the end or the beginning?

After 38 hours of travel, I made it back to Lynchburg. There were storms above Lynchburg and our 2 attempts at landing gave me the roughest time on a plane I've ever had. We then landed at Roanoke until the storm passed. My friend, Raphaela, picked me up from the airport, and several of my closest friends threw me a surprise welcome home party that night! It was so much fun to see everybody I had missed all at once, and there just for me! I have the best friends in the world! I was tired, but not too bad at all! I was very happy to be home and thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my friends.
So, graduation was finally upon me! It came and went rather fast under the exhaustion and adrelaine of, well, everything. My parents, sister and brother, and Pappaw came to celebrate the occasion with me, and even brought a huge congratualtions sign! I was super excited to see them all after four months away!
I'm not quite sure the fact of graduation has sank in even now, so I don't have too much to say about it. I really enjoyed the day!
I did come home with what I thought was a parasite. After the test results came back, the doctor said I didn't have a parasite. Whatever my sickness was, I started getting sick before I left, and I came home sick. After a little medicine I was quickly better, however.
Now, I'm enjoying a restfull time at home! I have slept, well, alot. I've laid on the couch and watched tv, and now I'm back to work. I have a few short weeks of reentry, unpacking, sharing, support raising, lesson planning, paper work, training, and packing again. I have to be in Kenya July 24th, but I'm so excited about the next chapter!

I believe this will be the end of this blog. I am planning on keeping another one for this next journey. If you would like to receive emails from me, send me one to let me know! My address is ajjones@liberty.edu. When I have a new blog set up, I will post a link here and let you all know by email! Thank you so much for your prayers and support! Without you, I would have nothing to write.

Middle School Girls Bible Study

Well I have had, what I feel to be, four successful Bible study meetings and a sleepover! I have loved leading these girls through small looks at identity in Christ, daily devotions and prayer, spiritual gifts, and the five love languages. Each time we met we had a fun snack, lesson, and a craft! Some crafts we made include necklaces or bracelets, personalized prayer journals, decorated locker mirrors, and cards. The girls really seemed to enjoy our time together and thanked me endlessly. I pray that they are able to remember a little bit of what we learned. I definitely will never forget it! To end our time together, I hosted a sleepover at my house! After the middle school band concert, we went over to the classroom and watched a movie, and ate snacks of course. Then we headed over to my house for face masks, truth or dare, and "sleep." They spread out all over the floor, as you can tell by the picture above. They had a lot of fun, and I did too! The whole time was a success!

one last look at middle school...

---In 6th and 7th grade we were reading Greek myths including "Echo and Narcissus." Narcissus was a young man from Thebes. On the test, one unsuspecting student wrote, "Narcissus is a young man from Thieves." Well, he tried.

---In the middle school language arts classroom, each student has a small paper slot to pick up their graded papers. One particular student absolutely loves picking up his papers every day. He typically bounces into the classroom every morning, before his afternoon language arts class, asking "did I get mail?" I always grade his papers first.

---One Friday I happily wrote on the board "no homework! you can thank me later." I thought I was being cute until one 7th grader asked, "Why does it say we can thank you later?" I then had to explain the entire comment. Apparently my humor is not even understood, let alone appreciated.

---One lovely ritual that happens basically every day, is the 6th grade thank you's. Every 6th grader thanks me every time they leave the room! It's fabulous! I often wonder what they're thanking me for, but it's lovely still the same!

---In the middle of my going away party, a student asked me how to spell me name. I replied, "Just write Miss Jones." I got a knowing, "Yah, how do you spell 'Jones'?" All I could muster was "Oh." I don't think I've ever met a person who can't spell 'Jones.'

---I was reminded one day of my grade school trading past. I'm sure everyone remembers trading snacks, lunches, pencils, etc. My middle schoolers demonstrated this when one boy offered pencils for pistachios. It made my day.

---The eight graders showed me their strange imaginations daily. This was one of my favorite daily quick write beginnings: "I've been a murderer, I've been murdered, I've been an alien with a clone." It was as interesting as you could imagine.

Well, I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in middle school language arts! My last day in the classroom was like a party all day! It was a lot of fun, and I recieved wonderful cards and gifts. All too sweet!

I was also able to attend the middle school banquet, where eveyone gets dressed up for a good meal and some fun games! The theme was Wonderland and there were even some middle school Alice in Wonderland characters! I loved seeing all the kids dressed up! It was fun!

It's sad to leave all these precious faces!

10 snippets of leaving and arriving

1) I will not miss teeny tiny ants invading my life
2) I can't wait for some real sweet tea
3) I will miss white beaches, warm water, palm trees, and cool huts
4) I will not miss trying to sleep when it's 90 degrees in my bedroom
5) I can't wait to drive again
6) I will miss being surrounded by like-minded missionaries
7) I will not miss constant power outages
8) I can't wait for some meat and cheese
9) I will miss the best fruits in the world
10) I can't wait to see my family and friends!

Kenya, here I come.

Well, I'm moving to Kenya!
I have accepted a teaching position at West Nairobi School in Kenya. The position is for middle school social studies, with a two year contract. The school is in a residential suburb, Karen. WNS is a member of NICS, the Network of International Christian Schools. It serves not only missionary kids, but anyone who wants a good, international, Christian education. I am very excited about this decision, and feel like God really wants me there.
So, how did I choose Kenya? Well, God did. I narrowed down my options to here in the Philipines, a school in Senegal, or Kenya. After I was offered positions at all three plus some, my decision got even harder. I think Kenya must have been top on my list (eveyone told me it was!) However, I was seriously contemplating them all. Along with countless, blessed other, my family was on their knees for me. Expecting mixed replies, I asked my family where they thought I should go. It was unanimous, Kenya! I was shocked. Everything was checking out wonderfully for WNS, and my family was agreeing. It was becoming obvious.
Through the process, I was lovingly reminded by my brother and sister to not make the decission harder than it was. God does not make our decission hard, we do. They reminded me of how God led me to the right college, gave me the desire to teach overseas next year, and that He has guided me this far. All I needed to do was accept it! He was making it as clear as could be.
A couple Sundays ago, I heard an interesting sermon about Noah and how God led him. While making the decision, I was reminded of what I had learned. God gave Noah instructions: build an ark, put animals in it, build a door and stalls, etc. However, God did not give Noah all the details: where to put the door, how big should the stalls be, who needs to feed them, etc. This helped me to know that God will give us instructions, but He doesn't give us all the details. How boring would that be! He graciously allows us to make some decisions too!
I also realized that if I am truly trusting Him and seeking His face, my choices will be in His will. My desires are His desires.
After I finally made the decision, I logged into my email account the next morning to send the news. I had several new emails including two from NICS congratulating me on accepting a position! My first thought blamed this strange coincidence on miscommunication, yet as I contemplated the situation I realized it was God. NICS told me how they ring a bell at the home office and everyone stops to pray for the new acceptees. I had been prayed for that morning, which was my night, the night I was making my final decision. I don't know who told them I had accepted, but I know God is blessing this decision. After a tough decision, it was exactly the confirmation I needed. God is so gracious to me, by always giving me confimation of my decisions. Praise the Lord!
So, that was a short version of how I got my job. Now I'll tell you a little more about it! I have to go to training this summer in Mississippi for all new NICS teachers. I have to be in Kenya on July 24th for one week of new teacher orientation, one week of regular orientation, and then I start teaching! I will be living with other single teachers from WNS, and will recieve a small stipend to help cover living expenses. Yes, I will be raising support, but I have not worked out all the details yet. I will keep you updated!
For now, I am happy to know that for the next two years I will be a full-time NICS missionary serving in Nairobi, Kenya!