Can't Complain!

Hello all!

I’m finally finished with my chores, ready to settle down and write. The bathroom mirror is spotless, my carpet is dirt free, and my whole apartment smells like Glade goodness. I love keeping house. ;)

I am so pleased with the progress that this place has made. It is really coming along! This past week, Sarah and her family decided to be the most kind and generous family ever! Sarah gave me some furniture that she isn’t using right now, her mother told me to give her a list of things that I needed and has been going to Mission Mart to search for them. Not only that, but Sarah’s dad is going to look at my car this weekend and diagnose it. (Poor Howard died twice last week and we had to jump the battery to bring him back to life. The poor old car…)

I also went to Hobs Lobs (Hobby Lobby :P) this week and bought a beautiful canvas picture!! A woman named Jenny gave me a gift card (Jenny, you’re seriously the best) and I got to use it on this gem!  I also lucked out!! It was originally $60 but because they accidentally left up a 50% off sign, they had to honor it, and I got it for $30! Boom behbeh!

I’ll post some pictures of the place coming along! By the way, to all the ladies that I told I wouldn’t invite over until my place was a little more homey, I think the time has finally come. Feel free to now visit and invite yourself over anytime! ;)

Well, let’s see! This week has been a mixture of draining, somewhat discouraging, yet fun, relaxing, and encouraging! I know that doesn’t make much sense, so let me explain. My week looked like this—

MONDAY

11am-2pm | Work at the Hyacinth

-   This is always fun and stress free! I love the ladies I work with and the products that we sell!

2:30-3:30pm | Teach Hip Hop Fitness at Manual High School

-    This was the first week that I taught here, and the kids were not that into it. :\ I had to talk super sternly and tell them that they simply could not choose to participate whenever they wanted to. I kid you not, these students would walk off to the side and sit out when they didn’t feel like doing what they were told. It was completely mind blowing to me. I felt my cheeks get really hot and I haven’t felt that angry in a long time! I am going to change the format of the class and hopefully move it to a different location in the school. You see, we were in the lobby, so tons of people were constantly walking by. I understand that these kids probably felt silly when their friends walked by and laughed at them or when strangers were constantly walking by and looking over at us. So anyways, I’m hopeful for next week. The mentorship part went well. They were willing to be open and honest. And there is no doubt that I made it more than clear what my expectations were for them next week. Whew!

3:30-5:30 | Teach at Friendship House

-    I’ve been teaching here for about 2 months now, and I’m really starting to see progress and enthusiasm in some of these kids. Last week, a little girl gave us a drawing addressed to “Boom boom boy (Josh), Ballet girl (Liz), and Mrs. Silly (that’s me! Haha) That was so incredibly heartwarming. Like… okkaayy, maybe we really are making an impact here??

TUESDAY

11am-3pm | Chill wit my soul sistas ;)

-    My girrrls! I luh them so much! We always have so much fun together!

3:15-4:15 | Teach Math at The Dream Center

-   This week, there was no supervisor in the room with me for the first 15 minutes, so some of the students were just so disrespectful I couldn’t believe it. At one point, after 2 girls had been rudely talking in the back for about 5 minutes, I turned around, looked right at them, and said, girls you need to stop talking. It was as if I wasn’t in the room. They didn’t even look at me, they just kept talking. Nuh uh. No no. That was it. I raised my voice and that got their attention! Some of the students were like, “whooaa!” as if they didn’t think I had that in me. Honestly, I didn’t know I had that in me, and I hated that I had to do that. I don’t want to gain their respect by yelling at them, but people have told me that sometimes, that is the only thing that will get through to these kids. It’s heartbreaking, really. When the supervisor came in later, he laid it on them hard. He told them that he didn’t work at the center to work with kids who didn’t want to learn. He flat out told them that if they weren’t going to take advantage of what was given to them, then they could leave. Ayiyii. Talk about sobering.

I got on the phone with Amanda later that day and told her what had happened. She told me that sometimes outreach is just hard. You might get students who you can really develop relationships with and see change in after a few months, and then you might get some that you never get through to. It’s sad, but that’s the reality of it. So, as I continue to be a light in these dark places, please pray for me! And pray for these kids! They don’t know what they are missing out on. I got to drive through some of the neighborhoods that they live in, and my heart broke. They live hard lives, and for many, they choose to harden their hearts to lessen the pain. God help them.

WEDNESDAY

9-10am | Teach Hip Hop at The Children’s Home

-    Ok, this was the most encouraging teaching experience that I’ve had so far while being here! It was my first week at this new place, and I was told that I would be working with kids who had developmental delays and behavior management problems. I was slightly nervous because I was going to be teaching hip hop by myself and I wouldn’t consider myself quite qualified to do that! But I actually surprised myself! I choreographed a combo that isn’t half bad ;) Anyways, these kids are true sweethearts. They would get discouraged when they didn’t get the movements right away, but I just had to keep encouraging them and reminding them that they were not going to have it perfectly their first day, and that they should be so proud of themselves for trying so hard! During the mentoring at the end, the kids opened up right away and I came to the conclusion that I’m going to love teaching here every week. :]

So, there’s a sneak peak of what my week has been so far. I’ve gotten to see my fiancé a lot this week, and that is always the best. :] So all in all, I really can’t complain! God continues to take care of me and showers me with blessings that I don’t deserve.

Thanks for reading, friends. Until next time. :]