On Being Left Behind

I've said a lot of goodbyes in my life. This summer is full of hard ones again. 

It doesn't ever get easy, but my least favorite are the ones where I am being left behind. 

The ones where you stand where you are and wave to the people as they drive away or disappear through the security checks. Because I have to turn around, go home, and its life as normal. No new adventures, life to set up, or cultures to explore. 

This summer marks 10 years since I moved to South Carolina, during those 10 years I have had lots of family and friends that have come and gone, leaving me here waving goodbye. For probably the last 5 years I looked for ways to get out. I wanted us to be the ones getting to leave. I wasn't supposed to live in the States for this long. I was willing to serve God in the difficult places, uproot my family and go. But instead He called us to stay. 

Staying is hard for my TCK [third culture kid] blood. Settling and putting down roots is not something I totally understand or am very good at. My family and friends are scattered all over the US and the world. But this year He has worked in my heart to help me know that it is okay to stay. Here's a couple of things I have learned in my years of being left behind.

God called me to serve Him wherever I am. 

Location doesn't really matter when it comes to serving God. Coming from a family that was filled with people in ministry, I honestly struggled at first that God had called us to "regular" jobs. But I quickly realized what a great place that was to be! I didn't have to go far to be the hands and feet of Jesus. All around me there were needs. Living and working in the States helped change my perspective on the needs here.

I need to pray for the ones who GET to go.

I know what it is like to be the "goer." How hard that is too. How challenging it is to pack up your life and how hard the goodbyes are when you get on the plane. I need to pray instead of be jealous. Which is easy for me to want to be. I need to empathize with their feelings instead of getting lost in my feelings of being left behind.

Don't get too settled.

Last year we took a step of faith that caused some uprooting in our lives. But God settled us again into a better situation. Whether its jobs, houses, cities, states, or countries, we never know when God is going to ask us to go and just like Abraham we will have to trust Him with the unknown.


So as I keep waving those goodbyes to family leaving, these are the things I need to remember. Not that it will make them any easier.

Five for Friday: Enjoying life!

The this has been a fun, but busy week! After I got my LRP and syllabi figured out for next year, I felt so much more at ease. I had to make some last minute changes, but I am excited to start planning for next year. 

But in the meantime, I am enjoying EVERY minute with my sweet boys. I think I love it even more because I get to KEEP being with them next year. I love that I can still pursue teaching, yet get to be at home more! 

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This weekend my brother-in-law got married! While Will was busy with groomsmen stuff, the boys and I enjoyed a day in Charleston! They loved the water taxi, and I got lots of new ideas for fun things when they are a little older.

Then we headed to the SC Aquarium (free for teachers!). The Madagascar exhibit was lots of fun, especially when the lemurs came over to say hello. We had lots of fun seeing all the fish too! ;)

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In the evening we enjoyed a fun and fabulous wedding! I'm not going to say how much I had to bribe the boys to keep their boy ties on ;), but there were LOTS of treats in my bag to help! 

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I reached 100 followers this week! I know some people may hit these milestones a lot more quickly, but I was proud all the same.  Blogging this past year has been a great outlet for me and the point I was at in my teaching. And now that I split my time between some fun preschool activities at home, and 3rd grade Literature, Writing, and History for 2 days a week, I am looking forward to continuing to share my inquiries and creating resources to help me, and hopefully others too!

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Earlier this week, I wrote about some schedule cards I made for us at home. It has helped us get up and moving quicker in the mornings and Alex loves planning out our day.  You can check them out here!

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One of the things I have LOVED about watching my boys grow is the fact that I get to see new learning everyday! Isn't it such an amazing thing! What makes me really excited about being at home with them is the fact that I can really build that sense of wonder and inquiry into them. My goal for Alex is to help him learn as much as possible, but in a way that he doesn't even realize it. 

Lately he has been into mazes. He asked for a maze book one afternoon, so I found some on the internet and printed them off, and stapled them into a little book. 

It is so interesting to me to realize that he is building his problem solving skills by retracing his path until he got back to the right one!

Early Childhood education is so fascinating to me! Having taught first grade will always be a gift because I got to see the reading process unfold in front of me, but now to watch language, number sense, problem-solving skills, (and so much more) develop in my 2 and 4 year old is also so beautiful.
It makes me just love being an educator and a parent! :) It also makes me want to keep exploring so many more avenues of education. So much to keep learning! I love it!

Linking up with Kacey's Five for Friday! 

Five for Friday: Enjoying Summer!

Just another week of summer! It's kind of fun to do Five for Friday during the summer to see all the fun random things we are up too. :)

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Yep, I live with a bunch of super heroes! Will is definitely a super hero dad! Liam at 2 can pretty much name all of the super heroes and Alex will forever be batman. Love these boys and the great summer we have been having!

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Speaking of superheroes...

My brother-in-law shared these family photos we took on our family vacation in Ohio. Please look at my child, front and center in the striped shirt...

What possesses him to do things like this!?! He is such a character! 

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This is NOT a number you want to see in the middle of summer in SC! Our AC broke JUST before I was going to have my teammates over for sushi! Great timing...

But, Oh. My. Goodness.
Seeing these ladies again did my heart good. Its been a busy summer for all of us, but we have a blast making sushi and talking about life. It was good. :)

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My brother-in-law is getting married so I was making the boys try on their outfits... because I just finished making them some bow ties....

Poor Liam. I didn't give him enough time after his nap. He was NOT a happy camper, but hopefully we will stay this clean for the wedding... I have some serious bribing that is going to go on to make sure they keep those bow ties on! ;)

{five}

Its definitely a challenge to plan for something you have never taught! My mind has been racing with all that I need to teach and getting it down on paper... its definitely been a process. You can go here to read about what my big plans for the year are! 

It's hard to believe we are almost in the middle of July! I am excited about the wedding we have this weekend. It will be fun to see lots of family and share in their special day! Hope you are all enjoying your summer! :)

Be sure to check out what other teacher's are up to over at Kacey's Five for Friday!