Awesome is back.

Life update.

I wonder how many blog entries start off with, “so its been a while”. Well it has, as I look at the previous date. Here is most of the reasons for anyone that cares. I was working 9-430. Now I work 745-3. With my morning gym routine and some sub-par bible reflection time in the morning, I am left with much less time. Secondly, kinder is much more of an energy drain. Ok, so here is the life update.

As of this entry, there are 24 days left to the big Rwanda adventure. Lesson plans are secured, and flights are booked. Cairo side excursion is almost finalized. Now the nerves are other baggage are coming into play.

I feel that my team has a pretty good handle on our task at hand. The returners are easing the rest of us into the groove, initial roadblocks have been cleared, and the first team we sent out there with lessons we created did an excellent job. We put together some test taking strategies and basic English lessons for the first team to implement with the NUR inductees. The end result was a high percentage of passing grades for their entrance exams! We were assuming much much lower. So, there is a drop in our bucket of goodness. ☺ That puts my team in position to take the baton and move in.

With Rwanda on Tuesdays, small group on Wednesdays, and basic work necessities on the other days, I am fully loaded. I must say, I am in love with my job. When my principal approached me with a kinder assignment, I jumped on it not because I was interested in the age, but more for the ability to stay employed. I think I can say that my attitude took a 180. I have a few in my class that I think anyone who is reading (which is no one) should say a prayer for a few in my class. For internet safety sake, lets call them awesome possums. One of them told me something I very easily could have balled my eyes out for.

Possum #1 told me on Family Friday (when parents are invited to come in and see what we are doing) that her grandma is coming and that if I close my eyes I can see my mommy in my heart. This little girl lives with g-ma because her parents are out of the picture. My heart was broken for her right there on the spot. I was reassured instantly of why I am needed.

This same possum told me today that I was growing a “night mustache.” I haven’t shaved in a couple days. She also told me that I have pimples on my forehead. Thanks for noticing, kiddo.

Life update part duex:
I spent last weekend in Mexico catching the Swine. Also, doing some training for mission work and challenging myself to be more mindful of God’s plan for my life and not my own. I came home at peace with my job situation and challenged to do as Piper says; be either a goer or a sender. I will be a goer this summer. More on that later.

Dear Applicant, Please bend over.

Edjoin sucks. What is Edjoin you ask? It is the attempt at paperless school district Human Resource departments across the state of California. I see where they are going with this. It makes things all digital, easier to sift through and database, and post opening at a moments notice. The problem, it makes all of us potential applicants exactly that, a potential applicant. Job posting #’s, and obviously followed up with an applicant #. Where is the charm? The personal touch? The thing we all know is that makes a good candidate, ACTUAL QUALITY TEACHING?
I have at the moment, over 47 applications on file with Edjoin. Yes sir, from San Francisco to Chula Vista, I am ready for hire! Every time I apply, I try and follow up with an email to the person in their district office letting them know, “Hey blah blah.. contact me with any questions, I would love to discuss my qualifications with you blah blah hire me.”
A few weeks ago I received an email from a charter school I forgot about. They were the first organization to not send a “Dear Mr. Coppers, go F yourself” email. They invited me to a meeting about their hiring process, who they are, and who they are not. AWESOME!!!!! Hey everybody, I might have a shot!
I left work early, dressed to kill, killer resume, spank- the- competition letters of rec, and a charming smile. I drove 50 miles, getting there 20 minutes early only to find over 200 more people just like me. ☹ I enter just in time to get one of four empty seats. At the end of their presentation they have a questionnaire for the applicants to fill out. The lady said that by filling it out, you are telling them you wish to move to step 2 in the hiring process, an interview. What the heck, right? So I filled it out. I wrote neatly, answered thoroughly, and walked it to the lady.
Sunday comes, and as I open the computer, my email alert chimed. It read as follows..
Date: 4.5.09
Dear Applicant:

Thank you so much for applying for a position as an educator for Aveson Charter School and for attending the informational meeting last Wednesday.

Unfortunately we received many applications in the job search process and will be interviewing individuals whose credentials and qualifications were closer suited to our needs.

Although we will not be offering you an interview, we thank you for your interest.

If a need arises for us to contact you in the future, we will do so and you have our continued good wishes in your job search.

Regards,
Aveson Hiring Committee

No big deal right? Correct, except for the obvious blow to my confidence, my further questioning of our state’s economic stability, and of course my on going prayers continuing to be answered in ways I don’t understand. So I leave it at this; the world needs Mr. Awesome, we just don’t know where yet. ☺

1/3 to go

according to today's isp totals, i have raised 2/3 of my total! Thank you for the support. Continue to pray for everything involved in the trip!

Aliens on Mt. Baldy!??

In the afterschool program I run, on a clear day there is a beautiful view of Mt. Baldy. Also, because the percent chance of everything running the way you plan is quite low, most of the time you need to adapt to the current conditions. Yesterday the MPR was in use, so I opted to keep my group outside at the lunch benches. Hey, it was nice out there. So anyway, the students are to work on editing a story. Using small groups they had the a 1 page story with errors all over, and they need to practice using proper editing marks as defined by their low standard strand scores. So, as they pretend to work diligently, I had little Miss Sydney exclaim to me that there was a weird thing on the top of the mountain. Now, let’s pause.

These are 2nd-3rd grade students. Their imaginations are not tainted yet. They mean no harm, and they certainly can play the innocent, ignorant child card. I took a look at the mountain which is REALLY FAR AWAY, and make a very bold observation, turn back to sweet Miss. Sydney and say, “Oh, that’s just the aliens.”
WHHHAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!?????????
Now Sydney tells her friend, and she tells her 2 friends, and she tells her 2 friends… and so it goes. So now, as they continue to work on their assignment, I can hear them trying to point out the strange brown alien ship on the mountaintop. How elaborate their little minds are.

Mr. Awesome, here to confuse the minds and exercise the imagination of youngsters each and every day.

Sandals 1st John Email Study Responce

unedited, uncut version:
how real are we? this is not a challenge, this is my conviction. i mean seriously, how real are we? i know my sins. and I'm not afraid to tell you. its #1 Fear. #2 Pride #3 Lust. there you go. i know mine. now you know mine. why do i say this? because we Sandalittes are trying to be real with selves, others, and God. Now just knowing your core sins is a good start, but what do you do next? accept them or run from them? depart from the behavior. get out of the situation! if you struggle with drinking too much.. STOP DRINKING if you cant keep it in the boundaries with your significant other.. STAY IN PUBLIC. see my point? Those who struggle with telling the truth, I urge you to think before you speak and tell the truth as it is clearly identified in James. these verses guys, clearly identify us as sinners. the goal is to not sin any more, not to minimize it. not to occasionally sin, not to "its ok once in a while to have fun" sin, not "OK God, this is the last time I'm going to do it, i promise" sin. SIN NO MORE! I think this basically pulls the blanket back from over our heads when we are trying to hide from God. He knows our sin. I want to issue a charge to ourselves. take an inventory, evaluate your actions. find the problem, find a cure, whether it is a process of recovery, or a 180 degree turn from the behavior. My friend Matt responded to me and said that we also should ask ourselves, "do i love God more than i love this sin?" that one hurts. i love you all and i promise you, this is a goal i am and have set for myself. i encourage us to be blameless.
-coppers

halfway!

This shall be a 2 part blog.

Half way there:

I realize nobody reads my blog. That is totally fine with me. This week marks a half way point in my fund raising efforts for Team Rwanda. I have just crossed the half way point and realized that it is humbling to know people care enough to have given me over 1500 dollars toward my goal. People believe I can do my job and will financially back me. That really helps my confidence levels. I know I have another 1400 or so to raise, but it seems as if it is an accomplishable goal.

Second note:

My anxiety raised its ugly head last week. An issue at the school, although quickly squashed and resolved, really put a damper on my week. Its remarkable what children can say and do. I am thankful for my fellow staff members that reassured me of my abilities and honestly know my heart. It makes it hard however to really enjoy my job sometimes, because I feel like the second I get comfortable, there is something I need to resolve.

God is so good to me. Thank you, Lord for loving me and giving me a wonderful opportunity to work, learn, and grow.

Still my weekly burden.

Sandals Church has taken on a vision for the year 2009. We are studying John. I didn’t realize how much there is to grasp in this book alone. My meditation still rests in the first 5 verses;

“Everything was created through Him. Nothing, not one thing, came into being without Him. What came into existence was LIFE, and the LIFE was the Light to live by. The Life Light blazed out of the darkness and the darkness could NOT put it out.”
John 1:1-5

I believed that I have mentioned this in prior posts, but the application still burdens me. Pastor Matt said that we as individuals on this planet, lone workers at jobs that may not appreciate us, could be the only “Jesus” that our coworkers ever see. What are we doing that makes us different? What makes us stand out from the crowd? Is my daily practice at work enough “light” that someone is going to know I am a Christian and I am here to love on them. To challenge them in their faith and be challenged in return? This continues to be my prayer.