CMI Week 5: TCE 2

As I sit to write this week, I am super sore. After reading this I think that you will understand. 

Doodling in class an idea for a"logo" for our band, Ambassador

This week has been a week of learning new things. We were working through Teaching Children Effectively 2 (TCE 2). TCE 2 is about teaching the saved child. We learned how to put in applications for the saved child and how to still teach the unsaved. We had a practicum Monday on the missions time and a practicum Friday on a growth lesson. I learned a lot. 

This weekend has been a free weekend as we finished TCE 2 and are now transitioning into a new module. 

So tiring 

Friday we went to Sky Zone. It was awesome. I would try to describe it, but a picture is worth a thousand words and I think that is how many words it would take to describe it. 

Wow am I ready to take a break, that is tiring work

So Dirty!! 

On Saturday we had the CEF picnic that we got to take part in. We got to play tug-o-war, baseball, volleyball, and eat a picnic of course. It was a ton of fun. My team lost at tug-o-war, but it was fun none the less. Baseball and volleyball were more for fun so I don't know who won that. I am a terrible volleyball player. I always feel sorry for my team for having to have me on their team. It was in a sand pit so I think I might have been a little bit distracted by the sand and the fact that I didn't have to have my shoes on. That was really fun. I have missed running around with no shoes on. After that I was so dirty. 


This week we will be shifting from teaching kids to training teachers. There will be two classes running at the same time, Dynamics of Teacher training and Instructors of Teachers (IOT). I am enrolled in IOT. We will be learning how to teach TCE 1 (the class that we just did in week one). As they were explaining the different expectations of the classes, I kind of decided that I did not want to take IOT because it sounded hard. Then she read the list of who was in what class, of course I was in IOT. Then I got the paper that had the requirements on it. I had to be 21 years old or older, mature and all this other stuff. Well, I'm not 21 and I don't feel ready to have that much work. I ask the director of CMI why I had been enrolled in IOT, she told me that my state director had requested it. After talking to Lynne (the CMI director) I felt a lot better about it; so I'm gonna do it. It is a two week module and I think the work load will be heavy. Please pray for us this week. 

CMI Week 4: The Arch

I feel like I haven't written anything for a while. I think I have a lot of catching up to do.
This week and last week we were doing the Progressive Methods of Child Evangelism module. A lot of it was focused on the theology of Child Conversion which included the paper. We also had classes on object lessons and got to make our own lesson. This Friday we started a new module called TCE (Teaching Children Effectively) 2. The first week I was here we took TCE 1, and now we get to do part two. We are going to are focusing more on teaching the saved child.

 Just yesterday I got to go to the St. Louis Arch. It was amazing!

 It was bigger than I had thought it was going to be.

Part of Our CMI group chilling in the Gateway to the West

We got so excited to see a picture of the Pacific Ocean. It was home for us! The picture behind us was taken at the mouth of the Colombia river in between my state and her's. We both walked up the the wall and began to rub it and hug it. Then we just had to have our picture taken by it. It was good to feel at home for a while. 

I did, of course, ride to the top in the tram. It was kind of frightening, but really fun. The tram cars were tiny and fit five people in this small space. But thankfully, we did survive the trip to the top. We had a lot of fun teasing the other girl on the way up; we did a Chinese fire drill (all, or almost all, of us switched seats), and one guy shook the car. It was fun. 

The inside of the arch was tiny at the top. It was packed full of people and it was rather freaky to think that there was not very much underneath us but air. 

The view was amazing. The only really discomforting thing about the view was that there were no mountains anywhere to be seen. 

It was right by the Mississippi river. There was even a helicopter that gave rides. There was also horse buggy rides. They were both to expensive to go on, but we did enjoy watching them. It was really fun. 

One thing that has been on my mind is what to do when I get back. I have been trying to figure out if I should get some kind of job or what. One thought has been to work with CEF when I get back. Please pray that I will know where God is leading me. Right now I am thinking out doing both, working part time, and then working with CEF part time. I still have 2 months to decide, but I should probably get planning soon. Thank you so much for your prayers. 

CMI Week 3: The Paper is Done

Thank you all so much for praying for me while I was working on my paper. I finished it and I got a B, so I am happy.

CMI Week 3: THE Paper

This is the week of the paper, therefore this week's blog will be very short; maybe I'll try to write something Tuesday night...once the paper is done. Please do pray for us as we try to finish this paper. I am stressing out right now so please pray for my thoughts to come together and that I will have the endurance to finish this thing. I'll try to write more later, but for now, back to work.

Paper time...need prayer.

Please be praying for us this weekend/week. We have our 12-20 page Biblical Defense of Child Conversion paper due Tuesday morning. Please pray that all the ideas will form and that we will be motivated to get it done. Please also pray that we will be learning the information so that it is useful later. It has been a LONG week and we are going into it tired; or at least I am...

CMI Week 2: Classes, classes and more classes

This week has been a crazy busy week. We had lots of reading to do. We also had three group projects that included: a drama, a paper/presentation, and listening to a CD and discussing it. The drama was really fun because it was just us acting like kids. We were assigned an age group, and then we acted out some of the characteristics of that age group. My group got to do the 6-7 year olds and the 12-13s. I got to act like I was learning to read, pretend to make a "best friend forever" (that during the 12-13 group I get mad at for not inviting me to go to the mall with her). I really enjoyed being 13 again; it was amusing to try to think back to that and get to act way overemotional.
I also this week I got to play piano for the Wednesday worship time and give my testimony. Giving my testimony was really hard and scary to do. We each had three minute to share: our name and state, why we were at CMI, our work with CEF and one prayer request. While I was sitting there I was watching the others go and I thought, “Oh, that doesn't look too bad”; famous last words. I got up there and I was terrified. It was really hard to fit it into three minutes. But I did it. I survived it.
Please continue to pray for me this week. I have about 300 pages to read this week along with other assignments. I similarly have a two page paper and an annotated bibliography due tomorrow. Please pray that my mind will work and that I can get it all done on time. We also have our BIG paper this week; it will be due next Monday. Also please pray that I will get the rest of the support that I need. Thank you all so much for your prayers. 

CMI Week 1: Practicums, Room Inspections, Diet Coke, and Mentos

Studying for my Bible Lesson Practicum 

This week has been a long, but awesome week. Our day starts with breakfast at 6:45am and classes start at 7:45. We start with prayer and devotions, then at 8:30 we start classes. This week we have been taking Teaching Children Effectively 1 (TCE 1). In TCE 1 we learned more about how to teach kids. One way that the teachers make sure we are getting it is through our practicums, we had three this week. We had to present a Memory verse using a certain method, the wordless book, and a Bible lesson. We also had worksheets that my teachers looked over and discus with me how it could be improved. My Bible lesson evaluator told me the day before I presented it that she know I could do well so she we going to be hard on me. That made me nervous, but also made me want to not let her down. I got A's on all three assignments.
Also this week was our first room inspection. I passed. I know it's a shock, but I really did.

Room Inspection Pass :) 

This week has not been all work and no play though; I have had a lot of free time as well. I have been able to go swimming, watch movies, hang out, and play games. Saturday we got to go play demolition ball. It was a cross between bumper cars, lacrosse, and basketball. It was a lot of fun. We also had a Diet Coke and Mentos war.

A large Millstone 

 Even with all the people around, it can still get rather lonely. I have been happy to receive a few letters so far and I have been able to talk to friends and family back home on the phone and on Skype.
Another thing that is really awesome to think about it that I am at the World Headquarters of CEF. It is awesome. They have a room devoted to prayer, they also have a court yard that has the flag of every state and they pray for each state. Shown in the pictures, there is also the big flag circle that has flags of around the world. It shows which areas CEF is in and where they are not. There is also a big millstone with this verse on it: "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

 Thank you so much for your prayers, I really appreciate them.

Please continue to pray for me, pray that I will be able to keep up, learn a lot, and have fun.