I haven’t posted the last couple work days simply because my life has been busy and people are always more important than blogs. Or really anything.
Little updates on my classroom… My little 2-year-old friend has been removed from my classroom due to the fact that she was too young and incapable of completing the activities/requirements of the other kids in my class (i.e. being potty trained). Since, my classroom has been much quieter… I’m already feeling like I can take risks with activities that might have been too hard to do if one of us had to babysit. It’s really a lot better now. Sad that I can say it’s better without her, but it is.
I’ve been talking to my assistant a lot lately about her life and religion (she converted a couple months ago) and it has been really interesting. I knew she was married so I asked about her husband and she told me that they got married shortly after she converted and had never dated before then. It sounded like a marriage of convenience and “what we’re supposed to do” instead of a marriage of love. It made me sad to think about it, but to each their own I guess.
As we have been coming closer to Halloween (a favorite holiday of mine), an article appeared in the school newsletter about how Halloween is the worst holiday for Muslims to participate in. Apparently Halloween was also a favorite of Alice’s… that is, before she converted.
I sing a lot in my classroom and the other day I asked Alice what kind of music she listened to. Apparently she hasn’t listened to music since she converted. She’s said it was hard.
All of those things led me to this question… What made Islam so appealing to you? This is the response I got:
Growing up Pentecostal, she saw many things in the church that confused her (speaking in tounges, how people can “repent” one minute and go back to the same sin the next, using oil as a method of forgiveness, etc.) and so she started Googling options. According to her, Islam isn’t that different from Pentecostal, except for the Jesus thing (A BIG difference, but whatever), so it was relatively easy to switch. When Alice had asked questions of the Christian people in her life, she hadn’t gotten sufficient answers so she was drawn away. She also liked the method of Islam… the washing, praying 5 times a day, fasting, etc.
All in all, she was seeking and found answers somewhere else.
I’m continuing to pray for her as we work together and as she learns more about me as well as her new found religion. I know God’s at work, but we’ll see what he has in store.
I’m doing fine in my job, but it still is just that: a job. I find myself looking forward to May, looking forward to what’s after this short chapter in my life, looking forward to how God’s gonna use all of it to His glory. Right now, after this year, I want to find a job as a wedding planner. I don’t know how that’ll go and if it’ll go, but I am getting over the idea of being a teacher. Yes, it is something I’m good at, but in so many ways I feel unused and unfulfilled. Getting out of bed in the morning gets harder and harder. I’ll be very ready to move forward after this year.
Doing what, only God and time can tell.
