Welcome back!

I think the Swan of Avon put it best when he remarks in Macbeth,

“Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;”

Or perhaps the Psalmist David, when he laments that

“Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.” (Psalm 144:4)

Though both these instances are meditations on death (Macbeth finishes with, “And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death”), my recalling of them isn’t for so bleak a purpose. Rather, it’s a literary (and perhaps weak) attempt to excuse my lack of blog-communication for the last year. My good intentions of regular updates were swept away by the hustle of life and the bustle of time. Often the tomorrows creep by at a maddening pace, full of mundanity, and in other seasons my time is as intangible as a shadow flitting away.

With the prologue out of the way, the best word I can think of to describe this last year is full. I have an ongoing list (and the best of intentions) to dive into some of the “fullness” this summer with separate blog posts, but here is a bird’s eye view of what Jaidynn and I have been up to since my last update.

What We’ve Been Up To!

Artios!

This last school year I taught at Artios Academies of Greenwood Village, and what a joy it was to be a part of this community again! The one semester I taught last spring was just scratching the surface, and this last year I dove all in.

History

I got to teach Medieval and Renaissance history for pretty much every age group: 3-4th grade all the way through High School. Whether it was reading the Nicene Creed in Greek, digging into the nuance of medieval theology and church history, or just playing silly games like “Pin the Beard on the Reformer,” I loved getting to share this important time period with my students in a way I feel I was uniquely equipped to do. I never would have connected my education at Moody with teaching a history class, but I constantly found myself mentally thanking my professors as I lesson planned—it was a beautiful reminder that God uses every experience of ours for His glory, often in unexpected ways!

 

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

 

Worldview

I also taught the worldview class for 7th and 8th graders using materials from Summit Ministries. This class really instilled in me the importance of each of my students, as well as the importance of this time in their lives. I truly believe our culture is going after young people in a uniquely aggressive manner, and the only way to combat that is through prayer and consistent training in the truth. I loved getting to hear my students bring their difficult questions to the classroom and discover for themselves that God’s truth always holds up under fire. My students continue to weigh on my heart and I often pray for them, that they may continue to be “fully equipped”—the heartbeat and mission statement of Artios.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Drama Club

The Shakespeare quote at the start was very intentional: I had the unexpected (but very welcome!) opportunity to help with Artios’ drama club in a few different ways. Fun fact: my conservatory certificate I earned at Artios in HS was in theater, so this is a passion I was excited to use again! In the fall, I was Assistant Director for the High School production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and in the spring, I was Director for the Elementary Drama Club’s Aristocats KIDS musical! Both experiences were so involved, so challenging, and so fun!

Church Ministry

Jaidynn and I both continued to be very involved in Youth Ministry at our church this past year!

• 

  We both served as leaders at the church’s Youth Retreat in the fall! We got to know the kids better through games and worship, led devotionals for small groups, and also got to share out testimonies. Jaidynn’s story of struggling with his diabetes really resonated with many of the students, and I had a lot of good conversations with girls about my struggle with waiting on God’s timing and my desire to do Bible translation.

• I also had the chance to lead the Bible study for the Middle School girls—we studied the book of Hebrews throughout the school year and it was a wonderful study. Hebrews is one of my favorite books for its depth of theology and connections between the Old and New Testaments, and watching the girls grow in the knowledge of Scripture was awesome!
• Jaidynn has been stepping into more of a leadership position: he had the opportunity to teach a few times during the Friday night youth meetings and he also ran a few “strategy game” days with his favorite game—X-Wing! It’s been exciting to see God use his passions and gifts in ministry in these cool, unique ways!

The youth leadership at our church is actually transitioning this summer (and our church is moving into a new building!), so we’ll see what the next year looks like! For now though we are super blessed to get to pour into the youth in this capacity.

Friends and Family

Investing in our Colorado community of friends and family has been an incredible blessing during this season. We still host weekly game nights at our NEW apartment (we moved in November to save on rent) and hang out with each of our families every weekend. My two sisters are still attending Bob Jones University and my parents are getting used to empty-nesting—thankfully, my mom and I have really been enjoying weekly coffee dates!

Jaidynn’s family had a new addition this past fall when they officially adopted Everly, the sweet two-year-old they’ve been fostering since she was days old. They also graduated Tallon, their second oldest after Jaidynn—He will be taking classes at my Alma Mater this coming fall, and I could not be more excited for him! My other siblings-in-law all attend Artios (two in high school, one in elementary), and the chance to get to be a part of their community in that way was so sweet this year.

What’s Coming Up!

Grad School!!!

I am so excited to share that I’ll be taking remote classes from Dallas International University THIS FALL! These classes will go towards getting my Masters in Linguistics, and I am stoked to start studying and working in linguistics again. It’s still very up in the air in what capacity of Bible Translation God wants me to serve in, but I feel confident that this next step of preparation is what He has for me. Please be praying for open doors and opportunities even as I am studying.

Artios/Work!

I am going back to Artios next school year! I will be teaching Middle School AND High School worldview, as well as some Drama Club stuff as my schedule allows. I was honored to be given the opportunity to keep teaching worldview and to expand to High School—it’s a class I think is so important and I look forward to finding ways to bring my unique skills and perspective to it. Jaidynn continues to work at Spectrum and we are slowly, but surely, getting debt paid off and getting to where we want to be financially. We were able to pay off our car this spring, which felt like a huge leap forward! Continue keeping us in your prayers in regards to finances.

Thanks for Reading!

It means a lot to us that we have so many people praying for us and supporting us. Hopefully most of this isn’t even news to most of you, since so many of you keep in contact with us through other means as well. 🙂 Despite the words of Shakespeare and the ponderings of David, I will try and write a few things this summer… before another year flies by! God has been busy teaching me so much about ministry, my relationship with Him, and His perfect timing, and I’m itching to write about so many of the experiences He continues to guide me through.

Prayers and blessings from the Fohrs! Namárië!