Life as a Boarding Mistress

What full days I’ve had since I last posted! So much has happened and God is doing amazing things in my heart. I don’t have the time to share everything, so I’ll just share about the boarders today and wait until my next post to share about teaching and children’s ministry. I apologize in advance for the length, but there is just so much to share!

Just about all of the boarders have moved in now and I am officially a “mom” to sixteen girls and sixteen boys. I wish I could sit down with each of you to tell you in person about the time I’ve had with them so far and what God is doing in my heart…it’s huge! Up until a few days ago, I have felt uncomfortable and inexperienced when it came to teenagers. I never had a huge desire to work with them, whether teaching or in ministry. Oh, how that is changing! These past few days with these kids have been wonderful! They are so respectful and helpful and have so far shown no problem at all submitting to authority. While getting my classroom ready, five of my form 1 girls (8th grade) came to help me, and some boys helped me move some heavier items. Every question asked is answered with a ‘yes, miss’ or ‘no, miss’. One of my older girls knocked on my door tonight just to tell me ‘thank you’ for coming to live with them and be their boarding mistress and that she was so happy and excited. So precious!

Graham, the boys’ dorm master, and I share responsibility of the kids, so I am spending almost as much time with the boys as I am with the girls. We all eat every meal together, which has been a great time to get to know the kids more. At night we have watched a movie (High School Musical 2…actually the boys’ choice!), played Uno and checkers, and sat around and chatted. I had my first group meeting with the girls just to discuss some logistics and it went very well. Can I just tell you how amazing it is that we can sit together, discuss things, and pray! I love it!! I cannot wait until we start our weekly Bible study!

While we are eating meals, I am also able to spend time with my friends, Gary and Stacy, since they are boarding parents at another house. I love this fellowship time, and God is using them to show me how to easily interact with and minister to youth. It’s amazing that in such a short time God has moved my heart from not really being interested in working with teenagers to now being so excited about it and really growing to love it! I can’t wait to see how God uses me with these kids over the next few months. Not only will I be living life with them on a daily basis, but I will also be working with them at church, since all of them are required to go to youth group and church on Sundays. Not to mention the amazing opportunities I will have with the girls during our Bible study time! I am so excited and ask that God would just use me daily and that my life would be a reflection of Christ in all I say and do. I’ll keep you posted!

P.S. Don’t forget to clink on the link for the pictures. I have been and will continue to add to them! Here is one I took of some of my sweet girls.

No comments: