Birthday Surprises and Laundry

Can we just take a moment and celebrate the fact I remembered to take pictures today? 

WHOO HOO!!!!

Okay, thank you. So, now on to what I was going to blog about today on the 3rd of September...

3 on the 3rd Picture #1: Surprise Party Clean-Up

This past weekend I had activities and events planned all weekend. The girls are here on my actual birthday and I know there were things going on this weekend people were going to be off campus doing. So, I sent out invitations and invited people to everything I was doing this weekend. Well, the weekend started off rocky with a few accidents on the highway and therefore the girls weren't able to be picked up until hours after the end of pick-up. Then the following day no one showed up for the activities. I was hurt and very disappointed. 

Sunday a friend and I went to Flagstaff after church. What I didn't know was there was a surprise party being thrown and they were decorating my hall and apartment. There was candy hidden throughout my apartment with notes that read, "Eat me..." and something about where it was hidden. It was very creative and thoughtful. This surprise party made up for the previous disappointment. We also had a potluck and game night Monday... so needless to say today's list involves party clean up. :)

3 on the 3rd Picture #2: Laundry

I know it's a mom thing to always be doing laundry... but there are days I wonder if I have more than 10 girls!

3 on the 3rd Picture #3: Laundry Project

Like I just said I have 10 girls and trying to keep track of who's clothes belong to whom is quite impossible. I write their names on their clothes, but yet still find clothes without names.  I finally got tired of asking the question, "Who's clothes are these?" I decided to hang their clothes up and let them find their clothes themselves.

The second "clothes line" is for clothes that weren't turned right side out before going into the laundry (mostly socks). Again... I have 10 girls with a minimum of 2 outfits each day (school uniform and play clothes) and I don't have time to turn 20 outfits right side out while sorting through their laundry.

The following are the signs above the "clothes line":

 Homeless Clothes

To take me to my rightful home ask

Miss Alice to write your name on me.

Uh Oh!

I'm Inside Out...

You can take me down and turn me right side out, but please

remember to keep me right side out before going into the laundry.

Just like my birthday weekend turned around for the better I'm hoping the laundry will turn around for the better. 

For Such A Time As This

I knew God was going to use me at this school, but I wasn't sure how or why I needed to be here. All I knew is God guided and I followed. I was called and I obeyed. 

This past week was a particularly tough week. There were many tears and many consequences for bad choices. This past week there were a few times I thought, "Why am I here? Am I really making a difference with these girls?" I just kept going day by day, moment my moment doing what I needed to do. 

Our typical nights include the girls taking showers and getting ready for bed, have our devotions (Jesus Calling for kids and an Alice in Bibleland book) together. After our devotions I send the kids to bed and pray with the girls room by room. It's the sweetest part of the day because it's as close as I get to one on one with the girls, not to mention we get to spend that time talking with God. 

Well, Tuesday night as I'm trying to get all the girls in bed and stay there I find a group of girls in the hall huddled together crying. They had talked about being homesick and asked me how many more days until they get to go home for the weekend. I went to the hall and was tackled with crying girls. I stood in the hall with these girls crying on me. I prayed with them and comforted them doing my best to stretch my short arms around this tangled mound of homesick little girls. After a while I realized they could all stand there all night, so I needed to send them to bed. After I got them to bed and prayed with them I looked down at my shirt and noticed all the snot and tear stains. If this wasn't a mom moment I'm not sure what would be. My heart breaks for these girls and their homesickness and if I have to be covered in snot and tear stains then so be it. I'm here for such a time as this.

Wednesday night some of the older girls started to talk about seeing scary things in the dorm. I tried to stop the fear with prayer, but the girls were worked up. I knew the older girls needed to share with me how they felt and what they saw, but I couldn't get them to be quiet and wait until the little ones were in bed. Next thing I knew I had 10 little girls scared to go to bed. I tried to pray with them to ask God to help calm them. By this time I was frustrated and just wanted to yell at them there was nothing to be afraid of and go to bed, but I knew that wasn't the way I needed to respond. I just told the girls I'd pray with the girls who were in bed. I then left the girls hanging out in the hall refusing to go to bed. I went in to pray with the girls following my directions. While I was talking to them before they go to bed the older of the two started crying saying she was scared. I scooped her up and held her tight and told her there was nothing to be afraid of because we already prayed for God's protection. She then asked me how Jesus can be in her heart. I talked to her about how we are all born sinners and Jesus died on the cross for our sins so we can go to Heaven and be with God. I then explained all we have to do is ask Jesus to come in our heart by praying and asking Him. I asked if she wanted to pray and ask Jesus in her heart. She said yes and at the same time I hear the younger one say, "I want Jesus in my heart, too!" So we prayed. When I opened my eyes I noticed the girls from the hall were in the room asking if they can ask Jesus in their heart.

I explained to them what this means and asked if they understood what they were asking. By the time I was finished talking with them I realized the first girl went and got the others out of bed and brought them in. I asked her why she did this and she said, "Because they need to do this too!" I explained to her we can't force people to ask Jesus in their heart and this has to be a decision people make on their own. I then hear 8 little girls say, "But, Miss Alice, we want Jesus in our hearts!" I prayed with the girls and thought this evening, although an hour after bed time, would be a lot smoother. 

I was wrong. I sent the girls to bed where the older girls started freaking out and not going into their room. This caused the little ones to be afraid of going into their rooms. I called my supervisor to come and help because at this point I wasn't sure what to do. I tried to tell the girls there was nothing to be afraid of and to just say to the scary things, "In Jesus name go away!" I explained the power in Jesus' name, but they were so worked up they were unable to calm themselves down. I was constantly praying and asking God for help in calming these girls down and getting them to bed. I had more than half of the girls in their rooms and almost in bed when I hear the older girls scream a blood curdling scream while running down the hall toward me with fear only to land in my arms shivering like I've never seen someone so scared. This of course gets all the girls up and I'm wondering what was going on. I then realized I had called my supervisor and he was coming into my apartment to help. 

I showed the girls it was just my supervisor (who they all know) and there was nothing to be afraid of. He then helped me by taking the older girls and talking with them and giving my Bibles and Alice in Bibleland books to hold and look through. He then has them lay down on my couches while I put the other girls to bed. I had one little one who was so worked up we had to call the other dorm mom to come and take her over to her side for a while. Once the older girls were asleep on my couch and we prayed over the girls again I was left with seven girls in bed and three sleeping girls who needed to get into bed. I went over to the other side and picked up the 2nd grader (who is almost as tall as I am) and carried her back to bed. I went in to the 5th graders and realized there was no way I was going to be able to carry these girls. I prayed and asked God to not let them be scared as I woke them up to go to bed. When I woke them up to go back to bed they asked if they could take my stuffed animals they found in my living room and were snuggling with back to bed. I told them they could and with their arms full of stuffed animals, Alice in Bibleland books and a Bible they went off to bed. 

Two and a half hours after bed time I crawled into bed exhausted and realized even though there was a crazy, crazy night I was here for such a time as this to lead these girls to Christ. 

I know my work here is not done, but I see the fruit of my obedience. God is so good! When I feel I can't do this any more he gives me something to say, "You're doing exactly what I want you to do." 

The girls are homesick and feeling alone (even with 10 other people in the dorm). They have a busy schedule and often are mad at me for keeping them on schedule, but then I get things like this left on my desk as they go home for the weekend and I realize it's all worth it. I'm here for such a time as this.

The note says:

Fm. *** 

To: Ms Alice

Package

some(thing) to make u remember me over the weekend

:) ****

Dorm

Last week I made a video of my apartment (which I wish I could say my desk was as clean as it was, but with all the papers I've been getting about schedule changes and upcoming events it's hard to keep those organized when I'm running in and out all day long). Finally, what seemed like forever, I was able to finish preparing for the girls and was able to make a video to share all I've been doing.

Anyhow, I've uploaded the video of the girls hall to show where the girls will be living. You can watch the video HERE. Again, this video was made late at night and I realized after watching it I should really think before I talk (I use a lot of "like," "um," and so on), not to mention I was a bit scatter brained and didn't really have a flow besides walk down the hall and see something else I wanted to point out. Then again, I'm sure this isn't a video you'll be watching over and over again. How exciting can a little girls dorm be?

Three on the Third: August

So, my brilliant idea (actually copied from someone else) was to take three pictures of the things I did on the third of every month. This way I have something to post on my blog. Things didn't go as planned. Actually, considering it's 12:30 at night I'd say things haven't really gone as planned pretty much at all.

My plan today was to finish getting the dorm set for the girls who come in three days - including making their beds, putting the games and books in their living room and finnish decorating the hall. I also had a few other things to do like prepare for a skit I'm performing with some other staff members on Tuesday and preparing to lead worship on Monday (which really is more like worship for the kids that aren't coming until Tuesday evening rather than the adults). I also wanted to get my first edition of my newsletter out (if you'd like to be on my e-mail list send me your e-mail).

Instead of rapidly checking things off my list I talked to most of my family members for a few hours this morning. I don't know what happened to the time except to agree with the old saying of time flies when you're having fun!

I then was invited to go out in the evening, but I didn't really want to go and would rather have stayed in to finish my list of things to do. But, I was specifically asked to go and I'm still in the stage of getting to know everyone, so I agreed to go. While out for ice cream I was invited to a game night. Of course I again didn't want to go, but agreed on the condition I could get a few more things finished before I could go out again.

Looking at my list of things to do I got a lot done and spent some time with new friends, but the dorms are a little away from being ready for the girls. I know these next few days are going to be busy, but some how, some way I'm going to have to figure out how to get everything finished.

Hopefully September 3rd I'll have more pictures to post... after all, it will be my last day in my 20's (I'm still not sure how I feel about turning 30!).

Welcome Home

When I was interviewing with the Indian school I remember being asked how flexible I am and how well I'm able to go with the flow of things constantly changing. At the time I thought I'd be able to roll with it and be able to accept not knowing things until the last minute or changing at the last minute. What I didn't take into account was the lack of settling before the changes would take place.

I haven't known how many girls I'll have and it's changed from 5 to 6 to a full house of 10 to maybe 8. I'm okay with not knowing for sure because this is something, I'm told, happens here. Even mid year there will be kids leaving because of homesickness and coming because, well, that's just how it goes some times. I'm okay getting ready for the girls, even not knowing how many I'll have exactly, but what was challenging was the different information I was getting as I was preparing for the girls. It was very difficult to try and plan (knowing it could change), but within the same day get 3 different answers that all conflict with each other is tough. Thankfully the other dorm mom and I have become friends and are in the same boat of organization. We were able to go together and get the answers we needed. We sat down and created a page long list of questions we needed answers for before we could continue our prep. We went to our supervisor and went over our questions getting answers (many of which were along the line of, "Your plans sound good... go ahead and keep planning and preparing.").

Once we got our answers we were able to get going. It was as if knowing how we could decorate was a physical block to cleaning the dorms... which would need to be cleaned regardless. There were more questions, but most of them seemed to be along the same line of regardless of that specific answer we couldn't do this other thing that wouldn't matter regardless of what happened.

One thing I'm surprised with is my lack of homesickness. Of course I miss everyone and the city life of stores being open after 9:00pm or not having to drive a minimum of 45 minutes to get to Wal-Mart (no Target's out here), but for the most part I feel like this place is starting to be home. Before the day of 3-conflicting-answers-to-the-same-question I felt like I was on a long vacation or something. I knew I was staying, but my parents and Greg were here to help me move in and unpack (although my dad went on to Texas to get my sister's car from my other sister and my mom ended up getting a kidney stone which she needed to pass before she could continue traveling). With them here I had familiar faces and wasn't really connecting with the staff and my new environment. Don't get me wrong... I loved I had a few extra days before I jumped in with both feet. However, when they left I felt like I had belly flopped and the sting hurt just a bit. Once I got up, shook myself off, spent some time with God who reminded me he's called me here and it's going to be okay I started to settle in and start making this place home.

In the end this is really what it's all about... I've been called here and I'm going to keep wading through until I'm called to leave (which I'm okay if it's when I'm called Home).

Here are some pictures from the drive.

Greg and I are so pretty.

We stopped for dinner and they had these tiaras and we couldn't help but pose for a picture.

Rest stop tea party.

My New Home

It's been a week and a half since I've been here, but I just now got internet in my apartment! WHOO HOO! Soon I'll have wireless internet, but for now I'll work with the ethernet cord and being tethered to the wall. 

I wasn't sure what to expect when I got here and figured I'd be in a small "apartment" all the while expecting something along the lines of a hotel room with a kitchenette. I was surprised when I got here and saw the size of my living room, full kitchen and two decent sized bedrooms.

At first I was thinking traditional of having the rooms as you'd expect them, i.e. walking into the living room and having the office/craft room tucked away in one of the bedrooms. However, once I started getting things moved in and realized the amount of things I had to go into the office/craft room I remembered something a friend suggested before I left, "switch the living room and craft room." After all, she reminded me, I will be spending more time in my craft room.

Thankfully I still had Greg here to help me move the two couches from my old living room to my new living room. I'm sure you would have loved being a fly on the wall watching Greg lift the couches with one hand... probably with only one finger at that... and me on the other end making all these crazy noises as I took everything inside of me to lift with two hands, arms, shoulders, legs, feet, back, hips... all the while stopping every few feet or so for me to "take a break and catch my breath." In the end we were able to do it and I can't explain the amount of success I felt as I accomplished my goal. I got the new living room settled and realized how cozy it felt compared to being in the bigger room where everything was far away from each other and cold feeling.

The other thing is the bedrooms have carpet and the rest of the apartment has tile. The other deciding factor was how the craft room will be on tile and easy to sweep up when crafting. The next thing was how I was going to arrange the craft room to be the most efficient use of space. I think I've come up with a good lay out, but who knows, I may move ti as I get working and finish going through all the drawers.

After getting most things put away I made a video of my apartment. It was late at night and I realize I look a mess, but in my defense I had been working all day and I'm still adjusting to the Arizona heat.

Click HERE to go to a video of my apartment. 

So far, I like my lay out. I love going into my new living room and watching a movie (no TV channels for two reasons, one, the satellite cable is now in my craft room and, two, I'm okay without having TV to distract me from my work). It's so cozy in there and truly gives me a break from what's going on outside. My craft room/office is FANTASTIC and quite possibly one of the best decisions I've made thus far. I was cutting poster board and as it was falling to the ground I thought, "Shoot, that's going to be a pain to clean up later," but then looked down at the tile and thought, "Actually, it's not going to because I have a broom!" By having the second desk and chair it is easy for people to come in and take a seat while I'm working. I love it! I'm excited to craft with others in my HUGE craft room.

The only downside to my apartment is the proximity to the field and the critters and bugs that seek a nice place to escape. I've been a feeding ground to the bugs and the other dorm mom has been catching mice more than we'd like to admit (after she caught a few I decided against paying for the traps because it's a fruitless effort). We have strict rules with food and storage. This is something we're going to have to live with and it's better we have a plan to live with them because there really is no way we're going to be able to exterminate the critters and bugs - even though we'd like a way to exterminate them. 

The plus side to having a field outside my kitchen and new living room window is the view. I see a barn with llamas and sheep the school owns and miles and miles of beautiful creation God has given me to appreciate.

This is one of the llamas outside my kitchen window.

I like to call her Sally (I hope if it's a boy he doesn't mind being called Sally).

So, this is my new home and I'm excited to call this home - critters and bugs and all.

Packing and A BIG THANK YOU!

It's another late night as I'm packing up preparing for my move. Unsure of how long this journey will be I'm packing up everything and getting ready to head out. I leave in three short days and feel overwhelmed with how much I have yet to finish. The thing I keep reminding myself is although this is a large chore there is a great reward. A reward of following God's path and will for my life. It helps me push through and keep going.

The blessings along the way are so encouraging and affirming I'm doing exactly what God wants me to do. There are so many things I want to share, but it's late and I should get some sleep. However, I'll share a few things just to keep you updated on how good God is and how He's providing.

There are many costs to moving as anyone who's ever moved knows. Being my first time to move my entire life and unsure of what people will donate to my endeavorer (there are SO many things I can't possibly list them all, but you know who you are and how you've helped me and I thank you from the bottom of my heart!) I decided to rent a moving truck. A friend helped me find a company that is significantly cheaper than the company I knew of, but on top of that there was a special going on in addition to the coupon I found online. The cost ended up being less than half of what the original company quote I had originally found! Praise God, He is SO good!

As I mentioned above there have been many donations given to me in support of my journey. In addition to monetary donations there are many donations that have come to aide in my crafting hobbies as well as items I'll need for an apartment. The school has a few things I can use, but I'm not sure what all is available, nor do I know what I'll really need. My motto in donations at this point is if it fits I'll take it! I asked the school if I end up bringing too much or more than I need could I donate them to the school and would they be able to use the specific items I wasn't sure if I'd need them. The school contact affirmed my motto is great and very helpful to myself and to the school. She then affirmed the items I wasn't sure I'd need are good items to have and I'd want to keep them. She then reminded me the school is ran on donations and she informed me Christmas is a big time that they need donations and asked if my friends and family would want to help with donations for that time. I said I'd ask and get more information later on what exactly we need - in other words stay tuned for more ways to help.

The other day I went to my eye doctor to pick up my old glasses that had a screw messed up and was being repaired. I took my glasses in a few months ago and called a month or so ago to let them know I have been busy at work and unable to get to the office to adjust my glasses after they've repaired them. They said it was fine and to come by when I have time. Last week I figured I should go by and pick up my glasses to have them as a spare in case something were to happen to my current glasses. I remember thinking how it's my previous prescription, but something is better than nothing. I went into the office and after an hour of looking for my glasses they came to me to let me know they have been misplaced. I was disappointed because those were my back-up glasses, but at the same time I should have come in earlier to prevent them from being misplaced. I explained how I'm going to be a missionary in Arizona and unsure when I'd return to California. The office manager told me she'd replace them and to come back the next day. I was so confused and trying to understand what was going on I left the office without asking questions. Once I was on my way I realized I didn't ask what the replacement frames would look like (I wear my glasses all the time and am particular on my frames because it's part of my personality). I figured this was going to have to be something I let go of and these are, after all, my back-up pair of glasses.

The following day I return to see they've replaced the lost glasses with the same pair I bought a few months ago! I LOVE these frames and I'm SO excited to have my back-up to be the same frames. As if this wasn't enough the new frames are my new prescription (which I know makes sense, but I was expecting my old prescription). What seemed like the whole office (other patients and all) stood around to hear about what I'm doing and how I'm following God's will. I shared how trustworthy God is and even though I may not know exactly what to expect I can expect God to be faithful. The office manager then went to the back and put together a bag of cleaner, cleaning cloths and other items including designer cases to send me on my way. I left the office in total shock of what happened, but I know God is taking care of me and I'm thankful my eye doctor's office was able to be a part of that.

The love and support just keeps coming. The Nehrbass family contacted me last week to ask if they could throw me a going away party. It was going to have to be short notice and I wasn't sure who all could come, but I agreed. Sunday evening I went to their house and was so overwhelmed with how many people were there to send me off. The Nehrbass's mentioned how their house has never had so many people in all the parties they have thrown. The house was packed with love and I did my best to soak it all in! There were many friends I haven't seen in a while as well as new friends I had just met that morning! I am so grateful for all who were able to make it Sunday evening as well as those who were unable to make it due to the short notice and have expressed their love. If I didn't know I was loved before (which I knew I was) there is no doubt now! I don't have a vocabulary large enough to express my gratitude and appreciation for all everyone has done!

I'm very overwhelmed with the support and love I'm receiving and although this support and love will carry me forward it's hard to say good-bye. I've had many moments where I find myself so overwhelmed in love I can't help but let my eyes well up with tears of gratitude.

Thank you!