God has brought us through so much since last month’s newsletter. I am so grateful for the responsibility of communicating His goodness to all of you because I’ve never been a fan of personal journaling. I’m much more motivated to write knowing someone else will read it and public memoires are therapeutic in that they help me adjust my critical outlook as the Holy Spirit shows me the Father’s grace in all that this missionary life throws at us.
So July brings major closure for us – a reason for much rejoicing:
- Olivia continued to be the center of attention when the German teacher decided to honor our first graduating class with a German senior tradition (since the French don’t have one.) She organized and invited teachers, friends and parents to a formal dinner/dance. What a blessing that I didn’t have to do a thing, and it finally gave us a reason to buy Olivia her first fancy dress – her dream come true.
- The exam results weren’t announced until a few days later, and Olivia’s overall final score was an impressive 17.78/20, which is well-rewarded by France, if not through ceremony, at least financially. Based also on our income, she will automatically receive scholarship money that covers her living expenses for the next 3 years and since college is practically free in France, her education is covered! Can you see our American heads spinning with disbelief??
- In stark contrast to my satisfaction as a parent, the year ended with a fizzle for me as a teacher, summed up by the sheets of rain that plagued the school fete this year. Instead of a much needed exit interview with the director to verbalize my frustrations and talk about solutions, I got a good-by bouquet that did not speak my love language at that moment! The French word for “failed” is “raté,” which describes how I looked and felt when I left the fete early, soaked through.
- All the happy closure I didn’t get at school seemed to come in twos:
We post grades a full 2 weeks before the last day of school, which is definitely a form of middle-school teacher torture.
2 of my students didn’t bother to even show up for those last 2 weeks, and only 2 out of the original 13 will return next year.
The only parents that showed any appreciation were just the 2 to whom I had offered extra free tutoring.
Just 2 students searched me out to say their final good-byes at the fete. Did they fall on their knees and beg my forgiveness for making learning impossible this year? Only in my dreams… - Thank God, closure happened 2 weeks later while attending a seminar for the staff. We studied DISC personality types in the context of staffing a school. This topic was life-changing for me when it was covered during our YWAM schools in the past. It was no less so this week, as all the reasons behind my frustrations became crystal clear. During an exercise on understanding each other’s communication styles, the director and I were finally able to talk honestly. He not only asked forgiveness for being unable to work with my communication style, but also asked for a sozo! I’m not the only teacher leaving this year and Christians who are willing to teach without pay are hard to come by here, so he sees that he has to confront families who are not a good match for our school.
Our year with Anna is also coming to a close accompanied by lots of exciting events: We got our first live glimpse of the Tour de France, as they just rode through our region for the first time in 8 yrs. She’s also enjoyed watching Germany progress through the World Cup on a jumbo screen in the village square with her German teacher buddy. She got prayer and prophecy at church Sunday and we blessed her publicly as well. It’s not our last good-by though because she’s coming back in 2 weeks to do a French/German youth camp with Olivia to continue building Christian unity between these nations and redeem history!
Can’t wait to report all our new beginnings in September!
Love, Angela