A School Year I’ll Never Forget

Yesterday was the last day of school for students, and we ended our year with a virtual talent show and awards day celebration. We truly had such a great time together. 

I created a poem (with a little help) about our year, and while reading it, I became so emotional that I had to turn my camera off just to get myself together. I’ve never been this emotional on the last day of school before - and I've left three schools during my career. I can laugh about it now because my students were saying, “I think she’s frozen!” after calling my name and getting no response. 😂

But this was such an unusual year, and these students showed up every single day. They worked hard, attended office hours for extra help, and sometimes just came back online to spend time with each other. Even my students who returned to the States stayed committed. One student attended a local school during the day and still came home to complete not only her homework there, but our homework too - without missing a single assignment. I’m incredibly proud of all of them because this wasn’t easy. It was hard for me, so I know it was hard for them too.

One of my families who left during the war also returned to Kuwait yesterday. The mother originally planned for her daughter to try logging in online while they were in the air, but I told her not to worry about it. The fact that she wanted to be there meant so much to me.

Another parent shared that her child had set an alarm to wake up for the celebration but accidentally slept through it. These kids were really trying to show up for their friends. It wasn’t their parents making them log on - they made that decision themselves. And honestly, I just found it so admirable that 9-year-olds were willing to set alarms for 1:30 a.m. just to try to see their classmates one more time. Unfortunately, they didn’t make it online, but it truly was the thought that counted. 

I’m already looking forward to August when I can hopefully see everyone in person again, give hugs, offer reassurance, and send them confidently into 4th grade. I know many other families are planning to return as things have finally started to quiet down. Prayerfully, it stays this way.

And in more hopeful news, Kuwait’s airport just announced that international flights will begin operating again starting June 1st. We have a flight booked for June 16th, and prayerfully, we’ll be on it. ✈️🙏💜

Covered, Even Here

It’s been a while…almost five years since I’ve written here.

A lot has changed since my last post. I’m no longer in China - I moved to Kuwait in August of 2021, and life has taken me on a completely new journey since then. I also became a dog mom, so Charli has been right here with me through it all.

I didn’t plan on coming back to this blog like this, but with everything happening right now, I felt led to share.

Here’s what’s been going on…

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So it’s been 5 weeks since war broke out in the Middle East.

Saturday, February 28th, we’re at home enjoying our last day of holiday break before heading back to work the following day. Maybe around noon, we started hearing and feeling the missiles being intercepted. Our WhatsApp chats began to go crazy as we were all trying to figure out what was going on. Many of my colleagues were en route to Kuwait when their flights were rerouted, or they were in airports when their flights began to get cancelled. As you can imagine, it was pure chaos.

I reached out to my family immediately, letting them know what was going on.

Through all of this, I have been amazingly calm. What has been getting me through are my father’s words. He would always say, “Jennifer, you can’t pray AND worry. You have to choose one - you can’t do both.” So I chose to pray and leave it all in God’s hands. I’m not worried, and I’m not going to allow anyone to worry me. I’m trusting that God is going to do exactly what He promised He would do.

So no, I do not have plans to leave before the school year is over. I feel safe. I’m in my space. I have food, water, and most importantly, I have Charli.

So many people have left, but there are still a lot of us here. I remember waking up and learning that certain people left overnight. I can’t even lie - I shed some tears. I felt like we were abandoned. But just as quickly as those tears fell, they were quickly dried up. I heard a voice oh so clear say, “But I didn’t abandon you. They can’t cover you, only I can.” And with that, I went about my day.

So again, I have no plans to leave until it’s time for me to go. I’m leaning and trusting on God to direct our path - He’s never steered me wrong. The same God that covers me when I’m home in NJ is the same God covering me here in Kuwait. His power has no limits. He is omnipresent.

Charli is doing well. She’s enjoying having me home more as we’re working from home. Early on, when things first happened, she was dealing with stress - not eating, hiding under the sofa, upset stomach, all of that. I started playing nature sounds at night to help her sleep, and she’s been fine ever since.

Please continue to pray for all of us in the Middle East and that this war will come to an end. Many countries are affected by this.

Thank you for still being here…even after all this time.

I’m covered, and I know exactly who’s covering me.