Does it matter?

      I can see that I have not posted since April. I did not realize it had been so long. During these few months, I have finished my Master's degree and have done various other, boring, yet time-consuming things. I have been crocheting like crazy and I will post about what I have made in the near future. We decided that I would make all our Hanukkah/New Year gifts this year, so I started in Septemeber (I did make one item in June) and I have been going like crazy. I have 24 gifts to make and I believe I have 14 done. I have also done baby gifts and a wedding gift, so I have been busy, busy, busy with crochet!

     As is well known, I have had to quit working due to medical issues. Jonathan has started an electrical business but it is slow in growing. The lord is providing for our daily needs, but sadly, we will have to leave our house in December. We are unsure where we are going to live, but we are looking at a couple of options. Our income has decreased so much that we just cannot keep up with all the bills. Rent is something that has to be cut so we are cutting it and exploring other options for living arrangements.

     Additionally, first aid care has seemed to increase just as drastically as our income decreased. I am praying about pursuing further medical training when my health is finally straightened out. Teaching no longer seems to be where the Lord wants me. I would appreciate your prayers for wisdom on this. I have always enjoyed medical but never pursued it due to my poor math skills. But maybe it is time to re-examine that option. I am also going to apply myself and focus on increasing my Spanish. Enough of this not being able to communicate stuff!

     Now, onto the actual intended content of this post:

     What do I mean when I say "does it matter"? Jonathan and I have spent a lot of time discussing various doctrinal things, as a ministry couple is inclined to do. One thing I often say is "does it matter" and Jonathan always has to step back and think about it to see if I am being heretical or not! Of course, I am not talking about things related to salvation, I usually refer to things that are like splitting hairs, however one concept I said this too just about escalated our discussion into an argument (it didn't, but almost did). We were discussing the topic of heaven.

    "What!!! How can you say 'does it matter' about heaven"???. That was exactly Jonathan's response! Let me clarify what I mean. The Bible is actually pretty vague about what heaven is. We as humans have added our own traditions, imaginings, and interpretations about heaven, but Scripture is actually very vague. The only thing Scripture states is that it is a place and that we will be with Adoani for eternity. After this, we only have mankind's conjectures.

     Before you stone me for heresy, hear me out. We need to understand what "heaven" is because a commonly asked question is "why should I follow Christ?" A common answer is "to have eternal life with God in heaven". Well, what is heaven? A variety of answers follows this question, but does it matter if we know what heaven is? Isn't eternal life with Adonai enough?

    Here are a few examples of what I have personally heard heaven is:
1) The New Jerusalem here on Earth
2) A New Earth
3) Living with the Angels
4) Being in the throne room 24/7
5) Ruling your own planet (Mormon belief)
I am sure there are more, these are just the ones I have heard the most. But again, does it really matter? Does the actual location and appearance of heaven affect our salvation? More importantly, does it affect whether or not you accept Christ as your Lord and Saviour? No, it absolutely should not. That is what I mean by "does it matter"?

     While here on Earth we are commanded to spread the Gospel, baptize people and create disciples.  Anything else is extra, and although it is important to study, it honestly does not matter if souls are not being saved.

    Another thing I often say "does it matter" too, is end-time prophecy and study. I acknowledge that the end of time is approaching and the Lord will return soon. But again, I still firmly believe our focus should be on saving souls, not debating if we will meet our end by nuclear warfare or if we will be forced into hiding or another exodus, or anything else like that. The end-time prophecy is more about what will happen and less about when it will happen. My experience with these teachings has been okay, but everyone became so focused on end-time signals, that no one even thought about evangelism. We were all preparing for the end, keeping ourselves in a community, planning on keeping our faith strong and together, while ignoring anyone not a part of our faith. I am grieved when I think about how I was in agreement with that for many years. And now, I look back and ask, "does it matter?"

    Does it matter if you wear clothes of mixed fibers? Does it matter if heaven is Jerusalem on Earth, or Jerusalem in heaven? Does it matter what the end of time occurrences are? How is your salvation affected by this? More importantly, how is someone else's salvation effected? Are we spending so much time debating these things that the wheat right under our noses is withering away because we are to busy to notice it is ready to be harvested?

    I encourage everyone to study everything for themselves and to continue to grow spiritually, but when it comes to saving souls I ask you to consider what is most important for them to know? Does it matter for their salvation? That should always be asked when talking with whether new or non-believers. Does it matter for salvation?

    I hope to post again soon. May Adonai richly bless you and your homes.

What Now?

The last month was full of unexpected things, both good and bad. And with the school year entering its final quarter, we are looking ahead at what the near future holds.

At the end of June I will be officially leaving classroom teaching. I am in the process of interviewing for some online tutoring places and we are going to start some intermediate and advanced English classes as well. However, even with picking up tutoring and doing odd jobs, the income is not reliable so we are looking at other options.

We are actively pursuing and are in the process of starting a crochet business and an electrical business. The idea for my crochet business is that the focus will be bags and baby items. Those are the things that will sell here, but we will also have some other misc. things as I feel inclined to make them. Ultimately, we want to employ the women at Cancela who are now making things to sell but we have to start with building the business.

I placed a yarn order last week to start making bags but we found out a member of our church is in urgent need of a backpack, so I will be using the yarn for that and saving up to get more. I would like to make market bags, backpacks, purses, diaper bags, etc. The possibilities and creativity are endless. I even found a site that will sell the yarn at wholesale prices if I buy in a large enough quantity. I do not see that being a problem! We just have to come up with the money first. I have a couple of leads on places I can set up temporary stands to sell things so once I have stock, I will do that. Jonathan is designing the website and tags and such for me so we can save money that way. I am also starting a crochet YouTube channel so once that goes active I will post a link to it.

Since the future is still largely unknown, we ask for prayer for wisdom, patience and strength It is scary to walk away from the only steady income we have had, but my health just will not allow me to continue teaching in the traditional classroom setting. So, please keep us in your prayers and I will keep you updated as everything develops and unfolds.

Another update

Hello everyone!

 It has been a hot minute since I last wrote. There has been a lot going on and honestly, I haven’t really known where to start when it came to a post. But I will just plunge in and hopefully it will all make sense.

Amos is doing very, very well. He is wanting to potty-train, is starting to brush his teeth and is currently engaged in a battle with us about weening off of formula completely. He loves doing things with his hands and is speaking Spanglish but comprehends both languages perfectly. He also appears to be a lefty because he throws, bats and grabs things predominantly with his left hand. Since Guapo and I are both righties, I am saying that Tio Jovanny is the one to blame!

Jonathan is teaching for 1.5 hours two days a week and doing electrical and other things during the day. He is trying to launch an electrical business so is doing a lot of odd jobs to get word of mouth going. His after school teaching of robotics (the 1.5 hours, two days a week) is going well and he plans on continuing that for a while.

My brother Matt and sister-in-law Colleen came to visit for a week last month. It was very nice to have them visit. We had a good time and I hope they come again soon. Amos loved playing with Tio and Tia.

There is also a team here currently. They are from a university and are educating the people of Cancela about trash clean-up and not burning it, as well as how to clean the water barrels and prevent mosquitoes from breeding in it. In addition, they are helping construct some aquaponics systems for the church so we can teach the community to garden. They have been very helpful and we are grateful to them.

But now onto sad news. Over the past several months I have been struggling with life and my health some more. I was debating about what to do but after a couple of occurrences at school, confirmation outside of school, and with Jonathan’s agreement and support, I have decided to leave traditional teaching permanently at the end of this year. It was a hard and sad choice to make but we feel it is the right one (Another reason why Jonathan is trying very hard to launch his business). I complete my Masters in August and I will then pursue TEFL certification. I hope to tutor TEFL students but that will be on a schedule I can control and the amount of work I can handle. I am also applying for online writing jobs (part-time) that I can do from home so I can focus on my family, home and our ministry. If you all know of any online jobs, please let me know!

Ministry is going well. We have had our discouraging times and it is a rollercoaster of excitement and sadness, but that is ministry life. The crochet class continues to grow and Jonathan’s classes are also doing well. The community is slowly changing. Please continue to pray for us as we try to keep doing what the Lord has called us to do.

Well, that is all for now. I hope to be more consistent with my writing in the future. Until next time, may Adonai bless you and your homes.  

Poem

Hello everyone!

      I know it has been a long time since I wrote. The past couple of weeks I have really wanted to write something but just couldn't. However, after a rather tough day on Friday I was inspired to write this poem so I thought I would share it. I hope to have a regular post up soon. 

Why?

Dedicated to the 2018-2019 3^rd grade class of:

Christian Community School, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

The other day in class I was asked a rather simple question:

Why?

You see, as a teacher I spend time imprinting knowledge into the minds of my students

But I have never spent a lot of time to explain why.

2+2= 4, 4/8 is the same as 1/2, Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory, a force is needed to put something into motion, the plural of puppy is puppies but the plural of fish is fish.

Just fish, not fishen, fishies or fishes.

Remember that kids or it is a zero on your test.

I spend hours explaining sentence structure and grammar,

The correct format for an essay and the differences between the different kinds of poetry.

The students watch the videos, take their notes, and do their work,

But 6 months through the school year they ask:

Why?

Why do we`1 need all this knowledge when we have calculators and google at our fingertips?

Why is it important to know that a proper noun is capitalized but the others aren’t, when we have spell check? Why do we need to know how sound waves travel when we spend our time with earbuds in our ears? Why do we need to know cursive when I can write in print and can type faster than either of those?

And why on earth,

Teacher,

Do you think Superman is better than Spiderman?

I stand there and look out at my class,

eyes awaiting my answer,

and I do not know how to respond to such a complex yet so simple a question.

How can I explain to these young minds that all of this information serves a bigger purpose than just passing a test?

How do you explain to 9 year olds the concept of learning from the past?

Understanding what happened then,

So it doesn’t happen again.

How do you explain the importance of critical thinking and analysis to youthful thinkers?

And how do you stress the importance of being able to write and speak with such conviction and grammatical correctness that you gain respect from those in authority?

How do you explain that understanding the Bible helps you understand life?

You see, in school you learn things you think you will never use again. You answer the questions on the test then move on, not remembering that fact for years.

Hitler was a dictator, Russia is a communist country, King Henry the VIII had 6 wives, and the laws of physics prove the strength of Captain America’s shield is actually,

impossible.

But what do we learn in school that is proven to be true?

We learn that speaking with authority gives you more credit from your listeners, this includes knowing the myriads of ways the O-U-G-H is used, the Bain of the English language.

We learn that although spelling doesn’t always make sense, learning to spell helps when you try to get a job.

We learn that objects always move in the direction of a force so that means if you throw a ball at a window it is going to break it because it won’t suddenly change direction. So don’t be surprised if your Mom doesn’t buy your “I didn’t mean to” story.

We learn that you can’t outrun a cheetah so don’t even try, but most importantly

We learn that words have meaning and weight and how you use them

matters.

You see, when we speak or write to others what we say can be interpreted many ways.

How we speak, where we breathe, it all makes a difference and sometimes what you say at home,

Hurts someone at school.

The why goes beyond just information, the why is because you need to know it to succeed, to be respected, too function in society.

But how do you explain that to ten sets of brown eyes focused on you just wanting 10 extra minutes of recess rather than a worksheet about commas?

How do you explain that my only goal as a teacher is to teach them to teach themselves, because there will be a day when no one else will?

How do you explain that while I know this, and their parents know this, their innocent minds see this as unnecessary torture imposing on their carefree lives?

How do I explain it?

“Because I am your teacher and you have to learn it, that’s why”.

Update for the end of the year

Hello everyone!

            So, it has been a while since I wrote and I figured that it is time for an update.

           

 First, we finally got family pictures done. We had some good friends come over and they took family photos as well as Amos’ 2 year pictures. It was so kind of them to do that and as you can tell, they turned out really well!

              It is hard to believe that 2018 is almost over! It feels like I was just getting into the routine of everything. But I am excited to see what 2019 holds.

            I am officially on Christmas Break until Jan. 8^th. Our last day was the 13^th so it has been almost a week already. I cannot believe it! I had so much I wanted to do and I have done basically nothing! But rest is a good thing so I am trying to get as much as I can before everything resumes.

            Grad school is going well. I only have 4 classes left! That means I will complete everything in August and I will finally have my degree. It will be so nice to be done but also strange and sad, I like school but I am also ready to have some time back.

            Jonathan is Ubering more hours now since I am at home and no longer have to be dropped off at a specific time. He will begin teaching in an afterschool program in January as well. It is only 2 days a week but it will be a huge help financially to us.

            Ministry is going well. There have been a couple of deaths in the last few months, but sadly, that is a part of life and ministry. I cannot share more details but we are excited to see some growth from the seeds we have been planting (metaphorically). Please continue to pray for us and those we serve.

            I am working more on my crochet, especially over break. I am hoping to be able to start selling a few things to help make money to buy more yarn! As all of you crafters and needle workers know, you can never have too many supplies or too much yarn! If I am successful, I hope to get Jonathan to build me a nice little storage cabinet (with a key) so I can keep Amos away from my supplies. We shall see how successful I am. Regardless though, there are 2 more churches in addition to ours that will be having crochet classes. I will resume in late January or early February. I am currently filming some tutorials that Jonathan will do the Spanish translation for. I will then upload these to YouTube so the ladies can have access to the instruction during the week. Pray for that to go well please! It is hard to film with a toddler!

            Jonathan’s gardening project is going well and he will begin making one at the church next year as well.

            I guess that is it for now. Until next time, may Adonai bless you and your homes.   

Thanking Mrs. K

Hello again everyone—

            Yesterday was a Dominican holiday so we took advantage of it and went to the beach with my brother-in-law, nephew, niece and our dog. Amos loves the water and had a wonderful time and it was so nice to be able to relax and spend time together as a family. We finished the day with a pastors meeting which, while that was going on, Amos, Tesla and I fell asleep. It was accidental but it was nice to go to bed earlier than usual! The beach just wears out little man!

            Anyway, onto the topic of this post. Tomorrow is the last crochet class for this year. We are going to take the rest of the year to plan a new class starting in January, with a different focus, and prepare to start the program at 2 other churches. We are also going to collect some more supplies in order to start again as our yarn supply is now gone and we need more starter hooks. We have decided to have people start with the plastic hooks (they often get lost) and as the progress, give them the metal hooks. This way we can have as many people working as possible since the plastic hooks are supposed to be returned when they receive a metal hook.

            Anyway, as I am wrapping up this class and planning another (actually several different ones for different locations) I realized something. I never acknowledged the woman who taught me to crochet in the first place.

           

Jonathan snapped this picture last week of all of us working on our projects together. It made me think of the first class I attended when I was taught the basics of crochet, and how one woman’s patience with a hyper 7 year old girl is now affecting a community of women in a different country.

            

         We have a family friend who I am still in contact with. Okay, she is Mom’s friend but I claim her too! Her kids and my brothers and I grew up together. She is an avid crocheter and as a favor to my Mom, agreed to teach a class of girls (I think for 4-H) how to crochet. My Mom also got a lesson because she wanted to learn and I still remember the pattern used to teach us how to crochet a washcloth. I then crocheted off and on throughout the years using YouTube to teach myself the stitches I did not know once we moved away from the area. However, the very basics of holding the yarn, chaining, single crochet and how to turn your work were all taught to me by Mrs. K.

            Now, here I am, a 29 year old woman living in the Caribbean and the seeds planted over 20 years ago as a favor to my Mom have born fruit. The obnoxious, hyper, bouncy, 7-year-old girl with pig tails and a gap in her teeth has grown up and used the skill that was so patiently taught to me. Her patience is now giving women who would be, to be real for a moment, at risk for prostitution and sex trafficking, an alternative way to help support their families. The area is very poor with many making less than minimum wage, having several mouths to feed and constant pressures of unreliable water and power and poor sanitation. These women now see hope and a chance to be and do something to better themselves and their families. All because of a one patient lady who spent an afternoon teaching girls to crochet.

            As an English teacher I find the English language lacking here. “Thank you” seems so trivial. You truly do not know how much your selfless act means to me and the community of women we are serving. I know there are jewels in your crown already, but I think there will be an extra diamond for this as well.

            It took a long time to see the fruit, but it is showing itself now. So, as inadequate as it is. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart and the hearts of the women benefiting from this skill. Thank you Mrs. K.

Life and Ministry update

It has been a while since I have had time to write. I had several papers due, grades for report cards due, multiple meetings with parents and admin about my teaching and grading, etc. etc. etc. But I got ahead a little bit so I can finally sit down and do another post!

                Life here is as interesting as ever. We have finally settled into our house that moved into in April. There was a lot going on with it being sold and getting a new rental contract from the new owner, power issues, installing things, 2 washer repairs, car repairs etc. As hard as daily life is, we are seeing fruit in the ministry field. The teenage boys in the neighborhood have really formed a good strong bond with Jonathan and are comfortable coming over whenever to just talk or ask questions and even help with work! They love talking with Jonathan and playing basketball with him. He invested in some new, brighter lights for the front of our house which illuminates the basketball court fairly well at night, so now the boys are happy as can be! They can now play until 9-9:30 at night when they used to have to stop around 7 because of it getting dark. We much prefer they stay and play and Amos loves to join in. The boys are good to include him and make him feel like he is part of the game. I will try to film it sometime.

                AS I am no athlete and medically cannot be that active, I have made myself the water queen. I make sure to put the jug of water and disposable cups out on the table and the boys know and feel comfortable enough to get water whenever it is out there. They don’t need to ask and they know it. This culture does not drink a lot of water as a regular rule, so I try to encourage it whenever possible. Jonathan also gives a scientific talk to people about the importance of protein for the cells in your body, and the need to stay hydrated. So between the two of us the boys in the neighborhood and the Uber riders will have better nutrition and hydration!

                In addition to the basketball hoop which Jonathan helped them buy and install, we have had several of the boys come over to play games. Right now Catan is popular so we need to get the 5-6 player extension for it. Games played here are usually dominoes and monopoly so any new game that is introduced is usually well received. We played Yahtzee with Jonathan’s brother’s family and they were laughing so hard they could hardly breathe! When the boys played Catan there was yelling and excitement and everyone left with smiles on their faces even though 3 of us lost. That is the type of ministry and community we are trying to build. Jonathan has already shared the gospel with a few of them and they keep coming back with more questions. Jonathan is planting seeds, the Lord is watering them and we are starting to see them grow.

                Jonathan has also started his project with the boys at Cancela. After the crochet class he spends some time with the boys. They are working on engineering a hydroponic, vertical garden. He has had success on his own at home, so he is teaching the boys out there how to do it. The hope is that between being able to grow food and the crochet projects bringing in money, the people there can become self-sustaining. Jonathan is even going to teach everyone business basics such as money management and investments. He is also going to teach them how to use the internet to advertise and sell their products as well as setup and maintain a website.

                It is so encouraging to see the little sprouts coming up from the seeds that have been planted! The Lord is being faithful and providing and we hope to care for these seedlings (metaphorical seedlings) and watch them grow into strong trees with fruit that will help others!

                In addition to ministry we have our daily lives and activities. I am completing the first quarter at CCS this week so there has been a big push with grades and activities and there is a bug going around the school as well. I caught it but only had a weak voice, fortunately. However, I have 2 kids out with the sickness this week and 1 out last week. So pray for all of us! Teachers and students are catching it.

                I have also been crocheting a lot because of the class. I am actually glad to have this weekly class because it keeps me crocheting when otherwise I would not prioritize it. I am glad to have the push and the artistic outlet. All the donations we have received have been a huge blessing, so thank you!

                Bunt and Tesla are doing fine. Bunt forgets he is a cat sometimes and acts like Tesla, especially when food is involved. However, other than occasional sniffs at the crate, they ignore Bernard which is nice. Bernard is starting to grow tail feathers back and is standing on his complete leg. Obviously, the missing one will not grow back. He is eating well and hopefully will continue to heal. If you had told me we would be nursing a wild pigeon back to health I would have laughed, but here we are!

                I was actually talking to Jonathan the other day about our animals and Amos. It struck me how much Amos copies us and our behavior towards animals. He has no fear of unknown dogs and cats (he particularly likes dogs) and tries to call them over all the time. When we pet animals he does too. He knows what “gentle” means and is very kind and soft with any animal he touches. When we caught Bernard (it was not hard, poor thing could not fly and could hardly walk) he was super excited and raised his hand to pat it. As you know, babies don’t pat very well but when I said “gentle” he immediately changed and carefully stroked Bernard’s head. I then took him to the bathroom and washed his hands. Loving animals is good, but I prefer he not get sick from them!

                Ever since he talks too, waves at and pets the neighborhood dogs that approach us or let us approach them. There are only 2 dogs we will not let him near because they are mean. However, Amos has learned to be kind and gentle with animals and it is crossing over to how he treats people. He is very loving and kind with people and becoming gentler as well.  Who knew the simple act of showing kindness to animals, in front of him would make him so gentle? But as I told Jonathan, we didn’t look for or want a pigeon but it needed help. If we care for the bird and shows an appreciation and respect for God’s creation. He created the animals, we are to care for them.

                Another thing that my husband does that is setting a good example for Amos is his treatment of strangers. Our money is very tight and we are not sure how we are going to make it until his job starts in January, but the Lord will provide. Anyway, it does not matter how tight our money is, if someone needs food or gas, he gives it, even if it means we go without. We never give cash, but it is not uncommon to see Jonathan giving someone a gallon of gas, a ride to the gas station or food if someone is in need. I love this example he is setting and Amos is already showing kindness towards others. He will smile at, high-five (sometimes even hug) strangers and loves to just chat with people. I love to see the faces of people light up when Amos engages with them! He often goes up to security guards and “talks” to them, gives them a knuckle bump and/or smile at them. Their faces always break into a smile and since a good portion of the guards are older men, it makes me wonder how many people don’t even acknowledge their existence, yet here is this little curly-top Americano paying attention to them. Sometimes, Amos does more effective ministry in 1 minute than Jonathan and I in 1 day.

                Wow! This post is long! I will stop for now and try to be more regular in my posting from here on out. Until next time, may Adonai bless you and your homes.