Welcome to Second Grade! Today was my first day in Ms. Wendy Lock’s second grade classroom. It was a bittersweet moment switching from middle school and high school to second grade; however, after arriving to such a lovely welcoming sign, I was certain this would be a great experience! My first day was rather different than the last 8 weeks of student teaching. I forgot how touchy elementary students were compared to the older kids. I was given many hugs and handshakes today! The kids were very excited to have a new teacher in the classroom. Each child introduced themselves to me and told me where they were born, their nationality and their favorite food. (Who knew that second graders knew what nationality meant-only at an international school for missionary children!) We had a great morning reading and writing and I learned a lot about each of the students. The day went by very quickly and I was surprisingly more this afternoon.

This last picture is very unique to me because the books that my students are holding are in memory of one of the most Godly women I know-Dr. Jill A. Jones. These books were donated to Faith Academy by Liberty University in memory of a professor whose heartbeat was literacy and Jesus. I was able to be a part of this by bringing these books to Faith Academy in Manila, Philippines all the way from Lynchburg, Virginia. The students were so excited to have new books and were very grateful for the gift! Thanks Liberty University! Thank you Dr. Jones for making such an impact on my life and the lives of children to come!

More stories to come from the life of a second grade teacher! Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful Monday! May Jesus be more precious to you each day.

-Madison

Prayer Request:

-Patience and understanding in the classroom

-Opportunities to share the gospel

-Wisdom and Discernment for the future

-Contentment in my heart

Today was my last day in my first placement of student teaching. For the last 8 weeks, I have been teaching middle school and high school special education/learning center. I have had the privilege of working with two amazing teachers who really have hearts to see these students succeed. From the first day, I knew that I was going to have an amazing experience working with these students; I was definitely right. Each student brought a unique component to the class and brightened my day. Over these last 8 weeks, I have had a complete change of view towards middle school students and I really can see myself working with this age group some day! Starting Monday, I will be in Second grade where I am sure will be full of funny stories and silly things second graders can do. Here are a few pictures from my last day!

-Mads

A few things.

Here are a few things I miss about the States and a few things I don’t:
1. Milk. This is probably my #1 thing that I miss. (well, food wise.) You can buy milk, but its expensive and just not the same.
2. Friends and Family. I definitely took it for granted, being able to make a quick call (at a normal hour) or send a quick text. I have to be much more intentional now.
3. Super Stores. It used to be so easy to run to Target or Wal-Mart. Not so much anymore because that doesn’t really exist here.
4. I don’t miss the cold weather. Since I am here during the U.S. winter season, I have completely skipped the cold, snow and chill!
5. Super Stores. In the same token, I don’t really miss them because I like buying things from people (as opposed to businesses). It is exciting to go to someone’s sari sari (little store) down the street and buy butter if you need it!
6. Cheese. While we have cheese here, it’s expensive and hard to find. Who would have thought that there were so many things that are so much better with cheese.
7. Liberty University. I miss the community, speakers, atmosphere. The bad news is I am about to graduate.
8. American Dream. I don’t miss it one bit. It makes me sick to think of all the money that is in the States (even if we are in a depression) compared with all of the people who are starving and dying from preventable diseases.
9. Clean Air. I miss the country air with no pollution and smog. Manila is nice, but you have to wonder how much pollution I actually ingest in a day!


Hope you enjoyed reading! Just in case you were wondering I am going to have a gallon of milk and a block of cheese as soon as I get off the plane! Have a terrific Thursday!
-Mads

10 Snippets from Filipino Culture!

10 Snippets of Filipino Culture brought to you by experience…

1) A meal is not a meal without rice. Even breakfast must include rice. if it doesn't have rice, it's a snack. At McDonalds you can order just spaghetti with rice, friend chicken with rice…. All for about 50P=$1.20

2) Young people are expected to bless their elders by taking the elder's hand and touching it to their forehead; it's a sign of respect.

3) I absolutely love Filipino kids. They are bashful, yet excited… And so polite!

4) When I travel public, I ride a jeepney! A jeepney is (often) a WWII jeep renovated with two rows of seats to accommodate as many people as can squish inside, for only 7 pesos which is about 14 cents.

5) Driving here is definitely not for the faint of heart. There are a few red lights scattered about, but only at the really big intersections. The rest of the time, cars just drive, wherever they want. A two lane road is typically four, with cars, trucks, taxis, jeepneys, squeezing in and out navigating through the constant flow of traffic. It's actually a very good system, everyone is so alert, and there are hardly ever any wrecks!

6) I have officially learned a few tagalog words: salamat po (Thank you sir), Magandang umaga (good morning), bayad po (payment sir) and tubig (water).

7) Filipinos love merienda. SNACK! They eat it two times a day- 10am and 3pm. A day is not complete without it!

8) Filipinos are generally very hospitable! They think “we” instead of “I”.

9) Filipinos love their malls! The malls here are often 5 stories and go for several blocks! They are full of people taking advantage of the free aircon! [side note: in the Philippines aircon is the short for air-conditioning and ref is short for the refrigerator!]

10) Catholicism is the main religion for the people here. Everyone says they believe in God, but most of them don’t know the real God. But, I am praying BIG things for this country along with many others! God is still the God of this city!

Daniel- the coolest two year old I know

I have a new friend. Many of you probably would recognize him or have asked me to bring him home with me; however, while bringing him home with me is not an option, (Kim, my roommate, would definitely not go for that…) he has stolen my heart. Sweet Daniel. Before coming to the Philippines, I saw pictures of Daniel and thought to myself, “I am going to get attached to him, I just know it”; and sure enough, here I am 6 weeks later wondering how hard it is going to be to say goodbye in May. Daniel is in the process of being adopted by Kim, my roommate. He used to live at Gentle Hands-the orphanage that I LOVE to go to on the weekends. We have become quite close and he melts my heart on a daily basis.

It is always nice to wake up to “SIN!!! Wake up!” followed by a little hand grabbing yours telling you to “COME.” Then there are the wonderful guitar concerts wearing nothing but Elmo briefs, if that. Daniel has brought new meaning to heights and climbing; his favorite being the barred door. If you get hurt, Daniel is quick to the rescue to “elp” you up and fix your ouch. I love to try to figure out what words he is trying to say when pee pee, sleeping, and beep beep all sound the exact same. Daniel loves to read, spell and count-with the exception of number 8.

With all of the funny moments, this precious little two year old has taught me a few valuable lessons: 1) When you get an ow (a hurt), kisses always make it better, 2) Jumping always makes things more fun, 3) Please and Thank you are the magic words!, 4) It doesn’t matter what color, size, shape or nationality a person is to be friends!

Thanks for reading. Hope to write again soon!

-Madison (mcwheeler@liberty.edu)

Faithful Future..

“You make known to me the path of life; In your presence is fullness of joy; In your right hand there are pleasures forever.” Psalm 16:11

[So, what are you going to do when you graduate in May?] If I had a peso for every time someone in the States or here asked me that question, I would be very rich. No offense if you have been one to ask me. It’s a really good question; one that has been flooding my thoughts for many months now, but has yet to be answered. Get a job in the States? Apply to teach at Faith Academy in Manila? Try to teach at IS of Manila or Brent? Teach at Prodigy Discovery Playschool? Go to seminary? Get my masters? Do something completely different that is not even on my radar? I am struggling with the desire to be faithful in the future, but continue to live in the moment God has given me! I have wrestled with the idea of many different things and not until just recently did I come to a solid conclusion… drum roll please… And the answer is: It is totally and completely not up to me! Praise the Lord. I am so relieved to know that I am not in control of my future. I have begun working through the process of finding the balance of being proactive and not being lazy. I want the Lord to have complete control over my future because I am completely surrendered to Him.

Now this may not be the answer you thought I was going to give and honestly it was never the answer I was looking for. I have struggled with a control issue in my life (it is definitely a thorn in my flesh), but I have started to figure out that the Lord has His own perfect agenda. I am still working through this surrender in my life starting with my list of what I do know: 1) I do know that I am called to the international mission field. God has made it evident in the last few weeks that this is where my heart is and to deny that would be direct disobedience. 2) I have a large sum of student loans that I must pay off before I can serve as a full-support missionary. I am still praying that the Lord would grant me freedom from those loans. 3) I know that I am called to be a teacher for God’s precious children. I love kids of all kinds (red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight). I love kids with special needs. I want to help kids succeed and to develop passions and desires to serve the Lord! 4) God is still on His throne. God is still good. God is so faithful. I do know that no matter what if I allow the Lord to direct my path, His plan will give me more peace and more joy than anything I could have imagined. I just have to trust Him. With everything.

-Madison

Prayer Requests: -Wisdom and Discernment-Safety and Protection-Financial Status-More opportunities to witness to those around me

Mail:[I love encouragement and mail!]

Faith Academy
MCPO Box 2016
0706 Makati City
Philippines