Inspiration from a 6 year old.

OK, so, I am less than a month away. This is crazy. I am incredibly grateful for all those who have supported me financially. I am getting close to the goal that was originally set. Things are going smoothly and I am a little nervous, but mostly excited. I am officially done with the fall semester here at Northland. I leave Ashland this Saturday, go home for about 3 weeks, and then jump on a plane.

I wanted to write this post to tell you guys a story. This may not seem all that significant to you, but to me it really shocked me and amazed me how the innocence of a 6 year old girl can be seen as philosophical at times.

So let me start with the background. I work at the after school program at Ashland elementary. I am a co-mentor for the kindergarten/1st grade class. I work 3 days a week and I love this job. The children at the after school program are often times at-risk or misbehaved children, so the job can be very challenging. Today we only had 2 kindergarten girls because there was a Christmas program today and most parents picked up their children after the program. We asked the girls what they wanted to do. They said they want to go into the woods and look for the Yeti. So that is what we did. It was a great way to spend an hour or so. We just hiked around and played in the snow. It was a great day for it too.

On our way back, we just all sat down in the snow to take a break. My co-mentor told the children about me taking a trip. These girls focused their attention on me and were waiting for me to tell them more. I told them that I am going to Haiti. One girl said "I know already. You told us that. I already knew about the earthquake that happened a really long time ago." I was pretty pleased to hear how aware this girl was. I said, "I am going to be working with children just like you in Haiti." That same girl had her mind stuck on the earthquake. She then said "I am surprised people lived because buildings were crushed and buildings are stronger than people." I then responded, "Wow, there must be some very strong people in Haiti." To end this conversation. she said "Yeah! The girls must be really strong too!"

I loved this conversation. It is true though that the people of Haiti are tough people. They need to stand firm even if the buildings are crumbling.

This story may not hit you like it hit me or it might not mean anything to you, but I just wanted to share.

Good news!

So, I just found out this week that I am going to be a full-time student for the winter 2011 semester. I have been trying to see how I can get independent study credits and how many I can get for the past month or so.

I will be taking 12 total credits. The classes I will be taking are Soc. 490 "Ethnography of Foreign Aid & Ministry", Rel 490 "Explorations of Ministry and Missions", and Rel 492 "Pre-ministry Internship." These are all classes made up specifically for my trip. I love how flexible professors are at Northland.