Back to School

It has been a couple of weeks since I last wrote; life has been busy now that the kids and I are back to school. The year has started out amazingly well. After experiencing so much stress the first few years and never feeling like I quite knew what I was doing, it is such a relief to feel like I have entered my comfort zone and am really enjoying all of my classes.

I feel very fortunate that one of my classes, African History, was cancelled. (I had so many take it last year that it ended up with only one student and he didn't really need the course.)

Now I can focus on my two main classes; US History and World History. Plus I have my favorite course, AP World History. It actually takes most of my planning time, but it's a fun class, well, I don't think the students are having fun yet, they're still getting used to frequent quizzes and a variety of assignments (often more than one a night!)

It's also a lot of fun to just enjoy students, even the ones I don't have in class right now are fun to connect with in the hall or in the Canteen/Student Lounge.

In many ways I can really identify with the school theme for the year, "Be transformed" from Romans 12:2.

In so many ways I feel my teaching and my attitude towards teaching has become so much less stressful and more ... joyful I guess! I thank God I can enjoy teaching and guiding my students. I only hope that they too can enjoy my classes and see God in me.

It's not easy to be the one to set the example, especially when I still have my own issues to work on, things like getting to school on time (I haven't been late yet!), keeping up on my marking (I need to get some tests marked tonight if I am going to keep to the three-day turn around goal), staying organized (my desk is still a mess, but I'm keeping to my new syllabi) and the list goes on.

I pray that you too might find yourself transformed in a way that your goals can be met and that your relationship with God is at the top of that list. May your transformation be a time of movement; moving closer to God and letting Him infiltrate and be in charge of every aspect of your life. I hope you find it as fun and yes, as joyful as I do!

Dorthea

New Beginnings, New Challenges

I reported back to school today and have a few days to get ready for the first day of classes on August 6th. It was good to be back.

I am fortunate to work in an environment where we have the dual purpose of educating our students and showing/teaching them how to live for God. These past years I think I have learned even more than my students!

It looks like it will be a good year. I thought I would have a lot of students, but my class numbers are much lower this year, which is good because last year I couldn't spend as much time on skill building, like giving essays and other assignments that took longer to mark.(Last year I had about 83 students 2nd semester and this semester I'll have around 50. Plus I had two new classes)

Even so, there was one point today where I started to feel overwhelmed when I was trying to focus on what needed my attention first. I had to just sit down and remind myself that it was God who called me to the task and trust He would continue to show me how to carry out my work. I really believe that it is Satan that fosters doubt in each of us and if we don't contradict him right away, those doubts will just build and build until we can't do anything!

So, if you start stressing out about any new challenge, just trust that the God who brought that challenge your way has already given you the tools to tackle the challenge, you just have to pick up those tools and start using them! Not only that, God knows our needs even before we ask them, so trust the solution is in sight!