The Life of an Art Teacher

 

Here are some photos of the kids creating art and their projects! Teaching them has been so rewarding this summer. Although there has been challenges, I would not have picked another job. I have grown so much in disciplining children, loving children, and helping children. I'm going to miss their smiling faces and pure joy as they show off each piece of art that they made. I'm going to miss when they hand me a creation and say they made it just for me! Most of all I'm going to miss the hugs of three children at once as I'm trying to walk out the door. I'm so thankful for this summer and the gift it has been to be an Art Teacher for Hope for Miami!

"Can I show God my art?"

God has been teaching me so many things this summer. These are only some of the most recent ones.

1) After being an art teacher for 5 weeks, I have more appreciation for teachers. Kids throw crayons, stab other kids with scissors, spill water, fight, etc, and I am now very aware that I am not gifted at working with many kids at once. Not all of them are horrible though, and it is the good ones that make it all worth it. The other day I had a adorable little girl ask, "Can I show God my art?" I immediately smiled and said, "He sees it and loves it". She smiled and said, "God is really nice." I replied, "Yes he is! And he loves you." She then said, "I know. God loves everyone!" The cute little girl skipped away with a smile on her face proudly holding her art. She doesn't know how much she made my day. In the midst of the chaos of kids fighting over crayons, God sent me this cute little girl to make me smile. Thank you God!

2) Another thing God is teaching me is about prayer. I've learned that the size of your prayers show the size of your God. The bigger the prayers we pray, the more faith we have in our God. My friend Annelise prayed that on Monday 100 people would hear the gospel during our weekly evangelizing on campuses. She prayed, knowing that 100 was twice the amount as the week before, and 106 people heard about Jesus that day. We should never limit God's power. Join Annelise and I as we pray for 200 people to hear about Jesus this next Monday!

3) While sharing our faith on the University of Miami on Monday I got to talk with a girl from Germany. She had some very interesting theology. She thought that Jesus was married and had children. Thankfully I was able to share with her who Jesus really is and debunk her thoughts. It is crazy how different people's thoughts are about Jesus across the world. Then I went through the gospel with her and shared how Jesus was the only way for us to be with God. It was the coolest thing to hear her say that makes sense and to see the click in her eyes. At the end of the conversation she said that this will probably be one of those conversations she will never forget. I had prayed that day that I could have an impacting conversation with someone, and God answered my prayer!

God is doing so many things in Miami! I can not praise Him or thank Him enough!