Carlsbad Caverns from Spring Break

So, over Spring Break (a couple of weeks ago), I went with my roommate Malorie and her boyfriend Pat to Carlsbad Caverns National Park. It was truly mind-blowing! I don't think that I've ever been in caves before. If I have, they have now paled so much in comparison that the memory is obsolete. It was about a two and a half hour drive through parts of Texas and into New Mexico. Along the way, we actually were able to experience another National Park: the Guadelupe Mountains. They are the highest point in Texas and are very beautiful... and very different from the Rockies. We spent most of the day at Carlsbad, hiking throught the caves.

For the most accessible (and most visited) part of the park, you have two options: hike in or take the elevator. There was no question about our preference. So, we began the hike which took us circa two and a half hours. You're on a paved path the whole time, and it's dimly lit. I was actually really impressed with the artistry behind the lighting. There is so much to take in while you're down there, but the lighting guides you through it. Highlighting this, backlighting that. It did make it quite dificult to take pictures. To do it properly, you would need a tri-pod and a long shutter speed without a flash to capture the colors and feel of it. But, pictures don't do it justice anyways. The sheer amount of space within this caves is unreal! But, I'm jumping ahead.

As you hike down, you are at a pretty steep grade, traveling throught the natural mouth of the cave, and down into the depths. Since you are the one guiding yourself into it, you are forced to realize the grandeur and the juxtoposition of this underground world. "Wait, weren't we just standing on top of this?!" You would have to make yourself look up and marvel at the vertical spaces. Almost like being in a cathedral but on a much grander scale, and way more beautiful (in my humble opinion). God is an artist that we aspire to be like. You hike from room to room of this cave, constantly working downwards until you get into the "Great Room". Oddly enough, it wasn't my favorite spot... I don't know that I had one favorite spot, but I really enjoyed the hike down.

The Great Room is where the elevator spits people out, so they would miss all of what we had seen over the last hour and a half! This part is quite level and even somewhat wheelchair accessible. We also saw some more water that was still forming active There were fun formations with names such as: The Lion's Tail, Rock of Ages, Whale's Mouth, Fairy Prairie, and the Bottomless Pit. (I had to say the last one in the same voice as "The Pit o Despair". That only resulted in the ensuing of hilarity Princess Bride style. Heck yes!) It was a fay full of fun antics balanced by revered and awe-struck whispered. Because of the immensity, they ask that you keep your voice down to prevent a cacophony of echoes. The only disappointment of the day was when we discoverd that everyone has to take the elevator out of the caves. The path is one way only, probably for some unknown safety reasons. Despite our hike being shorter than we intended, we still had a grand old time.

There are a grand total of 113 caves in this National Park, and those two and a half hours were spent only exploring one. They are also discovering more new caves every year! Apparently, you can pay to go on guided tours of other caves requiring some spelunking gear. Bring your own boots, gloves, and AA batteries, they'll supply the helmuts, knee pads, and headlamps. :) I would love to go back, camp there for a while, and do some more exploring... maybe someday. So, it was an adventure I would highly recommed to anyone. Plus, because we lived so close, it only cost us the price of gas (1 full tank) and $6 a person. A deal of a lifetime!

Stephen Froiland

I received an e-mail today informing many of the alumni of Trinity at River Ridge that former art teacher Stephen Froiland passed away on Tuesday. To me, this proved to be quite the shock. He had been living with Crohn's disease for years and liver cancer apparently. From the sounds of it, I think the family knew it was coming... but I didn't. Needless to say, it shook me up. He was my art teacher at the end of my Trinity career and he was the one who helped me come into my own as an artist. I accomplished more than I could under his guidance. Seeing his passion in the classroom every day was a true inspiration of the power that creating visual art could have on one's life.

I developed my love of Bougereau, Waterhouse, and Leighton because of him. He encouraged me in my creativity and gumption within my own art form. He gave me ideas and ways to explore them. I still have a work that I have been piddling with since my senior year that he helped me with. (For those in my class, does "siren" ring a bell?) I have so many memories of discussions and true encouragement from him. Even after graduating, I would look forward to the conversations that I could have with him in the hallways during quick visits. He always encouraged me to keep painting, drawing, and creating art... and I have. It has been an outlet for emotions of all kinds: a way to grieve, a support to others, a celebration of joy, an expression of longing, an honoring for loved ones, and a transfer of feelings that can't be expressed in words.

He was an amazing artist and I always regretted the fact that I was never able to visit his rented studio space that was located near one of my favorite coffee shops. (Jeremy, I think it was by Black Dog Cafe.) So, I honor him for his passion in life for art, teaching, working with ambitious teenagers, his courage, and his steadfastness. I hope to be able to affect the lives of my own students as he affected mine. In his short forty-five years of life, he was able to accomplish so much.

As I write this, I am listening to the soundtrack of "The Mission". For some reason, it has occasionally reminded me of him. (Not the songs of impending doom, the serene ones.) Now it seems more appropriate than ever. The romantic, classical quality of the score just tears at your heart strings. It relays this mix of joy and sorrow, as does this time surrounding his death. He is with His Lord now, and is freed from the suffering that he endured for so many years. The tears stream down my face and yet I rejoice in the knowledge that he is finally resting at peace. Thank you for everything that you have taught me, Steve, you will be dearly missed.

Planned Part is Over!

It's been great being back in Minnesota. It was such a joy-filled time to be able to be at the Community Meeting on Sunday and see everyone once again. The week has been good, very relaxing, and somewhat productive. After running around at a super high fast pace for the last three months, I'm trying to figure out how this slow-paced life at home works. I still want to be productive and there's a LOT that I want to accomplish during this time. I am now pretty much certified as a real, live teacher. Woo hoo! So, that means I need to find a teaching job for next year. That is what this month is about primarily. (I am in the Twin Cities for a month. I will head back up to Morris for the last three weeks of the semester, graduate, home for 3 days, and then head to Scandinavia for 2.5 weeks. Wow!) But, besides that month and a half spanning mid-April to the end of May, this ends the "planned part of my life". College is done, living situation is being investigated, jobs are being pursued, etc... That's a weird realization.

Since I've been back, I have finished my first draft of my resume and am starting on cover letters today. I have my eye on some different job posting sites, but will also be keeping track on individual school districts. I suppose I should insert some more details here. I have a few (loose) criteria for life next year. I need to be in a location where there is a branch of the People of Praise (any branch). Four years being away from a branch is more than enough for me! I feel the Lord is calling me to teach next year, most likely in a full-time teaching position where I have my own classroom. (Well, at this stage in the game, that's what I would like.) I would really like to live in some sort of a household with other singles or a family. And, I want to be more involved in the City-Building, Missionary lifestyle. I have been involved, and I consider myself to be a missionary already, no matter where I am. But I want to take that and make it my all... every day of my life, my mission in life.

So, as a result of all of these elements, I believe that I will most likely be in the Twin Cities metro area next year. This is exciting to realize and I'm finally starting to get glimpses of what life could be next year. I have talked to numerous people about this, and it seems pretty clear that this is where the Lord is calling me for now. In addition to that foundational call, it's even more exciting for many reasons: I grew up here, but haven't really come into my own as a full member of this branch; my family and so many of my friends are here (inside and outside People of Praise); there are many possibilities for household life here; my teaching licenture is in the state of MN, so no re-licenture is necessary; there are many districts and types of schools to pursue employment opportunities in, I'm not limited to one or two districts.

Many things are unknown, but it's all quite exciting. Even though this is the end of the "planned part", I know that Someone Else has an even greater plan for my life. That's all I need to know in order to have peace and trust in Him. Amen!

Way Overdue

I apologize for the severe lack of posts lately... it has been crazy chaotic and then sleep took over. Such is life! If you don't know already, i write this from the homeland of Minnesota. I don't think I ever realized how much I enjoy being able to come back to this beautiful state until I flew from the desert into this land filled with lakes and trees. Yes, El Paso has mountains, but still doesn't win my heart over completely. So, it is good to be back. However, it wasn't an easy last couple of days with my students.

I have really created a strong bond with my students in El Paso, my first real class that I've ever had where I felt that they were mine. This responsibility for them was obviously in the classroom, but it also spread to all parts of their lives (as it should). I wanted to figure out a way to say goodbye to these little people who have been my purpose and my livelihood over the past three months. I decided I would write each one of them a letter. I was able to get most of the twenty hand-written letters finished over Spring Break. However, I saved the ones that would be the hardest to write until the end. I had intended my students to bring them home and read them there, after we had already said goodbye.

I prepared myself for a fun, but assuredly emotional day on Friday and that's what I had. Short version: they ended up reading their letters at the end of the day as I passed them out. Some of them began to cry because of the truly heart-felt and encouraging notes that I had given them. They came up to hug me ("Group Hug!") and I started crying because they were crying. And because I was crying, even more of them started crying! I know, it was indeed a vicious circle of love. :) I would bet that within that last half hour of Friday when we said our goodbyes, that at least 3/4 of my students cried. I guess I know that they love me and I hope that also means that I made a difference within these few months.

During these few months, I really bonded with a few of my boys, often times the bigger trouble-makers out of the group. They need stability and to learn responsibility, so I admit that I gave them a bit more attention. I took the time to individually pull aside the three who I grew closest to at the end of Friday: Ricardo, Alfonso, and Angel. I reiterated some of what I had written to them in their letters, and it is certainly a tall order: "Promise me that you will always take the time to make good decisions. Never take the easy way out, because it's never worth it. Don't ever let anyone push you around and don't ever push anyone else around. Promise that you will always be a gentleman. Never let your anger get the best of you. Don't fight with others. You know that you're better than than, and I know that. Now show them that you're better than that. Choose your friends carefully and help each other make good decisions. Never let anyone tell you that you can't do something. Work hard, and you can do whatever you set your mind to."

So, I hope they stay in touch. These are the ones whose futures I am slightly concerned about, but I think they'll be ok. Well, I pray they'll be ok. God has taken care of them this far into their little lives, He's always got them in His sight. So, after some tears and more hugs than I can count to my kids, I did what I came to Texas to do. I taught them everything I could (not just academic content either), I spent time with them, I loved them, and then I let them go. It was a great three months and I will never forget them, my first real class. Here's some pictures:
Here's some of my kids playing a Spelling game to review for their test. Sparkle, anyone? It was great fun and we're clearly having fun.

This is Angel. You'll notice the tears visibly streaming down his face. And yes, I was crying too. But, the picture taken immediately before this one was too sad to post. He's bawling. It's the saddest picture I've probably ever seen.

This is my class... well, almost all of them. Pretty cute, hunh? That's Alfonso with the attitude standing on his desk upper right. Ricardo is the one lurking in the background. I miss them already and love them tons. Father, watch over them and bless their futures. Give them the strength that they'll need to follow You and make good decisions each day. Amen!

A Bribe

So, today was my second to last day in my classroom. Many of my student have been quite vocal about not wanting me to leave. One of my boys who is a bit of a trouble-maker came up to me this morning and said "Miss Coleman, why can't you stay? I want you to. If you stay, I promise I won't be bad any more. I'll be good!" Something like that just breaks my heart, how can it not?! (His behavior has actually improved drastically within my time here through meetings with his grandma (his legal guardian) to get all of us on the same page.) Tomorrow will be an interesting and emotionally-draining day, I am sure.

By the way, here's a story from Nightline that I just saw... interesting indeed. http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=2935819&page=1

Perspective on History and Other Thoughts

It is interesting how timing works because I was just talking to one of my roommates / fellow teachers about this and then I read Rus' post from 3/19/07. Here's my thoughts.

Because I am licensed to teach all subject areas Kindergarten through sixth grade, we have a lot of variety in the classes that we take in the Elementary Education program at Morris. This past fall I took a class of teaching methods in Social Studies. A shift in my thinking clicked into gear: Social Studies is not just history and geography like so many of us were taught throughout the years; it is the study of ALL things social: sociology, psychology, political science, anthropology, history, geography, and more! (You would think that this would be obvious, but it wasn't to me.) We need to teach it like that, and there are so many opportunities there. So often SS is seen as the most boring subject, but I see it as the subject with the most opportunities. (It's not always automatic, but I keep reminding myself of it.) By teaching it this way, it can be integrated into any of the other subjects: math (population growth, country statistics, travel, dates, life expectancy comparisons), science (pollution, ecology, renewable energy, engineering / architecture), reading (primary document, texts, everything), art (archeology, art history, pottery), music (well, that one's pretty obvious).

By viewing the world with all of these pieces intact, you see a more complete picture of how things work. It makes everything more relatable both to us and between all of these parts. Rus was talking about seeing the nation of Israel in a few different lights (from both the Israeli and Palestinian perspectives). One of the books from our school library that I read over Spring Break was called "One More River". It is the story of a Jewish family who move from Canada to Israel to join the life of the kibbutzim along the banks of the River Jordan (the former border between Israel and Jordan). It's a book of young adult literature, so an easy read but packed with stuff to think about. I recommend it!

This ties into why I really want to teach upper Elementary to Middle school (grades 4 - 8). I realized a while ago that there is an important distinction. So much of teaching at the primary level is building the foundation for their future education. This is part of why I want to teach at this level: get 'em while they're young! :) But, I want to be able to introduce really "meaty" topics to my students and incorporate that into my everyday teaching. I want to be able to really discuss what we're talking about in class. It's hard to do that with twenty-two 7 year olds. Yes, it's possible to a certain extent, but you can go so much deeper with students as they begin to mature.

Especially when you begin to delve into the genre of Social Studies, the possibilities become endless and can be very challenging. I want to incorporate current events into my teaching, for both my students' benefit and for my own. I want them to see the connections between what occurred in the past and what continues to happen in the world today. I haven't had the opportunity to teach much SS since I've been here in TX, only a week on the Texas Revolution. (yeehaw!) But, there has been other things that we have done with reports on Martin Luther King Jr., various presidents, different states, and other topics. I think my favorite moments were the conversations that we had centered around the Civil Rights Movement. These kids are still pretty young, and it's really interesting presenting those sorts of topics for the first time that they really start to get it. So, there's some of my thoughts for now. A bit random, but that's how my brain works today to give you a tiny little insight.

Reflections on Fear

At the first Missionary Conference with the People of Praise this past New Years, I was being attacked more than ever before by the spirit of fear. I kept praying against it on my own and with others, but I couldn't seem to shake it. Finally, a word came forward that shot straight to my heart. I have held tight to that word for the past few months. It keeps me in the right frame of mind, where I know the Father wants me to be. Here's what I wrote as a reflection on it:

I hear Your Voice calling,
I feel Your heart-prodding,
And I wonder
What is this fear?

Never have I known one,
Never has one known me,
Like You.
And yet, what is this fear?

You call out "You are My joy, My love."
Your existence makes me possible.
We yearn for one another, that coexistence.
But, what is this fear?

And so I turn, to open surrender.
Through shaky tears,
Amidst the shadows,
I cast aside all fear.

Any challenge or price,
Any risk or sacrifice,
I stand firm with my Love
And will not choose fear.

And a prayer I wrote a few months ago that still rings true:
No matter what the cost. No matter how hard it is or how uncomfortable it may be. No matter the sacrifice... I have pledged my life to You, my Lord and King, the love of my life. No walls or barriers, whatever You want. No turning back. My life is different now. I see the world through new eyes. I have a lot of work to do and many things to pray about. But, I cannot, will not be afraid. You are my strength. You are my all. You are my Lord, my Shepherd, my Guide, my Master. You are my love... literally. All of the love that I have ever been capable of feeling or showing to others is because of You. Amen!