbyes, and new beginnings, of old memories, and growing up. Yes, they hurt, but are they worth it? Of course, I have a few more days to love these little precious souls to death. So what if they eat up my time? So what if they drive me up a wall? Be Jesus, and when it hurts, still... be Jesus.

So tomorrow when the tears and heartache come as goodbyes begin... I choose to be Jesus.