Archive for October, 2009

  • 27 Oct

    Posted by
    emily


    Category

    Advent Conspiracy

    1

    As I watch all the Halloween decorations here get bigger and bigger (since when do people put up lights and inflatable pumpkins/ghosts/monsters for halloween?  not just one or two people, but alot, so it looks like a demonic christmas…) I dont even want to think how Christmas will look this year.  Despite the recession and lost jobs and pay, I still think Americans are going to go all out for Christmas.  And forget why we celebrate.  I found an interesting website to keep in mind for this holiday season: http://www.adventconspiracy.org  It is basically churches and people grouping together to say “I’m gonna buy one less gift and give more meaningful gifts that cost less money.  And with that savings, I’m gonna donate money to build wells, feed orphans, host Russian orphans for Christmas in the US, etc.”

    I was pleased to see that my old church from Georgia participated last year.  I want to get my church here doing something like it.  Sometimes church here is so stagnant, we need to get people moving and acting on their faith.  So, in this Christmas season, as I had just officially started Christmas shopping yesterday, I am going to make a Christmas gift list with lots of meaningful gifts for family and friends on it.  I better get started cuz one of my ideas is going to be rather time consuming and messy!!! This will be a fun Christmas season!

  • 23 Oct

    Posted by
    emily


    Category

    Photos!

    0
    Brasil (Short Version)

    I finally got a glimpse of Brasil online! 153 photos out of 3,500 took some time to pare down! Hope you like it!

  • 22 Oct

    Posted by
    emily


    Category

    New

    0

    This week I finally started my new position at the school I have been working at since February.  I switched to a more teaching position, working with a different autistic boy.  However, the new kid is non-verbal.  He understands everything you tell him to do, he has receptive language skills, and we are working on his expressive communication skills.  I think it is a good switch.  (I like the pay raise too)

    I’m in a kind of in-between waiting season right now.  I have seen where I want to go in life, in Brasil and some things in Africa, too.  But right now I am in God’s holding tank, waiting for some things to work out for me to go back to Brasil.  I have a door wide open to return to my heart’s home in Brasil, so we will see if that remains open.

    So this week I took the next step- took my new job.  Saw my boyfriend off to Brasil, a painful goodbye since we dont really know when we will see each other again.  So many changes in the past month, I cant quite keep up with myself.  Changes in circumstances, changes in my heart.  I think its good though.  I need to keep moving forward and not look behind.

  • 07 Oct

    Posted by
    emily


    Category

    Poop in the Hallway

    0

    I diverge from all spiritual matters on this post. Except that the town I live/work in has some messed up kids at the school. There was poop strewn down the hallway today. It was disgusting. The thing is, that’s not the first time I saw poop in a school hallway.

    Just about two years ago, when I was nannying, I had just started potty-training the little 3-year old who has mild cerebral palsy and communication issues. I had really just started potty-training him, and we didn’t even have any underwear his size at that point, so little stinker was commando while we went to pick up his older siblings from school.

    Poor little kid, we were inside the school, right outside the bathroom, I think the 4 of us (we were still waiting for the oldest to finish school) had just made a pit-stop and we were waiting int he hallway. As the kids were inevitably fooling around in the hallway, we noticed some poop on the floor of the hallway.

    EWwww. We all thought it was gross, and I immediately checked little stinker’s pants to see if it had been him. Didn’t look like it. So we assumed it wasn’t him. Actually, it most likely WAS little stinker. I didn’t really know what to do, considering I didn’t even think it was one of the kids I was responsible for. So, we went back out to the car. The 8 year old was going “Ew, why would someone poop on the floor?”

    And so it happened again today. This time, I am SURE it was not the kid I am responsible for, as he was with me down the hallways when a teacher noticed it and covered it with paper towels until the janitor could come.

    Maybe next time I will have some great spiritual insight. I just know there is never a dull moment when you work with kids! May be kinda gross at times!

  • 06 Oct

    Posted by
    emily


    Category

    On the things we never talk about

    0

    The library my mom works at is doing a domestic-abuse awareness project called “The Clothesline Project” where people decorate t-shirts with things concerning domestic abuse on them.  And the shirts get hung in the library for the month.  My mom asked if I would decorate one for a friend of a friend whose baby was murdered by the baby’s own father in a domestic-abuse situation.  I said “Sure” and immediately thought of other kids I know/have known who have been abused, unfortunately.

    So, the shirt is a heart, half living, half dying, because it is being hurt and bruised by the ones who are supposed to love it.  But the thing about children is that they can be resilient, and so only half of it is hurting.  The other half still has hope.

    I wrote out the lyrics to a Glorious Unseen song called “Sustain” that has been going thru my mind.  It is basically asking God some questions, fundamental questions of humanity.  Why do children get abused and die?  Why do little kids have to come into school with bruises on their backs and tell their teachers they didn’t want to come to school today because of that.  Why do kids get so abused that they end up with every bone on half their body broken and with severe brain damage?  Why does God let these things happen?

    I don’t have the answers.  I just know its awful, and we, the ones who know these kids, need to speak up and speak out against this.  We need to step in, if needed, to protect these children.  I only wrote 4 names on the shirt… I could’ve written so many more if I included kids I met in Brasil or kids I knew who were sexually abused.  But this was to just focus on the US and on domestic violence.  Ok, so one is from Mexico, but I met her in 2003, and her face still haunts my mind.  I cannot fathom how anyone can hurt a child, so precious, especially how a parent can hurt their own child.  It just doesn’t make sense to me.

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