New Year’s Resolutions (sort of)

Since I've been back from the US, I have realized that this year I really need to be here. I should not wonder about what I'm missing in Colorado, rather I should consider what I may be missing here. Someone once told me that he doesn't ever miss anyone or anything because he puts his energy and focus into his current situation. I don't want to go back to Colorado and question if I made the most of my time here…I’m just going to do it. I’m going to invest time, love, my heart into the people and the country this year.

With that being said, I am SO excited for this school year. I hope to be more involved with the school activities now that I know how they work. I am planning on spending more time in my homeroom class and do all that I can to fill the students up with positive and encouraging words; God knows they need it…

Something disturbed me today. A teacher was telling me that her entire homeroom class was filled with cheeky, misbehaved students. I was thinking, “of course they are ‘cheeky’ and ‘misbehaved’ – if that is all that they are told about themselves, they will become that way.” Then, after they were dismissed, she pulled two girls aside. She was speaking to them in Samoan, so I’m not sure what she was saying, and then she punched them both in the head. The only thing I did was gasp. I was shocked. What do I do in that situation? I don’t know what set her off because it was all done in Samoan. I was talking with Candice and Holly about the situation and we were throwing around some ideas. I am going to do all I can to build these girls up and help them to start believing that they are worth something. I am going to pray with them every morning to promote a good start to the day and I am going to start asking questions to the teacher that is abusing them. I don’t know if I’ll be able to change her mind about what she’s doing, but maybe I can get her to start thinking about it.