The Second Year...Part 1

Tomorrow and Tuesday will be our first holidays of this school year.  We have successfully completed 5 1/2 weeks of school.  I was told last year that my second year would be way different than my first, and those have proven to be very wise words.  

When I arrived to my apartment in Santa Cruz, I was greeted with an apartment full of mold.  My shower had 5 inches of mildew/mold at the bottom.  My closet, where I left some clothes, was water damaged and my clothes were moldy.  Apparently, Santa Cruz had a lot of rain while I was gone and there was no air movement in my apartment...thus, the mold.  The day after I arrived, my friend and coworker Kate, came over to help clean and to catch up on our summers.  She was a life saver, and not only cleaned but left food, so I didn't have to cook.  After 7 loads of laundry, lots of scrubbing, inhaling fumes, scrapping, caulking, and painting, my apartment was back to normal before school started.  My God not only provided a friend to help clean and bring food, but he protected me from getting really sick from the mold.  There were only a few times when I had a hard time breathing... He is good to me!

Kate cleaning mold where the wall meets the roof...chunky!

When teacher meetings started, I didn't know where I would be doing my counseling.  I had a classroom for teaching 7th and 8th grade Science and Bible, but not an office to meet with students.  After looking at a few places with the elementary principal, the Lord made another place available to me to be used for counseling.  The Lord knew I desired a space to counsel both individuals and groups.  He knew that I needed a place where students feel safe and could come without reservation.  The day this room became available to me I was mad at the Lord for not providing what I needed.  I was frustrated, sad, angry, and expecting more.  I cried out to him that morning in my frustration and he answered me with so much more than I expected (my own bathroom :)). 

Welcome!

View as you enter...arranged by Hana Kamiya :)

Counseling area

Group Counseling/Teaching Area

Books, blocks, balls with faces, Miss Potato Head, stickers, and more to come...hopefully

My littlest counselee...She was having trouble playing nicely with Miss. Potato Head.

I now have a room where I have already sat with students in their anger, frustration, sadness, anxiety, and confusion.  With this room he is allowing me to not only reach out to elementary students, but junior high and high school students as well as teachers.  He has given me a space to allow him to work through me to accomplish Isaiah 61:1-6...

"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

    because the Lord has anointed me

    to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

    to proclaim freedom for the captives

    and release from darkness for the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

    and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

    and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes,

the oil of joy instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness, 
a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor. 

They will rebuild the ancient ruins

    and restore the places long devastated; 
they will renew the ruined cities

 that have been devastated for generations. 

Strangers will shepherd your flocks;

  foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God."

... and 1 Corinthians  9:19-23

Though I am free and belong to no one, I have made myself a slave to everyone,to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law.  To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Counseling is a humbling experience.  Everyday I am brought to the realization that I can do nothing in this child's life without the Holy Spirit leading me through it every word and action taken.  It is draining, yet such a rewarding experience to give up my fleshly desire to fix and succeed through Him.  In Him, I know that good is being workout in some way.  These last five and a half weeks I have listened to kindergarden students all the way up to 12th graders who hurt, who don't understand why things happen to them or their families, who struggle with their self image, or who can't seem to control themselves.  Everyday I am reminded of how broken our world is, and I am also reminded of how only God can fix it.  I have no magic cure for students that come into my office.  I just have Jesus.  I have told two or three students that I can't fix them only God can do that because that is the only person who fixed me and continues to fix me everyday.  I love that I can pray with them, laugh with them, and cry with them.  

I am blessed by the Lord to be able to work with these students and teachers.  Please pray for wisdom and the presence of the Holy Spirit in every interaction with students and teachers.  Pray for rest and the ability to give other's burdens to the Lord.  Pray that I remember that I am not the fixer, but that He is!  Praise the Lord for the space He has given me, and for the opportunity to mentor, counsel, love, and encourage!  

"Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.Do not quench the Spirit. Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all; hold on to what is good, reject every kind of evil.May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-24