Well... a lot has happened since my last post. My last day of school with my students was Thursday, May 21st. It was much harder than I ever expected. Very bittersweet! The last two years have been transformational. I feel so blessed to be a part of the Shades Mountain Elementary School family. I could not have asked to work with a more supportive faculty and administration. I know that some of them will continue to be lifelong friends. My students have inspired, challenged, and stretched me. I love them all, and have learned so much from each of them.
After school ended, I didn't have much time to catch my breath before Student.Go orientation. We began with dinner on Wednesday, May 27th, and finished with lunch on Saturday, May 30th. There are 42 students/young adults serving through the Student.Go program this year. I really enjoyed making friends who are answering a similar calling. Many of them are volunteering in the following locations this summer: Miami (Touching Miami with Love), Arkansas (Helena), DC, China, Uganda, Brussels, Alabama (Perry County), Virginia, New York, California (Freemont), Liberia, etc. Please join me in praying for them.
Most of the weekend was spent getting to know our team. I feel so blessed to be going to Liberia with Holly Wegman (in the picture above). Holly and I both work for Passport camps over the summer, but have never been on the same team. Our friendship has developed and grown since February, when we both answered our call to this position. Holly will be teaching 7th-9th grade Math and Bible classes, and I will be teaching 2nd grade. These four days allowed us the opportunity to learn more about our personality types, set goals, pray together, and talk about preparations for the next year of our lives. After orientation, Holly stayed with me in Birmingham until she left for camp today. We had lots of bonding time! Please keep her in your prayers as she begins camp this week. She is the director of Passport Missions at Mercer University. It is an exhausting, but a very fun and rewarding job!
As for me... I am finally catching my breath and getting ready to begin my 5th summer with Passportkids on Friday, June 12th. Hard to believe it has been five years, but it is a ministry I love!
Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers as this journey is becoming reality! Keep the prayers coming!
