Celebrating my 20th year of teaching

How do I even begin to recount or describe my 20th year of teaching? 

Overwhelming is the word that comes to mind. 

It's been overwhelmingly personal. God has met me in very deep, personal ways over the last year, showing me that He sees me and knows me on a very intimate level. He knows the desires of my heart, as well as the fears and struggles I face daily. He constantly shows me He's with me, weaving everything together perfectly. Specifically by leading me to a church where I can pursue becoming a certified Biblical counselor much more quickly than I thought, and where I got to be part of a women's retreat/gathering specifically over the very theme I've been writing a book about. He's given me new friends to do life with who reach out and touch my heart in tender ways, showing me that I'm not as invisible as I feel sometimes. He's grown and challenged me in ways I didn't even know I needed to grow, and I'm thankful. He's given me new relationships with coworkers that have changed me for the better and have added a richness to my life that I didn't know was missing. Living pretty much on a nature trail and going to work on a beautiful campus surrounded by nature has helped me appreciate the seasons of life in a new way. 

It's also been overwhelmingly unexpected. Teaching in a place like New Song Leadership Academy was obviously nowhere on my radar. I still have to pinch myself occasionally to make sure it's real. I really do teach here. I really do live here. I really am connected with these people and these students, and they all feel like family. No matter how unsettled I have felt in my new (unfinished) home, New Song has felt like home since the moment I arrived. The more relationships and friendships that come into my life here, the more I think about how God planned far in advance to put these people into my life--and to put me into their lives, without me having even the slightest clue that such a change was even on the horizon. 

It's been overwhelmingly emotional. I left my family and close friends behind. I've had to watch from afar as they've all replaced their time with me now with other people or activities. I left a precious friend in her deepest time of need and then couldn't be present with her as her needs became greater still in the months that followed. I left a son who only had 9 years with us and never expected his family to move so far away. I left another son who needed and wanted the independence, only to find himself in greater need this year than he'd ever been in his life. I left a mom who left her own life behind to finally live close to me, and then God took me away, not far from where she used to live. And to see her hurt over my absence leaves me with a daunting sense of guilt, even though I can't deny God's very clear call to move here. I left the comfort and familiarity of both a church and a job that I'd been going to day after day, week after week for 19 years. People that knew me, my personality, my gifts and strengths, my weaknesses, and they knew my story. I had to start completely over to rebuild that sense of familiarity in a new church and a new job. It has definitely been heart-warming, though, to see Mike reconnect and enjoy the family that he left behind 20 years ago when we moved to Texas. And I am really thankful for the chance to get to develop real relationships with my mother-in-law, brothers-in-law, sister-in-law, my nephews, and my niece here. 

It's been overwhelmingly different. First, I lived in an RV right on the beautiful campus where I worked. Then when the AC broke in the heat of the summer, I lived temporarily in the upstairs part of the house right above the room where we set up the classroom. For the first few weeks of school, all I had to do was go downstairs to get to work each day. But due to staffing issues, we started the year with out any kids on campus. So I logged on to a zoom call to start each day with my one virtual student, hoping we'd be fully staffed and would have several students on campus after the first nine weeks. Those were nine very quiet weeks, precious weeks to get to know my teammate really well and to work hard on developing Leadership and Spanish classes to teach once our classroom filled. Precious time to read a book aloud on a zoom call all about Jesus' life and ministry, an autobiography by Tim Tebow about his faith and the ministry God gave to him through football, and a child's version of Pilgrim's Progress. Though at times it felt very disappointing to only have one student and to have to teach virtually, I knew God had a very special purpose for me to be investing in this one particular child that he would move me so far away and quiet my schedule in such a powerful way. At the end of those nine weeks, I got to be part of a Mom's Spiritual retreat and then pour into that student's mom in a special way. In the middle of the retreat, my own son was in a biking accident that took me back to Texas in an emergency, and those moms left the retreat in prayer for me and my son. By the time I came back from Texas three weeks later, God had resolved our staffing issue and new houseparents were on the way. My one virtual student would soon be on campus with several other boys that I'd met at camp the week after I arrived in Indiana. Second semester held a whole new learning level as I learned to share my classroom with a teammate and with everyone on campus who helped in the classroom on a rotation schedule. I had to shift to a whole new way of thinking about teaching from my class, my kids, my way to our class, our kids, our way. We do life on life with these kids, and we all play different roles that work together for each child's academic, spiritual, and emotional growth. We go on walks to the bridge every day for our screen break and experience God's creation together. We talk about life while sitting on the swings together every day before lunch. We have cookouts, dessert nights, campfires, and game time together during the week. We began the year with dinner together at the boys' home, and we ended the year with a cookout together at the boys' home. Definitely challenging in many ways, but also incredibly rewarding. And so different than anything I've ever done before.

It's been overwhelmingly hard just trying to settle in and start over. We bought a house that needed/needs a lot of renovation (but that has definitely come a LONG way). Like, there were and still are parts of the house that are unlivable, though it has a lot of potential that will just take time to bring out. Restoration takes time, and I am seeing that as a theme God is weaving into this learning process. It's dirty and dusty, and muddy, and there are projects going on all around the house at all times, inside and outside. There are plans for a nice big deck, a new master bath and closet, a renovated kitchen, and a cute little cabin outside for guests. But for now I have an incomplete kitchen, a mini-deck big enough for my egg chair, a closed off log-wall room with uneven floors and no insulation or drywall, and tools all over the place. Mike loves the project of it all. Me, not so much. I just want to bring all my stuff out of storage, unpack, set up, put all my pictures on the walls, and spend all my time out on a pretty deck to enjoy the nature all around me. I hate the feeling of being so unsettled. So why did we buy such a house? Well, we bought more than a house. We bought a lot of land, and most of all, we bought a location that my husband just couldn't pass up. We bought a location almost right in the middle of my work and town, on a peaceful road with only about ten houses spread out over about a mile or so. There's only one house on one side of the road, with two horses, and all the rest of the road is filled with native grasses, trees, and wildflowers. And a creek. It's beautiful and incredibly peaceful out here. Definitely a writer's haven. It's been hard, overwhelmingly hard, but it will be worth it.   

This school year has been overwhelmingly unique. New Song Mission is just unique in everything it does. Its very existence is evidence that God puts a vision on people's hearts and then brings all the details, plans, and people together. And it's overwhelmingly humbling to have been chosen and led by God to join the team and the mission here. 

It's overwhelmingly inspiring.  And it's overwhelmingly obvious that I'm exactly where God intended for me to be. Working with people that were always meant to be part of my life. Building friendships with a new church family that I was always supposed to be a part of. 

It has me looking back at how my teaching career even began. I went to college at Taylor University Fort Wayne to become a Spanish teacher, with the hope of teaching overseas as a missionary. Then I quickly realized that an education major didn't interest me much at all. I loved my Bible and ministry classes so much more, so I switched my major and my minor around. I ended up transferring to Grace College where I majored in Christian Ministries with an educational focus and minored in Spanish. My Spanish minor took me to Argentina for a semester while my Christian Ministry major took me to Mexico for a summer, and a few missing credits in Spanish from my transfer between colleges led to an independent study working with Hispanic children in the local public school system. What God did with my life through that independent study because of those missing credits will never cease to amaze me. 

After working with Hispanic children and adults for about five years in the very school system I graduated from, I moved to Texas to teach Bilingual Education in the public school system for the next nineteen years. And over those nineteen years, I taught students and worked with coworkers from all over Central and South America, adopted a "child" from South America, and personally experienced more of Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, and Spain. I led countless Bible studies with women from all ages and walks of life, and I became a blogger and a published author.

Isn't it like God to bring it all together for my 20th year? Getting me out of the pressure of scores and excessive testing in Texas public schools and giving me the chance to teach what matters more than anything--to follow Christ with our whole heart. I ended the year taking my students on virtual travels all over Central and South America (and even to Europe and Africa) for Spanish class, and I got to read missionary stories for Leadership class, inspiring at least one student to make a decision to follow Christ. And instead of diving in to complete coursework for a mandatory Reading Academy this year (a requirement this year in Texas), I'm diving in to complete coursework for the Association of Biblical Counseling. Sometimes God just does so much more than we can ever ask or imagine. 

Where we sit and talk about life every day before lunch

My temporary, but very cute, mini-deck so I at least have a place to sit outside.

One early spring morning that captured the sunlight reflecting off the trees. 

All the beautiful colors of early spring. 

Our daily walk to the bridge and back.

Beautiful flowers I found blooming in my yard. Bleeding hearts and peonies. 

My students came over and explored our land.

End of the year Awards Luncheon with our students and their entire families.

All ready for the Awards Luncheon. We had a full house show up to celebrate our kids. 

A last day gift from our administrators. :) 

An adorable photo book of just a few of the many memorable moments.

As I was out on my daily walk, the sunlight shone just right over the trees to really make their beauty stand out. I felt like God was saying, "See. THIS is what you bought when you bought that house."

So today I start my first day of summer break before I embark on Year 21, which will have both boys and girls in my classroom, and will bring two new team members as the girls' houseparents. But first, summer camp starts in two weeks. No need to go on a mission trip this year. It's all right here. There's always an opportunity to serve at New Song Mission. 

Intro to Spanish at New Song

When I got hired to be part of the New Song team to be the lead teacher at New Song Leadership Academy, I heard that I'd get to teach the kids an elective class in the afternoons. I've taught IN Spanish for the last 19 years, but I've never had the opportunity to teach Spanish as a class. So I looked forward to doing that and designing the class in a unique way for such a unique teaching experience. I thought about how I could make it an experiential learning class that would really stick with the students and whet their appetite to learn another language. 

So Mondays we got out our red Spanish journals and learned a lot of useful phrases and vocabulary that they helped brainstorm with me. Phrases such as: I am, I feel, I like, I don't like, I want, I see, I play, I have, I have to, I'm going to, etc. We also played a lot of "I spy" using shape, color, and number words. 

On Wednesdays, we took out our world maps and our passports and went on virtual trips to the 21 Spanish speaking countries of the world, coloring in the countries on our maps and "stamping" the flags of those countries on our passports. I enjoyed showing them pictures of many of the countries I've visited or pictures of friends that I have from those countries. I also got to show them items that came from many of those places. We even had friends visit from Colombia on the week we studied Colombia, so that made for a very rich experience of a country so precious to my heart. 

Finally on Fridays we went upstairs to the kitchen and cooked a treat from the country we visited together. (I honestly don't enjoy cooking much, but this turned out to be one of my favorite adventures while teaching at New Song this year.) We had a big chart up in the classroom that we added to every week with the country name, flag, and the food we cooked. We had two countries left for this last week of school, so we combined them both and enjoyed a drink from one and a treat from the other. 

We had a lot of fun, and I hope the boys' awareness of the Spanish language will inspire them to keep learning more Spanish and to be adventurous world travelers in the future. It definitely reignited in me a gratitude to God for all the travel experiences He's given me, as well as the many people He has placed in my life from all over the world. 

Above All Names--2023 Shine Gathering

Leaving my church in Texas was so hard. I love LakePointe Church and all the ministries offered within the church. Ministries both to meet your need where you are in life and to give you multiple opportunities to serve others where they are in life. I'll always be thankful for a church home with a thriving Adoption and Foster Care Ministry, a powerful Marriage Ministry, a Financial Fitness Ministry, a Counseling Ministry, a Christian Writer's Group, a weekly Lifegroup Ministry, a huge emphasis on Missions all over the world and also in our own community, a Prayer Team, and a Women's Bible Study Ministry. Each one of those ministries connected me with people I could do life with in every season and with people that mentored me or that I could mentor. I loved being part of a big church with people from all walks of life that I grew close to by traveling together, studying Scripture together, having dinners together, praying together, putting on large conferences together, or just sitting around a table sharing our writing with each other and giving constructive critique. 

I miss those people and those groups dearly. As well as a Saturday night service. 

Church is family, and relationships that grow within a church body are essential and irreplaceable. Finding a new church home kind-of overwhelmed me. Especially because I was back in a small town with much smaller churches than I'd gotten used to and that only met on Sundays. I didn't expect to find all the different ministry groups I left behind, but I at least hoped to find a church with a thriving women's ministry that I could get involved in. 

We tried one church and felt welcome, but it seemed like several critical parts were missing. We tried another, felt welcome, but something still didn't feel right. We knew people at both, so we almost felt "guilty" for not going back. Then a coworker told me all about her church, and it sounded a lot like the church we left behind. So we visited once and immediately knew we were home. And every month we're there, God just keeps confirming that decision to us in so many little ways. 

We love the worship style, the preacher does a phenomenal job communicating Scripture so clearly, and we found a community group to join. We started meeting with smaller discipleship groups, and we volunteered to serve in the coffee ministry once a month. I found an amazing Biblical counseling team, and Mike and his brother volunteered to help out with maintenance needs that arise at the church. I've also already met at least four writers within the church, and I've heard there's more! Sure would love to see us form a writer's group someday. 

I reached out right away to the women's ministry leader, attended two women's events, and went to both the fall and spring Bible study. When I expressed interest in helping out more with the ministry, I got to help make Scriptural encouragement cards to make available at the yearly retreat/gathering or other women's events. I signed up for the women's big annual gathering in May, and to my surprise, they asked me if I'd like to lead a table group. I had no idea what that meant or entailed, but I jumped at the chance. I didn't find out until the night before that it meant I'd facilitate the table discussion after each speaker. That's one good way to get to know a few more people, I thought. 

The night of the gathering came, and I walked in still very awkwardly as I still don't know that many people. But I sure am glad I signed up and went. The women's ministry at this church is truly thriving, and the hearts of these women just blew me away. All five of the speakers were from the church, and they all spoke very tenderly about a specific struggle God brought them through and spoke with an incredible passion to know God in an intimate way. The theme was all based on knowing God personally through his many names, a theme I've spent a LOT of time studying and researching over the last few years. A topic I'm deep in the middle of writing about for a book for undereducated ministry workers in third world countries. Just another confirmation from God that He's the one who guided us to this church. 

My dear friend, Hannah, who moved here just a few months before I did, and who led a table group at the gathering, too. We met in a breakout session in our community group and just clicked. We're in totally different stages of life right now, but realized we both longed for the same thing--deep friendship. Love her.

My new friend and fellow adoptive mom, Terri, that I met in my table group

A few more new friends from my table group, including another Rachel, who is also a fellow adoptive mom

Leah sharing about her struggle through infertility, realizing that Jehovah Jireh provided that experience to draw her closer to Him. 

Our weekend program, along with cute journals we decorated. 

My fellow Texas friend who came 20 years ago to help plant this church, sharing so many great truths about clinging to God through great loss.

An incredible time of worship together. 

The prayer team, praying over the gathering before it started.

Our table decorations

My table

My sweet friend, Bek, also a fellow adoptive mom, testing out the sound system

The "take what you need" board, with a lot of the cards I got to help make

They offered to let us take home a decoration or two. When almost everyone left and I noticed how many were still there, I took a few extra. This is what I did with them. I love how they turned out! Great visuals to have in my "office" area where I write. 

Birthday and Teacher Appreciation Week 2023

As much as my students spoiled me last year and truly treated me like a queen for both Teacher Appreciation Week and my birthday, I didn't think it could be topped. I currently only have a few students this year, who live on campus during the week, and I don't even have a badge to go enjoy any kind of Teacher Appreciation Deals around town, so I truly had already pushed any thoughts of "being celebrated" out of my mind. I love my job and my students, and this was just another part of it being a totally different kind of teaching experience.

But, oh, was I wrong. I felt celebrated this week in a much more personal and meaningful way than in all my nineteen years of teaching in public school. 

I walked in to my classroom on Monday morning to a pot of flowers and a gift bag full of classroom goodies, including my favorites--a journal and fancy colored pens. I found a very touching card and note of appreciation along with the gift bag from Bob and Lisa, the people who founded and are the directors of New Song Mission. My teammate, Julie, found the same surprise waiting for her on her desk, too. Just a few moments after I walked in, Lisa came downstairs to tell me in person how much she appreciated me and was thankful to God for bringing me to the team. My heart swelled with gratitude for the opportunity to work in such a unique place with such an amazing team.

But that wasn't it. The surprises kept coming all week. On Tuesday morning, the boys walked in to the classroom with sweet notes and treats for both me and my teammate that their houseparents had taken them to purchase for us (and prompted them to make for us). 

An adorable cup/glass mug, a gift card to Dunkin Donuts for coffee, and Hershey's Special Dark, the perfect treat to enjoy after lunch. 

My birthday came next, and I honestly felt very little excitement about my special day this year. My boys and my family are far away and unable to celebrate with me, and I'd already been out two nights in the week after a very full weekend that had me quite "peopled" out. I was tired and didn't want to do anything extra that evening besides go out to eat. 

The boys (my students) had already made comments about bringing me a birthday cake, so I knew they had something planned. I came in that morning to find pretty pink flowers, birthday decorations, and a birthday pin to wear for the day. After lunch, they all arranged the sweetest celebration upstairs in the kitchen to celebrate me on my birthday. It was precious and such a special time to all be together. One of the students asked if they could go around the table and each say what they were thankful for about me. Then all of the adults around the table took time to pray over me. We had cake, ice cream, and presents. One of the houseparents' children (going into first grade) said he wanted to say a poem for me, and he wanted that to be the last gift. So after I opened all the gifts, he spoke a poem over me. It was precious. He almost froze half way through, but then he recovered and finished. :)

My mom happened to send my gift with me when I came home from Texas at the end of April, so I got to start the day opening that gift from her (and sending her a video of me opening it). She called me later in the day as I was on my way to Chili's to have dinner with Mike. 

A nice box with a verse from my mom, along with ornaments on the Names of Jesus. 

Sitting on my desk to greet me on my birthday.

We just "happened" to arrange Furry Friends Day (for Spirit Thursdays) on my birthday, so Boots got to go to school with me for the day!

And my students brought their (stuffed) furry friends to class, as well. 

They really enjoyed having him at school!

A gift from one of the students, who said it was just right for his teacher from Texas, who happens to love pink!

I wore it the rest of the day. 

The sweet gifts they all gave me. A really soft, fuzzy blanket, a pink cup, two small coffee mugs, a collection of teas and honey sticks, handmade wash cloths, and really sweet cards and notes. 

And in keeping with tradition for the Alspaugh's, we had dinner at Chili's. Now that it's all the way across town, I don't get to eat there near as often as I used to when it was just around the corner. 

One of my closest friends sent me a card in the mail, David sent me a sweet message at 12:01 am,  and Juan posted a really nice message to me on Facebook. Plus many, many friends posted messages on my timeline on Facebook. I got a video message early in the morning from my new friend at church, who tonight gave me a really pretty journal with a priceless note written on the first page. It filled my heart and made me want to cry. 

All in all, despite not being able to see my boys, I had a really good birthday this year.