It is what it is...

I blinked and April is just about over, how did that happen? Where has the time gone? It is hard to believe we are almost into May already. This past month and a half have been filled with ups and downs in many different areas. April was especially tough for me as I traveled home on an unexpected family emergency trip. I was home for almost 2 weeks dealing with a lot of hurt. I appreciate the prayers and support through it all. After returning to Moscow, I found out of my students was moving back to Korea. Our school is such a transit community but it doesn't ever make it easy to say goodbye. Along with losing a student for good, I had another student out of country and 2 students out sick. That put me at having only 4 students for a whole week. Now, you would think that would be a blessing after the year I have had, but I missed those kiddos so very much while they were gone. It also puts added stress on the teacher for doing make up assignments and test as well as keeping up with the grades.

Things started looking normal but I felt like I was still drowning in paperwork for my job, my masters classes, drama still back home, as well as Easter approaching and 2nd and 3rd grades chapel. April was definitely a whirlwind of events, emotions, and a whole lot of stress. But as Easter approached, I was able to reflect on the true meaning of life. It is amazing to look at the story through the eyes of a child. I am so very blessed working where I work and with the families and students I get to interact with on a daily basis. 

Good news from the school... HCA was approved after months of long hours and paperwork to continue ministering to families in Moscow. Praise God for His provision for the school and for the staff who fought hard to make sure we had everything we needed to stay in operation. God continues to show His faithfulness to those who do the work of the Lord. 

Not so good news, but not terrible news either. For those of you who do not know, this year is my last year working at Hinkson. My life is going in another direction and I am blessed to say that I am excited to see where that leads. As I just finished the half way mark to having my masters degree in Children's Minstry, I am moving back to FL to pursue furthering my education and working in my church. I will be working with my church to better serve them and help use my education to the fullest. I will be finishing my degree as well as working at a learning center with VPK students. God has great plans for my future and I cannot wait to share those with you. 

As May quickly makes its entrance, it is that time of year when things seem to spiral out of control. Not necessarily in a bad way, but things spiral. It is crunch time for finishing material, staying on top of grades, all the end of the year events, and finishing the year well and with goodbyes. I will do my best to update everyone before heading home to FL. I fly out of Moscow on June 2. Please keep the school in your prayers as well as myself during the busiest time of year for a teacher. 

Prayer Request: 

~Staff needed for next year 

~Protection over all our staff and families 

~Finishing this year well 

~Being intentional with relationships 

What does spring mean?

         Spring has always been my second favorite season. Spring is the time of year that things start to bloom, the temperature starts to go up, its a time to come out of hibernation and get active in the outside world again. Since moving to Moscow, I have had many different opinions about spring. You see, it is still cold, there is still snow covering the ground, the sun works when it feels like it but it definitely takes longer for spring to arrive in Moscow. By mid February I am getting over the snow but by mid March, it needs to be gone and is not. Fortunately this year, the snow is melting and there has been an increase in temperature. All of my Florida friends and family get a kick out of it when I think 38 degrees Fahrenheit is warm. It is so true though! Welcome spring, glad you arrived here in Moscow.

Spring time here in Moscow means 4th quarter is quickly approaching us and there is much to be done in the world of a teacher. As we wrap up quarter 3 next week, I am bombarded with papers, projects, and tests as we finish out our units before the break. On top of the paperwork of being a teacher, there are so many other things we focus on as we end out of the quarter and prepare to start a new quarter. Ending well is always something we strive for so we can be sure to start the next quarter off fresh. As a teacher, spring is also a difficult time because we start making decisions and having conversations with parents about what next year will look like for their child. Unfortunately, I have a couple of students who are struggling with second grade and may need to repeat. This is always an emotional stressful time for any teacher, the parent, and the student.

For me, this is my last spring in Moscow. So as I watch the snow melt, trees and flowers bloom, smell the fresh paint around the city, I am saddened by the idea of not knowing when I will see snow again or the idea of leaving the city that has been my home for 4 years. The convenience of public transportation, the sharma stands on every corner, abteka's everywhere you turn, and the amount of people who are always outside taking in the view and fresh air each day.

Prayer Request:

• The building project at our school 
• New teachers/staff for Hinkson next year 
• Finishing this quarter and semester out well
• Continued guidance and wisdom for me as I work with the second grade class 

Praises: 

• Financial support - thank you for everything you all do to help me stay here 
• Progress in the second grade classroom 
• It is Spring time!! The sun is OUT! 

The gift of Love

Love... Always seems to be the word for the month of February. We celebrate Valentine's Day with our kids and significant other. We often times, buy gifts of chocolate and flowers, or go out on a romantic date, and spend more planned time with those we love. Why is it that we most often think about the word Love in February? We should focus on the word Love, each and every day not just when we schedule time in to plan special events.

According to Google, the Bible uses the word Love, 551 times in the NIV version. In John, it tells us that "For God so LOVED the world, that He gave His one and only son..." In 1 John, "We LOVE because He first LOVED us." And in Mark, "LOVE the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' The second is this: ‘LOVE your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”

There are many more scriptures that talk about Love, but these scriptures I believe are so very important. We should LOVE always because He did so much for us, He LOVED us first. We are called to LOVE all people. Right now, in second grade we are having a difficult time loving each other. My children are constantly arguing, fighting, saying unkind things, and snapping at every sound each other makes. Trying to teach the word LOVE is not only used in my classroom in February, it is used each and every day. I show my students that I love them but ultimately how much God loves them. We do strategies each day about loving one another because that is what God says to do and we should want to love each person. When we stop loving the people and the world around us, we have stopped sharing God's love to the world. If we all chose our words wisely, thought about our actions and how they would affect those around us, but instead LOVED... what an amazing world we would live in.

Sometimes I struggle to love those around me. When someone makes me mad, my students don't listen when I am teaching, my parents only call when they want something, etc... But God loved me first and it is His will for my life that I witness to all of these people in LOVE. February is a month of Love and I will fall into the group of people who celebrate Valentine's Day with my students and my boyfriend, but I will also stretch this Love and think about how I can show love each and every day of my life. I choose to make an impact in someone's life by first Loving God and because I love Him, I can love, no matter what.

Happy February Friends and Family. I love you all!

Prayer Request:
 - Safe Travels to Greece this weekend
 - Being Intentional with my time left in Moscow (4 months)
 - Our school as we look for new teachers/staff for next year
 - Support

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

с новым годом. (Pronounced, Snovym Godom) Happy New Year friends. 2016 ended very well. As it is difficult to be away from family and friends during the holiday season, I found great joy being with new family and friends in Moscow.

The end of the year is always an extremely busy time of year. My end of the year consisted of things such as: Concerts, Art shows, Staff Christmas, a ex-coworker visiting us, wrapping up units in our classroom, classroom parties, chapels, HCA Christmas service, exploring the city lights, Christmas eve service, Christmas day with friends, and unfortunately being sick. That is just a condensed list of what the end of the year entailed.

Being in Moscow through all of this has truly been amazing. Worshiping our God with fellow believers has been a blessing. Even though the gifts and decorations are a great part of Christmas, being able to share the Story of Christ birth with my students has been a gift in itself. The awe in the children's eyes is incredible. I always bake a birthday cake for Jesus and we sing to Him at our Christmas party. This year I recorded my children singing Happy Birthday to Jesus in 3 different languages. What an amazing thing to be a part of and witness as a believer. If you are friends with me on Fb, you probably seen the video already. If you haven't, email me, I will be happy to share it with you!

Christmas Eve, I was invited to my bosses place for a mini Christmas Service. There were 11 people altogether singing songs, sharing in devotion, and enjoying great food and fellowship. It was a blessing to be able to be a part of a Christmas Eve service because here in Russia, Christmas isn't celebrated until January 7th. It is a strange thing to be able to go out shopping and out to eat on Christmas day because it is just a normal day here in Russia. With it being "so normal" here, it almost doesn't ever feel like Christmas unless you can get together with others and celebrate together.

My year also ended and started in Ireland. I have always wanted to go to Ireland and with it being my last year in Moscow, what a great opportunity to visit the countries I have wanted to. I was blessed significantly with support from you all to make my dream of going to Ireland a reality. Many of you blessed me for Christmas in a way that couldn't be captured in pictures. Although I have a ton of pictures, it is just a glimpse of what I really did experience. Ireland is a beautiful country and a great example of God's wonderful creation.

With all of this being said, I truly am a blessed girl serving in God's great big world! Thank you for your love, prayers, and support. Below are some things you can be praying for with me as we get ready to take on the last semester of the school year. With much love from Russia, Courtney.

Prayer Request:
~ All HCA staff and families traveling
~ Continued prayers for the laws and authority situations
~ Financial support thru the end of the year

Winding down the year

       Happy Thanksgiving (A day late) to all my friends and family reading this update. How can it be that Thanksgiving has come and gone and Christmas is just around the corner? Man,  this year is flying by before any of us  can even blink! Let me see if I can catch you up on everything that has gone on over the past month. 

 At the end of October,my roommates and I hosted a Fall Party at our apt for the female staff we work with. It was full of great laughter, food, and friends. We had a great turn out of about 16 people total. The following weekend was our school Fall Festival. I was unable to attend this event because I was sick and I had my masters classes to catch up on but I heard from my roommates that it was a great success. Fall is such a fun time of year! 

The beginning of November is a bit of a blur for me because I spent about 2 weeks off and on being sick and it seemed I was constantly playing catch up, whether on sleep, classes, my school responsibilities, or just adult life. But, November 10th, I had the opportunity to put everything down and take an evening out with friends to see the ballet, "Золушка" (Cinderella) in Russian. It was a magical evening. :) A few days after this event, I had the opportunity to take Christmas photos for a family that I have become great friends with here in Moscow who recently had a baby! The H family and new edition Baby E is a beautiful family and I just thank God for bringing these people into my life. 

 Life in second grade has become much more busy as we wind down the quarter and first half of the year. My class has finally caught onto second grade and have put their hands and feet in full fledged. They have really started to show responsibility and maturity since my last post. Praise the Lord. We had our first field trip to the Oceanarium and Zoopark where we explored 7 different habitats. To expand our knowledge on habitats, which is what we are learning in science right now, they also had to make their own habitat diorama. My students did a phenomenal job for only being 2nd graders. I am very proud of them! 

There are a lot of things happening at our school of which we are thankful for, Our building project is supposed to be finished on December 31st. What a blessing since the projected date was in February. This experience is very different because here in Russia, everything seems to be complicated and things tend to not get finished. But, the workers are actually living on our school campus in tin rooms and they work diligently everyday to finish in a timely manner. We praise the Lord for answered prayers and the diligence of these men. Also, we recently had some issues with people calling and complaining about our school, which has caused complications in many ways; well friends, the leaders in charge of investigating decided to drop the case because they said it seemed foolish and they had nothing to go by. Again, Praise the Lord! God is clearly watching over us and has better plans and future for Hinkson! 

This past week we had a Staff Thanksgiving, Class Thanksgiving, and Friends Thanksgiving. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to experience so many wonderful Thanksgivings with people who are dear to my heart. God has truly blessed me. I am thankful for each of you who read these updates, pray for me, support me, and encourage me, I could not be here without each of you sharing life with me. Thank you all for everything you do! May the Lord bless you! 

Lastly, I want to inform all of you of my future plans. With much prayer it has been decided that this year is going to be my last year teaching abroad. I have been at Hinkson for 4 years and have loved every minute of it but my career path is changing, my future is changing. God is great plans in store for me and He is guiding me to bigger things in my future. I am leaning on Him and His faithfulness to carry me through and to set the path for me to take. Please be in prayer that His plans become more clear and that I will see them and follow through! 

Until next time, 

Much Love

"Falling" out of October

Fall in Moscow disappeared just as quick as it came this year. We have been in the highs of about 45 degrees each day. The sun has only made its appearance about once a week. The leaves changed and fell fast and we enjoyed it for about 2 days. The rain has been pretty consistent which changes things around here for our students, our commute to work, and our after work plans. Fall is my absolute favorite season and if you ask me, it is way too short here! My goal is to make it to a park here soon to catch some photography moments before Fall is completely gone. 

Since my last post, it seems like life has taken off on a path that I was not entirely prepared for. Some of these things I am unable to get into details but I can ask you all to pray for our school. Things are not looking too good right now for a number of reasons and we can definitely use the prayers from all over the world. As a staff, we recently had to go through our annual medical examines, which are never pleasant but we can praise God that everything went smoothly. Our building project, the gym, is still continuing to go up, we see progress everyday. The students, as well as everyone else, are anxious for it to be completed. Again, we praise God for allowing this project that was prayed about for 10 years or so, to be doing so well despite neighbors opinions and complaints. 

As far as second grade goes, well friends, it is going. I can sure use a lot of prayer for this group of students this year. After meetings with counselors, my boss, parents, and other teachers, I think we have come up with a conclusion that will help in the classroom. You see it is not just the energetic students I had at the beginning but rather behavior off the charts, disrespect, and a lot of aggression. These students are facing life to the fullest and have struggles that I pray I can help guide in the classroom. These students are also really low in academics and with their english skills. My days are exhausting and some days I feel like I hit a wall that I can't seem to get over. If you can pray with me for my students behavior, hearts, and desire to learn, I would greatly appreciate it. Pray that I have wisdom and strength to teach them and help in the areas they struggle with on a day to day basis. 

On another note, this coming week, we are having Elementary Spiritual Emphasis Week. We have a team coming from Calvary Bible College in Kansas City to help lead VBS with our students. This is a fun experience for a lot of students here have never experienced an American VBS. YAY!! :) 

Prayer Requests: 

• Our school as a whole 
• VBS Next week 
• Wisdom and Energy
• Decision making about next school year 

Another school year, another beginning

As I returned back to Moscow a little over 3 weeks ago, I have found myself reflecting back on my summer. An unforgettable summer that I praise God for daily. A summer of reconnecting with my family, friends, and church back home. A summer of making new memories, a lot of driving, making connections with supporters, and mending relationships. I am thankful I was able to spend my time in visiting great people that I miss terribly while I am away. I am especially thankful for the relationships I was able to mend and for new relationships that were created.

Leaving home was much more difficult this summer than any other but I am grateful for returning to a place that I can call "home." Having wonderful friends, a job, and a great community, I have been blessed to be a part of what we do here in Moscow. My transition from Florida to Moscow went as smoothly as it can when traveling internationally. Our teacher training and first week of work (without students) went really well. Being back in a work place where we all come for the same reason and love the same God is truly an amazing experience. It was a time of reunion with one another, getting to know the new staff, and being there to help each other get things ready for the beginning of school. This coming week we are preparing for our annual staff retreat outside of Moscow. It is a time for worship, building relationships, and relaxation.

We just finished our 2 week of classes and my second grade class is an exciting but exhausting class. My class consists of 8 students. I have 4 boys and 4 girls: Russian, American, Rwandan, and Korean students. This particular group of kids have much more energy than I do. I find myself hitting a wall of exhaustion by about noon each day, I definitely need prayer for strength and energy to last until 3:30 each day. We have had a good time getting to know each other, learn Ms. Macomber's rules and expectations, and what it means to be a second grader.

My roommates and I have enjoyed getting back in our new amazing apartment. We have found our place here and made it feel more like home. We have helped each other get all the cleaning and shopping done each week as well as chatting over dinner or a fun little game. We are thankful we are able to host in our home again this year. A couple weeks ago we held our first staff game night and it was an amazing turn out. We played games, ate great food, laughed a lot, and had wonderful conversations together.

I am happy to be back in Moscow where I can continue my updates as much as possible. I enjoy sharing what God is doing over here in my life, my work place, as well as the community. Until next time, love you all!

Prayer Requests:

• That I can connect with each of my students and meet their individual needs 
• Staff Retreat this week 
• Our gym building (We have a foundation built, now to finish out the process) 

Praises: 

• I made it safely
• Support raising (Thank you everyone for your support whether it is through prayer or finances. If you know anyone who would like to support what I do, please forward my emails on)