Earth Hour

On Saturday the world celebrated Earth Hour, a global initiative to raise awareness about the damage being done to the environment through human carelessness and the need to make positive changes. The goal of Earth Hour is for people to switch off all the electricity for one hour. This year is the second year Bahrain participated, but this was the first year that Bahrain officially made the list as one of the participating countries. The financial towers, the World Trade Center, and the Grand Mosque, among other things, all shut off their lights from 8:30-9:30. A local group called Thirst Quenchers was spearheading the event. Our youth group was among some of the participants. The event started at 7 with a live band. When the time came to shut off the lights, the group put on a program about environmental awareness using skits, songs, and dance. Our youth group was asked to help by moving huge screens back and forth across the stage. As director of traffic, I had the best job by far. :) But the kids did a great job, and the Thirst Quenchers were so thankful we were there. In the summers our youth group teams up with Thirst Quenchers to distribute water bottles in the labor camps, so we have a history with the group. It's really great to see young people getting involved in things like this.

a lesson in parenting

The foll0wing events are completely factual. The names have been changed for the sake of the involved parties.

A somewhat puzzled looking secretary entered my room this morning. I was in the middle of class, but she walked right in front of me and whispered:

Is Joe at school today?

Me: Joe? No, he's absent.

Secretary: I just called his father, and his father says he's in school.

Me (with an equally puzzled look on my face): Really? No, he's not here. He's been absent all week. He came for a little bit in the morning yesterday, but then he went home because he still had a fever.

Secretary (looked even more puzzled): That's weird.

Later in the day, I went to the office to check on the situation.

Me: What ever happened with Joe?

S: Well, I called his father back and said both his kids are out of school today.

Joe's Father: WHAT??? How is that possible?

Secretary: I checked with both teachers, and they are not here.

Joe's Father: They should be in school!

Secretary: Well, they aren't.

Joe's Father: (Pause) Oh, yes, that's right. The driver called this morning and said the kids threw up in the car on the way to school. They went home. Thanks so much for calling.

birthday celebration

Birthdays at school are the best. They really are. My students absolutely LOVE celebrating my birthday. It happens every year, and this year was no exception. Once again I was showered with gifts and flowers. Interestingly, this year I realized that my least favorite students, the ones who drive me nuts, the ones who make me lose my cool, and frankly the ones I show the least love to, are the ones who were the most excited about my birthday, and the ones who were so eager to give me presents. Kinda made me rethink some things...

But anyway, on to the festivities!

I made made a cake and brought it in to share with my class. From the reaction of my students, you would have thought my simple, yellow, Betty Crocker cake was a masterpiece from the most renowned baker. Many were absolutely begging me for the recipe because they just couldn't believe that I made such a thing. Ha!

I should actually back up a bit. It all started with the flowers that came to the school from my dad. Every year since we were little he has gotten us flowers for our birthday, and not even the Atlantic Ocean or a 9 hour time difference can break that tradition. :) They came a day early and were delivered to the library where my class was trying to read. Immediately they were consumed with a burning desire to know who sent flowers to their teacher. I even had 6 girls sneak into the room during recess to read the card that was stuck amidst the blooms!

On the day of my actual birthday, Rey surprised me with a mountain of gifts. I asked him the day before if he was going to wrap them, and from the sheepish look on his face, I knew he had forgotten. So he was busy in the morning searching for wrapping paper. He ended up finding some and when he got it home, he realized it was clear with small gold flowers and hearts on it. So much for secrecy! :) But it was an A for effort!

The gift mountain awaiting me after school:

Rey had to work in the evening, so I relaxed at home until he was done. Then he and I plus a few close friends went out to an Italian restaurant where we stuffed ourselves with a delicious dinner.

So here are the final results of my big day:

Pajamas :) (this is the second time I've gotten pj's from a student!)

decorated box, perfume, watch

mug (Smile, it will make people wonder what you are up to), Indian version of a George Foreman, called a Sanjeev Kapoor :) (from Rey's parents), AWESOME digital camera (from Rey), bunny

an extremely Arab gift--perfume set, candle holders, wallet

and a GUITAR!!! I'm sure many of you are laughing right now, but believe it or not, this is what I wanted (also from Rey. Despite the clear wrapping paper, he did a VERY good job!) It is my goal in my 25th year to defy nature and learn to do something musical: play the guitar!

oh that makes sense

I have been having a hard time at school lately. The students are just not getting the material. No matter how many times and ways I teach it, they are just not getting it. Two weeks ago I was called into the principal's office to discuss last quarter's report card grades. Needless to say, she was not very happy about the number of F's I gave, and she was additionally concerned about how many students were failing EVERY subject. Of course I was not unaware of the situation; in fact I had been feeling like quite the failure myself due to this lack of progress with my students. This week we had a meeting with all the grade 5 teachers. The principal is getting concerned about some of the students moving on to grade six next year, and she has finally decided to do something about it. The middle school has a remedial reading/English teacher who is able to come to the elementary school in the mornings to work with the fifth grade students that are really struggling with basic English. The principal compiled a list of those students she thought were eligible for the program and wanted our feedback. As she passed around the list, I was shocked. There were 14 students listed and 12 of them were mine! That means that out of the 14 weakest students in all of grade 5, one went to 5B, one went to 5D, and 12 came to 5A with me.

What kind of planning is that???

convictions

I attended a conference in Dubai this past weekend. It was techinically a conference for university aged students, but a friend invited me to go along and I'm glad I did. I've been getting extremely discouraged and frustrated working with the youth ministry in my church, and this weekend was a great source of encouragement. This group, FOCUS, is completely centered on the Gospel and sharing it with the people around them. I've never been one to evangelize much, mostly because I feel I don't know how to do it, but the Bible is very clear that spreading the Gospel is something we are called to do. One of the speakers read this quote, and I was beyond convicted. This is coming from an athiest, which makes it all the more convicting:

“… I’ve always said, you know, that I don’t respect people who don’t proselytize. I don’t respect that at all. If you believe that there is a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell, or not getting eternal life or whatever, and you think that, well, it’s not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward… how much do you have to hate somebody to not proselytize? How much do you have to hate somebody to believe that everlasting life is possible and not tell them that? I mean, if I believed beyond a shadow of doubt that a truck was coming at you, and you didn’t believe it, and that truck was bearing down on you, there’s a certain point where I tackle you. And this is more important than that…” — Penn Gillette, (of Penn and Teller), atheist, quoted in Colin Marshall and Tony Payne, The Trellis and the Vine

May we all be bold and unashamed in our proclamation of the Gospel.