Ch-ch-ch-changes...

Just a heads-up: for the next two (or three) years, I will be incommunicado. Why, you ask so naïvely? Because I got accepted to grad school, that's why, my friend. And it's going to be nuts.

About four years ago, I sent a text message to two of my friends: "I want to teach deaf kids." Granted, this is not the most eloquent of all text messages, and looking back on it, I wish it would have been more beautifully worded. But this is what I got. It was the spring of 2009, and it was the beginning of a great passion.

In the fall of 2009, I started teaching myself sign language through youtube videos (praise God for youtube) and started inquiring about the Deaf/Hard of Hearing (DHH) program at the U. Since then I have taken ASL classes, I have observed an Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) DHH classroom and a middle school DHH classroom, and I have been accepted to grad school.

Nearly four years of passion has been channeled to this moment. I could explode with happiness. I'm a happy crier (just ask my sister-in-law), and I will cry with happiness soon I'm sure. Yes, I do love my job, and no, I don't want to stop teaching English. But this is what God made me for. I feel a distinct calling to this position, this job.

I don't know what it will look like honestly. I don't know where I will end up teaching. I don't know how long it will take me to get through the program (though I have a projection). I don't know if God will say go to Ireland or India or China (with Hope Station??). I don't know a lot of things, but I know that I am excited and passionate and overwhelmed.

So for the next few years, as I go to school and teach English full-time, I probably won't be doing much blogging or texting or facebooking or tweeting. Maybe it won't change, but it probably will.

I don't like changes, but this is a change that I'm so excited about I can't breathe.

Providing Love in Public Schools: A Christ-Centered Goal

On the first day I have spent any time on Facebook in three or four days, I stumbled upon an amazing article about Christians becoming involved in public schools.

Here is my heart:

I want to love children throughout their education. I want to be a loving presence in a broken life. I want to be encouragement where there is none. I want to make a difference in their lives whether they be 18 or 8 or 8 months, whether they be deaf or hearing or stubbornly ignoring the world. I want to be there for them when crises arise. I want to save them from their broken and neglecting homes. I want to create a safe haven from them. I want the love of Christ to be obvious to them in how I treat them, respect them, teach them.

I did go to a private school for a while, both in elementary school and in college. But my heart is truly in the public school system. And this can only be because of Christ. We are not to isolate ourselves.

Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.... (Philippians 2:14-15)

I know that the public school system has its flaws and that Christians might not be able to reform every school, but being there, present in the midst of all the darkness, might bring Christ's light to someone who might not have known it otherwise.

This article has a lot of really good points. I would encourage you to read it, whether you agree or not. Gaining knowledge helps you form more Godly opinions. Read the article and read your Bible. But disregard the article if you have little time. Dig into the Word and pray about where God is leading you, public schools or not.