I’ve spent the last three weeks on “VAC.” This is the term used to describe the weeks between terms when the students are home. I made absolutely zero plans before the start of the break and it has been glorious.

I’ve accomplished a lot! I got my entire kitchen/living room transformed from yellowing off white to new crisp grey. I’ve eaten out in the last three weeks more times than the past three months combined (which was probably all of once, so don’t worry too much)! I even spent an entire day on my couch. Maybe not the proudest moments- but sometimes it’s nice to just take a day to veg.

I spent a week hosting the cutest dog on campus, and have spent evenings and days with friends doing things like “spa day,” hosted by a short term team brought to encourage staff, ice cream social night, visiting our local cheese factory, and even a trip to the NTSA (think secretary of state) in Nairobi to get some well overdue car stuff sorted!

All this good stuff, and I’ll be honest… I’m ready for break to be over. I miss my students. They fill my days with joy, excitement, and something productive to do that doesn’t involve the inner dialogue of, “Well, maybe I should go for a walk… or maybe I should play piano… or maybe pull out my paints again. **Sigh** Maybe I’ll just scroll social media for a while instead… did I do my devotions yet today? Oooo, I could read. Or maybe take a bath.” All of these are wonderful things, but when I was taking the dog in to watch her a friend said in a conversation, “It’s freeing to have someone else to take care of so you don’t have to think of yourself all the time.” Truer words have not resonated with me so deeply in a while.

And so I look forward with eager anticipation to what the next week holds as students flood campus once again, I ask for prayer in some very specific areas…

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Relationships

Day one I have a date with a returning student to help her get her room all organized! This student struggles sometimes with organization, so her parents have asked me if I would spend a couple of hours with her getting her all settled in.

• Would you pray for this time with this sweet girl? She’s had a tough go of it and could use some extra prayers in her transition.

I had a super great time on my trip with students right before the end of term- I’m hopeful that I can have some of them over and continue to engage in conversations and relationship post-trip without it being weird or awkward. (students ya know?)

It’s the last term of our seniors, and that can be good, and hard in so many ways.

• Would you pray for some intentional time with some of these students I love so much but don’t have THAT much time left with?

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Academics

AP will hit the ground running! We’ll have a week to prep for the exam, the massive undertaking we’ve been working towards the entire term. They’ve had assignments to do over the break, and some will be more successful than others, but it’ll be a hard week of studying and prep.

• Would you pray for my students as they study? Then pray they stay motivated to learn the rest of the term? Sometimes it’s tough after they’ve taken their cumulative exam to keep them engaged.

Regular chem will be jumping into some of my favorite content. It’s in these units that we get to do things like make ice-cream in the name of thermodynamics ;). Just this past week I sat down to re-vamp some lessons. I finally feel like I’ve been teaching long enough I have the space to move towards a more hands-on inquiry-based learning style. I’m so excited to roll out some new methods!

• Would you pray for my students that chem is hard for? It’s these units that stretch their brains extra hard, and they could use some special prayer.

I’m teaching a new class! It was kind of a last minute change. It’s called “Comparative Religion” and the goal is to study Islam and contrast it to Christianity. I have the space with the pressure of AP lifting with the exam date early in the term, and there was a need, so I thought I’d jump in! Am I qualified? Well… I would say I’m know more about Islam than the average American Christian, but less than the average missionary- so I’ll be learning alongside my students. I’m really pumped to learn more about Islam, as many of my students families work in Muslim contexts. I’m also excited to have a designated hour and 8 captive students that I get to have deep conversations about religion with every single day.

• Would you pray that I stay grounded in the Word of God and am disciplined in studying his word, as it is extra important when spending such an extensive amount of time studying another religion.
• Would you pray I be disciplined in preparing for this class well each day? I think I can manage the workload of an extra class just fine, but it’s kind of an unknown right now of just how much time it will take to prepare.
• Would you pray for my 8 students, that this class would be transformative in each of their lives, and mine as well? Tat this class would teach us more about the power of the gospel of Christ and the importance of sharing the good news with all people?

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Extra Curricular

My NHS students are starting up a Monday night Outreach program where we meet for an hour to do something for different groups of people on campus (for example, the first week we’ll be taking chai and mandazis- the Kenyan equivalent of coffee and doughnuts to the night guards). I’m so excited to spend intentional time praying for and encouraging our campus.

• Would you pray for the student that will be the “manager” of this program, and that through their work and leadership of their peers, those on campus would feel loved and cared for? My student leadership team is really excited about ‘bringing this back’ as a similar program ran on campus in the pre-covid days.

NHS will certainly keep me busy as we’re also starting up a tutoring program during the evening study hall hour. This will be fully student run- so I’m hoping my role as NHS advisor will be minimal, but all the same, it’s another piece.

• Would you pray that the students would be excited to engage in helping their peers?

This term brings another round of inductions, that is, choosing students in the next grade to be inducted into NHS. It’s a fairly time consuming process and is very personal for some of our students who put much weight on the accolade of being admitted.

• Would you pray for discipline that I would do the not-so-fun part of being in this role?
• Would you pray for fairness of mind and the entire process as it’s difficult to be objective when the team of adults making the selection know the students a little TOO well as they work to make the decisions.

Sponsoring has been a super fun endeavor! With a team of adults I meet biweekly with the 9th grade student leaders. The big freshman event is selling concessions! We were actually quite successful at our first couple last term, and I think the kids are excited to do it again this term.

• Would you pray for good attitudes for those less than enthused by being part of 9th grade sales?
• Would you pray for our leadership team (students and adults) as we work to coordinate these events, and work to train up our students to lead well?

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I’ve been seeing some students around campus the last couple days- kids who also live on campus with their parents- and my heart has sung each time I’ve seen them. Even with all the work I know is coming my way, I’m super pumped for what lies ahead. Would you pick maybe one or two bullet points and pray with me? If you’re not sure what to pick- choose one of the bolded ones- it might be what I think I need the most prayer for 😉

And so on the eve of our professional development meetings, I’ve been digging through curriculum, sending emails, and making copies with a podcast running in the background just to break the silence. I’m ready to put on hold my naps, turn off the audiobooks and clean out the paintbrushes. Break is almost over and I couldn’t be more ready.