Well this summer has been quite the adventure. To give you a brief run down I left Doha for Washington DC where I spent time with Nathan and Laura for a few days till Micah flew up from Florida so we could spend some time together over the weekend. Then I flew to Louisville KT to visit my good friend Josh and spend some much needed time together. Then I was off to Columbus to see my parents, my sister, and start my masters classes. After two weeks in Columbus I few to Kecskemet Hungary to finish my summer classes at the Kodaly Institute there. Once those were complete I headed to Budapest where I stayed, exploring the city and making friends until I came back to Doha just a few days ago.
Like I said it was quite the adventure! I learned so many things both professionally and personally. And I found some solid rest and relaxation and I can say that I am ready for the kid's to come back next week.
This year I decided to start a new hobby. Photography! You can be expecting some (hopefully) good pictures from my adventures throughout the year. Here are some of my favorites from this summer enjoy!
Monday, August 31, 2015
Tuesday, May 5, 2015
Oman and stuff
Oman is beautiful with beaches and mountains and green things...I've missed the green things. Above all, Oman was quiet, soooooo quiet. There was no construction that started at 4 am everyday. There was no person standing below my window in the morning hawking the biggest logie known to mankind. And the beds in the hotel were amazing.
The driving wasn't that bad, but I'll come back to that. There are a few things I don't like about Qatar, but 90% of it wouldn't be a problem if there wasn't construction everywhere all the time. Oman is not under construction and therefore was peaceful.
The first day I layed by the pool, read and slept for the entire day. If you've vacationed with me you know I'm not that kind of person. But for this vacation I seemed to spend most of my time sleeping, reading, and relaxing.
Daniel and I tried to get out and see the sites, but I think most of the time we just couldn't be bothered to do much. And that was just fine.
We did rent a car which saved us some money, but it was my first time really driving in the middle east and frankly it was super easy in Oman. The driving isn't as crazy, which was nice, but we did see at least one crazy thing. While sitting at an intersection Daniel and I witnessed a man work his way into oncoming traffic while on a motorcycle and get hit by a car. Now all of this was at pretty low speed, but the guy still fell off his bike in the middle of the intersection. Two police officers just happened to be right there and as they walked up to the accident the man jumped up and ran away. The officers then moved his bike and talked to the driver and waved everyone else on. Daniel and I just sat there in awe of what we had just witnessed. It was nuts.
After getting back from vacation I have hit the ground running. I have a musical next week with the 4th grade. The 5th grade is working on their end of the year project which requires some part of the arts helping out. And tonight I have a choir singing the national anthem for the university graduation where there will be many big names in Qatar like the Emir himself.
Life is crazy right now but summer is quickly approaching. I hope to be able to see a lot of you while I am home this summer, but my plans are not solid yet. I'd like to try and see my brothers and if I can make it out to Arizona to see everyone there. However, I will be spending most of my summer in Hungary studying at the Kodaly Institute for my masters degree.
If you could keep all those things in your prayers over the coming weeks Lord know's I need it.
Tuesday, March 3, 2015
When Life Gives You Watermelons
It's weird because most people told me it would feel like a weight has been lifted, and I really don't feel that. Am I glad to be done with it, sure, but as a single man in my late 20's I didn't feel like they were a big deal. I probably wouldn't have paid them off if Bible didn't recommend it as a good idea. Also, I don't know what else I would spend my money on. The reality is I am a pretty simple guy. I love simple things. When joy comes by complex means it is stifled by stress. I like to read the news with a cup of tea in the morning. I like to read a book when I go to bed. I enjoy the occasional tobacco pipe in the early evening and an intriguing TV series like House of Cards. Traveling can be fun every now and then, but I live in another country and for now that's enough.
Feeling content is a rare activity for me though, and it's something I wish I could enjoy more often. I'm certain God brought me out here for a reason, and I am pretty sure I know what it is. I've asked Him my whole life to make me into the man He wants me to be, and I have always strived to be someone else. Here I have a chance to grow up without expectation of who I am or what I think people want of me. I can just be. And like a cat stuck in a tree clinging on for dear life I haven't let go very well. I've hurt some of the people I love dearly in the letting go process and that haunts me.
However, this week is a week of celebration. I am debt free. Thank you all for your prayers. If ever I have needed them now is the time. Pray for wisdom with my next life decisions, and healing from the past. I love you all.
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Recent Adventures
Life in Doha has been an interesting beast for the last couple of months with all the holiday travels and end of term shenaniguns (yes, they do call it term here, and yes we are split into four houses, sadly no I don't work at hogwarts). Over winter break I was able to make it home to Ohio and spend time with the entire family. The day after Christmas Micah moved to Florida and I gave him a hand so at 5:30 in the morning He and I jumped in the biggest truck we could get without a special license and embarked on the 14 hour journey to Jacksonville. Once we got him unloaded and the rest of his family got there I boarded a plane for yet another adventure to Arizona. While I was there I got to spend some much needed time with friends there. If there is anything I've missed about being abroad its spending time with those I love and it did my heart a lot of good. After 9 flights and over 10,000 miles of travel my winter break came to an end and I settled back into Doha.
At the moment it looks like the next big step for me will start with a couple weeks in Hungary studying at the Kodaly Institute in Budapest. Kodaly is a music methodology that I have been learning and studying about since my student teaching and I'm really excited about the possibility to study at the Institute. I'm trying to figure out just how much I can do there that will count towards my masters degree at Capitol and there is a small chance I might not be able to do it. But I do hope it will all come together.
Here are a few pictures from Christmas with the Doyel Family.
At the moment it looks like the next big step for me will start with a couple weeks in Hungary studying at the Kodaly Institute in Budapest. Kodaly is a music methodology that I have been learning and studying about since my student teaching and I'm really excited about the possibility to study at the Institute. I'm trying to figure out just how much I can do there that will count towards my masters degree at Capitol and there is a small chance I might not be able to do it. But I do hope it will all come together.
Here are a few pictures from Christmas with the Doyel Family.
The Doyel Clan
Hey Audrey! I love this girl so much I can barely stand it.
When she waves and it melts my heart.
Here she is admiring the Christmas tree.
I wanted to finish this post up by saying thank you to everyone who has been praying for me. Life has been pretty intense since I left Prescott last year. Most, if not all, of you who read this love and pray for me so much its is truly humbling. Thank you all for your prayers, and please keep them coming. God is doing some crazy things in my life right now, and you're prayers are being answered daily. God is providing me ample opportunity to grow, and in a lot of ways I have. But I still have a long way to go. If you pray for me please pray that He will give me wisdom in the coming weeks as I try to plan where I will be this summer. Also I need prayer for continued growth and healing in this season of life. Thank you all for your love. It means a great deal to me. Also...call sometime I'd love to hear from you :)
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Culture Shock
If I could describe my overall experience of the last month it has been one of culture shock. For the last three to five weeks I have been struggling. I have been dealing a sincere amount of confusion and depression and it has only been in the last week or so that I've started to notice why.
As someone who has traveled a bit I thought moving to a new country would be relatively easy. Obviously there would be some major cultural differences, a new language barrier, and the whole adjusting to actually living abroad. I thought I had in myself what I needed to do this successfully with little difficulty. Boy, was I wrong.
In the last three and a half months I have learned more about myself than I ever cared to know and frankly I don't like most of it. Most of you know I'm a pretty optimistic guy who likes to have fun and always enjoys a good laugh. And you'd be right to say that because I do. However, I am learning that I am an eternal optimist. Even when I feel like the building is collapsing on top of me (which somewhat accurately describes how I've felt since about February) I could tell you with ease everything I enjoyed about the process of being crushed to death (hyperbole intended). Though this is an asset most of the time when I have some legitimate problems that need to be addressed I tend to overlook them, and then do a bajillion things to try and cover up how the problems make me feel. All of which end up making it worse and usually end up hurting people around me. What I've found is that, though I try to be an honest person, I lie to myself profusely and unapologetically.
So you can imagine that I haven't been coping with culture shock very well. If you don't know much about it a basic google search can give you the basics, and really that's all I know. Culture shock is pretty common for expats, and happens more or less to everyone when they live outside of their culture. The main idea is that there is a honeymoon period where everything is great then there is a realization that things are difficult, then there is a homesickness combined with loneliness and depression and then there is no escape until you die. Just kidding, after the period of difficulty you learn to adjust and cope with life in new surroundings. Here is a great visualization of what culture shock can be like:
Though I think I'm at the confronting deeper cultural/personal issues I don't really know. I do know that some days are better than others. And that my mind is regularly occupied with depressing thoughts. The hardest part is that I genuinely find it difficult to care about fighting it. And yet, the optimist in me finds the whole process fascinating.
Needless to say life is very confusing at the moment and I would appreciate your prayers. Here are some specific prayer requests:
1.) That I would be able to work through this depression in such a way that nothing is rushed and that I could really grow and learn through it.
2.) That I could feel the love of the Father on a daily basis. I really struggle with accepting the love of others, and I'm finding that I don't accept the love of the Father despite obvious evidence to the contrary.
3.) I'm going home for Christmas. During my stay in Ohio I will be road tripping it down to Florida to help Micah and his family move to Jacksonville. Pray for safe travels as I will be doing a lot of it this December.
Thank you all for your continuous love and support.
As someone who has traveled a bit I thought moving to a new country would be relatively easy. Obviously there would be some major cultural differences, a new language barrier, and the whole adjusting to actually living abroad. I thought I had in myself what I needed to do this successfully with little difficulty. Boy, was I wrong.
In the last three and a half months I have learned more about myself than I ever cared to know and frankly I don't like most of it. Most of you know I'm a pretty optimistic guy who likes to have fun and always enjoys a good laugh. And you'd be right to say that because I do. However, I am learning that I am an eternal optimist. Even when I feel like the building is collapsing on top of me (which somewhat accurately describes how I've felt since about February) I could tell you with ease everything I enjoyed about the process of being crushed to death (hyperbole intended). Though this is an asset most of the time when I have some legitimate problems that need to be addressed I tend to overlook them, and then do a bajillion things to try and cover up how the problems make me feel. All of which end up making it worse and usually end up hurting people around me. What I've found is that, though I try to be an honest person, I lie to myself profusely and unapologetically.
So you can imagine that I haven't been coping with culture shock very well. If you don't know much about it a basic google search can give you the basics, and really that's all I know. Culture shock is pretty common for expats, and happens more or less to everyone when they live outside of their culture. The main idea is that there is a honeymoon period where everything is great then there is a realization that things are difficult, then there is a homesickness combined with loneliness and depression and then there is no escape until you die. Just kidding, after the period of difficulty you learn to adjust and cope with life in new surroundings. Here is a great visualization of what culture shock can be like:
Needless to say life is very confusing at the moment and I would appreciate your prayers. Here are some specific prayer requests:
1.) That I would be able to work through this depression in such a way that nothing is rushed and that I could really grow and learn through it.
2.) That I could feel the love of the Father on a daily basis. I really struggle with accepting the love of others, and I'm finding that I don't accept the love of the Father despite obvious evidence to the contrary.
3.) I'm going home for Christmas. During my stay in Ohio I will be road tripping it down to Florida to help Micah and his family move to Jacksonville. Pray for safe travels as I will be doing a lot of it this December.
Thank you all for your continuous love and support.
Monday, October 6, 2014
A Quick Update!
Hey! It's been a while since I posted last so I thought I'd throw out a quick update.
Things in Doha are going well. School is moving along and I feel like I am starting to wrap my head around the new curriculum and all the new ways of doing things. This weekend was the celebration of Eid al-Adha so I have the entire week off! So far I have done some hardcore relaxing and it has been great but I'm tired of being lazy so tomorrow I'm going to a water park with a friend of mine Then on Wednesday I'm revitalizing an old tradition I used to do in college called "Adventure Day"! It's literally a day where I stock up on water and food and walk around the city seeing what kind of stuff I can get myself into (I'll be sure to post pictures when I'm done!)
After Eid break my life will get crazy busy. I am playing soccer twice a week after school, I'm going to be coaching 4,5 soccer after school once a week and I play in a wind ensemble once a week as well. On top of all that I have to teach! It's gonna be nuts.
All in all I can't complain. Life in Doha is pretty easy, busy, but easy. I just bought my plane ticket home for Christmas so if any of you are in Columbus during that time I would love to see you!
Thank you all for your continued prayers you have no idea how much they encourage me. There are many days I need them desperately. Here are a few specifics:
1.) The next nine weeks are going to be incredibly busy. I am going to need strength to get through all that I have to do.
2.) The Lord has been pressing a lot of deep questions on my heart lately and sometimes dealing with them can be a rough going. Pray that I won't back away or run, but that I will press into Him and have the courage to hear what He has to say.
3.) My friend Jeff moved back to Detroit this weekend. Please pray for a smooth transition for him as it was all rather unexpected. And that for his health to steadily recover.
Things in Doha are going well. School is moving along and I feel like I am starting to wrap my head around the new curriculum and all the new ways of doing things. This weekend was the celebration of Eid al-Adha so I have the entire week off! So far I have done some hardcore relaxing and it has been great but I'm tired of being lazy so tomorrow I'm going to a water park with a friend of mine Then on Wednesday I'm revitalizing an old tradition I used to do in college called "Adventure Day"! It's literally a day where I stock up on water and food and walk around the city seeing what kind of stuff I can get myself into (I'll be sure to post pictures when I'm done!)
After Eid break my life will get crazy busy. I am playing soccer twice a week after school, I'm going to be coaching 4,5 soccer after school once a week and I play in a wind ensemble once a week as well. On top of all that I have to teach! It's gonna be nuts.
All in all I can't complain. Life in Doha is pretty easy, busy, but easy. I just bought my plane ticket home for Christmas so if any of you are in Columbus during that time I would love to see you!
Thank you all for your continued prayers you have no idea how much they encourage me. There are many days I need them desperately. Here are a few specifics:
1.) The next nine weeks are going to be incredibly busy. I am going to need strength to get through all that I have to do.
2.) The Lord has been pressing a lot of deep questions on my heart lately and sometimes dealing with them can be a rough going. Pray that I won't back away or run, but that I will press into Him and have the courage to hear what He has to say.
3.) My friend Jeff moved back to Detroit this weekend. Please pray for a smooth transition for him as it was all rather unexpected. And that for his health to steadily recover.
This week I have been listening to a group called "Page CXVI" they do modernizations of Hymns and this hymn has brought me great comfort over the last few weeks.
In the Lord there is Hope.
Be still, my soul: the Lord is on your side.
Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to your God to order and provide;
In every change, He will remain.
Be still, my soul: your God will undertake
To guide the future, as in ages past.
Your hope, your mind, your will let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright
Be still, my soul: the hour is hastening on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love's joys restored.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Hospitals in Doha
Last night I spent three hours in the Emergency room with my friend Jeff. Jeff had a major surgery this summer and was suffering some intense abdominal pain and went to the hospital. He was in the ER for close to seven hours waiting for a room to open up. My friend Teri and I went and spent time with him last night until he was given a room. As we were talking about life and religion I realized that last night was only the fourth time I had ever been in a hospital. I was born in one, I had a weird cough once as a kid, my friend Sean busted his head long boarding, and last night. It's one of those times I realized how blessed I am.
In fact this whole week God has been showing me how blessed I am. Since I have been here everything has gone smoothly. As of this week all of my paper work for acquiring my residency permit is complete. I am officially a resident of Qatar. This last weekend I passed my drivers test and got my drivers license. I'm sure that sounds like a small feet, but let me tell you...that test was not easy. Out of the 25 American's that went only 8 passed. Most failed on the 2nd test where we had to name the parts of a car engine. Thanks to JJ for teaching me all I know about cars! Unfortunately one guy made it past that stage and failed the driving part by accidentally running a red light on the inside of a roundabout. He now owes a 6000 qar fine (roughly 2000 usd). On top of all the paperwork my bank account got set up quickly and I got paid which is nice. I think I can say with a good amount of accuracy that my transition into Doha could not have been smoother. Mainly thanks to all the the people who are in charge of that stuff here at the school. There is only one thing left to do and that is to move into permanent housing. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for me about these things. A friend of mine posted this verse on facebook the other day and it made me think of all of you who have been persistently praying for me.
Prayer is a powerful and awesome act. To stand before the throne of God covered by the blood of Christ and know that He is actively listening and responding to what we have to say truly inspires me. Thanks to everyone who has been encouraging me and lifting me up in prayer of over the last few weeks. It means so much to me.
Prayer Requests:
1.) Please pray for Jeff. This season of his life has been incredibly difficult and he is truly seeking the Lord for the first time in his life. Please pray that he will come to a saving faith in Jesus. And that he might experience some joy in this time of his life.
2.) Please pray for school. I am struggling to really understand that PYP curriculum. Though things are starting to make more sense it is all very new and rather overwhelming. Pray that I can continue to know and understand what I need to do here at QA in order to accel.
3.) Church & Community. Please continue to pray for the expat community here at QA. That we can grow closer together as a family of expats. Also for a church that I can really settle down in and grow into. I have been to two churches, both of which have their pro's and con's. Praise the Lord for my friend Curt who has been taking me to church with his family the last two weeks. They are great people.
4.) Lastly, please pray against the spiritual warfare here in Doha. I am finding that there are times when I truly feel under attack from the enemy. It has never been associated with anyone or anything here but there are recurring things in my mind that I am confident aren't coming from me. Mostly while I'm sleeping. Please pray that my relationship with Christ will be strengthened while I'm here and not weakened.
Thank you all for your ongoing prayers.
In fact this whole week God has been showing me how blessed I am. Since I have been here everything has gone smoothly. As of this week all of my paper work for acquiring my residency permit is complete. I am officially a resident of Qatar. This last weekend I passed my drivers test and got my drivers license. I'm sure that sounds like a small feet, but let me tell you...that test was not easy. Out of the 25 American's that went only 8 passed. Most failed on the 2nd test where we had to name the parts of a car engine. Thanks to JJ for teaching me all I know about cars! Unfortunately one guy made it past that stage and failed the driving part by accidentally running a red light on the inside of a roundabout. He now owes a 6000 qar fine (roughly 2000 usd). On top of all the paperwork my bank account got set up quickly and I got paid which is nice. I think I can say with a good amount of accuracy that my transition into Doha could not have been smoother. Mainly thanks to all the the people who are in charge of that stuff here at the school. There is only one thing left to do and that is to move into permanent housing. Thanks to everyone who has been praying for me about these things. A friend of mine posted this verse on facebook the other day and it made me think of all of you who have been persistently praying for me.
"I love the LORD, because he has heard
my voice and my pleas for mercy.
Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live."
Psalms 116:1-2
Prayer Requests:
1.) Please pray for Jeff. This season of his life has been incredibly difficult and he is truly seeking the Lord for the first time in his life. Please pray that he will come to a saving faith in Jesus. And that he might experience some joy in this time of his life.
2.) Please pray for school. I am struggling to really understand that PYP curriculum. Though things are starting to make more sense it is all very new and rather overwhelming. Pray that I can continue to know and understand what I need to do here at QA in order to accel.
3.) Church & Community. Please continue to pray for the expat community here at QA. That we can grow closer together as a family of expats. Also for a church that I can really settle down in and grow into. I have been to two churches, both of which have their pro's and con's. Praise the Lord for my friend Curt who has been taking me to church with his family the last two weeks. They are great people.
4.) Lastly, please pray against the spiritual warfare here in Doha. I am finding that there are times when I truly feel under attack from the enemy. It has never been associated with anyone or anything here but there are recurring things in my mind that I am confident aren't coming from me. Mostly while I'm sleeping. Please pray that my relationship with Christ will be strengthened while I'm here and not weakened.
Thank you all for your ongoing prayers.
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Livin' La Vida Doha
It's been two weeks since I landed in Doha and things are starting to settle down a bit. First off let me say that life in Doha isn't a whole lot different than life in the states. Don't get me wrong, culturally life is very different, but as far as day to day goings on life is pretty much the same. In terms of settling in, Qatar Academy has been extremely helpful taking care of all residency requirements etc. We literally just show up for the medical exams, and the fingerprinting and they take care of all the paper work. So there has been little to no stress on that side of things which is quite nice. As far as living accommodations are concerned I, as well as many others, have been put in temporary housing for the next three months because our permanent housing is being renovated. The temporary housing is quite nice. It is a hotel apartment and it comes with everything I need to live comfortably for the next three months. I can't wait to move into the permanent housing though as it seems that everything that the Qatar Foundation does for it's employees is superlative. Our recreation center is top of the line. From work out rooms and an olympic sized pool for laps to a masseuse for when life is really stressful. I have been consistently impressed with the support that Qatar Academy is giving to all of us
Life outside of school is a bit different than life in the states. There are lots of cultural things that I am learning about. First and foremost respect the Qatari. I had a surprise one day at the coffee shop in the hotel lobby when I sat down and put my feet up on the small table in front of me. I noticed a few nasty looks from some men sitting on the other side of the room when I was approached by an employee there asking me to put my feet down. I had totally forgotten that showing the bottom of your feet to someone here is extremely disrespectful. After apologising profusely I went about my day.
When it comes to getting things here the malls have literally everything from Banana Republic to Armani and every other retailer under the sun. Theres a Coldstone Creamery and Krispy Kreme and gondola rides, roller coasters and ice rinks. Its amazing. Doha is really quite a nice place to live except for one thing...the heat. Now I know heat is one of those things that people like to claim as their states thing. "Our heat is worse because of humidity" or "It's so hot here the tar in the streets melt" All of which are valid and usually true. I have experienced many kinds of heat in my life from the dry oven like heat of Phoenix Arizona to the sweltering humidity of Nashville Tennessee and I can honestly say I have never felt heat like the heat they have here. Now some days are worse than others and apparently the humidity is supposed to lesson significantly over the next month or so. But sweet mother is it hot here.
I am excited for this weekend as I am going to church with a guy I met through Paul Perger. I am excited to get plugged into a church while I'm here. I will make sure to let you all know how that goes.
Thanks again to everyone who is praying for me. I appreciate your prayers and I can see how life here is an answer to prayer in and of itself. Here are some prayer requests as I continue to settle in.
1.) Church and a church family is something that I desperately crave. To live and partake in a community of believers is something I have yearned since I left Arizona. I miss it dearly. Please pray that I can find a church to dig into and really grow in.
2.) Settling in. Getting residency here in Doha can be quite the process. There are a lot of things that can go wrong. Luckily everything is going smoothly thanks to Qatar Academy, but I have to take a driving test in the next couple weeks and I am legitimately scared. I'm not scared that I won't pass it I actually scared of driving here. It is terrifying. Prayer for safety in daily transportation would be greatly appreciated.
3.) School. IB and PYP curriculum is quite different than anything I have ever encountered before. From what I am learning I think I'm going to like it a lot it's just a whole different system than I am used to. Please pray that I can begin to grasp this system so that I can thrive as a teacher here in Doha.
4.) Community. The community of teachers here is great. It is clear to me that God is blessing us with each others friendship. Please keep praying that we will continue to grow closer as friends as we share this experience with each other.
Here are some pictures of The Villagio mall and Pearl Island and a short video for my sister-in-law Laura!
Life outside of school is a bit different than life in the states. There are lots of cultural things that I am learning about. First and foremost respect the Qatari. I had a surprise one day at the coffee shop in the hotel lobby when I sat down and put my feet up on the small table in front of me. I noticed a few nasty looks from some men sitting on the other side of the room when I was approached by an employee there asking me to put my feet down. I had totally forgotten that showing the bottom of your feet to someone here is extremely disrespectful. After apologising profusely I went about my day.
When it comes to getting things here the malls have literally everything from Banana Republic to Armani and every other retailer under the sun. Theres a Coldstone Creamery and Krispy Kreme and gondola rides, roller coasters and ice rinks. Its amazing. Doha is really quite a nice place to live except for one thing...the heat. Now I know heat is one of those things that people like to claim as their states thing. "Our heat is worse because of humidity" or "It's so hot here the tar in the streets melt" All of which are valid and usually true. I have experienced many kinds of heat in my life from the dry oven like heat of Phoenix Arizona to the sweltering humidity of Nashville Tennessee and I can honestly say I have never felt heat like the heat they have here. Now some days are worse than others and apparently the humidity is supposed to lesson significantly over the next month or so. But sweet mother is it hot here.
I am excited for this weekend as I am going to church with a guy I met through Paul Perger. I am excited to get plugged into a church while I'm here. I will make sure to let you all know how that goes.
Thanks again to everyone who is praying for me. I appreciate your prayers and I can see how life here is an answer to prayer in and of itself. Here are some prayer requests as I continue to settle in.
1.) Church and a church family is something that I desperately crave. To live and partake in a community of believers is something I have yearned since I left Arizona. I miss it dearly. Please pray that I can find a church to dig into and really grow in.
2.) Settling in. Getting residency here in Doha can be quite the process. There are a lot of things that can go wrong. Luckily everything is going smoothly thanks to Qatar Academy, but I have to take a driving test in the next couple weeks and I am legitimately scared. I'm not scared that I won't pass it I actually scared of driving here. It is terrifying. Prayer for safety in daily transportation would be greatly appreciated.
3.) School. IB and PYP curriculum is quite different than anything I have ever encountered before. From what I am learning I think I'm going to like it a lot it's just a whole different system than I am used to. Please pray that I can begin to grasp this system so that I can thrive as a teacher here in Doha.
4.) Community. The community of teachers here is great. It is clear to me that God is blessing us with each others friendship. Please keep praying that we will continue to grow closer as friends as we share this experience with each other.
Here are some pictures of The Villagio mall and Pearl Island and a short video for my sister-in-law Laura!
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Communication, it's simple...ish
I leave for Qatar in nine days and I cannot begin to express how excited I am. Living and teaching overseas has been a dream of mine since I was a junior in high school. In 2005 I was on a missions trip to the Dominican Republic with a group from my church and on that trip I remember sitting next to my friend Jill and saying to her, "I kind of just want to throw my passport out the window and stay here." For the first time in my life I had caught a glimpse of something God had put in my heart. A deep love and passion for people. I learned that every person, no matter how flawed or broken they are should know and feel that they are loved especially when they feel like they aren't.
Since my last post I have been inundated with the love of my friends and family. I have been able to work through and vocalize a lot of my wounds and pain with the people who were involved. There has been a lot of honesty and forgiveness on all parties involved especially myself. Bitterness has been rooted out of my heart and the anger that I have struggled with is beginning to fade. My heart knows more peace and joy today than it has in a long time and for that I am thankful. This is only the beginning of the healing process but thank you all for praying with me and I ask that you would continue.
Last Friday I finished my first summer session of my masters degree and it is a huge burden off my shoulders. Thank you all for praying for me as I have been in class this summer.
The next nine days will consist of me packing, finalizing shipping arrangements, repacking, and spending time with my family. Nathan, Laura, Harper, and Audrey are coming to visit this weekend. It will be the first time that the family has met Audrey and the first time we have all seen each other since last year. I am excited to be with everyone and get to hold my niece for the first time.
A quick order of business. If you wish to contact me while I am in Qatar feel free to call me anytime I am on Skype (my ID is calebdoyel exactly like that). I will work hard to only be logged on when I am available. If you wish to text me and you have an iphone or mac with imessage please send your message to caldoyel@gmail.com (in place of my phone number). That will go directly to my cell phone for free. Starting Friday August 15th my phone number will no longer work. My contract with Verizon will be temporarily suspended during my time in Qatar. If you call or text me I WILL NOT GET YOUR MESSAGE. As always email and facebook work great too. I will work to keep this blog updated as much as possible so you all can follow me from here.
As always I covet your prayers:
1.) Pray that I can get everything in order before I leave concerning my baggage and travel arrangements. I need to figure out the most effective way to get my stuff there.
2.) Prayer for the community I will be joining in Qatar. This is the most significant prayer for me right now. Anyone who has lived overseas will tell you the importance of community while living abroad and I ask that I will be able to find good friendships with people in Qatar.
3.) And prayer that I can continue to trust God. I have felt that God has spoken to me about how I need to trust Him. This adventure I am about to start is something I have been struggling to trust God with. It has made me nervous and anxious. It took me a while to realize that my anxiety was about the trip, but once I did and I started to trust God with it I have begun to know and feel his peace. Please continue to pray that I will have the courage and faith to follow Him wherever he takes me.
Thank you all again for your prayers. I feel truly blessed to be lifted up by such faithful men and women of God.
Since my last post I have been inundated with the love of my friends and family. I have been able to work through and vocalize a lot of my wounds and pain with the people who were involved. There has been a lot of honesty and forgiveness on all parties involved especially myself. Bitterness has been rooted out of my heart and the anger that I have struggled with is beginning to fade. My heart knows more peace and joy today than it has in a long time and for that I am thankful. This is only the beginning of the healing process but thank you all for praying with me and I ask that you would continue.
Last Friday I finished my first summer session of my masters degree and it is a huge burden off my shoulders. Thank you all for praying for me as I have been in class this summer.
The next nine days will consist of me packing, finalizing shipping arrangements, repacking, and spending time with my family. Nathan, Laura, Harper, and Audrey are coming to visit this weekend. It will be the first time that the family has met Audrey and the first time we have all seen each other since last year. I am excited to be with everyone and get to hold my niece for the first time.
A quick order of business. If you wish to contact me while I am in Qatar feel free to call me anytime I am on Skype (my ID is calebdoyel exactly like that). I will work hard to only be logged on when I am available. If you wish to text me and you have an iphone or mac with imessage please send your message to caldoyel@gmail.com (in place of my phone number). That will go directly to my cell phone for free. Starting Friday August 15th my phone number will no longer work. My contract with Verizon will be temporarily suspended during my time in Qatar. If you call or text me I WILL NOT GET YOUR MESSAGE. As always email and facebook work great too. I will work to keep this blog updated as much as possible so you all can follow me from here.
As always I covet your prayers:
1.) Pray that I can get everything in order before I leave concerning my baggage and travel arrangements. I need to figure out the most effective way to get my stuff there.
2.) Prayer for the community I will be joining in Qatar. This is the most significant prayer for me right now. Anyone who has lived overseas will tell you the importance of community while living abroad and I ask that I will be able to find good friendships with people in Qatar.
3.) And prayer that I can continue to trust God. I have felt that God has spoken to me about how I need to trust Him. This adventure I am about to start is something I have been struggling to trust God with. It has made me nervous and anxious. It took me a while to realize that my anxiety was about the trip, but once I did and I started to trust God with it I have begun to know and feel his peace. Please continue to pray that I will have the courage and faith to follow Him wherever he takes me.
Thank you all again for your prayers. I feel truly blessed to be lifted up by such faithful men and women of God.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
The Beginning of an Exciting Adventure
I first started this blog when I was student teaching in China. What an amazing experience that was. I was young and adventurous and luckily not much has changed. On August 15, 2014 I will be leaving for Doha, Qatar where I will be teaching 4th and 5th grade general music for the next two years.
I've decided to start this blog a little early as my summer has turned into something rather unexpected. Quite frankly the Lord has been up front with me. He has been revealing to me non-stop that I am a mess of a human being who is in desperate need of Him. In the last 4-5 months I have been rather obsessed with myself. It's nice to be the guy in the room who is moving to the other side of the world. You instantly become the most interesting person in the room, and that is satisfying, at least for a moment. However, God in His mercy and grace has been tearing down my defenses and distractions. He is showing me that I cannot be arrogant in Qatar and I will need to rely on Christ far more than I do now. As I have been studying Islam and what life as a Christian in an Islamic country looks like the only thing I can say now is that I need prayer.
This summer has taught me two things. First, that I am a broken and wounded man in desperate need of salvation. Second, that there are wounds deep in my heart and things in my life that haunt me and when I am faced with those things I run. I look for anything and everything to distract me. Yet Christ has been teaching me to deal with these things head on and though at times I am struggling I can see Christ teaching me to dig into the pain of my past and confront it. And by His grace I find peace.
There is one more thing I want to write today. I need your help. I need prayer. I need people who will lift me up in prayer as I prepare to leave for Qatar. I am convinced that prayer is the single most valuable action any person can do for another. To implore the hand of God to move for someone other than myself has been one of the greatest joys I have experienced thus far.
These are the needs of my heart (as far as I know):
1.) This summer I have realized that I have a lot of baggage from my past that I haven't dealt with properly and it is hurting the relationships I have now, both with family and friends. Please pray that I will have the courage to examine this baggage closely and invite Christ in, to mend these wounded parts of my soul.
2.) I am moving to Qatar in 3.5 weeks. And I have no idea what I am walking into. Please pray that I will be able to find a network of friends on which I can rely for the next two years of my life.
3.) I have started my Masters in Music Education. It is a summer program and it is kicking my butt. I have never had this much work to do in my life and I feel like I am about to lose my mind. If you could pray that I could get everything done for this summer session I would be most grateful!
Lastly, I wanted to say thank you. Thank you to my friends in Prescott who have been by my side challenging me and keeping me accountable. You all made me feel so loved, and at the time I didn't want to accept it because I was too proud. But I see now just how much you all cared for me and I am so grateful.
Thank you to my family. You continue to amaze me with your steadfast love. Truly I am blessed beyond measure.
And to my closest friends who have spent time listening to me rant about my crazy ideas and my ridiculous thoughts and all my silly shenanigans. Thank you for your advice. Thank you for listening to me and being there for me when I have needed you most. Clearly I am more loved than I realize.
Will you pray for me?
I can't promise I will be any less intense in my following posts, but I hope to do about once a month from here on out. Stay tuned and let me know what you think.
I've decided to start this blog a little early as my summer has turned into something rather unexpected. Quite frankly the Lord has been up front with me. He has been revealing to me non-stop that I am a mess of a human being who is in desperate need of Him. In the last 4-5 months I have been rather obsessed with myself. It's nice to be the guy in the room who is moving to the other side of the world. You instantly become the most interesting person in the room, and that is satisfying, at least for a moment. However, God in His mercy and grace has been tearing down my defenses and distractions. He is showing me that I cannot be arrogant in Qatar and I will need to rely on Christ far more than I do now. As I have been studying Islam and what life as a Christian in an Islamic country looks like the only thing I can say now is that I need prayer.
This summer has taught me two things. First, that I am a broken and wounded man in desperate need of salvation. Second, that there are wounds deep in my heart and things in my life that haunt me and when I am faced with those things I run. I look for anything and everything to distract me. Yet Christ has been teaching me to deal with these things head on and though at times I am struggling I can see Christ teaching me to dig into the pain of my past and confront it. And by His grace I find peace.
There is one more thing I want to write today. I need your help. I need prayer. I need people who will lift me up in prayer as I prepare to leave for Qatar. I am convinced that prayer is the single most valuable action any person can do for another. To implore the hand of God to move for someone other than myself has been one of the greatest joys I have experienced thus far.
These are the needs of my heart (as far as I know):
1.) This summer I have realized that I have a lot of baggage from my past that I haven't dealt with properly and it is hurting the relationships I have now, both with family and friends. Please pray that I will have the courage to examine this baggage closely and invite Christ in, to mend these wounded parts of my soul.
2.) I am moving to Qatar in 3.5 weeks. And I have no idea what I am walking into. Please pray that I will be able to find a network of friends on which I can rely for the next two years of my life.
3.) I have started my Masters in Music Education. It is a summer program and it is kicking my butt. I have never had this much work to do in my life and I feel like I am about to lose my mind. If you could pray that I could get everything done for this summer session I would be most grateful!
Lastly, I wanted to say thank you. Thank you to my friends in Prescott who have been by my side challenging me and keeping me accountable. You all made me feel so loved, and at the time I didn't want to accept it because I was too proud. But I see now just how much you all cared for me and I am so grateful.
Thank you to my family. You continue to amaze me with your steadfast love. Truly I am blessed beyond measure.
And to my closest friends who have spent time listening to me rant about my crazy ideas and my ridiculous thoughts and all my silly shenanigans. Thank you for your advice. Thank you for listening to me and being there for me when I have needed you most. Clearly I am more loved than I realize.
Will you pray for me?
I can't promise I will be any less intense in my following posts, but I hope to do about once a month from here on out. Stay tuned and let me know what you think.
Saturday, August 18, 2012
Teaching with Technology
Many of you know that I am not a Mac person. I find their computers to be over priced and I don't particularly enjoy their operating system. However, I will say that Apple has done an amazing job in the world of smart phone and tablet computing.
While I was in Ohio for my friend Kristin Stellabottes wedding I made a pretty big impulse buy at an Apple store while waiting for my friend Josh to get his mac looked at. While I was there I was looking at The New iPad and decided that I wanted one. As I talked it over with Josh I came to the conclusion that I could use the iPad to replace my school computer and use it in a myriad of ways both in and out of the classroom. Turns out I was right. In fact I was more right than I ever could have imagined. With the combination of apps, gmail, a few programs and some good ideas my iPad is my full on teaching computer and can do things in the classroom that, if used in a broad stroke across many schools could make some aspects of teaching easier.
When I bought the iPad i was given a $50.00 gift card for being an educator. I then used that gift card to buy some nice apps.
Here are the ones I use in the classroom and for general work stuff:
1. Pocket Information Pro (a calendar and schedule)
The beautiful thing about PI Pro is that it syncs all of your calendars, and I mean ALL of them. I was able to sync multiple google calendars (including my schools calendar, and the district fine arts calendar) with my personal day to day schedule.
2. Quickoffice (similar to Microsoft office)
They beautiful thing about Quickoffice is integration with dropbox and google drive. There is no doubt that the cloud has changed everything we know about computing. If you haven't figured this out yet you should look into it. Basically I can type a document anywhere on any computer in the world (as long as it has access to the internet) and I can then access it anywhere or share it with anyone. This works really well with the iPad because I can type a lesson or note at home and access it on my iPad and download it for later. Really Quickoffice isn't revolutionary but it does the job of being a word processor really well. The biggest down side to Quickoffice is that absence of a spell checker. If you know me at all you know I NEED spell check or writing isn't going to be a good time. That leads us to our next app.
3. Pages
Pages is Apples answer to Microsoft Office. Though it has some limitations because of it is an apple product. It actually is a very nice app on the iPad. It has spell check (which is big for me), but more vainly it looks great. It really looks very nice and has all the functionality that you would expect from a desktop word processor. The downside is that there is little to no integration with the cloud. I am a pretty heavy user of the cloud (google drive and dropbox) so it was a little disappointing that it doesn't have this function. However the app allows you to e-mail documents (I recommend e-mailing in .doc, because pages is very unfriendly to PC) In fact I wrote most of this blog in Pages. Finally if you are going to be doing a lot of word processing on your iPad I recommend getting an bluetooth keyboard. There are many out there and I am sure they all work well. I bought this one because it was cheap but not too cheap.
4. Print n Share:
Print n Share was the most difficult app to figure out, but once I understood it, it became one of my most precious apps. Print n Share allows me to print my documents from my iPad without jail-breaking it. It isn't perfect but it gets the job done. It took some serious trial and error, but in the end I got it to print to multiple copiers and printers in my school building.
5. Spotify:
If you don't have Spotify you need to look into it. For me it is a great app because I am a music teacher. What Spotify allows you to do is stream almost any song you can think of to your iPad. Here's where it gets cool. Obviously the speakers on the iPad are small and tethering it to external speakers defeats the purpose of the iPad being a tablet. But with a little thought and a program called XBMCbuntu we can fix that problem. XBMCbuntu is a media player/operating system. In fact it is really small and demands little of your computer. If you install it onto a thumb drive you can boot into it instead of Windows or Mac. Once it is on you can set it up to receive airplay from the iPad. This allows you to play music from your iPad on your computer wirelessly and instantly. Now where ever I am in the room I can turn music on and off turn the volume up and down as I please with out the confines of wires.
One of the biggest things that has changed most all of what I do in the class room comes from Google Apps. If you have a gmail account you have access to Google Apps. One of it greatest assets is Google Drive. A cloud service that works in tandem with their docs app so you can type anything save it and access it anywhere. However it makes more than documents you can also create forms. A form is like an online survey. So I made an online survey that only the teachers in our school can access to record students ill behavior. This will become a great asset to our administration when a student comes to the office. Now all they have to do is open up the spreadsheet associated with the form and there is a list of everything that child has done in all his classes etc. The integration of this onto the iPad has made this in class documentation process stupidly easy. Even our playground aids have it on their iPhones and smart phones so when there is an incident on the playground they can record it and send the child to the office and the administration will know what happened as soon as they enter it. This couldn't be easier.
Here is a template of the form. Feel free to play with it:
Here is the spreadsheet it goes to (you might have to refresh the page):
To make a long and detailed story short I have completely replace my desktop computer with an iPad for my class room and I love it. It does everything a normal computer does with the ease of being light and mobile around the class.
While I was in Ohio for my friend Kristin Stellabottes wedding I made a pretty big impulse buy at an Apple store while waiting for my friend Josh to get his mac looked at. While I was there I was looking at The New iPad and decided that I wanted one. As I talked it over with Josh I came to the conclusion that I could use the iPad to replace my school computer and use it in a myriad of ways both in and out of the classroom. Turns out I was right. In fact I was more right than I ever could have imagined. With the combination of apps, gmail, a few programs and some good ideas my iPad is my full on teaching computer and can do things in the classroom that, if used in a broad stroke across many schools could make some aspects of teaching easier.
When I bought the iPad i was given a $50.00 gift card for being an educator. I then used that gift card to buy some nice apps.
Here are the ones I use in the classroom and for general work stuff:
1. Pocket Information Pro (a calendar and schedule)
The beautiful thing about PI Pro is that it syncs all of your calendars, and I mean ALL of them. I was able to sync multiple google calendars (including my schools calendar, and the district fine arts calendar) with my personal day to day schedule.
2. Quickoffice (similar to Microsoft office)
They beautiful thing about Quickoffice is integration with dropbox and google drive. There is no doubt that the cloud has changed everything we know about computing. If you haven't figured this out yet you should look into it. Basically I can type a document anywhere on any computer in the world (as long as it has access to the internet) and I can then access it anywhere or share it with anyone. This works really well with the iPad because I can type a lesson or note at home and access it on my iPad and download it for later. Really Quickoffice isn't revolutionary but it does the job of being a word processor really well. The biggest down side to Quickoffice is that absence of a spell checker. If you know me at all you know I NEED spell check or writing isn't going to be a good time. That leads us to our next app.
3. Pages
Pages is Apples answer to Microsoft Office. Though it has some limitations because of it is an apple product. It actually is a very nice app on the iPad. It has spell check (which is big for me), but more vainly it looks great. It really looks very nice and has all the functionality that you would expect from a desktop word processor. The downside is that there is little to no integration with the cloud. I am a pretty heavy user of the cloud (google drive and dropbox) so it was a little disappointing that it doesn't have this function. However the app allows you to e-mail documents (I recommend e-mailing in .doc, because pages is very unfriendly to PC) In fact I wrote most of this blog in Pages. Finally if you are going to be doing a lot of word processing on your iPad I recommend getting an bluetooth keyboard. There are many out there and I am sure they all work well. I bought this one because it was cheap but not too cheap.
4. Print n Share:
Print n Share was the most difficult app to figure out, but once I understood it, it became one of my most precious apps. Print n Share allows me to print my documents from my iPad without jail-breaking it. It isn't perfect but it gets the job done. It took some serious trial and error, but in the end I got it to print to multiple copiers and printers in my school building.
5. Spotify:
If you don't have Spotify you need to look into it. For me it is a great app because I am a music teacher. What Spotify allows you to do is stream almost any song you can think of to your iPad. Here's where it gets cool. Obviously the speakers on the iPad are small and tethering it to external speakers defeats the purpose of the iPad being a tablet. But with a little thought and a program called XBMCbuntu we can fix that problem. XBMCbuntu is a media player/operating system. In fact it is really small and demands little of your computer. If you install it onto a thumb drive you can boot into it instead of Windows or Mac. Once it is on you can set it up to receive airplay from the iPad. This allows you to play music from your iPad on your computer wirelessly and instantly. Now where ever I am in the room I can turn music on and off turn the volume up and down as I please with out the confines of wires.
One of the biggest things that has changed most all of what I do in the class room comes from Google Apps. If you have a gmail account you have access to Google Apps. One of it greatest assets is Google Drive. A cloud service that works in tandem with their docs app so you can type anything save it and access it anywhere. However it makes more than documents you can also create forms. A form is like an online survey. So I made an online survey that only the teachers in our school can access to record students ill behavior. This will become a great asset to our administration when a student comes to the office. Now all they have to do is open up the spreadsheet associated with the form and there is a list of everything that child has done in all his classes etc. The integration of this onto the iPad has made this in class documentation process stupidly easy. Even our playground aids have it on their iPhones and smart phones so when there is an incident on the playground they can record it and send the child to the office and the administration will know what happened as soon as they enter it. This couldn't be easier.
Here is a template of the form. Feel free to play with it:
Here is the spreadsheet it goes to (you might have to refresh the page):
To make a long and detailed story short I have completely replace my desktop computer with an iPad for my class room and I love it. It does everything a normal computer does with the ease of being light and mobile around the class.
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Two Years
It has been roughly two years since I last wrote on this blog. That is a long time. Frankly I have been bored out of my mind the last 2 weeks. It is the end of summer and I am dying for some sort of structure. Lucly that starts on Monday. Here is a brief update of my life over the last 2 years.
I am still teaching Music K-5 at Abia Judd Elementary School in Prescott Arizona. It is an amazing job. I have 600 kiddo's and I see them once a week for 45 Minutes (this is a change from the last two years, I used to have them twice a week for 30 minutes, but things change).
In the 2010-2011 school year I won first year teacher of the year. That was a very humbling moment to have at the beginning of my career.
This year the church I go to gave me a small group to run. Again very humbling. It has been fun. We started off reading a book called "Jesus Plus Nothing Equals Everything" It was a good book and something that I think challenged both me and the people in my group. More specifically it challenged me to grapple with the "Functional Saviors" that I cling to in my life instead of Jesus. We recently started an in depth study of 1 John. I think this has the ability to be quite a fun little exercise in studying the bible. I'll let you know about that as it goes along.
Lastly I purchased two things this week I am excited about. First I bought a rugged outdoor camera. It's called a gopro hero2 HD Camera and thus far I am loving it. The beauty of this camera lies in the mountability of it. The camera itself is super simple. 2 buttons and small lcd and a lens. It comes with a bunch of different mounts so you can hook it up wherever you want and show what you want people to see. Super fun. The second purchase was a new pipe. This is the first big investment I have made on a pipe. It is a Savinelli and it smokes like a dream. I have never owned a "good" pipe and really this pipe changes everything. I have smoked the same tobacco for about 4-5 years now and I have never tasted it like I taste it in my Savinelli. Anyway here is a video of my first smoke on said pipe.
It's my goal to start updating this once a week with life events and fun thoughts. I hope you like it!
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| July 28, 2012 |
Thursday, August 5, 2010
My Room
This is a panoramic picture of my room. It looks a little strange because it is a panoramic but it's the only way I could get the whole thing in one shot and yes those are Yamaha Pianos.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Update
It has been a long time since my last post and a lot has happened. Let me take you on the journey of the last few months. After I graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University in the middle of December I began my job search. My original plan was to go back to China as soon as possible. However God had different plans. Once he shut the doors on China completely I began looking for other opportunities. I began looking for teaching positions abroad and was offered three. All three positions were missionary positions and involved me raising support and joining a group like Wycliffe Bible Translators. After talking to Wycliffe I found out that I had too much school debt in order to work with them. I took this as God saying "Not right now." With that word from God I began to look for Jobs here in the US.
After looking and looking and looking and not finding ANYTHING I got a tip from an a college buddy about a job in Toledo Ohio conducting a Choir. This being my only lead I decided to apply and pursue this job heavily. Strangely enough the Principal grew up in Gas City Indiana right next door to IWU and had a great respect not only for the college but for the music program at IWU. He really wanted to interview me and so I did. The interview went really well. I seemed to hit it off with both the middle and high school principals as well as the Band director. They told me at the end of the interview that they would contact me sometime next week about a second interview. They never contacted me again. At this point I was pretty down, and sunk pretty low. It was a dark time. Then God showed His ridiculous mercy and grace in one huge move. A family friend from Prescott Arizona called my mom and was talking to her and catching up when she casually mentioned that the Prescott unified School District was looking for not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 music teachers!!! My mom said "Well Caleb is looking for a job teaching music" and everything was set into motion. Over the next 5 days I applied for, interviewed for and was offered a job teaching elementary music K-5. My thought process was "Wait...What?"
To be Continued (When I have more time to write.)
After looking and looking and looking and not finding ANYTHING I got a tip from an a college buddy about a job in Toledo Ohio conducting a Choir. This being my only lead I decided to apply and pursue this job heavily. Strangely enough the Principal grew up in Gas City Indiana right next door to IWU and had a great respect not only for the college but for the music program at IWU. He really wanted to interview me and so I did. The interview went really well. I seemed to hit it off with both the middle and high school principals as well as the Band director. They told me at the end of the interview that they would contact me sometime next week about a second interview. They never contacted me again. At this point I was pretty down, and sunk pretty low. It was a dark time. Then God showed His ridiculous mercy and grace in one huge move. A family friend from Prescott Arizona called my mom and was talking to her and catching up when she casually mentioned that the Prescott unified School District was looking for not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4 music teachers!!! My mom said "Well Caleb is looking for a job teaching music" and everything was set into motion. Over the next 5 days I applied for, interviewed for and was offered a job teaching elementary music K-5. My thought process was "Wait...What?"
To be Continued (When I have more time to write.)
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Waiting
As most of you know I made it back from China safely. I also graduated after passing my oral defense and am officially a College Grad!!!
The inevitable question now is: What am I going to do with the rest of my life?
Well let me tell you what the Lord has laid on my heart. For some time now China has been on my heart and after spending the last few months there I am convinced that is where God wants me to be. Though that may not be a forever kind of thing I am going to follow Him there once again this March. I have accepted a job at a university there teaching conversational English. The only problem I have now is getting there. I need a Visa which the university is going to pay for, and a plane ticket which I have to pay for. Currently I do not have a job and I have very little in the bank. I am hoping to start substitute teaching here soon but I can't really get my license for another few weeks (pending bureaucratic paper work). I will be looking for other options but I have some slim pickings here in good ol' C-bus.
So I see myself in China for the next few years then off to grad-school. I would like to go to a seminary and get my MDIV, but that is why I am not going straight into it. I would like to take 2 years to just live, and be out of academia for a while to see if this is where God really wants me to be.
I thank you all so much for your prayers while I was there last, and I ask for your prayers again as I prepare to leave over the next 2 months.
Some things you can be praying for:
1.) Money
2.) The students and staff I will be working with at the university
3.) Me - I have a lot of growing and maturing to do before I leave. I feel that I really REALLY need to strengthen my relationship with the Lord before I head back there.
4.) The community of great friends I left of whom I miss greatly. Pray that we will be able to strengthen each other and push each other closer to Him.
More soon as it unfolds...
The inevitable question now is: What am I going to do with the rest of my life?
Well let me tell you what the Lord has laid on my heart. For some time now China has been on my heart and after spending the last few months there I am convinced that is where God wants me to be. Though that may not be a forever kind of thing I am going to follow Him there once again this March. I have accepted a job at a university there teaching conversational English. The only problem I have now is getting there. I need a Visa which the university is going to pay for, and a plane ticket which I have to pay for. Currently I do not have a job and I have very little in the bank. I am hoping to start substitute teaching here soon but I can't really get my license for another few weeks (pending bureaucratic paper work). I will be looking for other options but I have some slim pickings here in good ol' C-bus.
So I see myself in China for the next few years then off to grad-school. I would like to go to a seminary and get my MDIV, but that is why I am not going straight into it. I would like to take 2 years to just live, and be out of academia for a while to see if this is where God really wants me to be.
I thank you all so much for your prayers while I was there last, and I ask for your prayers again as I prepare to leave over the next 2 months.
Some things you can be praying for:
1.) Money
2.) The students and staff I will be working with at the university
3.) Me - I have a lot of growing and maturing to do before I leave. I feel that I really REALLY need to strengthen my relationship with the Lord before I head back there.
4.) The community of great friends I left of whom I miss greatly. Pray that we will be able to strengthen each other and push each other closer to Him.
More soon as it unfolds...
Monday, December 7, 2009
Beijing
So I am trying to catch everyone up on the last few things I did in China before I left. Over thanksgiving weekend I went to Beijing to spend the weekend with Jared and Josh two of my best friends in the whole world (Figures we are all in China at the same time right?). The weekend consisted of a little sight seeing a little shopping an orphanage visit and some great man time.
This weekend really taught me the beauty in deep friendships. Jared and Josh have been a part of my life through all the high and lows. Jared has known me since I was like 2 years old or so and he has been an integral part in my development throughout my life. Josh has been my best friend since my 15th birthday I think where he gave me a certificate for one year of friendship. Though a very creative gift for being poor it started a friendship that I am exceedingly thankful for.
Well I went to Beijing on thanksgiving day and landed there that night only to find out that Josh had missed his train and wasn't going to be there till later on Friday. Not a huge deal. It gave Jared and I a good day together to do a little shopping, sightseeing, and some good conversation. Then Josh got there and he mad everything horrible...kidding. If you know Josh and I we have a good time being friends on other sides of the world, but when we get together something happens and move into a deeper kind of friendship that involves laughing about the absurd for who knows how long. In fact we just sat there and giggled at each other like little school girls who haven't seen each other all summer. The giggling ensued for a good 5-10 min and resurfaced occasionally throughout the night.
While seeing sights I saw some things like Mao's tomb, the temple of heaven, and the forbidden city. Probably the coolest thing was seeing the orphanage that Jared will be at soon. We went there to see the orphanage perform. Here is a video from that performance It is poor quality but I only had my camera phone so deal with it:
Here are a few pictures from my tour around the forbidden city:
In the end it was a great trip. The beautiful truth of this experience is that good friends and deep friendships are the best possible things humans can have.
Ecclesiastes 9: 7-10:
"Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in death, to which you are going."
This weekend really taught me the beauty in deep friendships. Jared and Josh have been a part of my life through all the high and lows. Jared has known me since I was like 2 years old or so and he has been an integral part in my development throughout my life. Josh has been my best friend since my 15th birthday I think where he gave me a certificate for one year of friendship. Though a very creative gift for being poor it started a friendship that I am exceedingly thankful for.
Well I went to Beijing on thanksgiving day and landed there that night only to find out that Josh had missed his train and wasn't going to be there till later on Friday. Not a huge deal. It gave Jared and I a good day together to do a little shopping, sightseeing, and some good conversation. Then Josh got there and he mad everything horrible...kidding. If you know Josh and I we have a good time being friends on other sides of the world, but when we get together something happens and move into a deeper kind of friendship that involves laughing about the absurd for who knows how long. In fact we just sat there and giggled at each other like little school girls who haven't seen each other all summer. The giggling ensued for a good 5-10 min and resurfaced occasionally throughout the night.
While seeing sights I saw some things like Mao's tomb, the temple of heaven, and the forbidden city. Probably the coolest thing was seeing the orphanage that Jared will be at soon. We went there to see the orphanage perform. Here is a video from that performance It is poor quality but I only had my camera phone so deal with it:
Here are a few pictures from my tour around the forbidden city:
In the end it was a great trip. The beautiful truth of this experience is that good friends and deep friendships are the best possible things humans can have.
Ecclesiastes 9: 7-10:
"Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do. Let your garments be always white. Let not oil be lacking on your head. Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in death, to which you are going."
Monday, November 30, 2009
Applogies
I need to apologize to anyone who may have been offended by my last post. I wrote somethings that apparently were more suggestive than I had originally realized. I have made some changes to the post to the post in an attempt to make it a little more "family friendly". Again I am sorry if I offended anyone.
The next post I am working on is from my trip to Beijing with Jared and Josh this last weekend. I have a lot of pictures and video's and cool stories etc. I probably won't get it posted till I am back in the United States. Hang tight I have a lot of work to get done.
The next post I am working on is from my trip to Beijing with Jared and Josh this last weekend. I have a lot of pictures and video's and cool stories etc. I probably won't get it posted till I am back in the United States. Hang tight I have a lot of work to get done.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Korean Spa
This last weekend I had a Grand cultural experience. Let me bring you into a different culture of sheer awesomeness. In Korea the Spa is where you go for a weekend of fun and relaxation. These things are awesome. Basically you can go there and for a cheap price get massages full body exfoliation food...everything. Apparently Koreans go there as families or a guy's night out. While you are there you can rent rooms and stay there for a few nights if you wish.
SO I heard about a new Korean spa that opened that apparently was pretty cheap. So Karen, Kayla, Justin and I decided to go last Saturday. We show up and they take our shoes at the door and give you a beaded bracelet with a magnet for accessing you locker. The most noticeable thing for me was that the floors were heated. Very pleasant. After taking our shoes we are split into guys and girls. So Justin and I go into our locker room and change into our swimwear only to find out shortly after that swimwear is entirely unacceptable in a Korean spa. So Justin and I drop trow and head to jacuzzi. After chillin the the cuzz for a little while we are invited to go lay on these tables for what we thought was going to be our massage. Instead we get a Full body exfoliation, and I mean FULL BODY. So after that we get this strange slap massage thing which felt nice then we got hand washed. I'm talking full body soaped by another person. Again every nook and cranny. After washing off and taking another dip in the cuzz. Justin and I headed up stairs to try and find the girls. The naked parts were all segregated by sex. Then the spa gave you some clothes to wear to walk around the unsegregated parts in. So we headed up stairs to find them, but we were unsuccessful. So we decided to get a full body massage. Which costs 138 Kwai (or something close to that) which is about 20 dollars for one hour. This was AWESOME. Only it was the one thing I wish I had been naked for. Because they massaged with my clothes on which made for some very painful rubbing moments. Overall a very pleasing experience. We then left and went home.
Total Cost = 340 Kwai or 50 dollars
Time Spent = 2-3 hours
Time Spent being rubbed down naked by some Korean guy = 45 min.
Worth it? Totally
SO I heard about a new Korean spa that opened that apparently was pretty cheap. So Karen, Kayla, Justin and I decided to go last Saturday. We show up and they take our shoes at the door and give you a beaded bracelet with a magnet for accessing you locker. The most noticeable thing for me was that the floors were heated. Very pleasant. After taking our shoes we are split into guys and girls. So Justin and I go into our locker room and change into our swimwear only to find out shortly after that swimwear is entirely unacceptable in a Korean spa. So Justin and I drop trow and head to jacuzzi. After chillin the the cuzz for a little while we are invited to go lay on these tables for what we thought was going to be our massage. Instead we get a Full body exfoliation, and I mean FULL BODY. So after that we get this strange slap massage thing which felt nice then we got hand washed. I'm talking full body soaped by another person. Again every nook and cranny. After washing off and taking another dip in the cuzz. Justin and I headed up stairs to try and find the girls. The naked parts were all segregated by sex. Then the spa gave you some clothes to wear to walk around the unsegregated parts in. So we headed up stairs to find them, but we were unsuccessful. So we decided to get a full body massage. Which costs 138 Kwai (or something close to that) which is about 20 dollars for one hour. This was AWESOME. Only it was the one thing I wish I had been naked for. Because they massaged with my clothes on which made for some very painful rubbing moments. Overall a very pleasing experience. We then left and went home.
Total Cost = 340 Kwai or 50 dollars
Time Spent = 2-3 hours
Time Spent being rubbed down naked by some Korean guy = 45 min.
Worth it? Totally
Friday, November 20, 2009
It's been a while
Well it has been a significant amount of time since my last post and I don't even know where to start. I love it here. I am leaving in 13 days and I dread getting on the plane everyday. I shouldn't say that I love it here as much as I love the people I have met here. Let me tell you about them for a second. I hang out with a regular group of people that generally consists of 4-6 people depending. There names a Justin, Jen, Kayla, Karen, Lisa, and Amy (sometimes Kristen comes too). This awesome group of expats is my family away from home. I have never loved 5-6 people so much in such a short amount of time and I will deeply miss them when I leave.
That being said I hope to come back here next March. I have applied for a position teaching conversational English at a university here in Qingdao. I have a feeling that the L**d has a great plan and opportunity here for me. I won't know for sure if I am coming back till the end of December, but I am willing to where ever He wants me to. If that means staying at home I will stay. If that means coming back to china or going somewhere else I look forward to the L**d showing me where to go.
Teaching here has been great. I expected that I would learn a lot about teaching in the elementary classroom while I was here, but I had no idea just how much I would learn. Kristen is an amazing teacher and she has helped me become a better teacher than I was when I arrived.
I am excited to come home mostly to see my family, friends, niece who apparently can walk now. Crazy.
If there is one thing I have learned here it is that life is about relationships. Not about jobs. Not about money. It's about people and G*d. I would love to travel the world because my heart delights in different cultures and different people, but I would be half the man I am today if it weren't for the friends and family, the deep relationships I have from staying still. If you know me you know I love adventure, and there is nothing more adventurous than truly getting to know someone. It bring pain and joy and love and peace and sorrow. There is nothing greater than a good friend.
For those of you that follow me from home I will see you soon. For those of you that follow this and live here. You have had a great impact on me and I will miss you greatly.
That being said I hope to come back here next March. I have applied for a position teaching conversational English at a university here in Qingdao. I have a feeling that the L**d has a great plan and opportunity here for me. I won't know for sure if I am coming back till the end of December, but I am willing to where ever He wants me to. If that means staying at home I will stay. If that means coming back to china or going somewhere else I look forward to the L**d showing me where to go.
Teaching here has been great. I expected that I would learn a lot about teaching in the elementary classroom while I was here, but I had no idea just how much I would learn. Kristen is an amazing teacher and she has helped me become a better teacher than I was when I arrived.
I am excited to come home mostly to see my family, friends, niece who apparently can walk now. Crazy.
If there is one thing I have learned here it is that life is about relationships. Not about jobs. Not about money. It's about people and G*d. I would love to travel the world because my heart delights in different cultures and different people, but I would be half the man I am today if it weren't for the friends and family, the deep relationships I have from staying still. If you know me you know I love adventure, and there is nothing more adventurous than truly getting to know someone. It bring pain and joy and love and peace and sorrow. There is nothing greater than a good friend.
For those of you that follow me from home I will see you soon. For those of you that follow this and live here. You have had a great impact on me and I will miss you greatly.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Hang in there
Sorry I haven't updated in a while it has been a busy last few weeks. Honestly parties happen often here and the only time I have to type these things for real is at night the parties usually go late. I should update this next on Friday night your time Saturday morning for me. I hope you are all doing well. I pray for you often.
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