Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?

After several weeks of wondering, I found out yesterday that I will be returning to the same school next year - this time to be a 5th grade teacher.

I was talking to a good friend, Katie, yesterday, contemplating the irony of this whole situation. Just 2 years ago, I was living in Florida, ready to go overseas (and would not be satisfied with anything "less"), definitely not wanting to teach in America or really teach anywhere. God is crazy good to allow my heart to be changed in the ways that it has. First of all, by His grace, I am now a part of a local body who seeks to spread a joyful love for Jesus Christ to all people for the glory of God. Until Treasuring Christ Church, I had personally never seen ministry, pursuing racial harmony or loving people really done well or efficiently in America. Thus, the reason my heart was so jaded toward "here" and inclined toward "there" (so long as "there" was in another country). Through God's word and His Spirit, I am learning that it's not so much where I go, or what I am doing, but that I am seeking to joyfully obey Christ in all He commands. Whether in America or overseas. Whether in Florida or North Carolina.

For all those who knew me several years ago, I'm sure you each heard me say (more than once), "I will never teach in America. I just don't want to have a 'normal' life. I can't see being content staying here, teaching, when I could be going and sharing Christ overseas." Looking back, I think that what I really wanted was adventure and for people to look at me and think, "Wow. She is amazing." Of course I would tag on an "It's only by His grace..." but my heart would be relishing in the praise of men for my boldness to go to a foreign land and share God's wonderful news. Praise God for a church that doesn't tolerate this kind of false humility! And praise Him for those who have learned this and are able to go in true humility to share the love of Christ overseas and in our own nation.

Though I don't know what my future holds, I know that God has brought me to a place of contentment in Him as I teach next year. I am so thankful for learning the importance of joyful obedience to Christ, no matter where I am or what my life looks like.

There are many reasons why I am so excited to move forward into teaching:

-I will be able to daily fight for social justice.
-I will be able to teach the kids that free breakfast comes from tax payers.
(See my blogging friend Ben Robinson's recent blog about the public school system...)
-5th grade math is way more interesting than the 2nd grade math I've been teaching.
-I will be able to attemp modeling/teaching character and integrity, and wise decision making.
-I will be smarter than (or at least as smart as) a 5th grader by the time next June rolls around.
-I have the benefit of the Spirit of God living within me to give me constant wisdom, comfort, and discernment in the classroom. I could not teach apart from Him.

I am still looking for any advice or ideas for creative consequences, loving discipline (and what that really looks like), and ways to not get walked all over by these precious little jewels. (These will be the same group of kids that I blogged about last month -"Freedom Writers"). Any ideas? Let me know! Even if you're not a teacher or a parent, I would appreciate any input you can give. A big thanks to all of you who have labored with me through this process of learning truth, and especially to Kristin and Nicole who daily listen to my stories.

God is ever so faithful!

FLORIDA

Sometimes I really miss the sunshine state. Especially after I've just been there on a visit. I came across some funny statements, and they made me think of the unique place where I spent the first 23 years of my life. Enjoy!

You know you're from Florida if...

Flip-flops are everyday wear.

Someone has named a boat after you.

An alligator once walked through your neighborhood.

You measure distance in minutes.

You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls.

All the local festivals are named after a fruit.

A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level.

You think everyone from a bigger city has a northern accent.

The 4 seasons are actually: almost summer, summer, not summer but really hot, and Christmas.

You know that no other grocery store can compare to Piggly Wiggly.

Anything under 95 is just warm.

Anything under 70 is chilly.

You've hosted a hurricane party.

You pass on the right.

You understand the futility of exterminating cockroaches.

You understand why it's better to have a friend with a boat, than have a boat yourself.

You get annoyed when people say "Florida isn't really part of the South."

You've worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas.

Your parents caught and sold fish in order to be able to feed you.

You know what the "stingray shuffle" is, and why it's important.

Socks are only for bowling.

A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store, but everything to do with shade.

You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites.


You dread lovebug season.

Every other house had blue roofs in 2004-2005.

You are on a first name basis with the Hurricane list. They aren't Hurricane Charley, Hurricane Frances...but Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne.



You know that anything under a Category 3 just isn't worth waking up for.

You were twelve before you ever saw snow or you still haven't.

You could swim before you could read.

Most of all... when you live anywhere else, you miss the beach!

Insomnia

It's super late at night, and I just can't sleep. I've already cleaned my room (which is a huge task, if you know the messes I tend to make during the week...), and I'm still not very tired. So I thought I'd copy and paste the lyrics to several of my favorite hymns, mostly just because I want to read the words to them right now. I prefer hymns over many other types of songs, simply because so many of them were born out of adversity, written out of grief, pain, and suffering, all the while still proclaiming the greatness of our glorious God! Side note* I do wish some talented musicians would make some acoustic/non-choir versions of these hymns so I could actually listen to them during the week maybe on my ipod. *End of side note.

This first one became very special to me around the time that God opened my eyes to first see the weight of my sin. I had never really considered the enormity of my sin and God's wrath and the fact that I now do not have to endure it because of Christ, because I am in fact hidden in Him.

Rock of Ages

Rock of ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in thee;
Let the water and the blood,
From thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath and make me pure.

Could my tears for ever flow,
Could my zeal no languor know.
These for sin could not atone;
Thou must save and thou alone:
In my hand no price I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling.

While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyes shall close in death,
When I rise to worlds unknown,
And behold thee on thy throne,
Rock of ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in thee. 

God used this particular hymn mightily in my life during my parents divorce and the death of my mom. Though I could not see how anything would ever be good again, He gave me so much peace and strength to stand... He kept me tight in His hand, never letting me go. His word proves true!

How Firm A Foundation

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

"Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

"When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

"When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

"The soul that on Jesus still leans for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no never, no never forsake."

I mostly like this one because it's fun for me to play on the piano. The words are the main reason behind my excitement and joy in playing it.

Jesus, What a Friend for Sinners

Jesus! What a friend for sinners!
Jesus! Lover of my soul;
Friends may fail me, foes assail me,
He, my Savior, makes me whole.

Chorus: Hallelujah! What a Savior!
Hallelujah! What a friend!
Saving, helping, keeping, loving,
He is with me to the end.

Jesus! What a strength in weakness!
Let me hide myself in Him.
Tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,
He, my strength, my victory wins.

Jesus! What a help in sorrow!
While the billows o’er me roll,
Even when my heart is breaking,
He, my comfort, helps my soul.

Jesus! I do now receive Him,
More than all in Him I find.
He hath granted me forgiveness,
I am His, and He is mine.


I think I'm finally ready to sleep now.

Freedom Writers? Maybe Not Yet

It's been a while since I blogged (the blurb about Sanjaya doesn't count... that was posted on a joyous whim that he won't be performing on American Idol anymore...). Since the last post I've traveled to Central Asia, returned and started a teaching job here in Raleigh. I've debated about blogging about my Central Asia trip. My conclusion is that I will redirect anyone interested in hearing about it to my friend Amy Hamm's blog. She's still there, and will be for another 2 months. Comment on it and encourage her. I mean, if you know her. If you don't, you still could, although that may be a bit awkward. You should probably introduce yourself first, that way it's not just "drive-by commenting..." I'm sure she would appreciate it any prayers and encouragement and funny stories.

On to teaching. I have a great job, I really do. I work with 2nd graders most days, and I get to take small groups of kids out to the library and help them with math or reading or phonics. They are all super sweet, and very compliant. They just need some extra help, which I am glad to give them. They make teaching an honest joy.

Then there was 4th grade. The office pages me yesterday morning to tell me I am going to be subbing for a 4th grade class. Now, let me get one thing across in this blog. Kids that are older than 3rd grade terrify me. Absolutely. But I just smile and say, "Of course, that's fine." I mean, it's my job, what am I supposed to say, "Oh, no thanks, I'd rather not." The lady in the office then looks around and leans in and basically warns me about the class that I will be entering. So the day begins. I emailed Joanna after only an hour of being in the room, telling her that I respect her so much after I subbed the other day (my friend Joanna, who also goes to TCC teaches 4th grade at another school).

These kids did a lot of different things. It would take too much effort to dialogue even a few of the arguments that occured every 3 1/2 minutes or so, so I'll just list some of the things that happened: shoving each other off chairs (that they were standing in, mind you), yelling at me, yelling at each other, talking about each other's mama's and gramma's, storming out of the room mad at me, slamming the classroom door loudly, telling a heavier little girl that she was going to break a chair she was standing, yes standing, on. This is just a snapshot of them. As for me, I tried many tactics, and they responded to nothing. Telling them firmly but gently was a joke. Yelling only worked for about 7 seconds, and then they just expected me to yell again, and this time louder (because they were increasingly louder). I felt like an utter failure. I came home and vented to Kristin about it, and we were able to laugh about some things, which was great, and both she and Nicole were very encouraging, but I just couldn't shake the feeling of failure.

God comforted me this morning, that though I had failed in so many ways, He had been with me. He had given me grace to speak truth to these kids in small nuggets throughout the day. There was an opportunity that God gave me to tell about half the kids in the class, one on one, that they were not meeting the standards of the classroom, and that is the reason for their punishment. They were mad that they were in trouble, because usually they're "the good kids." I told them that they were comparing themselves to others and thinking that they weren't "as bad" as them. I let them know that I was holding them not to the standard of "better than the bad kids" but to the standard of the rules of the classroom that they're teacher had created.

Of course, if you are a believer in Christ and reading this, you may feel within you the desire to make an analogy that indeed, none of us can meet the standard of perfection, and yet we are all held to it. The only possibility of this perfection, or righteousness, is clinging to Christ, who has fulfilled the law and met this righteous requirement.

"For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." Romans 8:3-4

This is the part I could not do, working in the public school system. I felt so hindered, so sad, like someone was ripping a book out of their hands just as the mystery was about to be figured out, or someone was turning off the television right before the most pivotal point in a story line. It's like reading that

"all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment."

without also hearing these beautiful truths:

"The Lord is our righteousness"

"because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption."

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.

Not being able to share the crux of redemptive history has really gotten to me. If anyone has any experience sharing the truth of Christ within the boundaries of a goverment/public workplace, please let me know what you have experienced, so that I can learn what is wise and what is best.

I didn't intend for this blog to be so thought-provoking in my own heart regarding what God taught me through this experience. I'm thankful for that. Now on to what I originally planned to blog about, on a more lighthearted note: the apology letters each kid wrote to me.

Their teacher found me in the hall today to give me 15 apology letters. I wanted to share a few of them, as they made me laugh out loud. A lot. :-) Here are a few of the unabridged, sweet, funny letters:

4th runner up:
Dear Ms. Christie,
I am sorry that I caused you so much trouble yesterday and have been disrespectful but me and the whole class is sorry and we really want to make it up to you so if you ever come back we will be extra good to you.
(a boy)

3rd runner up:
Dear Christie,
I'm sorry for standing up when you told me to sit down. I hope you forgive me for that, that's why I wrote you this note to show you so. I'm sorry that the class been roude.
(a boy)

2nd runner up:
Dear Ms. Christie,
I am sorry for being bisrspectful to you. I am more gooder then the way I acted and this is my aplgey to you.
(a girl)

1st runner up:
Dear Ms. Christie,
i'm sorry that I was up out of my seat and talking. I hope the next time you come back I will not talk to eny one so I will not get in trouble. Because when our teacher came to school he was mad. So the next time I think about talking I'll just shut my mouth and will not talk at all.
(a boy)

Grand Prize Winner:
Ms. Christie,
I am extremly sorry that you had to go through all the stress and I am really sorry. I hope you have a great year and that, that never happens again. I hope you find a husban and you have a great class!
(a boy)

I hope you enjoyed these little displays of remorse (mostly over being caught...) They made me laugh and almost made going through yesterday worth it. Funny kids.

Good Bye Sanjaya!

I'm sure cheers have just erupted all across the nation, as Ryan Seacrest announced that Sanjaya Malakar is, in fact, going home. Good-bye Sanjaya! We wish you well...

No Rhyme or Reason

This blog is pretty much a compilation of random events I have witnessed over the last month or so, as well as other things that might come to mind while I write. For those of you who like order, be warned, this post will likely have none.

1. A couple of weeks ago, Kristin and I opened the cabinet to see what you see in the picture to the left. We weren't quite sure what it was that seemed to be taking over the upper shelf. You'd think we might try to investigate, but no, instead we kind of laughed nervously and shut the cabinet and didn't think about it. Looking back, I'm not quite sure why. Anyway, about 2 weeks later, Nicole called for me from the kitchen and said, "Um, Alicia, what on earth is growing up there??" My response of
course, was, "Oh yeah, Kristin and I found that a few weeks ago." Silence took the place of the obvious question: "Um, and why is it still there?" We got it down and found that it was a sweet potato that had been left up there, um, a little too long.

This bottom picture shows what it looked like after encounter numero dos.


2. Sometime last week, I went outside one morning to see what the weather was like, and I saw the following:


This is the second accident that has happened in the last few months at this same corner. Both accidents were caused because someone ran that stop sign. Look both ways folks! This particular guy hit the telephone pole, and actually moved it back about 6 inches, our neighbors said. The other car is around the corner, and I didn't take a picture of it, so as not to appear too tacky (I'm pretty sure everyone was ok, or I wouldn't have snapped this photo).

You can really tell the spring is here and summer is on the way. There has been more activity on our street in the past 2 weeks than there has been in the past 5 months. Warm weather really plays a huge part in what happens. We're all looking forward to the people we'll meet over the next few months. Over the past week or so all the things I learned about helping others last year came rushing back into my mind. I'm still glad I live here.

3. I no longer work at Bartlett Tree Experts! I got a teaching job! I will be teaching kids one-on-one when their discipline issues keep them from staying in their classroom. This sounds difficult, but I am really looking forward to it! I have insurance now! And I like kids, so I think I will thoroughly enjoy this job. Because I took this job, inevitably, my last day at Bartlett Tree Experts was Friday! No more receptionista Alicia!


I think the thing I will miss the most is the bathroom. I think Tangerine (or Tarangatang as a dear friend once said...) is the best word to describe it. It took about a month for my retinas to get used to being blinded each time I walked in, but the color kind of grew on me over time. This is a picture of the actual bathroom wall. See you later, Bartlett!



4. Ok. American Idol. Every year there's a kid who just can't seem to be voted out. I've only been watching since Season 3, but let's recap from there. There was John Stevens, who Nicole Judd and I were pretty sure was in the mafia, because we deemed there no other possible explanation for why he was still on the show. Season 4, Anthony Federov. (Look him up. I had to, because I couldn't remember that year very well). Okay, Season 5, Kevin Covais. Chicken Little himself, as American Idol referred to him. While he was precious, he was not cut out for AI, and yet America just kept voting him on back every week, while super good singers were being kicked off. Now we come to the current season, Season 6. Oh, Sanjaya. For crying out loud. Speaking of crying, check out this little girl's reaction to Sanjaya. Is this simply some intense Beatle-fan-like craziness, or is she just seriously upset that he's back yet another week? You decide.

Bud Light Presents...

Mr. Drive Thru Money Taker Guy

In their series of songs, Real American Heroes, Bud Light gives a shout out to the little people. The everyday folk. They honor people such as the fake tattoo inventor, the 80 spf sunblock wearer, the over the top carb counter, and the way too proud of Texas guy. I think it's nice to honor such as these, so this blog will be dedicated to just that. Inside the Backyard Burger here in Raleigh (Exit 7 off of 540) works the most pleasant man I have ever met. His could easily be the voice of a cartoon character in a Disney movie, and when I use a debit card, he always asks for my autograph, never just my signature. When I asked if I could take his picture, he grinned and gave me the thumbs up. Every time I go through the drive thru, he takes my money with such a pleasant attitude and makes my day all the more bright.

"Thanks for making me smile mister drive thru money taker guy. This Bud's for you." background voice: (mister drive thru money ta-a-a-a-a-ker guy.........)

Go meet him! And stay tuned for more tributes to regular people who happen to take their jobs extraordinarily seriously.