Here, there, and everywhere

Pretty much describes my life since last time I wrote...

I've been trying to get all my traveling/visiting done before I leave for El Salvador, but since I usually wait till the last minute to finish my to-do list, it makes for a pretty hectic last couple of days. :)

So to recap, last weekend James Weaver and I started out just ahead of Jonas (the snowstorm) to visit Shawn Lapp and my brother Aaron at Bald Eagle Boy's Camp. We got there Friday morning just before Aaron got out of the shower and gave him a good surprise when he came out his room (he hadn't been expecting our visit).

We had a very good weekend of sitting around talking, hiking through the snow, touring their campsites, and just being lazy together. I was so glad to finally be able to see where they live and what they do. In a way, their work is similar to mine, in that we both work with children who need help due to unfortunate circumstances, so we all had interesting stories to exchange.

I'm gonna miss my brother Aaron, but at least I could see him for a few days. I don't know if I could ever get used to working so hard year round and in the cold like he does, but I can see he enjoys it tremendously and does an excellent job! It's so inspiring to me how he tackles everything head on even without always knowing what will happen. He just does it and gives it his best. God bless you Aaron for your determination and willingness to sacrifice to help others!

Aaron and I just before I left for home.

James and I had intended to leave for home Saturday, but we had to wait until Sunday due to all the snow we had back home. And yes, it really was that bad. Winter storm Jonas wasn't messing around...

Snow, snow, and more snow.

We had several 6-7 foot drifts around our property.
There's me for scale. :)

We did get home though by Sunday noon and the roads by that time had been mostly cleared, although we still had to be very careful in some places. 

So continuing on with a rundown of my busy life these last couple days... During the week I helped with the open house at my place of employment at Superior Plastic Products. I was one of several people you would have talked with, had you decided to stop in on Wednesday or Thursday. I looked pretty important, with even an official name badge stating "Samuel Stoltzfus, registration". My job to put it simply? Sit there and run my mouth. Once you said something then I would enter it into the computer and then I would run my mouth again, say "have a nice day" and you were good to go! And lest you think otherwise, I really did enjoy it. I got to talk with all kinds of people, use a computer, and eat free food. Win win win!

The registration table. Janice, Corinne, and I all helped each other to make
sure each and every customer registered and knew exactly what was going on.

And then this weekend, four of my friends and I packed into my Corolla and traveled about eight hours to Cedarville, Ohio, to visit Thomas Fisher and Matt Glick who are currently studying there. Thomas is studying to be a doctor, and Matt is majoring in mechanical engineering. (correct me if I'm wrong there, guys) I think we all enjoyed peeking into their college lives a little bit--we even got to sit in some classes! For me, it was enjoyable being able to "go to college" even if it was only for a day. I have always really wanted to pursue more education, but so far it hasn't seemed to be God's plan for me to be able to do that. But maybe there's still time... I can always keep dreaming!

Caleb, James, Steven, Matt, me, Jason, Thomas.

And that brings me to today. Only four more whole days until I plan to fly out of the cold into the warm! I keep teasing my friends about how I hope the weather turns frigid in Pennsylvania, so I'll be able to make them envious of me lying in a hammock in El Salvador drinking an ice-cold Fanta, while they have icicles hanging off their faces. :)

But yeah. In all seriousness, it's getting down to the wire, folks! I'm really looking forward to teaching school in El Salvador again after my three month hiatus. This year will be quite a bit different from last year. I will be teaching the oldest class this year, along with Paty who will probably teach my former class, and a new staff member who will teach the youngest class. 

The other staff will stay pretty much the same, except for another new staff member to assume the responsibilities of the dorm mom. All told, there will be three teachers a dorm mom, dorm dad, and cook for a total of six staff, two of which will be newcomers. Hopefully by next time I will be able to have pictures and names for y'all to peruse and figure out if you're related. :)

Please pray for me as I make my final preparations and attempt to get all my ducks in a row for this year. I'm excited for what this year holds, but that excitement isn't without trepidation. I know it will be challenging for me, but I'm also certain that God will be able to teach me many new things if I let him. Pray that I could be pliable and ready to learn!

So much stuff

Well I'm down to just two weeks until I leave on February 4 and I've been accumulating more and more "stuff" on the floor in my room which I'm supposed to be able to fit into two suitcases. That will take a bit of a miracle, I'm thinking!

My growing pile. And I haven't even started packing clothes yet!

I've also been gathering a lot of good advice and encouragement from various teachers and friends as a I prepare for an older class this year. I really appreciate getting pro tips from more experienced people than I.

This past Sunday, Joel and Emily Reed came to visit for lunch. They mentioned “unit teaching” or a method of planning out the school year based on units such as animals, countries, or something to tie all your lessons together based on a common theme for a week or two at a time. Emily recommended I look into the My Father’s World curriculum which was a fabulous idea. For the first time in days it has given me some sort of definite direction for my madness.

I have (mostly) settled on the idea (taken from My Father’s World) of teaching about different countries throughout the year, then using that same theme to teach art, science, Bible, history, language, etc. For example, if we study China for a few weeks, then we’ll study, say, oceans in science class, the persecuted christians in Bible, Chinese art, and read about missionaries to China for language. Of course, this doesn't quite fit into everything, but it ties most things together quite nicely.

And I would really like hearing from all of you if you have any suggestions/comments about any of this. As I said, I enjoy hearing from fellow-teachers, and I know I have some very good teacher friends!

These last couple days have been spent at home. I quit working at the beginning of last week to focus on schoolwork. It's been very nice to spend some leisure time at home (trying) to get all my furry waterfowls in a row amidst all the busyness that still peers at me from around every corner.

This has been my spot on the couch for the
last several days. It's quite comfy!

Katelyn and I have spent some time playing Spot-It (it's her favorite game right now) and hanging out while Mom is gone doing other things. And I've enjoyed talking and messaging with some of the people from El Salvador as well.

As far as prayer requests go, probably my number one prayer request right now for me would be for an increased focus on my Heavenly Father in multiple ways. Instead of worrying or thinking about myself I need to dig into the God's Word and talk to Him. Why is it so hard to keep my priorities straight?!

Please also pray for all of the staff at CICS this year. Pray that we could work together and help each other accomplish our work among the deaf in El Salvador for the honor and glory of God!

We had our first snow fall a few days ago. It was so
exciting to see snow again! Hopefully we'll get
even more this weekend...

Ready or not

Time is flying along and time to leave for El Salvador is coming ready or not!

So am I ready? Hmmm, well sometimes it depends on the day you ask. These last days I've been getting anxious to see all the deaf children in El Salvador. Had you asked me a week ago, how I felt, I probably would have told you that I'm ready to leave straightaway.

Congratulations Andrea & Matthias!

But, this last week, I was at Matthias Beachy and Andrea Hershberger's wedding where I got to meet a lot of old CICS friends again. It was tremendous fun seeing everyone and exchanging memories, but as I was saying goodbye it really hit me hard that I will be going back to El Salvador and I will have none of these people going back with me. It was hard to say goodbye! I had to lean really hard on God and remind myself that He is one friend who will always be with me wherever I go.

It probably will be a bit of a challenge at the beginning of the year until everyone gets settled in, but I'm confident that ultimately this year will be a great year and I don't want to give the impression that CICS will never be the same again. I'm looking forward to meeting the new staff and getting to know them as I have done with my coworkers from previous years. We will be like a family and if we work together under God's protection and guidance, it will be a fantastic year--perhaps even better than before! Please pray for all of us as we prepare for school and converge on the tiny country of El Salvador to start a brand new school year.

And in the interest of keeping y'all up to speed, I thought I'd share with you the names of the students I will be teaching this year. I'll try to keep you posted as I get informed of other news as well.

Teresa (15 years old)

Teresa will be the oldest student in school this year. She is hardworking and almost always cheerful. She likes to tease and give everyone a hard time. If you like, you can read more about Teresa in a previous blog post of mine.


An animal that reminds me of Teresa: 
A playful monkey. Teresa loves to tease and make people laugh. At the same time, she is very intelligent and usually does her best at whatever she is trying to accomplish.

Eduardo (14 years old)

Eduardo will be the only guy even close to his age this year. It might be a bit difficult for him without any other guys to hang out with. But I'm sure he will make the best of it and maybe even socialize more with the girls if he can let go of some of his pride.

An animal that reminds me of Eduardo:
A koala after a good meal. Eduardo is friendly with almost everyone and very intelligent, but does everything at his own pace.

Beatriz (13 years old)

Beatriz has a hard home life, but you could never tell by the huge smile she wears almost constantly. She is good friends with Teresa--the two of them are constantly together. Beatriz is also becoming a good cook due to helping with the cooking in the afternoons.

An animal that reminds me of Beatriz:
A sassy parrot. Beatriz loves to tease and badger others and in turn is very fun to tease and socialize with. She almost always has a smile on her face. Very easy to get excited, but can and will hold her own on almost anything.

Paola (12 years old)

Paola is the youngest of these four students, but knows more academically than some of the others. She came to school when she was young and therefore knows quite a lot by now. She can go far in school if she does her very best.

An animal that reminds me of Paola:
A young pony. Paola wants to do what is right. She does very well in school and enjoys watching and laughing at the antics of others. Usually pretty calm but can get riled up pretty easily.

Turning the page...

Well, now it's officially 2015 2016! Which means saying goodbye to a lot of good things, but also welcoming many others.

While I still have about a month left before I fly out on February 4, that hasn't kept me from thinking more and more about that day.

I am enjoying a life here stateside even though I'm very busy. Socializing with friends and enjoying time with family has kept me very occupied. And I was able to come home and plug right in at work as well, thanks to a mission-minded boss. I feel really blessed to have a job like that.

Meet my family. We're a little, eh, loopy sometimes...

Supper time!

Even though it hasn't been really cold yet, we were still able to
ice skating at a local rink. It was great fun!

Settler's game in session at a youth group party.

We spent a day at one of our friends who took us out back to shoot claybirds.

I won!

The trees had too many extremities so we lopped some
of them off one Saturday.

Beanie/sock exchange at a Christmas social for our youth group.

As February creeps up on me, I keep thinking about all the people at the deaf school and when I'll be able to see them again. Looking at old pictures on my computer doesn't help matters as far as that goes! :)

CICS is going to be very different this year. We will be missing Matthias, Lidia, and Melody this year who will be replaced by new workers. Their experience in working with the deaf will be missed, but I'm confident the new staff will do well.

Since Matthias will no longer be there, I will have assume most of his responsibilities this year, including teaching the oldest class and leading out more among us staff. It's a little frightening, to be perfectly honest. But focusing only on one day at a time and trusting God to take care of me takes care of a lot of that.

I don't know the names of who all I will be teaching yet, or who all the students will be, but pray for the deaf children as the time comes closer to return to school. Pray that they would come to school ready to learn all they can!

And I guess you could pray the same thing for us staff. Pray that we too would be ready to learn, both from God and from each other. In that way we will be able to work together as a team for the furthering of His kingdom!

And just for old time's sake...