Sometimes
in this country, things don't always go as planned. Sometimes the lights go out
before I've saved my work and since my charger has stopped working for my
computer it shuts off in a split second. Sometimes the power goes out for hours
when I have a ton of work to do on my computer. This happened yesterday since
it was pouring. I got a little extra time to spend with Jesus and a nap in the
pouring rain. It wasn’t so bad I suppose :) An advertisement that I have seen
at gas stations here is, I’m not kidding, “Siempre hay gas”-we always have gas.
Why, you may ask? Because sometimes gas stations just run out of gas. Sometimes
you’re running really low and have just enough to make it to the gas
station-just to find out that they’ve run out for today. And then you have to
rely on a friend to bring some to you.
I have
been finding this to be very true in the classroom as well. One morning Brad
and I got to school at 6:45 as per usual to get ready for our 7am class which
is AP Calc, Pre-Calculus, and Foundations of Math all in the same class. The
printer wasn't working and we had quizzes to print out for some of our
Foundations students. The mini computers for the rest of our Foundations
students were not left in the library like they were supposed to and were
locked up until the rest of the staff arrived at 7:45 when our class was almost
done. Most days there are issues with some of the videos they are supposed to
be using on Khan academy (probably due to the connection). We have to improvise
and make do with what we have. Almost every day feels a bit like a juggling act
that we somehow perform daily. And you know what? It works. The students learn
things-things that they are supposed to on a given day-and they are all
receiving the individualized instruction that they need.
Sometimes
you have a really fun lesson planned one day and you get there and you know
what? Your students just aren’t in the mood today. They just want to be
lectured at and don’t want to have fun. Sometimes what you thought you planned
out really well, you didn’t.
And so
goes life. We like to think we have control over things. We like to think that
we can get anywhere we want when we want, that we can have access to whatever
we want when we want, that we have control over the simple everyday tasks. Then
our car breaks down or thunderstorms during our tubing adventure or our flight
is delayed and we miss the only connecting one going out that day and we’re
suddenly reminded that we don’t have quite as much control as we think we did.
These circumstances are unfortunate and annoying and at times costly, but they
can create some of the best memories. They put us in our place and remind us of
our dependence on God. And this unpredictability of life has been teaching me
so much, beginning with my lost passport before I came and continuing on
throughout a lot of my experiences here.
It’s a
little bit contradictory to the other important things I’ve been learning-such
as how to plan ahead for lessons (a very difficult feat for someone like me)
and how to maintain sanity and organization in a chaotic world (a book that I
have been reading through to help myself grow in this area) and I don’t want to
discount the importance that learning how to plan and organize holds on my time
here, I just am constantly reminded throughout my efforts that it’s ultimately
left up to God’s will and that I need to leave more room for His speaking into
my life.
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