What's Up January

Happy Wednesday Y'all

Is anyone else as surprised as me that January's almost over? 

Anywho...

Today, I'm joining Shay, and Sheaffer for their What's Up Wednesday link-up. 

Every month we answer the same list of questions based on how things are currently going in our lives. 

The questions are...

 

What am I eating?

I cooked pancakes and bacon for some friends over the weekend. Is there anything better than hot pancakes with melted butter and syrup? Maybe the super crispy bacon... ;)

What am I reminiscing about?

2018 and all the fun it involved. A couple weeks ago, I wrote a recap of my year on here. If you missed it, you can check it out HERE. 2018 was full of highs and lows, for sure. But overall, I'd say it was, indeed, a good year. 

 

 

 

  

What am I loving?

I'm loving the Bible Study I'm part of. A few co-workers and I get together one night a week and study the Word. By the time we finish, we'll have gone through the entire New Testament. I love it!

What have I been up to?

This week is Spiritual Emphasis Week (SEW) at my school. So every afternoon this week, I've been in the secondary chapel times for that. And it has been great so far. And I've heard really great reports of the elementary chapel times, as well. In fact, I love how my students keep sharing all sorts of fun reports about their favorite parts of these chapel times.

What am I dreading? 

Lately, I've been changing this prompt since there's nothing I'm really dreading. So instead, I'm going to answer...

What am I praying for?

I've got lots of stuff swirling around in my head at the moment. So I'm trying to do better about praying for these things, turning them over to God, and not holding tightly to them. Can you tell I have a control issue in this sense? Ha! ;)

What am I working on?


I'm starting to get more serious with Summer Plans. There are plane tickets to buy, services to set up, emails to write, etc. etc. etc. P.S. - Shameless plug... If you'd like me to come and share my heart for Dakar Academy and Senegal with your church, your Sunday School Class, your Children's Church or Youth Group, your Small Group, or even just you and your family over coffee/dinner one day, let me know. I'll be back for the majority of June and July. So Send me an email at enichols85@gmail.com and we'll set something up.

What am I excited about?

Well, my students got super excited earlier today, listening to a guest sharing about his bug collection. I have never seen them so totally enthralled in what someone was saying. I need to learn his secret. Ha! :)

What am I watching?

Nothing most nights... In fact, when I saw the meme below, I totally laughed because it's so me. Ha :)

What am I reading?

Over the weekend, I read Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate. Oh my word, y'all... This book was so intensely emotional. As in... I was crying literal tears, while reading it, and even after I stopped. Then I tossed and turned for quite a while that night, taking forever to fall asleep, thinking about this book. This particular book is a fictional story. However, it is based on the true story of Georgia Tann and the horror she was responsible for, while running the Tennessee Children's Home, stealing (yes, stealing!) 5000+ infants and children and selling them to wealthy families, under the guise of adoption. And while the majority of those families didn't know the truth behind the arrival of these kids, so many politicians and other prominent figures did. So between the corruptness and Tann's manipulation of the system, there's no telling how many families were truly affected. The number of 5000+ is just a rough estimate. The number of children who died (some who were killed) in Tann's care was never recorded. ** Do you see why this story affected me so much? Oh my word...

Anywho - Next pay day, I'm ordering The Baby Thief by Barbara Bisantz Raymond, which is actually the true story of Georgia Tann. This story... There's just something about it. Maybe it's knowing that my life-long dream has always been to have/run a children's home/orphanage... Maybe it's my love for children, especially those who need it the most... Maybe it's just my common decency as a human being and more importantly, as a child of God... But y'all... This story has gripped and broken my heart more than any story I've ever read.

 

What am I listening to?

Lately, the song, Even Then by Micah Tyler, has been on repeat a lot. It's such a great song! It has such a great message - that even when things might be happening, causing us to face struggles/difficulties in life, even then He never lets go. Even then, He is always with us... If you haven't heard it before, check it out. Seriously, y'all... This song is so good!

What am I wearing? 

Thanks to it being so cool here in Dakar lately, I can wear my hair down most mornings without having a heat stroke. Although, it's usually up by lunch. I, who always preferred my hair to be short, have finally decided that I love it more when it's long. There are more options. I can wear it down. Or I can throw it up, when it's too hot to last any longer down. My dad would be so happy I finally decided to stop cutting my hair (other than a trim here or there). Ha! 

What am I doing this weekend?

We have an AG meeting on Friday. And then I'm planning to work in my classroom all day on Saturday. And then on Sunday, I'll go to church, prep meals for the week, and read and write, and enjoy a bit of relaxation time.

What am I looking forward to next month?

February is a super busy month at school. We have all sorts of fun events going on. My kids are super excited. Me too :)

What else is new?

I bought this Rock, Paper, Scissors card game while in the States over Christmas Break. It was cheap, so I thought I'd give it a try. Who know my students would like it so much? It's a simple game to play. And we even made up new rules for it, so more friends could play at once. But y'all, they love it!

And then each month, there's a special question. January's question is...

What's your favorite Valentine tradition?

I don't have any traditions, myself. In fact, I usually try to ignore the day. While I'd most definitely love to be married, sometimes it does get me. And Valentine's Day is one of those times. So yeah... I usually try to ignore the day.



But, as a teacher, I do enjoy finding ways to make it fun for my students. We'll have a party. We'll do a fun project of some sort. We'll always focus our Bible lessons for the week on the love of our Creator and our Savior. And so on...



And that's what I'm up to this month.

What about you?

What are YOU up to this month?

This Week's Top 5

Happy Thursday, Everybody

Here's my Top 5 Favorites from this week.

~ one ~

One of my groups started a Science experiment yesterday, entitled, Gummy Bears and Genetics. They'll finish it today. And y'all, they loved it! And I loved that they were having so much fun and learning at the same time.

 

~ two ~


We started a new unit in Kids Club this week. For the next 5 or 6 weeks, we're going to be discussing Superheroes and the Bible. This week, Spiderman was our superhero and we discussed how just as he was chosen for a specific purpose, so have we been chosen by Christ for a specific purpose (to do His will). It seems like such a simple lesson to learn, but even we, adults, seem to sometimes forget it too. We are chosen by Christ! What a gift, that is! Anywho - For our "game," we built a fake spider web and were reminded of how just as it connects in all different ways, so can we when we connect the message of Jesus Christ with others.



~ three ~ 

Want to know one of the teacher job responsibilities that I do not enjoy? I absolutely hate cutting out laminated stuff. I love having it laminated. I love that we have that option because it's definitely nice. But y'all... I hate cutting it out. Anywho - I have a high school student that comes in every afternoon. Sometimes she'll help the kids with an activity. Sometimes she'll help me by making copies or doing other prep work. And sometimes... She cuts out all the laminated stuff for me :)

~ four ~

Yesterday, I told one of my guys to put quotes around a certain word in his sentence. He asked for clarification, so I explained and then I made "air quotes." When I looked over his sentence a few seconds later, I saw that he drew a person making air quotes. And I was reminded, yet again, of what a fun job I have. I love the literal nature of some of these kids. They make like so much more enjoyable :)



~ five ~

Earlier in the week, I got to eat lunch with one of my students. It doesn't happen often due to the weird schedule I have, since I have full-time students in elementary, middle, and high school - and they don't all eat at the same time. Anywho - It's always a treat to sit with a student, in an informal setting, and chat about their day. I loved having this time with this guy. ...and our photobomber, too, who was finishing up his math lesson for the day :)

And in the spirit of oversharing ;)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Today, I'm joining Erika, Andrea, and Narci and for their weekly Friday Favorites linkup. Only... I'm posting on Thursday (and adding my links tomorrow) since my goal is to "unplug" this weekend. Yay for 3 day weekends!

And I'm also joining April, Natasha, and Christina for their 5 on Friday linkup. 

This Week's Top 5

Happy Friday, Y'all

I'm doing something a little different with my Top 5 Favorites style blog posts each Friday. I've decided to dedicate them to my classroom (or other school activities) each week. So without further ado, here are my Top 5 from this past week.

~ one ~

All of my kiddos ended up finishing their Social Studies units at the same time. So we spent the day studying yesterday for our test today. Some chose to study with me, while a few chose to spread out and study on their own/in groups. Looking over and seeing these two friends studying together made me smile. Seeing my crew, being friends and helping each other out is definitely a favorite of mine :)

~ two ~

Anything tech-related makes learning fun. Right? My students' favorite thing to hear is... " Time for chromebooks!" Anywho - A few of my kiddos had to do some research for their latest Social Studies project. I loved seeing how happy they got to use the chromebooks. And even more than that, I loved seeing how well they researched and took notes, preparing to create their presentations for the class. 

~ three ~ 

And on a more serious note, I love that I work at a Christian school. I love planning lessons, with the Bible and God's TRUTH integrated throughout. I love being able to openly share the Gospel. And I especially love seeing my students digging in the Bible, researching information, soaking in all our Savior has for them to learn. 

~ four ~

Kids Club started back this week. It was so fun seeing our elementary kiddos back on Wednesday afternoon, spending time studying The Word and discussing ways we can honor God in 2019. And of course, it was nice hearing their lively chatting and laughter filling the room. Our "craft" for the week were these cute bookmarks.

~ five ~

Look at this sweet gift a co-worker brought back from the US for my class! Y'all don't understand how excited this made my crew - who are all, self-proclaimed Mac & Cheese fanatics. Seriously... They absolutely loved it!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Today, I'm joining Erika, Andrea, and Narci and for their weekly Friday Favorites linkup. Click one of their names to and join in on the fun.

And I'm also joining April, Natasha, and Christina for their 5 on Friday linkup. 

Tuesday Talk - An Introduction

Happy Tuesday Y'all 

Today, I'm joining Ashley and Erika for their monthly Tuesday Talk link-up, where we, bloggers, come together and talk about whatever is on our mind at the moment. I typically try to think of one specific topic to talk about.

For this month's Tuesday Talk post, I'thought I'd "steal" Erika's idea. Since I've been receiving a few more visitors to this ol' blog, I thought I'd spend my Tuesday Talk time, introducing myself. 

Hi.

My name's Elisabeth.

...with an "s"

Anywho - I digress ;)

I'm originally from sweet home Alabama. But I currently live and work in Senegal, West Africa, where I am a Missionary Teacher.

I've wrote a bit about my work HERE.

But here's the gist...

I am a Missionary Associate with the Assemblies of God, working at Dakar Academy. DA is a preK-12 international Christian school, located in Dakar, Senegal. Our students are from, literally, all over the world. Seriously... We have students from 6 out of the 8 continents and from 31+ countries. How cool is that?!

This is my 8th year, teaching at DA. 

During this time, I have taught General Ed. (1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th), ESL (all grades), and most recently Special Ed. (Self-Contained, all grades).

The class I'm teaching now is a literal dream come true. Back in 2016, God laid a dream on my heart to reach a group of kids who had no other truly good schooling option in our country (or even at our school, at the time). I prayed and prayed and I met with the powers that be at my school. And after a "no," a "maybe," and a whole lot of tears and prayers, God finally allowed this dream of mine to come true. 

If you need to find me during the school week, I'm in my "home away from home" - my classroom, the majority of my time. I tend to work far too many hours getting things prepped and ready for my kiddos. But having no set curriculum and no textbooks for some of my crew kind of requires a lot of extra/after hours work. But I'm trying to do better. In fact, one of my words for the year is REST. And my goal is to spend more time in rest - both physically and spiritually this year. Wish me luck :)

Anywho - I'm not always at school though.

Every summer, you can find me back in my sweet home Alabama, spending time with my family, connecting with missions supporters, and eating all the Chik-fil-a and drinking all the Dr. Pepper I can get. 

Oh and speaking of family...

My family is super important to me.

There's my mom.

And I have one brother.

He's married to the lady I call my awesome sister-in-law.

And they gave me one of the biggest blessings ever. They gave me the gift of being an aunt, which I've written about here and here :)

And I can't talk about family and not mention my dad. My dad passed away in April 2015, after a long bout with sickness. It was most definitely, the most difficult thing I've ever gone through. And there are still times when something will make me think of him and that familiar painful sting of grief will hit me again. But, I do know that my dad loved the Lord with all his heart. And that is such a gift!

So back to present day...

I started this blog as a way to keep family and friends back home informed of my ministry (and life) over here in Senegal. I love to write. In fact, it's one of the few semi-creative bones in my body. And over the years, this blog has become almost therapeutic. It's been so helpful to be able to bear (bare?) my soul on here.

So whether you've been reading since the beginning...

Or if today's your first visit...

Thanks for stopping by and reading.

And if you have any questions, feel free to comment below or send me an email at enichols85@gmail.com and I'll get back to you soon.