National Eating Disorder Awareness Week

For the past two years, I have had the privilege of using my blog to share my story for National Eating Disorder Awareness Week.  This year, rather than doing daily blogs, I decided to do daily videos.  If you missed seeing them on Facebook, you can check them out below!

Introduction - This video talks about why EVERYONE needs to be aware of eating disorders.  Yes, everyone includes YOU.  (You over there who thinks you aren't affected by eating disorders, I'm talking to you!)  Click here to watch.

Day 1 - This video discusses the most dangerous myth about eating disorders.  Click here to watch.

Day 2 - On day 2, I talked about hidden warning signs that aren't as obvious as we pretend they are.  Click here to watch.

Day 3 - What would it be like if we actually LOVED our bodies?  This video comes with a challenge to reconsider the way you think about and talk about your body.  Click here to watch.

Day 4 - A deeply personal but extremely important video about the role that exercise and self-harm play in eating disorders.  Click here to watch.

Day 5 - This video talks about the fact that recovery is possible, but it isn't one-size-fits-all.  These are some common barriers to recovery and how they can be overcome.  Click here to watch.

Day 6 - I have been told that a person never fully recovers from an eating disorder.  This is a MYTH!  Watch this video to hear about full recovery and COMPLETE freedom.  Click here to watch.

Day 7 - None of these videos matter if you don't walk away changed.  Here is a challenge for changing the way you think about, talk about, and interact with eating disorders.  Click here to watch.

To everyone who has supported me through NEDA week, to everyone who watched, commented, liked, and shared, to everyone who took the time to look at eating disorders with fresh eyes: THANK YOU.  I couldn't have done it without you.

Lamou se fòs ki pi fò nan mond lan. (Love is the most powerful force on the planet.)

 

These words were penned by Jamie Tworkowski, founder of the non-profit organization To Write Love on Her Arms.  Today, a day set aside to honor and celebrate love, I can’t think of any truer words. 

Love is the most powerful force on the planet.

What if we lived like these words were true?  What if in politics, relationships, orphan care, and every other area of life, we embraced the power of love?  What if we allowed it to transform how we treat people?  What if we allowed it to transform how we treat ourselves?

From before time began, God has been proof that love is everything.

From the moment He created mankind in His own image, God has shown us that love is everything.

From the day you were born, God has spent every day teaching you that love is everything.

When Jesus came to earth, lived a life of unconditional love, and died on the cross, He gave us the perfect example of the fact that love is everything.

God’s love is eternal.  Infinite.  Unconditional.  Perfect.  Strong.  And powerful.  As a matter of fact, it’s the most powerful force on the planet. 

How do we live love in our classroom?

We live love when we help each other understand hard concepts.

 

We live love when we apologize through tears of remorse and when we forgive with ease.

We live love with acts of kindness.

We live love when we pray for others – when we pray for America, Haiti, hurricane victims, and Anna’s baby brother who has been in the hospital for a month.

We live love when we proclaim affirmations over ourselves every morning (self-love is an often-overlooked, but extremely important aspect of love.)

 

We live love every day because God is love and we are His and therefore His love is in us and through us and among us.  The bottom line is: we are called to love.  To love God.  To love others.  To love ourselves.  To love as eternally and infinitely and unconditionally as we are capable of.  To love completely and imperfectly.  To just love.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Three years. A prayer for moments and calling and suffering.

Today, as I celebrate three years of life and ministry in Haiti, I am reflecting on all the reasons I love this amazing country.

I love this country because I love…

...the moments.

The raw moments.  Kneeling in the middle of the dirt road, a half-clothes Synthia clinging to me as if I’ve been gone for a lifetime rather than just the summer.  Synthia’s sweaty, sticky skin clinging to me as she refuses to let go.

The real moments.  Shama crying for me to be the one to feed her when I come to visit her family at lunch time.  Shama falling asleep in my arms between bites of bilga and rice, her sleepy head lolling onto my shoulder.

The rich moments.  Twenty hands coming together to help me move classrooms at the beginning of the school year.  An endless chorus of “what else do you need?” making it wonderfully impossible for me to finish my own projects.

The rewarding moments.  Nikka’s eyes lighting up when she understands something new.  Isabelle’s smile showing hope for the first time in months.  Lina and Amos seeing me from across the yard and sprinting to me, arms high, desperate to tell me they missed me over the weekend.

...the calling.

To be called, to know beyond any shadow of a doubt that you are exactly where God wants you to be, to feel at peace with your life and your work and the place you call home.  To belong to something bigger than you.  It’s an amazing feeling.

...the suffering.

No, I do not love that people suffer.  But life is suffering and not engaging with suffering doesn’t make it any less real.  I have found that being in the middle of it, sharing the heavy burden, telling orphans they are not alone, letting the suffering surround you and leaning into it and being a part of it…there’s power in that.  There is something beautiful and magical and painfully difficult but infinitely worth it in just being a part of the suffering.  Reaching into the lives of others.  Sharing your pain and letting others share their tears.  Being there when Anna needs to cry herself to sleep, when Louis needs to scream and yell because life hasn’t been kind to him in his 7 years here on earth, when Isabelle needs to be reminded that she is loved, even when she feels lost and abandoned and unheard and unlovable.

Suffering exists.  I am blessed to be a part of God’s hope in the midst of it.

The past three years have been amazing. I have lived fully, loved completely, laughed hysterically, and ached deeply.  I have learned to trust God in ways I never knew possible…a lesson I’m still learning today.  I pray that my future is rich with moments and calling and suffering, wherever God leads.

The Fabulous Friday Five

Five moments to cherish

1. Lina coming into school first thing Monday morning, saying, “Pa t gen lekòl yè.  Mwen te sonje ou Madame Erin!” (There wasn’t school yesterday.  I missed you Madame Erin!)

 

2. Holding Amos on my lap as he sobbed because he had broken a rule.  Telling him about forgiveness and unconditional love.  “Amos, I love you no matter what.  Even if you break a rule or disobey, I still love you.  Did you know God is like that too?  Nothing can separate us from God's love and forgiveness.  God loves you and forgives you and so do I.”

3. Emmie’s long embrace so tender and sweet that I could feel the beat of her heart in my own chest.

 

4. Exhausted after the last day of school.  Lying on the classroom carpet.  Letting Louis braid (more like tangle) my hair and play with my necklace and laugh hysterically as he pretended to eat me.  All the while thinking, this is my life.  It’s ridiculous.  I kind of love it.

5. This moment at recess, when a preschooler was crying and his kindergarten friend picked him up to comfort him.

 

Five things to get excited about

1. Seeing these two for Christmas

 

2. Collecting baby clothes for the soon-to-be new addition to my goddaughter’s family.  I can’t wait to bless this incredible family and, of course, to hold New Baby as soon as he or she is born!!

 

3. Two weeks of NO SKIRTS!!

Confession: I may have actually counted down to this moment.

4. ‘nough said.

 

5. Being back in Haiti in time for the HUGE Kids Alive Christmas party that is always a blast!

Five glimpses into my world

1. This sweet and sassy girl brings light and laughter to my life.

2. Recess hair-braiding party.

3.  How we really survived testing week.

4. Those days when no one picks up my student after school, so she gets to come home with me.  Lucky Anna got to meet Maggie, eat pizza, and play school with my stuffed animals.

5. No caption necessary.

Words of Thanks

Even though we don't celebrate Thanksgiving in Haiti, these kiddos have SO MUCH they are thankful for.  Here are just a few of those things.

"Thank you, God, for..."

And the one I am constantly thanking God for...

Happy Thanksgiving!May God make you rich in the things that matter...joy and laughter and love.

What They Teach Me In Kindergarten

As a kindergarten teacher, I do a lot of…well…teaching.  Numbers and letters, shapes and colors, Bible stories and history lessons.  I teach students how to sit still, how to use kind words, and how to be good friends.  All day long, I teach.  But I also learn.

Even at four and five years old, my students have valuable lessons to teach me.

Lina teaches me to always have a tender heart.

Lina is truly one in a million.  Her gentle kindness makes our classroom a better place.  Her sweet smile lights up the room.  Her grace and patience for others inspires me to be the patient and gracious teacher she deserves.  Lina cares for others and beautifully reflects the heart of Christ, silently teaching me to do the same.

Amos teaches me to always lend a helping hand.

Even when it isn’t convenient.  Even when it isn’t easy.  Even when there are other things he could be doing, Amos is always ready and willing to help.  Amos loves to carry my bags, clean up toys, and run any errand I need.  He reminds me that we are called to serve others with happy hearts.

Duke teaches me to laugh.  To laugh at the world, to laugh with others, and to laugh at myself.

Duke is always ready to laugh.  When Anna’s shoe comes flying off in the middle of a math lesson and everyone is still glancing around to figure out what happened, Duke is already in fits of laughter.  When I read Goldilocks and the Three Bears aloud and use a silly little voice for Baby Bear, Duke catches my eye, then burst out laughing.  Sometimes, he literally rolls on the floor laughing.

The best part about Duke’s laughter?  It’s contagious.  When Duke starts laughing, it’s never long before everyone else is laughing too.  Including me.

Nikka teaches me to be true to myself.

Every time Nikka has a chance to choose a book, she ALWAYS chooses The Little Engine That Could.  Taking it from the bookshelf, she holds it up, looks at me with big, round eyes, and says, “sivouple li l pou mwen.”  Please read it to me.

 “We just read it together this morning,” I say…but I can’t resist.  Putting down what I’m doing, I sit on the carpet beside her and begin.  “Ti tren ki te kapab la,” I say, opening the book to page one.  I never get tired of reading that book to her because I LOVE that she loves it.  And I love that she would rather read it five times in one day than read five books she doesn’t love.  And I love that she’s always true to herself, even when I say, “again?”

I could go on forever.  The lessons my students teach me about love, loyalty, trust, and hope are innumerable.  Every day, they teach me something new.

As I learn from them and teach them, I pray that I am teaching them more than just numbers and letters, shapes and colors, Bible stories and history lessons.  I pray that I am teaching them to be strong, to have faith, and to live with joy.  Wouldn’t we all do well to learn more about these things?

Two Days in Kindergarten

The first few days of kindergarten are always a crazy wonderful combination of the honeymoon-we-all-love-each-other stage mixed with the deer-in-the-headlights-because-everything-is-new-and-terrifying stage.  Not to mention the four-year-olds-still-don't-know-how-to-do-school-yet-so-we-spend-all-our-time-learning-to-raise-our-hands stage.  Then there's the fact that I have to stop my lesson every five seconds because sweet Nicka has these long legs that she doesn't have control over yet and can't quite figure out how to bend them in order to sit crisscross applesauce.

Here are a few highlights from the last two days.

Centers.


Independent play


Recess


Crafts




Working hard - learning numbers, letters, colors, and shapes


Flag raising ceremony (mine are on the far left)


Lunch


And an after school visit from my former students.


 (miss this girl!!)

 (checking out the new tattoo)

Well, there you have it.  A quick glimpse into my crazy, wonderful world!