This morning I woke up
on the wrong side of the bed, so to speak, and unfortunately I was not
exploding with energy or motivation for some reason. I just didn’t feel myself
and my mind was simply distracted. However, I brushed it off as we had a lot to
get done today at the nursery school including all the sketching and painting
of the alphabet and numbers. So after breakfast off we went to the nursery and
found four little dumplings ready to learn and as election registration was
being done today the teachers were not available.
So I decided to take
on the lesson which was about learning the numbers 0 to 10. There I was with
the stick in hand pointing to each number on the wall as we went through them
all, and then asking each child to count on his/her own and so on. The
challenge of the day was learning how to count on their hands which went really
smoothly until number 6, as the kiddies just counted from 1 again. How I take
my hat off to teachers because teaching can be quite tough especially when some
kids catch on completely and others have no idea what is going on. In saying
that it really was quite the eventful and slightly challenging morning, which
is quite funny as I was only teaching FOUR kiddies.
I understand that the
challenges I faced are very different to those of qualified teachers obviously.
My challenges of the day were the kiddies walking in and out of the classroom,
lying on their backs instead of sitting some of the time and obviously at times
not paying attention. Keeping in mind I do not know their native language made
it even harder. I really tried to keep the learning fun and smooth by singing
songs in between, asking them to shake their arms and legs with a little dance
to get the blood flowing and break time. Overall it wasn’t too bad for my first
attempt; It was definitely an eye opener, learning curve and I did see some
improvement which was wonderful.
After nursery school I
went to the classroom we preparing and helped the other volunteers with the
sketching and preparation of the elements that we started painting today. We really
making progress and it feels incredibly rewarding.
At around 11 when all the
sketching was done we headed home for a break and lunch time. It was around
then that this unfamiliar distraction came back. I couldn’t focus on reading or
take a nap…until finally it all became clear and a huge void filled me. I
missed my Dad… and my whole being suddenly withdrew from what I was doing and I
went to my room to just process it all. My heart broke down…
I had also not spent
any time with Yeshua in the morning as we were preparing all the materials
needed for the nursery…So it all made sense as to why such a heavy weight was lying
on my shoulders. After lunch I went for some much needed quiet time and
unexpectedly cried in prayer; the tears streamed down my face whilst I handed
over all the pain and emptiness that I felt. Suddenly my emotions slowly started
to pull together and my tears dried up. It was an indescribable moment and I
truly believe that He was with me and is with me at every part of this journey.
I have Him walking by my side and to turn to at any point and that will be
always. He mended some of the pieces of my broken heart because I believe and
have faith that He will help me.
I realise that this is
a long journey to walk and that moments like these will happen over and over
again, but I know that He will always be with me and wrap His loving arms
around me in comfort.
Yeshua filled me with strength
today so I can continue this path in Malawi with all the passion in my heart to
dedicate to this cause…fully focused on this project with His love pouring
through me.
And I know I am going
to be OK.
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