The Lord is My Shepherd (BCM Week 5)

Hello everyone,

This last week was, by far, the hardest one. Stress levels were high. The amount of sleep I was getting dwindled. Lessons weren't quite as organized as they needed to be. There was too much to do and no time to do it. But God was gracious and He sustained me. Every week I see the desperate need to be in the Word and in constant communication with my Heavenly Father or else I'm off my game.

Good news! My Monday sign language class is really taking off. Stephanie, the other intern who has been helping me, has been a lifesaver. My kids are really enjoying learning how to sign an American Sign Language interpretation of the Black-Eyed Peas song, "Where is the Love?" One of the things we've been stressing with the kids is that the only way to restore broken people is through the amazing love of God. He is the only one who can guide us and help us. For a class of 15 boys and 1 girl, they did spectacularly last week.

Also my theater class.... well, in the last 30 minutes before class on Tuesday since it totally slipped our minds, Chanel and I managed to write a script. We're doing a version of Noah's Ark with more modernized language. The kids loved it. They had so much fun with it last week, and so did I.

My girls in my homeroom have been so well-behaved. Even during our crazy scavenger hunt in the Baylands last week when we got separated from the group and we were way behind, my girls were still singing and smiling and laughing. They kept repeating "even if we don't win, we're still winners, Miss Hannah," Anahi said. Oh yes they were! After hiking 4+ miles in the hot sun and getting "lost," we still managed to come in 2nd place.

This week my homeroom is participating in the Reading Olympics. There are four categories: Reading Comprehension, Reading Puzzles, Fast Reading, and Reading Activities. Currently Bianca is in 1st with Izzie in a close 2nd followed by Stephany and then Anahi. They are getting into the spirit of competition but are still sweetly enjoying learning.

Continue to pray for the health of interns - mentally, spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Like I previously said, I was much more stressed out and tired. God has been doing great things in East Palo Alto and has really been stretching me outside of my comfort zone. I had to be patient with kids who are on different levels mathematically and restructure my lessons during classtime. I had to learn how to effectively and lovingly discipline students last week. I led a guided tour someplace I'd never been, someplace I was uncomfortable with, but God was watching out for us in the middle of no-man's-land. And my girls were still so cheerful. It was a good reminder. "Out of the mouth of babes," right?

Continue to pray for unity and patience among the interns. I really feel like the Devil has been personally attacking all of us. I took time over the weekend just to reflect, relax, and retreat into the Word. God definitely did some restoring over the weekend as I was reading Psalm 23. Yesterday in church I was reminded about finding rest in God and needing that down time. The songs were so beautiful and the service so reverent and the message, simple but deep. I can't wait for Sundays simply for that reason alone and to be able to be rejuvenated before the upcoming week.

Continue to pray for my classes for their patience, for their dedication to their work, for listening ears, and for understanding during the lessons.

Pray for encouragement. Pray for flexibility. Pray for strength of mind. Pray that we'll be slow to speak, slow to anger. Pray that we'll be open-minded. Pray for gentleness and humility.

I know this is a long list but I really do believe in the power of prayer. God promises to answer the prayers of the faithful, not always the way we want, but He never ignores us. God needs to be first in order for us to be on our toes and fully ready for this. God never promises the Christian life will be easy so obviously we're doing something right if the Devil feels the need to attack us. Thank you for your continued support and prayers and I've enjoyed hearing from some of you. It really is encouraging.

My girls have been teaching me a little Spanish, so I'll conclude with this.

Psalm 23:1
"The Lord is my Shepherd."
"El Senor es mi Pastor."

In His Grace,
Hannah