Where else would I be?

Do you ever find yourself complaining about everything?

...................But not just complaining about one specific area but complaining throughout the whole day?


Recently I have caught myself grunting about living and working in China, saying statements such as:

"Why can't Tyler (autistic boy) realize it is ok to pet our dog Stevie?"
"Can't Vincent just for once not cry during a therapy session?"
"Ugh, Macy did not just not just slobber all over my arm?"
"Why do I not speak Chinese and have the therapy aides make fun of me for using it?"

As you can see, I realize how much these negative comments can take over the reason I am here. I get so focused on the negativity that I forgot that these complaints are actually reasons I love being here:

 I love the opportunity of playing with Tyler for thirty minutes. It is such a great session to be able to just let him be independent in his world while trying to pull him into our world.

Even though Vincent can be a handful to work with since he is irritable, I love the moments where he will surprise me in therapy. Like just the other day, he was trying to scoot himself to a toy. Oh and when he smiles, it totally brightens my day. :)

I love the opportunity to work with Macy. She has a tendency to hit herself when she feels scared or nervous. For several of our therapy sessions, I have taken off her arm bands and just held her close to have her resist hitting her face. Our therapy session on Friday, she fell asleep in my arms. It was quite adorable and I totally wish someone took a picture of it!!

And for the language part, it is an area where I have been trusting the Lord in. He definitely has shown me I need to be learning this language. One of my good friends though has been spending time with me to learn some keys phrases to help with therapy. Love you Sara! One day I will be fluent in Chinese but as of right now, I need to just take it one phrase at a time.

God has brought me here for reasons I still don't know yet. Yes, I can complain about it and wish I was in the comfort of America. But where is the adventure in that? The Lord wants me here for the summer and the truth of the matter is this:

There is no place I would rather be but here.
Melissa

Not the same as last year

Hello again! Melissa, here. As many of you know, this is my second time here at SFCV. Last year, I came as a ESL intern and spent most of my time with the school children. I made lots of new friends and G sure opened me up to what passions He has given me in my life.
As I prepared myself for this coming trip, I wanted everything just to be the way I wanted it to be. To be honest, I didn't really desire to be pushed on this trip and just wanted to have it be a relaxing time doing therapy with the kids.


Ok....you can stop laughing now. I already have. :)

This trip has been hard to be brutally honest. The Father has definitely pushed me in areas I didn't necessarily want to work on.

-He has shown me a lack in proper therapy for special need orphans in general. Not in that the Ayis aren't doing their job right but some of the orphans can be too challenging for them and they don't have the right training for it.
-He has shown me to keep trusting in Him since after all He is the Creator of the Universe.
-He has shown me the need for me to learn the language especially if the Father desires for me to live in China.
-He has also shown me the need to have faith in EVERYTHING I do.

I can go on and on but what all this rambling comes down to is this: This trip is not the same as last year and it never will be!!! Why do I think it is though? Why do I compare this SFCV internship with my last one?
I have also realized in the midst of this on how important it is to focus on each day at a time: to not be  caught up in the perfect schedule but letting G to bend it as He wishes. :)


Please keep M&M in your pr*yers as we finish up our last three weeks at SFCV. Thank you all for your support. We love you all!

These verses popped up in my head as I was typing this post :
 Joshua 1:9-^"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” 

Art Time

Every Monday and Thursday, I have art time with the Primary class which are the oldest kids at SFCV. This is my favorite time of the week!! I get to have fun getting paint all over myself and the kids enjoy it too! I have always loved getting my hands dirty and the look of paint blotches on my hands and  paint under my fingernails is a very satisfying feeling for me. The kids have been having fun creating wonderful works of art while also putting some of the paint on the canvas too. So far they have made marble paintings, color wheels, sponge paintings and ink trees. It is always interesting as I do projects with different groups of kids to see what creative ideas they come up with and how they intemperate the idea of the project I assign. Some of the concepts that i have tried to convey have become lost in translation and so some of the projects we have attempted have become just another painting, but luckily art is subjective and everyone interprets it differently so if they miss the concept completely that's ok as long as they have fun I am glad! Not everyone may agree with me, but I think that art is very important for developing well rounded people in any arena. I think you are never too old to have fun doing art and so I love it when the staff helpers get in on the action and do the art projects along with the kids. When creativity is silenced nothing can be accomplished whether you are a businessman, a banker or a doctor, artistic thinking is always useful. Because of that, it is my mission to instill this way of thinking in the minds of all the kids i work with so that in turn, our society can continue to become more innovative. You may be laughing now that I traced innovation back to elementary art class, but I think that this is a relevant thought, and I think it is evident in everyday life that art is important! Besides, who doesn't love art? Even if you are "bad" at art, you still can't deny that slapping paint on a canvas does not bring joy to your heart. I am so glad that I have been able to do art with the kids and I have been trying to incorporate it into their English lessons as well because I know that English grammar can be boring. I  enjoy the challenge of trying to make my projects go with what they have been learning in class just so they can get more practice using the English vocabulary. It also helps class a bit more bearable. That is my schpeel on the importance of art, and if you are an unsatisfied parent in the public school system I would love you talk to the school district and give them some testimonials so that your art program will not be cut! :) Art is creating beauty in this dark world and I count it an honor to help facilitate that an day. You may think that I am using strong language about this topic, but I think that art is very important and to suppress creativity would make this a very dull world, and I am not interested in living on that planet.
Posted By Mari

P.S. no one told me you have to resize the pictures before you upload them, so that is why they are so huge. :) technology is not my forte. Just click on the photo and it will display them in a smaller size.