Awesome Opportunities

Opportunities present themselves in many forms.  Sometimes they come about by surprise and other times you are able to plan for them.  Clint's job transfer to Abu Dhabi was a combination of both.  We had talked many times about the possibility of our family having to move for his work, but the locations we always talked about were US based....International placement was probably only mentioned a few times, and then waved away with a "Naaaaaa, that probably won't happen....at least not for a long time."  Clint has always talked about wanting to be a Safety Specialist and not just a safety field rep, and working internationally is expected of someone who is aspiring to this level.  It is one of those "pay your dues" kind of things.  So when the OPPORTUNITY to move to Abu Dhabi was presented to Clint in the spring of 2012, he turned it down because he thought the boys and I would absolutely not want to go.  I will admit that when he told me that he had turned it down without talking to me first, it made me mad.  Of course he was right, I didn't want to move across the world to the Middle East!  I then began to think more and more about it, and decided that if this was going to happen, then I would prefer that it happen while we were all still together as one family unit.  I did not want to be on the other side of the world, while one or even two--if not all, of my children were in the US.  So I told Clint that we needed to start preparing for an international move so that the next time an OPPORTUNITY was presented, we would be ready.

So the first time the OPPORTUNITY was presented we were surprised and not prepared at all.... The second time just a few short months later we were able to answer because I had made a point to research the area, find a church, and locate schools for the boys....we were able to make plans.

Now from Clint's job OPPORTUNITY, we have been able to have so many, many other OPPORTUNITIES come our way.  Let me elaborate......

1) I am teaching internationally now.... believe me, when I decided to be a teacher, teaching in another country never even entered my mind!  Even though I am not teaching what I feel is my forte', I am giving it my best effort.  God is helping me every day face obstacles and make changes.  This teaching OPPORTUNITY has given me the OPPORTUNITY to lean on God and my hubby even more.

2) Joshua and Clay are both going to have amazing experiences as they have been given the OPPORTUNITY to travel via their school to Turkey and Nepal on curriculum and community service based trips.  This is something that the boys would have never been able to experience if we were still in the US.  (Don't get me wrong, we still miss home most definitely!!!)  Joshua leaves for Turkey this week to visit some ancient Greek ruins and learn about the Turkish culture.  He has been working the past few weeks on a Social Studies and Language Arts unit about the area that they will be visiting.  This unit required him to research a specific location in Turkey and prepare a speech about it, that will be presented while on the trip to his classmates. **** Clay will be traveling to Nepal in April via a school/community service trip with Habitat for Humanity to help an orphange and the young people that are living there.  They have incorporated time within the itenary for fun and sightseeing as well, but wow, what an awesome OPPORTUNITY to not only travel but to learn while giving back to others.

3)  All three of our boys have a great OPPORTUNITY to play baseball (yes! American baseball!) in the Middle East!  Yet again, another thing that we would have never thought about before now!

4)  We are experiencing OPPORTUNITIES to meet people from all over the world.  The compound where we live as well as the boy's school is comprised of people from the UAE, USA, Norway, France, UK, Germany, Italy, S. Korea, Lebanon, India, Pakistan, etc... the list could go on and on!  Now could we have meet people of these same backgrounds in the US?  Sure, but here it is much more concentrated, and you are guaranteed to meet someone from another country.

5) We have been given the OPPORTUNITY to educate ourselves about the world, outside of what the media always talks about.  It has been enriching and eye-opening!

Now with all this said, please don't think that we don't miss HOME!!!!  We most definitely do!!!  BUT since we are here, we might as well make the best of it!  The things that we miss the most are like lemons, and we are finding ways to make lemonade!!  May God bless you and keep you, and may have the OPPORTUNITY to experience something new!  Embrace the new, the tears, and the unknown because hopefully in the end you will be glad you did!

Phillipians 4:13 (NKJV)  "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Isaiah 41:10

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Foreign Holidays can be Blessings

Here in the United Arab Emirates, which is a Muslim nation, they are celebrating what is referred to as Eid al Adha.  There are two Eid celebrations each year.  The first is called Eid al Fitr, and it marks the end of Ramadan (a time of religious fasting for the Muslim religion), and only lasts one day.  The second is called Eid al Adha and it lasts for four days.  This is also referred to as the Feast of the Sacrifice, commemorating the willingness of the prophet Abraham to sacrifice his young and only son in obedience to a command of God.  

So how do they celebrate?  Well...they have gatherings with family and friends, meals (especially lunches and late breakfasts), they wear new clothes, and give gifts to each other.  Sounds like their version of what people do at Christmas time.  

Now although this is interesting, there is another reason for me bringing up holidays... time off!  The schools and businesses here not only observe every Muslim holiday but they also allow for Christian holidays to be observed as well.  This means that the school calendars are dotted with days off here and there for all types of celebrations.  So even though this Eid al Adha is not a celebration for my family, we are getting the benefits of the time off!!  Then in the months to come, we will also be able to have time off to celebrate our holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas!!  

My new teaching position has been a trying one to say the least, and I was really glad that this break came when it did.  I needed a breather and a moment to refresh my mind!  I needed time to think about how to approach teaching the content that my students need.  So I am thanking my God for this blessing of time to think, refresh, and relax with my family!

Counting Blessings

Sometimes it is hard to see the blessings that we have in our lives because we are too busy focusing on the things we are disappointed about it.

I will admit that this has been my exact perception and attitude over the past week about my new teaching position.  Is it my dream job? NO... Do I wake up on-fire about it? NO.... Do I feel like I am the best person for the job? NO...  Well here's the deal---although it is not my dream job and I am not waking up extremely excited about starting a new day in this position where I feel like I am completely not the best person for the job, obviously there is a reason that I have the job.  I have always stated to others that have been in tough situations that God always has a reason for the things that happen in our lives.  Giving others advice and support is so much easier than pumping yourself up.

Clint and I decided that if we wanted to reach a few goals that would impact our family's future, then I would need to work during our time here in the Land of Sand.  We had originally planned for me to be a stay-at-home mom, but that wasn't going to help us reach our goal of building a home and creating the home place we both wanted back in Alto.  So I found a teaching position.  A position that involves me teaching in an environment and a grade level that I have never taught in before....OH MY!  I even told the people during my interview, after hearing about the details of the position, that I did not feel qualified!  Yet, despite my complete honesty and upfront approach, they still wanted to hire me.  They told me that just from my interview, they could tell that I was a person of character and they knew that I could handle the job!  Ok, so on one hand...Thanks for the compliment, right?  Yes, most definitely!  On the other hand I am thinking....these people must really need to fill this position!!  

I have doubted myself from day one of this position.  I have prayed each day that I would make a positive impact in some way.  I spent the first week of the job crying every evening.  I was pitiful, and so depressed that Clint was worried about me.  He even told me to quit on more than one occasion.  He said he had never seen me that sad... I told him I would be fine.  I just needed to find my big girl panties and deal with it.

Well Thursday evening rolled around and after a week of crying and just feeling utterly lost and down, I decided that I needed to pull those big girl panties up even higher and get my head in the game.  So it wasn't the job of my dreams.....  So I didn't feel qualified....  Oh well... I needed to stop looking at all the negatives and focus on the blessings!  So here are the blessings that I wasn't acknowledging at first...

1.  God knew about our plan and goals, and within days of posting my resume with multiple schools, I had an interview....make that 2 interviews.

2.  After talking to another lady about the process of how to become a teacher here, finding out about all the paperwork that had to be processed by the USA and the UAE governments, and that it had taken her 3 months to get everything completed, all of this, by the time my documentation has been completely processed, will have taken about 1 month to complete.

3.   Although I do not feel exactly qualified to do what I am doing, my students are making progress.  Small steps of improvement, but all the same that is progress.

4. My husband has stood by my side, held my hand, provided love and support, and given wonderful advice throughout my pitiful depressive beginning phase of this new adventure.  I could not do this without him!

5.  I am blessed with handsome, smart children that do not have the delays that other children have.

6. I am helping children that need help.

7.  I have also had several of my former students, that are all grown and starting families of their own, contact me and tell me how good of a teacher I am, and that I will do great!  (Really meant a lot to me!)

So, although the negatives are still looming over my shoulder, I am trying to remain focused on the blessings.  I am trying to learn whatever lessons God may want me to learn from this position, and I am trying to take my own advice that I have given to others multiple times.... God will not lead you to it without bringing you through it!

I Have Returned!

It has been a while since my last post....  

I stepped away for a brief trip to the states.  A trip back home that was both sad and joyous!  I had originally planned a trip home to visit my ailing grandmother, but she passed away before I could get back to Texas.  I was able to be there for the funeral though, and I am glad that I was able to be there for that.  I was sad that my mommaw had left us but I was happy that she was no longer suffering from the ravaging effects of cancer, and that she was dancing in Heaven with Jesus!!

I was able to see many of my friends and my family, and I received such a reassuring and loving welcome from all!  I realized that I truly have been blessed with a wonderful family, and friends that are close enough to be claimed as family!  I felt the love and generosity of our home town community in an amazing way.....  It is nice to be missed and even better to be remembered!

Although, I had a wonderful time being back in Texas, I did miss my hubby and my boys!  So returning to them was high on my agenda...  You never know just how much you are needed until you are not there, and then everyone realizes they needed mom for something!  LOL  My hubby did an awesome job holding down the fort and keeping the natives from getting too restless....

I will be posting another story very soon, so that all of you can learn about my new professional endeavour!!

A Brief Return and a Life Celebrated

So in just a few short hours I will board a plane for a very, very long flight home to Texas!  I am looking forward to the time that I will spend seeing family and friends but not really looking forward to the flight!  Ooohhh my tailbone!!!  Well enough whining...LOL!

It is only going to be me returning for this trip... The boys have school and hubby has work.  This trip is not all fun and games.  I have many things that I am needing to take care of before returning to Abu Dhabi.  There are loose ends that need to be tied! So here I come to tie them...  On top of this, I am returning for my blessed grandmother's funeral.  It is bitter sweet...

My grandmother didn't live the easy life.  She had a very hard road from the beginning.  She wasn't raised by her parents.  Her older siblings raised her. She had to work from a very early age and had children at an early age.  She made her mistakes in life and tried desperately to learn from them.  She also made lots of memories along the way.  She was a very good dancer in her younger years and actually won a few dance contests!  Just a few years ago, I had the privilege of dancing with her at my sister's wedding, and friends, she still had moves!  She had many friends and everyone loved her!  Although she was a hard worker and was constantly working up until a couple of years ago, her best accomplishment was when she accepted the Lord as her Savior!  She had a sweet, kind spirit and a such a cute, funny little personality!

My grandmother has dealt with many health issues through the years, and I believe that she has known for a long time that she was more ill than she let on.  She has watched each of her older siblings as well as her twin brother, battle cancer which in the end took their lives.  My grandmother felt that the treatment for cancer was worse than the disease itself.  So just a few months ago, as her health really began to fail, my mother went with her for some tests at the doctor's office.  The tests revealed that she had cancer....  I have been told that what happened next was not your ordinary response to this news.  My grandmother listened to the diagnosis and then raised her hands in the air and said "Hallelujah!  I am going home! I am going to see Jesus!"  She wasn't scared.  She didn't get depressed.  She praised God!  Not for having cancer, but for the sheer fact that she was ready to see the Lord!  Absolutely impressive!  She is such an inspiration.....  

They told her at that point that she had probably had about 6 months to live.  A few weeks passed and they ran tests again to see exactly what type of cancer that was ravaging her body. (It was important to do this because we needed to know for family history purposes, being that so many of our family members have passed from different cancers.)  The tests came back revealing that she had 2 types....liver and pancreatic cancer.  At this point, the 6 months were changed to 2-3.  Family members were notified, and plans for her birthday were made.  She celebrated her last birthday August 20th, and had a really good day!  She was surrounded by family, both close and extended.  She loved every minute of it!  I unfortunately was not able to attend....  But we did the next best thing, I was able to Skype with her that day!  She was glad to see me and told me not to cry because she was happy...  Then when she found out that it was very late where I was in the Middle East, she thumped the screen where my nose was, and then told me to go to bed! LOL  She was such a hoot!

That was just 3 weeks ago...  From that time, she has progressively gotten worse.  I made plans to make a trip home, so that I could see her before she passed.  My mom told her I was coming, and she was so happy to hear that!  Each time I was updated on how she was doing, things just seemed to be getting worse so quickly.  She was confused and feeling like she wasn't in her right mind.  She would pour drinks out because she didn't know what it was.  She had a few accidents with not making it to the bathroom on time.  Her body was turning on itself.  As I am typing this, I am swallowing the lump that is in my throat because I hate thinking of her in so much pain and confusion.  My mother and her sister were able to be there with her to help her, and I know that this was not an easy task for them at all.  

Yesterday morning, Sept. 11, 2013, as I drove to my boys' school to sub for the day, I sent up a little prayer...  I said, "Lord, please tell my mommaw that she doesn't have to wait on me.  Tell her that I love her and that I understand if she wants to let go. Lord if it is in your will, please end her suffering.  Please don't make her go through anymore pain. Amen."  A few hours later I received a message that she had passed from this world.  I thanked the Lord for answering my prayer even though I was sad and heartbroken.  I knew she was ready....She wanted to go to heaven to see her family members and friends that had gone ahead of her!  She wanted to see Jesus!  I can't fault her for that....  She was a wonderful lady and I will never forget her!  She was the last living grandparent that my sisters and I had, and I am so glad that she was ours.  I am also so glad that my children were able to know her and know that she was their great grandmother.  Family is so very important!

So this is not goodbye mommaw!  Just see ya later....  With my heart full of love and a mixture of emotions, I travel home to celebrate the life of one tough, yet gentle lady....my Mommaw!!

Teaching in the UAE

Well it has been a while since my last post, but with school beginning and tackling all the homework each night with the boys, there hasn't been much time for updating.  They all have homework every night.  Clay has the most to do but he is the oldest and this school is very rigorous.  He is working very hard.  Joshua is struggling to get a better grip on being responsible for himself, and taking ownership for his education. As soon as he can get this mastered, he is going to have a wonderful year!  Denver is also working hard and trying to adapt to the higher level of work that is expected from him.  It is a learning year for all of us! 

 Not only have the boys successfully made it through 2 1/2 weeks of school, I have worked as a substitute teacher twice at their school.  Very interesting experience being the sub and not the actual teacher....  All went very well, but it was just a different experience being in the substitute teacher role.  All of the kids were very good, didn't have any problems. 

The first time I subbed it was for the elementary campus as the PE teacher.  Very full schedule!  I had 7 class times with kids, an hour for lunch, and an hour for a planning period.  The elementary gym and supply closet are very nice.  Any PE coach/teacher would love to have this type of space and supplies.  

The second time and most recent was just this passed week.  I subbed for the middle school campus for one of the 8th grade teachers, Language Arts and Social Studies.  All of the kids actually worked on the assignment that was left for them.  I was impressed!  Now they aren't perfect but they were all working....  Their behavior was very well behaved and polite.

I am sure that the school will keep me plenty busy with sub work, but I really need to find a steady form of income.  We thought that we would be able to get by with me not working but things are 3x as expensive here as in the states, so this will not be the case.  I am fine with working.... It was strange to me not having a job.  Granted taking care of the house and monitoring the kiddos is full time work in itself, but I have always worked outside the home from the time I graduated high school.  So the past couple of weeks have been good but at the same time very different than what I have been accustomed to.  With all this being said, a couple of weeks ago I put all of my professional information out to a few schools to be included on their sub lists as well, and I actually applied for a few positions at a new school that is in the final stages of being built about 20-25minutes from our villa compound.  I received a call yesterday for an interview for one of those positions!!  I was really thinking that I had possibly started my application process too late but I guess not!  My interview will be today around 3pm, and I am praying for God's will to be done.  There are no guarantees, but I have at least made the cut, or the short list as they call it here.  They collect applicants information, sort through them, and then make a "short list" of those that they are most interested in to contact for interviews.  So I guess they think I am qualified enough to at least make the cut!  I am very nervous, but best foot forward! 

Now here is the tricky part....  To work here you must have particular professional documents attested.  Now you may be asking, what does that mean?  Basically having something attested means that the documents must be stamped and verified in your home state, then your home country, and then in the country you are going to be working in.  This means that I will need to get my college transcript, college diploma, and teaching certificates attested.  At this time I do not have any of these things attested.  I am in the process of getting all of this done, which is going to require me to send these documents back to the states and then to the powers that need to sign and stamp them, and then back to the UAE to be verified here.  For today's interview I will not have any of these documents in this official form, but I will have copies of these items for them to see, with the promise of the attested documents to come.  Man the hoops you have to jump through to work in a different country!  

The teaching position is a lower level/elementary position, so I am excited yet nervous!  I have never taught on the elementary level.  The lowest level/grade that I have ever taught is 5th grade, so we will see how it goes.  If I get this position, then I can say that I have worked on all campuses....high school, middle school, and elementary!

So send up a prayer for me that God's will be done in this new adventure!!  I am always saying you are never to old to learn new things!  Looks a good time for learning!!!

Be Thankful!

Americans, be thankful!  I am proud to be an American, and living abroad has deepened my appreciation of things that get taken for granted in America.  You may be wondering what exactly I am talking about....Well I am talking about school! EDUCATION!!  

America is the land of the free and the brave, or more correctly said, a land of the free because of the brave!  Well because of the hard fought and won battles of our ancestors, we are allowed so many freedoms.  One of these freedoms is getting a FREE public education, with FREE transportation to and from school each day, and guess what, so many Americans don't even realize how good they have it.  Over here in the "Land of Sand", FREE education does NOT exist!  Every parent who sends a child or children to school is paying for tuition, transportation, supplies, PE uniforms, some books/journals, and for some, school uniforms.

Well I am thankful, that Clint's company is taking care of the boys tuition and bus fees.  I am also thankful that the school the boys attend do not recquire uniforms. SHHEEWWW!  A school uniform here can cost 2000+ dirhams here.  What is that in USA $$?  That is about $545 per child.  So, yes, I am glad that we are not having to buy uniforms!  

So friends, the next time you want to complain about that FREE education that your child is receiving or the FREE bus ride to school, think of those who by choice or not, do not have the things for free!  It is expensive for one child but take those costs and start multiplying them by 2, 3, 4, 5, etc... (however many children you are providing for), goodness, it is expensive!