Sunday, June 29, 2014

First Day of "Kindergarten"


A couple weeks ago, I dropped my two oldest kids off at 'kindergarten" for the first time.  Ok, well, maybe it wasn't kindergarten, per se, but it was what I imagine that day would feel like.  

I never had a 'first day of kindergarten' day with my kids.  The Lord called us into homeschooling when Caleb was preschool age.  I didn't really want to ever homeschool (those people are weird!).  I didn't ever know anyone who homeschooled or was homeschooled when I was growing up.  The idea wasn't even on my radar. . . ever!  

And then the Lord began to open up our world.  Caleb wanted to read books when he was very young.  I was a CPA not an elementary school teacher.  "Teaching young kids how to read" is not anywhere on the course list for the business school.  I was (and continue to be) way out of my element!  However, the Lord began to introduce us to families that homeschooled and some of them didn't seem all that different from us (we have since come to the conclusion that we are weird too!). I started asking them questions and well . . . here we are.

And then I had to take them to 'kindergarten'!  To be honest, Caleb probably had his first day of 'kindergarten' last summer when he went on a global journey to Haiti.  It was hard to send him away (and out of the country) for a week or so.  But it was a great experience that stretched him in many, many ways.  So a couple weeks ago, when I watched him introduce himself and make friends almost the instant we arrived, I was pretty confident that he was going to be ok.

And then there was my sweet, introverted, beautiful daughter.  She is 14 and well past the 'kindergarten' age for most people, but for me, she was too young to leave in an environment where she had never been. Where she didn't know any other girls.  Where I didn't know anyone!  

They were attending "Awakening Teen Camp" at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City.  It is actually two camps.  The first is a ten-day camp that includes a 3-day conference called "Fascinate".  The 2nd camp is actually the real reason that they were going.  This camp is called the "Music Academy".  It is a 8-day camp centered around worship.  The two camps (including a couple days in between) would be almost 3 weeks away from home. 

When we checked them in, their bags were searched for 'unapproved' items.  They were to be completely 'unplugged' for the whole time that they were at camp.  This is so awesome. . . until I want to communicate with them!

So, did I mention that I homeschool?  My kids are pretty much with me 24/7 and when they aren't, we text and message and talk on the phone. We had to give their phones to their counselors.  They would get them back once a day for a short period of time so they could call or text us.  Not exactly how I was used to communicating with them!

As I watched my son introduce himself, shake hands and talk to people he didn't know, my daughter was right by my side.  As the shuttle took my son and his friend (Peter) off to their room in another location, I watched my daughter stand all by herself.  I offered to stay until Caleb returned but she kept saying "I'm ok, Mom".  Prior to this day, she kept saying "I have peace about going, Mom" every time I questioned her.  I had to turn away from her so she wouldn't see the tears in my eyes.  Oh man, it was hard.

From the beginning, we had planned on a family trip to KC during the few days between camps. I knew that I would need to see them and talk to them just to make sure that they were doing well.  Our friends, the Knutsons, went as well.  Their son, Peter, was also attending the camps. 

We had a great couple of days together.  The kids were tired but doing really well.  The Lord was speaking to their hearts and drawing them to Him.  We spent the time talking, eating, swimming, shopping, attending church and doing their laundry, so they could pack it all back up for the 2nd camp - the one that they were very excited to attend!

We took them back to registration last Saturday and this time it was completely different!  The counselors knew who they were.  There were 'fist bumps' and genuine smiles that said 'welcome back'.  Is this like the 2nd day of 'kindergarten'? Or maybe the first day of First Grade?  

It was so much easier to leave them the 2nd time around, for so many reasons.  This was the camp that they had been anticipating. This time they would be getting out their instruments, deepening their skills and learning new techniques.  They both were very comfortable in this familiar environment.  

I am still praying that my sweet, introverted daughter will connect with another sweet girl during her time this week, but, if not, I know that she is going to be ok.  The Lord has them.  He is speaking to them and has great plans for them.  I need to trust them into His care because, really, that is where they belong.  


Thursday, June 19, 2014

Learning, Walking and Sweating!





Actually, the title should be "Aprendiendo, Caminando y Sudando!"  But since many of you don't understand Spanish, I will stick with the English version!  These are the best 3 words to describe our trip last week to Puerto Rico!  From the moment we landed in San Juan, we were walking.  We did take a taxi, ride some buses and hop on the train, but we walked to get everywhere.  And the minute you began walking, you were sweating!  It was hot and very humid.  However, I was not complaining (at least not too loudly) because of the previous post I did about our trip (if you recall, I was very excited that it was WARM in Puerto Rico!).  

Don and I started language school Monday morning. We walked to the school (stopping by McDonalds for coffee!!) to begin our assessment and fill out paperwork.  We ended up in the same class with 2 other girls.  Our teacher was amazing.  He taught us completely in Spanish for 3 hours everyday.  Then Don and I had signed up for an extra hour of tutoring which happened right after the group class.  It was very challenging but so good.  

We were pretty excited after the first day until we went to order pizza for lunch.  We did not understand a word the girl behind the counter said to us at Papa John's.  I began our group class on Tuesday morning in total discouragement.  During my tutoring time, I told the teacher what had happened.  He began to explain to me how the Puerto Ricans spoke Spanish.  This was to be a theme throughout our week.

After class on Tuesday, we headed out to explore.  We took the train, waited for the bus and then walked to Old San Juan.  This part of the city is very historical and so beautiful.  We visited 2 old forts, walked around the cobblestone streets, and ate at some fun places.




However, once again, if the Puerto Ricans spoke in Spanish to us, we had a very hard time understanding them. Notice I said 'if'.  In most cases, they took one look at us and spoke in English even when we first approached them in Spanish.  

On Wednesday, we went on an excursion with other students.  It was a great experience and we had lots of fun.  However, our guide (who spoke to us in English the entire time) told us that Puerto Rico was not a good place to learn Spanish outside of the school.  This just confirmed what we had been discovering.  The Puerto Ricans use a lot of Spanglish.  Many of the people speak both Spanish and English especially in the tourist areas.  Also, the Puerto Ricans tend to drop some consonants when they speak.  

For instance, we are taught to say 'buenos dias' for good morning.  The Puerto Ricans drop the s's at the end of both words so it sounds like 'bueno dia' which is not hard to figure out.  However, when they are dropping the letters at the end of several syllables all at the same time, it was really hard to understand.  

Despite all of this, this was exactly the trip that Don and I were supposed to take.  The school was awesome and our teacher was so good.  He encouraged us and gave us the motivation that we needed to keep learning on our own.  He helped us to see where we needed to focus.  

And we had an awesome time together especially the last night!  We moved to a hotel with air conditioning! We checked in and took a nap in the wonderful coolness of our room!  We walked along the beach at night and again in the morning.  We rented a car and went on a day trip before we left on Saturday.  It was a blessing to have some down time at the end of our trip.  

We have much more Spanish to learn and we know that we will be learning forever.  But we are very thankful for the time we had to focus and the motivation we received to continue moving forward!  Puerto Rico is a beautiful place and we really enjoyed our visit and experience on the island.  Plus they had amazing coffee! ;)