Hope Leads to Joy

                                            

It took 10 minutes, several attempts to troubleshoot, and then an idea popped into my head.  "Right click on the yellow lines, Ellen."  I don't know how it happened, but my laptop speaker settings had been switched, and we weren't able to hear the kids. Right clicking on the yellow lines allowed us to not only wave at our friends in Uganda, but we were now able to hear them.  Worrying about our Skype connection had done me no good.  Listening to the still small voice in my head opened our communication lines.

We had 20 joy filled minutes of questions and answers, sharing art work, and laughter.  The highlight of our conversation was getting to see our friends' chickens.  The sight and sound of chickens clucking on another continent brought us all closer together.  Our service efforts took on a whole new meaning.  Now when my students are doing extra chores at home they are working to help their friends.  Our service project went from being an idea to being a friendship.  Each time I experience these Skypes with my students, I am moved at how this technology provides my students opportunities they never would have had before.

I'm excited to see what joy our next 2 Skypes will bring.  This remains the most important connection God has given me as a result of my PLN.  I can think of no better way to teach my students about the continent of Africa then to give them the means to make friends with these children.  If you are interested in learning more about this service opportunity, please go to www.chattothefuture.ca.  You can also follow @ChattotheFuture on Twitter.

Let's Take a Walk....

I'm currently reading a book my friend and colleague Betsy recommended.  Walk in Their Shoes by Jim Ziolkowski has me on the edge of my seat and pondering many things.  Ziolkowski mentions several times that Jesus said "Fear is useless, what is needed is trust."  (Luke 8:50/Mark 5:36) I'm only halfway through the book, but the verse has been a refrain in my head since I started reading.

I lost my Dad to bone cancer at age 19.  My Dad was 60 when he passed away.  Up until his diagnosis, I think my biggest fears were probably roller coasters and escalators.  I dreamed as a child of being a wife and a mom.  If you had asked me between ages 7-15 what I would be when I grew up I would have said confidently "I'm going to be a wife, a mother, and a writer." I never dreamed my Dad wouldn't see me become an adult.  

But in one month's time during my 16th summer, my Dad was diagnosed with cancer, his father passed away, and his mother had a colostomy.  This was the first time I felt my need for God.  I remember feeling moments of unexplainable peace.  The night the hospital called my Mom to say it wouldn't be long, I didn't believe it was Dad's time.  I felt unexplainable peace as we rode to the hospital.  I had tried all semester to get a ride home from college to see my Dad.  When the opportunity to come home came, I saw that as a miracle.  I couldn't imagine that I was coming home to say good bye to my Dad.

As my 20s passed into my 30s, my biggest fear became wondering if God would call my Mom before I was a wife and a mother.  What would I do if I had to face her death alone? I couldn't imagine my life without both of my parents and no family of my own.  Surely that wouldn't be God's will.

Early May 2003, my Mom and I were enjoying a sunny Sunday afternoon on her patio. Several male cardinals were circling between bushes in her backyard.  We discussed Mom's belief that God used cardinals to show my Mom that my Dad was still really close to her.  Mom believed this was how God showed her that their love didn't die with my Dad.  As we talked, I asked her if she could tell me what our signal would be when she passed.  I didn't want to be morbid, but I thought it would help me to know so I wouldn't have any doubts when God did call her home.  

I'll never forget my Mom's response.  "Honey, trust me.  When the time comes, you'll know."  

Little did I know that 6 weeks later, a week that started with rainbows, literal rainbows, would be the week I would find out.  Rainbows would be God's way of reassuring me that my Mom's love for me didn't die with her.  Mom passed away on June 10, 2003.  I was now living with my worst fear realized.

The weeks and months that followed my Mom's passing are a blur to me now.  I was never without help and support when I needed it.  Two of my friends, Shirley and Jill, had both lost their mothers at the same age I was when my Mom passed.  Shirley and Jill helped me throughout the process of cleaning out my Mom's townhouse and were with me on the day I turned in her keys.  Family members came when they could, and friends were there when I needed more hands and to give me support throughout the process.  I had never thought when I gave my Mom gifts that one day I would have to decide what to do with those gifts.  

Fast forward 13 years, and I am still doing my best to channel my inner Mary Tyler Moore and hold on to the confidence that I too am "gonna make it after all."  I have Hope and believe that God has beautiful things in store for me.  When my fears seem to overshadow that Hope, I pray harder.  I seek good counsel, and I ask for help when I need it.  One remarkable consequence of my not quite 2 years on Twitter is the growing trust I have in myself and my talents.  I see failure as reality PD.  If a lesson doesn't go well, I know God will use it to show me a much more effective way to teach that content. I trust that I'm not alone in my efforts to help my students.  I trust that there will always be people to help me guide my students as they learn and make progress every day.  

I have learned that fear really is useless.  Trust is what is necessary.  Thankfully, that's a tool that does not depend on the strength of my wifi connection:)

Getting Ready...

We were so ready.  My students had drawn pictures of their favorite part of our presentation on Africa yesterday.  We had written questions to ask our friends at CHAT House in Uganda.  I had charged both my camera batteries and cleared my phone.  I was pacing the floor in excited anticipation of our Skype session.  I had tweeted first thing this morning about how excited I was for my students to meet our friends in Uganda for the first time.  I had prayed we would have no technical difficulties.  When our principal walked in you could only hear the sound of the kids breathing and their papers rattling.

But through reasons none of us could explain, our call failed and we weren't able to talk with them today.  In hopeful anticipation of our technical difficulties being resolved by next Wednesday when we try again to Skype with our friends, I decided to post what I wrote on the evening of our first Skype last year with our CHAT House friends.  

I am excited that my students still have 3 Skypes with these children to look forward to.  Hope you all had a wonderful Wednesday!

"Let us greet each other with a smile, for a smile is the beginning of love." Mother Teresa

Today I had a small taste of what Mother Teresa was talking about.  Seeing the smiles of the CHAT House children, hearing their answers to our questions, and seeing their joy in action was life changing for me.  I am reminded of why I became a teacher.  I want every child to have the same hope my parents gave me by telling me the story of the Gospel.  Jesus has walked with me every step of my life, and I want all children to have that Gift.  Hope that only Christ can give.

I know as my first graders get to know these children better, they will see how Jesus' Love for all of us connects us.  They will see that His Love for us is the only thing that matters.  

For more information on this amazing ministry organization, please visit www.chattothefuture.ca.

Ellen Deem

February 6, 2015