Hi Everyone,

         So Dr. Cook, I heard that you have started to get upset that I don't update my site enough. So to Dr. Cook and everyone..... I'm sorry and will try better to keep updating you all on how things are :)

         Since I last posted.... a lot has happened in my life, in my family, in Brooklyn, with everything. And I've finally just realized that

                                             LIFE IS MESSY

Now I've always known that.... but now that things have really hit me and effected me personally... I am just truly realizing for myself how hard and messy life is. And how I truly need the Lord in everything!

With my job, things have just been crazy. It's so hard to work in a place where you are not getting the support and encouragement you need. Instead of getting support, we are being attacked and I don't want to go into detail or I could go on forever... but it's just difficult to enjoy a job that I know I love when I'm trying to deal with these circumstances.

Another thing that is happening is just seeing and hearing what is happening to people you know and care for. A man who is a close friend to my father, and I grew up hanging out with, just got sent to jail even though he was innocent. Another man did not like him and was just on the war path of revenge to get him as good as he could. And now the jails are horrible and are not giving his wife much information at all and I just continue to think "Why?". And another man at my church here in Brooklyn suffered from a heart attack in his apartment and because he lives alone.... no one discovered him until like 15 hours after the heart attack. They said they just found him on the floor. And now we don't know how severe this will have affected him but the doctors did say he will never be the same again.

And then relationships are just messy. I mean... my relationships that I'm building. And relationships that I know about between other people. They are just messy and confusing.

And finally... my sister just told my family that she is pregnant. Now I know that's exciting because yes, I'm very excited to be an aunt!!!! But the chaos and confusion that comes with that is just messy. She's only 21 and is not married and he's just an ok guy. But she's trying to figure out her relationship with him and how she's going to care and afford this child. But in all this... I definitely know that GOD IS WORKING!!!

I think in all of this messiness.... I am just reminded about how much I depend on and need God!! I don't know how people could survive going through life without Him!! God is truly my source of strength and my everything!!

And in all of this... God has truly brought blessings in my life to bring a lot of joy!! I was able to go to Chicago and visit amazing friends!!! It was wonderful to get away from work and take a much needed break and just be able to catch up and see my friends!!Another exciting thing is how my church is taking some amazing and important steps needed!! They just apointed elders and deacons for the church and we had our first ever official business meeting!!! I know that my church is going in the right direction and it will truly grow and flourish! And when I'm with my students, we have truly had a great time learning together!! And most of all... I know that God is answering prayer!! I've been praying to meet more people my age so I can build some friendships and God provided that for me. I've also been praying that the Lord would bring my sister back to Him and I believe that this pregnancy is the way He is going to work in her life!! And He even provides and cares for the smallest things!! God is SO GOOD!!

Here are some pics-

                                                              Peace,

                                                                   Becky

            Hi all!!! So I was told that I needed to update my site :) I can't believe that it is 2008. Not only did December fly by with lots of chaos, but the whole year went by quickly!! It's crazy. But a lot has certainly happened since I've updated!!

          Teaching has been good! It was like I was climbing up a mountain as we approached the holidays. Each week the kids were crazyier and more and more excited! It definitely was a challenge at some points. I literally thought that I had to be talking to a wall or I wasn't even in the room some times. I had to give my directions to the kids about 7 or 8 times before they even heard me! It was crazy!!! So I'm hoping it will be much calmer when I go back tomorrow!  But we shall see!! Only by God's grace was I able to get some lessons through to the kids in all the craziness. Here are the kids making patterns as we were talking about what a pattern is.

               Besides teaching my preschoolers, I've been pretty busy teaching piano at our church's afterschool program! The kids are doing a great job as they are learning how to sing in a choir, play the drums, the piano, and the guitar all together!! They also did two choir performances during December and did a wonderful job :) So to show them how proud we were of the them we were able to take them to see the Radio City Rockettes!!! It was amazing :) Here are some pics!

       Pastor Bogan   and     Rev. Cummings            Parent Chaperone  and     me!!

 Our after school kids!                                               The Rockettes!

                The other major thing that happened in December was I had my pacemaker battery replaced!! I praise the Lord the surgery went so well and it was such a fast recovery!! The surgery was scheduled on the last day of school and it honestly felt good to have to be told to lay down in a bed instead of running around after 4 year olds!!! So the time in the hospital was nice and relaxing!! God is so good :)

               And my Christmas was amazing!!!! It was soooooooooooo soooooooooooo good to be home and see my family!!! I love everyone in my family and it was so neat to catch up... especially with my dad's side of the family :) And it was fun exchanging gifts too!!! Here are some pics!

        We have trouble some times with taking things that aren't ours!!!

And Sandra's dog Zoe excited about her gifts!!! She's too cute :)

           And after an amazing break with time to relaxing and enjoy family and am able to say that I feel sain enough to go back to work :) I'm sure the month of January will be lots of fun!! Honest... I do love those kids deep down.

             And last but not least I want to wish you all a happy new year!!!! I hope you know I love you all :) And no matter what mountains and valleys we will go through this year... remember that God will never leave you nor forsake you!!! Amen to that :)

                                                                    Peace- Becky

Hi Guys!

        Sorry it's been over a month since I've posted, but hey that's life! Life for me this past month has been up and down, but overall good!

        One great part was I had my 24th birthday!! :) Sometimes I'm like... wow 24 I can't believe it... but then other times I'm like..eh, 24 is nothing. But I have to say I love where I am right now in life!!! Sometimes it's hard to be content being single, that's just being honest, but right now... I love that I'm in the city, serving God, and free to do anything!! The sky's the limit :) So to celebrate, I brought brownies in to have with my students and they were too cute. They were like "WHOA, 24" with their mouths open and bugged eyes!! They couldn't believe that their teacher was 24!!! And then I was able to go home and see the family over the weekend which was so great, wonderful, and incredible!!! It was well needed!!! I got to see everyone and catch up and just share good times together!!! And they also gave me a sweet digital camera for my birthday which I am just loving :) They're too good to me!!

     So one not so good thing that has been going on this past month is my job. There's been a lot of stress now put upon us, as teachers, as we work. And it's nothing to do with my students.. I love them. But it just feels like the school I work at is under attack by the devil. I don't want to go into detail here, but if you want to know more just email me. But please pray that I have strength and wisdom to handle the situation at my school. I have a great time when I'm able to forget about what is going on around me and just focus on the kids. But there's a lot going on right now.

       And then the other not so good thing is that I found out I have a mouse in my apartment. It's freaking me out. I was laying in bed last night and could hear it nibbling. AHHHHH..... I was on edge. I kept turning on a flashlight or the big light to see if I could catch that thing, but I couldn't find it. Just pray that my landlord gets rid of it quickly.

        But other good things are that I've had a great time getting to know more people and hanging out with friends!! I've also had a good time teaching piano in the afterschool program I'm involved in!!! The kids are great :) And I'm starting to really see people in my church start to take action to help our church make changes for the good!!! It's exciting :)

      Well I love you all... you're in my prayers :) Peace!!

                           Becky

BUSY! BUSY! BUSY!

         That's how I would phrase my last few weeks.... that's why I haven't posted in a while! But God is so good because things are great here in Brooklyn!

         Since I've last updated...my students have finally gotten down my routines and rules and now understand if they don't follow them, there will be consequences.... I know, I'm so mean! But hey, it keeps my class in order and now I'm having lots of fun with teaching them now that the routines are down!! We are having lots of fun learning with the themes of apples, leaves, and pumpkins!!! You gotta love it when teaching includes cooking a pumpkin or apple pie with the class!!! Yummy :)

          Outside of teaching... things are going just a great..... even though I've had a few minor dilemmas!! So here's a lesson you can learn from me.... NEVER POP YOUR PIMPLES!! Now, I know you're thinking, what I do it all the time. Ya, I USED to too. Last week I was popping a pimple and I woke up with my whole face swollen... it was horrible. I looked deformed, I looked like Quasimodo. So I definitely didn't go to work that day, went to the doctor and they said it got infected and that I should never pop my pimples. So I got antibiotics, but it took like 5 days for all the swelling to go down. It was definitely an interesting few days of wearing hats and sunglasses around the city and then at work, having all the kids and parents asking we what happened. I was so embarrassed!! But praise the Lord, it's better :) Then last week... my toliet broke... craziness. My landlord wasn't able to fix it the same day so it made for an interesting night and morning!!! I won't say anymore.... but Praise the Lord again... everything is fixed!! 

          So besides the dilemmas........ I've been able to do some amazing things :) First of all.... I'm now off of the cane and walking normally!! I'm still trying to build my muscle back up, but God is so good!!!

        Now that I have one year of teaching under my belt... I don't feel as overwhelmed. So I've been able to do some things during the week!!! The best thing I was able to do was take advantage of all the free events that go on around the city!! I met up with my friend Karen, and we were able to watch the opening night of the opera from the metropolitian opera from Times Sqare!!! It was amazing:) They blocked off all of times square and set up chairs. Then we were able to watch the whole opera on the big screen as they taped it live from the opera house! I'm still in awe of such talent!!

        It's also neat to see how God is working, especially in my church!!! We, together are stepping back and starting to make big changes. Most churches in the usa have the problem of trying to have people step outside the four walls of the church. Our problem is just the opposite. We have so many ministries and ways we reach out to our community that we are literally running ourselves thin. One person said it well that we are a mile wide but only an inch thick. We are going to step back and take the time to really work within the church and on our foundation!!! It's very excited and neat to see other people step up!! God is definitely working :) I've also started to volunteer and help with the afterschool program and I'm excited.... there's definitely a lot of opportunities to be able to talk to these wondeful kids and make a great impact in their lives.

         One prayer request in all of this is to please pray for all the lost souls right here is Brooklyn. It's getting pretty bad. There's literally a shooting everyday and really close to our church. And one just hit home last week. A teenager who was very involved in our summer program was trying to defend his sister against this group of guys who were really bothering her and trying to get something out of her. Well after he spoke his peace, him and his sister started to walk away and for no reason, except for anger, the other teens shot him in the back nine times. He's been in the hospital for a week now and is still in critical condition. He has to breathe with a respirator and had to have one of his legs amputated. It's just so unbelievable and sorrowful because this kid is like a huge teddy bear.... never caused any problems and had a great future looking forward to with the possibilites of playing football for a college. So just pray for him. And that's just one of  the many stories of the shootings this month. It's getting really bad. Pray that our church will have wisdom of how to reach out to these people and also how to address this issue of violence and social justice.

Love and Peace,

Becky

BLESSED!

       That's how I can sum up these last few busy weeks. After getting back from vacation, my body had to adjust to the go mode. I have moved back up to Brooklyn... PRAISE THE LORD! It feels so good to be back in my own space and on my own. After moving up here again, my next mission was to get approval to go back to work. It took a while because anyone who knows what it's like to work with the board of Ed. understands how crazy and unorganized they are. The biggest blessing is after going through all the hassles I had to, I was approved to go back :) God is so good. So after that mess was solved, I spent the whole last week of August setting up my classroom just in time to meet my new students!! So now I'm going into my third week of teaching and am so happy just to be back to work! Its definitely been a hard few weeks and being back into teaching is very tiring. My body is trying to get used to the pace of teaching again after spending 5 months on a couch recooperating. The first week of teaching, I feel asleep as soon as I got home I was so tired. But now things are getting better and I can even tell that my leg is getting stronger!!

     Oh.... and that's the other blessing!!! I'm using a CANE!!!! NO MORE CRUTCHES :) God was so good to allow me to switch to a cane. And the therapist said that I was recovering so well that I can just to exercises at home instead of having to travel to the hospital three times a week to see him. So things have been going great with my healing!!

       And now being back up here has allowed me to catch up with all the wonderful friends that God has provided for me up here!! It was a blessing to be able to rejoin the praise band at my church and here how well things went with their summer programs. And I was also able to meet up with a college friend who moved up here to Brooklyn!! So things are going really well :)

        Here are some pictures of my students this year! I have a good feeling that we're going to have a good year together.... that is after they get used to my rules and routines :)