A couple of weeks ago I explained to my students what the expression, "If these walls could talk..." means. As I sit in my classroom today staring at empty walls, stacked up desks and piles of books, the same phrase runs through my mind.
If these walls could talk…
They would tell of a group of 14 incredible students,
sometimes dramatic, sometimes LOUD in the true Latino fashion, sometimes
rebellious, emotional, thoughtful and compassionate. Always intelligent,
creative, unique and LOVED.
They would tell of a “gringa” teacher struggling to learn
the ropes of teaching in a new culture with a new curriculum and new grade level, trying to balance academics with “ministry” and attempting to also balance a
personal life with the demands of being a missionary teacher all the while working to become integrated into Bolivian culture, make Bolivian friends and learn Spanish. Sometimes emotional,
frustrated, overwhelmed, sometimes fun,
funny and goofy. Always grateful, joyful, learning, hopeful, and
LOVED.
They would tell of a group of 15 people brought together by
the Lord’s divine plan, learning from one another, sometimes failing, sometimes
succeeding, doing life together and rejoicing in both the ups and downs.
They would tell of LIFE. Life that is messy, real,
unpredictable, yet oh so exhilarating.
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| Highland's 2013/2014 5th Grade Class |
And now, a couple of stories from this “life”:
This is Marina.
She is Japanese Brazilian and is one of the
coolest and most creative kids I have ever known. She speaks Spanish, Japanese,
English and Portuguese. Recently she informed me her family will be moving back to Japan in August, which means she will only attend 6th grade at HIS for one short month. The last day of school was very hard for her, as it is the
beginning of the end. She shed many tears as she said temporary goodbyes which
will soon turn to permanent goodbyes. Life as a “Third Culture Kid” as its
called, is rough. People constantly coming and people constantly going, is the
norm. When Marina told me she was leaving the first thing that struck me was
how much I was going to miss her and then followed an overwhelming sense of the
divinity and intricacy of God’s plans for our lives. Marina is from a largely Buddhist nation and she is being raised in a wonderful, loving , non Christian family. Yet, she spent the last three years at a
school where every day she was taught about the love of Jesus. Now, she goes
back to Japan, with eternal seeds of the gospel planted deep inside her. This girl LOVES Jesus.
She talks about him all the time, she asks deep, philosophical questions about
Him, she looks for opportunities to pray. My prayer is that all the Lord has
deposited in her will continue to grow and flourish wherever He may place her, that she will change the World around her. She reminds me why I do what I do.
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| Marina, Miss Jorgensen, Paulina |
As pre-teens, my 5th graders are very into the
yearbook signing thing. In my yearbook one of my students wrote:
“Ms. J., I love you. You are my favorite teacher because you
taught me a lot about Jesus. –Ash”
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| Please ignore the punctuation errors. :) |
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| Ashley |
That comment brought me back to the pure simplicity of my
singled minded mission here. Yes, all the “other” stuff is important, but at
the end of the day if God has used me to teach and model to one child what it
means to love Jesus and what it means to be loved by Jesus then I can take a
deep breath, think back over this year and despite shortcomings and doubts, say,
“It was good. It was SO good.”
Thank you, my dear friends and family, you who are “in the
trenches” with me, day after day, through your prayers, your emails, your
cards, your financial support, your thoughts, and your love. None of this would
be “good” or possible without you.
I look forward to seeing many of you in the coming months as
I will be in Idaho for 7 weeks before returning to La Paz for round two! Happy
Summer!
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| The Graduating 5th Grade Class |
