What I learned. . .

Time goes by way to fast.  I can not believe that commencement is in a few short days.  Where did these past nine months go.  This year went by even faster than last year did.  It seems like life has been put on fast forward and I can’t find the pause button.  These past few weeks have been fast paced.  Abaco, finals, preparing for bike trail and appellation trail, all these things plus all the little things thrown in leaves little wiggle room. I want to make this week the best it can be, but I don’t want it to be so overwhelming that I am merely surviving.  I want it to be filled with good memories not thoughts of, “only six more days.”

I realized that to have great experiences we have to make them.  Everything must be intentional, not just to do lists, but attitudes and behavior.  For the next part of the week to be unforgettably amazing I have to make it that way, and I will. 

I am expecting this last part of the week to be the best.  The appellation trail will be awesome, the last few days of babysitting will be a blast, and we will all enjoy each others company.  Ahhhhh yes, I’m ready.


Sasha

Ministry Hours. . .

My ministry hours were split up into three different things which include, advising youth, writing letters to women in the church, and tutoring kids in math and spelling. 
There have been many ladies this year who have greatly encouraged me.  They have given so much.  It may have been time, food, energy, transportation, prayers, you name it.  All of them are so giving so I wanted to give back.  I don’t have much to offer really, but I thought that I should at least let them know how much I appreciate them all so, I wrote them little letters thanking them for being who they are.  After I did this I wanted to add a little something extra.  It is a work in progress, but I plan to make some sort of baked item and pretty it up for them.  I want it to be special to let them know how influential and inspirational they are.  The letters alone took about 3 hours altogether (there was a lot of stopping and starting due to the schedule)  Making the rest will probably take another couple of hours.

The rest of my service hours were spent tutoring kids with their schooling.  This was certainly an adventure.  First I helped these two girls who were ten and eleven.  They were working on spelling.  Now, it has been a long while since I have had to take spelling classes, and I am a horrible speller, so I was a bit nervous.  Luckily, there were directions and rules so all I needed to do was explain the rules and assist them as they worked on their papers. 

The next day I helped two boys with math, specifically subtraction.  I thought that this would be no big deal.  I can subtract, I have been doing it for like 15 years. . .I realized that I have been heavily relying on my calculator for the majority of those years.  I actually had to jolt my memory and remember how to subtract double digit numbers, I know this is pathetic, but its true.  Anyways once I got my brain working again, I was able to help these boys with their math problems.  It was interesting to watch them work them out.  They both have ADHD so I had to keep capturing their attention and regaining their focus.  They are both very smart and able to do well, as long as they are occupied and their minds are engaged.

Bike Trail. . . .

Our bike trail was so much fun.  It didn’t exactly turn out how it was expected to, but we had an awesome time.  We left the training center around 7 and then had an hour and a half drive to the C&O canal.  We got started riding as soon as we arrived.  We rode a few miles and had some tire issues so we stopped to fix that.  Then we rode maybe another mile and we had one of our chains break.  We tried and tried to fix it, but our effort did not produce results.  We had to double up on a bike, which was quite entertaining to watch, while we pulled another.  That did not work out so well so we tied two bikes together so that the person in the front pulled the person behind.  We rode like this until we reached the van.  We probably only went about 10 miles.  We were out there for nearly 4 hours.  Despite all the stopping I got a pretty good workout.  It was a great time spent on the C&O canal.

Privilege

I learned a lot about privilege this week.  As I was in Abaco I saw those who had more than enough and those who had barely any.   Being privileged is not a choice or something that we can change.  It is what is given to us, what we have to accept.  In America we consider those who have the latest technology and the biggest homes to be privileged.  In some parts of Abaco those who have clean clothes and electricity are the privileged ones.  It is all a point of perspective.   What is important?  What do we consider a privilege? 

While I was in Abaco I felt very privileged.  In America I feel like I am barely making it.  It all comes down to necessity vs. want.  Kids here feel like they need new toys and games every day or week.  Kids in Abaco are grateful for the one toy that they have.  My week in Abaco has me reevaluating what is truly important.  I have realized how well off I really am.  I need to look at the things in life that I have and be grateful.  I have a family and a home.  I have a car that runs and money to eat.  I would say that I am a very privileged person.

Plan B

I learned, am still learning, and will continue to learn to expect the unexpected.  When this week started I had a schedule.  I knew what I needed to get done and appointed the appropriate amount of time to do it.  However, plans always change.  I have had to be super flexible and juggle each thing that i needed to complete.  It was difficult and seemed impossible.  Once I thought I knew what I was doing, that also changed.  I have decided that planning my week is important, but it is by no means is the final product.  I have also accepted that things are not going to happen the way that I want them to so I should accept them and be happy about it.

I have made it thus far and will do my best to finish the requirements, but it is a struggle.  In a little over 24 hrs. we are departing for Abaco.  I still have much to prepare for, but somehow I am going to make it happen.  No matter how impossible it may seem, or how crazy I will be when this week is over, at least I know that I did my best to complete it.

Run...Run....Runnnnnn

For my physical fitness hours this week I did a few different things.  We had our daily workouts with pastor Tim as well as some moving and dancing around during our practices for skits and songs.  These activities benefited my overall health because each were great workouts and also very high energy.

This week with Tim we worked on endurance.  We started off with jogging a lap to get our blood pumping.  Then we would go straight into the mile.  The first day we did one mile and the next we did a mile and a half.  We all took turns and each of us sprinted/ran 100 meters at a time until we made it a couple times around the track.  We did this each day and then ended with 400 push-up as a team.  From the first day to the second my mile time improved.  Hopefully as we keep running I will be able to trim of some more time.

This week what grabbed my attention was our music theory class.  I have had many music classes in the past, so I remembered a lot of what Mr. Dave taught us, but one thing that I didn’t know was the circle of fifths.  I have heard about it, but never learned it.  At first glance I was totally confused, but as he explained it I began to understand it.  It is a great formula for knowing and learning key signatures and somethings that I will most certainly use and hopefully remember.

I learned key signatures a bit differently.  The way I learned I pretty much had to memorize each key.  The circle of fifths makes it possible to learn without memorizing.  It is a sequence of key signatures that are spaced equally apart.  All that is required is to know the whole, whole, half, whole, whole, whole, half pattern.  Once this is known all key signatures can be determined. On the outside of the circle is the major keys and on the inside are their relative minors.  Rotating clockwise around the circle the 5th interval can be determined. Moving counter clockwise the 4th interval can be determined.  Learning to read the circle is the difficult part, but once it is known it is a piece of cake.

Sasha