Almost half way

So its nearly the end of Semester A for 2011 - what a scary thought.

Another scary thought that goes along with that, is the thought that I am almost halfway through my Bachelor of Teaching - through all the ups and downs related to study that I have been through in the last year and a half, I have done what I have done and I am almost halfway there.

All that currently stands in the way of me being halfway through my degree is:

1 Music Unit Plan (including three lesson plans)

1 Music Poster - summarising the unit plan

1 Essay for National Standards

6 hours of class

1 hour of teaching

1 reading

1 Literacy Test (30%) which needs countless hours of study for

1 Summary for my maths unit and explanation on students learning throughout the unit

AND GUESS WHAT - once all of that is checked off, I AM DONE! I will then be offically half way through my degree... the fact that I have to do all of this within a week is only minor mere details *cough cough* but the thought of a month of freedom is certainly keeping me going.

Its hard to believe that as our lecturers keep saying, in 18 months, it will be us out there in the big wide world teaching those students and having a class of our own - ekkkkkkk.

I think getting through the next 6 months is enough to focus on for now, especially with everything that is happening in life.

Anyway, time to go and cut down this checklist.

Till next time,

Cheerio xx

P.S Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm, cheerios..... oh man, food time I guess! lol

P.P.S Yes mum and Nat, I am now going to do study :)

Jump In Puddles

God Spot – Tuesday 31^st May

Cast your minds back to the week of 15^th April, 2008. I’m sure most of you were probably in school at the time but can you remember anything that stuck out in the news in that particular week or for the next few weeks?

What if I say the words Elim Christian College?

That one particular day, Elim Christian College lost 6 of its students and 1 significant staff member. That one particular day, a community lost 7 members, a nation lost at least 7 people and the lives of many were shattered in an instant and changed forever.

Our country changed that day and people who had never heard of these 7 people, those who had never met them, suddenly had their lives transformed.

One of the students who past away was Natasha Bray – her best friend Portia McPhail also passed away that day in the same tragedy.

As the minutes, hours, days, weeks and months went by, we heard a lot about the impact that these particular people had on those in their lives and that was evident by the number of people who turned out to each funeral.

Going back to Natasha and Portia... we kept hearing in the media reports how these two girls often had the saying of “jumping in puddles” which can also relate to Ephesians 5:16.

“When life was tough; when it was time to make the best of a difficult circumstance, Natasha would 'Jump In Puddles'.

That was her way of saying that she would take a deep breath and do it anyway. She was determined to make her life count for something.”

Like I said last week, one person can make a difference and every one should try – Natasha tried to make a difference by living her life the best she could and jumping in puddles.

It’s a simple yet powerful and inspiring little quote from someone who although she has gone from the ones she loves, she as impacted a whole nation and world.

So in our lives, learn to jump in puddles as Natasha said because tomorrow may never come and as it says in:

Ephesians 5:16 (The Message)

“Make the most of every chance you get. These are desperate times!”

Seek and bless, not hide.

So once again im meant to be studying (I actually literally was like 5 minutes ago) and instead I am writing another blog entry.

This evening I was sitting in my room doing some research for an essay which is due in in less than two weeks - an essay about National Standards.... YAY!!!

While I was in my room, I noticed that the hallway outside my door was very quiet and then I faintly heard someone playing the guitar and singing - I wondered who it was as it sounded so great so I popped my head out the door and realised that it was one of my boys singing to another resident. He had just written a song and wanted somebody to hear it and see what they thought and honestly, it was amazing.

I knew that Chris was a music student and that he was talented with Piano and Guitar but little did I know how much of a fantastic singing voice he had as he does not usually like singing in front of others.

I went over and talked to Chris and Amy for like 5 mins and just listened to Chris playing and singing. At that moment, I felt so honoured to be a part of both their lives this year and particularly honoured to be Chris' RA for 2011.

Also, last night when I was catching up with another two of my residents, I went and caught up with Jared who is studying something to do with music at WinTec - this guy is yet another awesome dude and what a future he has ahead of him. Im so blessed to have these boys in my care this year.

Jared has done a lot of music stuff in the past and last year while in High School he ended up being asked to be part of a band and tour the USA for 3 months - WOW.... what an opportunity. I love catching up with these guy as I get to find out more and more about them each time I talk to them. I found out that Jared has written a few songs of his own too and also has used a few programs on the computer to mix together a song or two. We got onto the topic of favourite song and I mentioned that Amazing Grace was one of my favourite songs - he then played me a version of Amazing Grace that he had mixed on the computer and to be honest, it literally sounded like a movie soundtrack.

Once again, at this moment, I felt so honoured to be Jared's RA and to be a part of his life this year. These Men of God that have been placed in my life this year have been put here for a reason and im only just beginning to realise the fantastic opportunities I have been handed this year.

Anyway, hearing Chris just now and hearing Jared last night got me thinking about how each and every one of us has our own talents that God has given us yet at times we feel that we have to hide those talents. He has given us these talents for a reason - he wants us to use these talents to the best of our abilities, make the most of the chances we have and use these talents to bless the lives of others. He has not given us these talents for us to have but to hide under a bookself, under a blanket, hide away inside our hearts or whatever - he has given them to us as part of his plan and purpose for our lives.

Don't hide your talents - use them. If you have not yet discovered the full potential of your talents, seek them - its a game of seeking rather than hiding.

So use what is in your hands, use the talents of which God has given you and blessed you with and remember that you are blessed to be a blessing.

Weekend Escape

No matter how busy life gets, how much stuff we need to do, how big our checklists get or how how bogged down in things and caught up we get in other things, we need to remember to take care of number one - ourselves.

Yes life can certainly be throwing you a billion million trillion different things all at the same time and it can certainly be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel but the most important thing to do is not give up, take a break and make time for yourself and then go back to everything else later.

What is the use in getting so involved in all those other things that you get so tired that you can not achieve what you need to do, to the best of your ability - you can't put 100% into what you need to do. Take time to rest and relax, restore your energy, your mind and then try things again.

A couple of weekends ago at the hostel, it had just been a LONG weekend and it came to the point where early last week, Deborah and myself decided that we just NEEDED to go away for the weekend - it was to the extreme where we knew we had so much to get done that week, we could not even see to the end of the week and we knew that if we stuck around for the weekend, the poor residents would get the full blunt of how we were feeling... totally not fair on the residents.

So instead, we organised things during the week, somehow got through the week and then ran away to spend time with the significant other's in each of our lives for the weekend.

What an incredible escape it was - well I speak for myself when I say that but I know that Deborah and James had a good weekend too.

I wanted to run away from Hamilton, away from Taurima, away from university and not have to be responsible for anyone else for just one weekend - I wanted to forget about all that was sitting back here at my desk waiting for me and just wanted to relax and enjoy myself.

10:30pm swims in a heated pool

+

watching the stars and moon in the sky with my fiancé

+

sleeping in till 9 or 10am

+

laughing

+

sorting out our new bed (which broke - thanks to other people, I PROMISE)

+

planning for our future

+

both Nathaniel and I having at least TWO DAYS OFF together where we did not have to travel half way around the country

=

THE MUCH NEEDED WEEKEND ESCAPE OF MY DREAMS!

So moral of the story, no matter what the heck is going on in your life, make time for yourself to just be - just relax, breathe and do nothing but enjoy life.

Its now 10:14pm on Monday night and I have class at 8am tomorrow morning - so much for a 9:30pm bed time. Oh well.... time for sleep now.

Miss Stewy signing off,

xxxx

The Drama of Life....

Today was a good day - apart from the fact that when I went to bed last night, I still had quite a lot to do on an assignment that was meant to be due in at 4pm today, and apart from the not so great result with an assignment... today was still a good day.

It was an early start in the life of Kathryn Allison Stewart (that is only my last name for a few more months so have to make the most of it :D) and I must say that 8am lectures just do not bring out the happy side in me - however, it was a very interactive lecture and not too boring which was great.

After the 1 hour lecture, it was then on to my drama class from 9-11. Once again, a pretty good class... clearly our teachers had a bit of sympathy for all the work we have going on and the tiredness at the moment coz classes today were so nice and easy. The only hard part was doing a drama on the Tangiwai Disaster of 1953 - we didn't even do the drama properly or go into it as much as we normally would because of time restrictions but man, Drama just has a way of making the tears come. After being told that we were documentary makers, investigating the Tangiwai Disaster, we were each going to be given a piece of paper and were told to imagine this piece of paper as a suitcase of one of the passengers on the Tangiwai. Each 'suitcase' had a name and an age on it and we then had to come up with ideas of things that would be in each persons suitcase and really started to think of each of these people as real human beings.

The tough part was that once we had done this, our lecturer then mentioned that it was pretty much half the people on the train that died that night - half the people on that train never got to see their family or friends again. She then had a list of all the people who died in this Disaster and if the name of the person on our suitcase was on the list, then we had to then discard of those particular items in the suitcase - flip, talk about emotion. Although we did not do this Drama properly, it was still intense emotion and felt a real connection with the events of that particular disaster.

Anyway, after that Drama Lesson, it was then down to Peachgrove Intermediate to teach my Maths Unit to Year 7 students.

After an hourish of teaching, which was hard but good at the same time - hard not to do the work for the student but good in the fact that slowly and surely they were getting the idea of what we were doing, I headed off home back to Taurima with Leigh.

Came home, had a quick lunch date with one or two people and then it was literally time to head upstairs to my room and pretty much lock myself in my room till my assignment was completed.

Got the assignment done and submitted online a whole 6 minutes before it was due - but still it was done. The best part of the day though was actually finishing the assignment and then getting to open a package which arrived for me today - BRIDESMAID DRESSES!!! Hehe, so pretty much they are black, they look amazing and the material is incredible. I think I am in love all over again but it is okay because I know I still want to spend the rest of my life with Nathaniel Charles Feldon.

So yes, plans are slowly and surely continuing to come together in regards to the wedding - still a few months away which is good and I know it seems like a long time right now but I also know that the next few months will just literally fly by.

Anyway, time for sleep as I am on breakfast set up in the morning at Taurima, then its 3 hours of class and then time for a much needed weekend escape to Matamata to spend time with my future husband.

Miss Stewy over and out!

Spaces and places for a reason

This year im at Taurima Hostel as an RA and more and more each day, I am getting tired and exhausted - getting over university work and all the assignments that go with it and wanting to just get to the practical part of the degree.

Along with getting more and more tired each day, I am also starting to feel more and more each day why I am here this year - who knew that 12 17yr old+ boys/moys/men could just change my life so much in such a short amount of time.

God sends us to particular places and spaces for a reason and this year, I am honestly so blessed to be where I am. Ive been given a chance to write on the pages of at least 50 other people's lives this year and what an honour it is.

To my incredible Red Bulls, I know life is not easy at times but stay strong in who you are, stay strong in what you believe, believe in yourselves and remember to commit each and every day to God.

To everyone else at Taurima (especially a couple of awesome young ladies - you know who you are), thank you for being there and for reminding me of part of the reason I am here this year. Its so cool to know that you are all there. Your words of encouragement and support and so special and incredible - they came just at the right time and don't worry, I wont stop smiling.

"Taurima means and there is a warm community atmosphere here. It’s like a where you are looked after well..."

Kind of not sure where I am really going with this but yea, you are all here for a purpose and a reason - it may not be clear now but it will become clearer as the year goes on. You are all super awesome and we love ya very much.

Kath over and out!

Dear Diary/Letter to "Jacob"

Today, there is just so much going on and spinning around inside my head that I am not able to concentrate on my assignments which I am meant to be doing - its really annoying as they are due tomorrow and there is still a bit to go as well as an 8am class tomorrow morning.

I am going to write a blog now in the form of a diary so please forgive me if I do things like keep changing tenses or whatever - I just need to get all of this out of my brain.... right here goes

DEAR DIARY....

Today is just another day in the world of university work and right now there is so much work that I should be doing but to actually sit down and do it all just seems like such a massive task - so much to do and so little time (even when I have deactivated my facebook account).

At the moment it just seems so hard to even see to the end of this week but boy oh boy can I tell you that I am looking forward to a break this weekend - whatever Nathaniel and I end up doing, all I know is that I need to get away from the hostel and just relax and unwind for a day or two.

It seems like the last few weeks have just been GO GO GO and that is probably not helped at all by the fact that I did a week of kids camp during my break by oh well. LETS BRING ON THIS WEEKEND!!

Now for a total change of subject as I am just typing this as my brain spits it all out.

Why oh why do so many people in this world feel that they are not good enough - feel that they are not loved, feel that no matter what they do, nothing seems to work out and nobody cares about them?

Its time like this when I hear stories from people about themselves or about others that they know that my heart just literally breaks into what feels like a billion pieces and I just break down - its like the song Hosanna by Hillsong which says:

"Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like You have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks yours..."

Like I said, my heart just breaks... my eyes become open to the things that are unseen normally and yea....

Life is never easy, I can tell you that much and yes people are cruel at times but really there is no need at all for some of us in this world to be so well off, so proud of ourselves and of our families yet there are others in the same street we live in, even the same building we may live in who feel like the worlds are falling apart because people have been so cruel in the past that these particular people just do not feel loved and appericated.

People of this world need to know that there are people who are there for them, people they can look up to, people who will love and support them, people who genuinely really do care and who want to see the best in others - can I just say to anyone who reads this.... PEOPLE DO CARE AND YOU ARE LOVED!!!!!

No matter what we do, God will always love us, no matter how many times we stuff up or fail, God will always be there - he will never leave us or forsake us. He created us to be his hands and to be his feet, we are certainly born for a reason and a purpose - do not think for a single minute that you are not worthy of the life you have, do not think that no-one cares, do no think that you do not have a purpose in life, do not think that you were a mistake - you were born for a reason, God has your whole life planned out for you and what you are going through now is only a minor setback - the best is seriously yet to come and you will see that.

"Jacob", believe in yourself, know that you can do whatever you put your mind to - you are incredible and God has given you such an amazing talent which I know will take you on an journey of a lifetime. Your music will certainly be used to bless people and what you are going through right now will also be used to share with others and bless others.

People do care, people will always be there and all you have to do is open up your heart and let them in. I have heard people say to me in the past that the friends you make at university will be your friends for a lifetime - that is so true. Get out there, try your best, make friends and things will get easier.

Jacob, stay strong in what you do - keep hold of your faith and NEVER LET GO.Do not listen to the nasty things others say - this is your life, like I said last night, your chance to start a fresh where not many know you and where you can be who God has created you to be. He loves you, like we all do and wants to see the very very best for you.

Whenever times are tough, cling to God and he will carry you through the storm.

http://www.fathersloveletter.com/text.html

So that is pretty much my diary/letter to "jacob"/words to say for now.

Time to get back to this assignment.

Mumma/Aunty Kath - over and out!

Our planning needs to be flexible and loose – God’s purpose will prevail

KIA ORA EVERYONE!!!!

Just thought that I would share with you all a message that I did for my God Spot tonight at the hostel....

In the message bible:

“We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but God's purpose prevails.”

~ Proverbs 19:21

Have you ever planned to do something really cool and you thought that you had pretty much every single thing planned out, there was not a single way that your plans could go wrong and then something happens – an obstacle crosses your path and then things don’t go according to plan?

Haha, well I have had that a lot in the last few years and im beginning to notice that for some reason, my plans pretty much never go how I want them to.

Okay, so as most of you know, I am currently studying towards a Bachelor in Teaching – primary teaching.

There are so many lessons that we need to plan and prepare for and in the last few weeks we had had quite a few lessons to teach. One thing that our lecturers and tutors at uni keep saying is that when we go to teach a lesson – it needs to be a well detailed plan, needs to be full of information, and our plans NEED TO BE FLEXIBLE.

In our lives at times, things happen, obstacles cross our path and honestly our plans do not go according to how we thought they would. Those obstacles could be as massive as a family emergency or as small as forgetting to take note of something really important.

Still, this obstacle gets in our way and sometimes, the plan just falls to pieces.
Like in 2009 when I wanted to head to university –
I had enrolled for the mid year intake of primary teaching at Waikato University – got accepted and was getting ready to think about university. Then I got a call from the University of Waikato to say that due to lack of numbers enrolling for the course, the mid year intake had been cancelled and I would have to re-apply for next year. At this point I was just like AHHHHHHHH. I had made my plans, but they were not flexible. I wondered why the heck God was doing this to me and why MY PLANS WERE NOT WORKING OUT! I was totally not ready to start my teaching degree then. If I had started then, I would probably not be here, where I am today – doing this God Spot, being an RA here at Taurima this year.

ANYWAY....Think of the bigger picture –

The plans that we have for our own lives, we think are great plans but the truth is that God has even better plans for our lives than we have for ourselves. God is the builder of our lives, not humans. Don’t be annoyed when things don’t go how you want them to – when you plan, be flexible and hold them loosely.

“You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail”
~ Proverbs 19:21

Grumpy Grouch!

So at the moment I am meant to be placing the finishing touches on a lesson plan which I am to teach tomorrow - instead, I am reading this poem to teach my Year 3 & 4 students, over and over again and its making me crack up so much.

I thought I would share it all with you :)

Grumpy Grouch

There's a grumpy little grouch,

and he gets inside of me.

I don't like him being there!

I don't like his company!

He makes me groan and grizzle

and go thumping with my feet.

He makes me grouch and grumble

at everyone I meet!

He makes my face all growly

and my lips go poking out!

And he will not let me whisper,

he will only let me SHOUT!

But... this grumpy little grouch

doesn't hang around for long.

He'll vanish like a raindrop

when I sing a happy song!

~ Jill Eggleton

This poem make me laugh so so much because it reminded me of when I was growing up.

It may at times seem like there is a little grumpy grouch inside each of us and that it is something other than ourselves making us grumpy but really we all know better than that.

I remember when I used to be a right grumpy little grouch for my parents and really no matter how hard I tried to blame others, it was always me - me all growly, me poking my tongue and lips out and me shouting instead of whispering. :) Sorry Mum and Dad!

I think sometimes, we need to take on the words of the last paragraph in this poem....

"But... this grumpy little grouch

doesn't hang around for long.

He'll vanish like a raindrop

when I sing a happy song!"

Sometimes we need to remember to sing a happy song and let the grumpy little grouch inside of each of us, just run free - it takes only 17 muscles to smile and a whole 43 muscles to frown. How about we stop making more work for our muscles and just smile :)

Right, time to get back to this lesson plan now,

Miss Stewy (from behind the computer desk) - over and out!

Arohanui

Matt 6:34

So this past week I was at Totara Springs (surprise surprise) and was leading at a Kids Camp. It was a flippin challenging week but it was also literally a life changing week.

Each day there is a particular memory verse which we put to a song and learn. We then get tested on these memory verses just before dinner time each evening. We then also have a massive competition at the end of the week where each camper and leader gets tested on these.

One of the memory verses for this week was:

"Don't worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself.
You have enough to worry about today."

~ Matthew 6:34

This verse was just one of the many things that I needed to hear this week at camp. So often in my life I end up worrying about what is going to happen either tomorrow or at some other point in the not too distant future. Hearing this verse this week reminded me that we need to remember to focus on the time that we are given - life can change in an instant and we do not know if we will even live to see tomorrow... hopefully we will but we can not be sure of this.

We need to stop worrying about tomorrow and pay attention to what God has placed in our hands for today. We have enough to face, experience and overcome today without having to think about what will get thrown at us tomorrow.

It kind of also reminded me of the saying:

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery

today is a gift, thats why we call it the present"

So in my life, i know I need to start focusing on what God has placed in front of me for TODAY rather than tomorrow - tomorrow will take care of itself when tomorrow arrives. I encourage each and every one of you who reads this, to think about today rather than tomorrow - enjoy today and make the most of the time that you do have.

Worry about or think about tomorrow when tomorrow comes.

Right, time to pack stuff and head over to uni for a 12pm tutorial.

Kath Stewy over and out,

xxxx