My niece Sarah

Sarah is my youngest niece and lives in Rock Valley, Iowa half of the time and in Sanford's Castle of Care for the other half.  Sarah was born with a number of health complications due to a syndrome called VACTERL.  Each letter represents something that was formed incorrectly in her development

Vertebrae - extra tissue at the bottom of her spine which was removed and ongoing supervision of potential scoliosis.
Anus - her anus was relocated to prevent further urinary tract infections and constipation
Cardiac - three holes in her heart were repaired and a stint inserted
Trachea - was fused with her esophagus
Esophagus - fused with the trachea, was not connected in the middle and had to be stretched and then reattached, and a hole at the top near the larynx
Renal - ongoing observation of the kidneys
Limbs - one leg is longer than another so she wears inserts

Last October, on top of all of these corrective measures and invasive surgeries, doctors discovered a malignant tumour on the base of her spine resembling a  bunny tail.  The tumour was given a cancer number of 80, 000 indicating the severity and size of the cancer.  Sarah was treated with four rounds of 5 days of chemo treatments followed by about a week of recovery at the hospital and home.

We have been waiting for Sarah to feel well enough to have an MRI to determine when surgery could take place, but today we got news that Sarah took a turn for the worse.  Sarah contracted pneumonia, but with her immune system deficient and her lungs weakened, it became increasingly difficult for her to intake enough oxygen.  In fact, as of this morning, Sarah was so weak that she wouldn't have been able to breathe on her own had she not been given a mask.  This afternoon, Sarah was intubated successfully but it will take a day or two to determine how successful and a full week to discover other results.

I know that Sarah's journey has been long and those of you who are reading this have upheld her in your prayers before and maybe already do on a daily basis, but I hope you will continue to lift her and her family up in your daily prayers.  This girl and her family are very special to me and to her family and to her whole community.  I've included a few pictures of little Princess Sarah.

I love popsicles in the summer

Aunt Karen painting my toes.

I'm so cool!

Mmm ... pancakes!

Wow!  Look at all these hats!  Most of them were given to other patients in the oncology ward in the Castle.

 This one was taken with Photo Booth :)

Surprise!  We're clowns! :)

Watching everyone open their gifts on Christmas with Uncle Nick

Doing Aunt Megan's hair

Finger painting in the Castle

Sanford's Castle of Care - Children's Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

"Hear my cry, O God; Attend to my prayer.  From the end of the earth I will cry to You, When my heart is overwhelmed; Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.  For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy.  I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings."  Psalm 61:1-4

Unda da sea! Dahling it's bettah down where it's wettah! :)

I love teaching.  You never know what each day is going to bring.  You plan a routine and schedule the events of the day, but there are always surprises.  Like today - well, this time it was a surprise for my students, not me.  In my last period, my sister Megan who teaches grade 2 had her class come into mine.  Thankfully this class is very small so it wasn't too crazy! :)  Grade 2 had been learning about the ocean and all of the life forms that can be found therein.  So, Meg and I constructed a plan.  Well, actually Meg constructed it.  I just supported and enabled it.  When her kids came to my room, I turned off all the lights and closed the blinds and the kids had to use flashlights and magnifying glasses to explore items in my room and then later report back to the other Miss Hultink to share the treasures they had found. I think they really enjoyed themselves! Good work, Miss M. Hultink! :)  She's such a cool teacher.  Items of most interest to the students were in no particular order: the picture of their teacher on my desk trying to drink water from a sprinkler (I may have staged that one), the jar of alfalfa sprouts growing on my desk, items in my bar fridge in the corner, a bag of yarn, pictures on the Paris bulletin board, the 3 alien desks (the ones with white seats, not purple like the rest of the class), the piano, and the license plates that decorate my desk.  I wonder what else they've shared back at class?

Stewardship of Time

Part of this came from a devotion I recently prepared for our faculty devotions.  

Time is not something that we like to think of a lot and yet as teachers, is something that  we operate with and probably make reference to many times during the school day - how many minutes until recess, how much longer for the lunchtime detention, is it possible to squeeze in the next part of the lesson when I only have so much time left? when is the 100th day of school. We look at days and weeks in sequence and ensure that the curriculum gets completed within the 10 month time frame. 

What does your schedule look like outside of the hours you spend in class? What does your average week look like - and the time that you spend and where your priorities are?  If you had to do an assessment now, where would you land?  I think if I'm being really honest with myself, I waste a lot of my time.  

Time is important to look at also in terms of stewardship.  Often this term is used when applied to finances.  To maintain a healthy financial balance, some of us may map out our income with our expenses to verify that sufficient funds are provided for church, education and living expenses.  Have you ever considered mapping out how you spend your time?  Have you ever been intentional about how you are going to spend the 1, 440 minutes that are provided for you each day?  Obviously, this would get cumbersome as a daily task, but I challenge you to consider doing this every once in a while to monitor where your priorities lie.

How you spend your time shows where your priorities are.  Each one of us has been given enough time to accomplish God’s purpose for us on this planet. Time is our most valuable asset, but without a proper perspective, we will spend it foolishly.  Maybe some of us, myself included, in giving an honest evaluation of our daily activities, fall into temptations to not spend our time wisely.  There are so many things that I allow to distract me: 

1) facebook - a great social networking tool, but should be limited to use

2) pinterest - a newly discovered website that has lots of great ideas 

3) iPod - I have some games downloaded

4) tv - I don't actually watch tv on my computer, but there are some websites that post latest episodes.  I find that when I'm working late, I'll just put on an episode to have on the background while I'm working.

5) blogging - I have a weekly weight loss log that I keep active with and I'm working on keep this on up-to-date as well.

And I've decided things have to change.  I want to spend more time reading and studying God's Word.  Confession time: I'm too quick to come up with lame excuses for so many things in my life because I like being lazy.  I want to fit time in to create a more stable exercise routine.  So, step one:  I deleted all the games on my iPod.  Step two:  I will only stay at school until the class starts at the gym.  This way, I won't be tempted to work so crazy late at school, I'll be sure to get my exercise in, and I have someone to hold me accountable for what and how much I'm watching.  Step three:  I will only watch shows in the living room or basement - not in my bedroom.  I get tempted to watch a show and then it goes way past my bedtime and that's no good either.  Step four:  I won't watch shows with my headphones.  Step five: Prayerfully consider getting more involved with some kind of ministry (Operations for Campfire!, Faithworks, Evangelism Committee, Out of the Cold - a few of the options that have been presented to me).  Step five: Write and post a schedule which includes not only school commitments, but exercise and personal devotional commitments and STICK TO IT!!  This last one's a doozie, but a necessary and healthy one.

Some passages to encourage me about using time through the lens of God’s Word.  

1) (Eph. 5:15-16) - Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

2) Ps. 90:12 - So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

3) Col 4:5 - Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.

4) Romans 12:12 - Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Best. Valentine's. Day. Ever.

Valentine's Day.  Usually I try to pass through this day as quickly as possible, let it pass under the radar - you know.  One of my friends coined this as "Single's Awareness Day" - S.A.D.  I was hoping that my day wouldn't be a glaring reminder of my marital status.  So I just decided to invest my time and energy into thinking about how blessed I am with the love that I share with close friends and family in my life.

My day started out looking for things that are pink and red to wear.  I scavenged and found a pair of pink cords in one of the dress up bins.  Yes.  I have more than one.  Actually, these pants were given to a Clothing Exchange and I had to drive to Hamilton to pick them back up.  But I got to spend time with a dear friend while I picked them up.  Time well spent for sure.

Back at home, I found a red shirt and then layered it with a printed pink shirt and waist belt.  I had light red socks with a worm holding four circles that had XOXOs on them and red flats from my mom.  And to top it off, I had a heart made out of construction paper that had my name: "Miss Hultink" written in bolded, black letters.  Today was Heart Day.  On Heart Day, all female students and faculty receive a heart with their name on it.  These students and faculty are not permitted to talk to any guy during the course of the day.  The guy with the most hearts at the end of the day wins a prize. During class sessions, if a subject/school-related issue is being discussed, the student/faculty member can not be penalized for talking.  However, if a student is caught discussing a non-school related topic (such as a thank-you, you’re welcome, etc), they must forfeit their heart to the person who elicited their response.  If there is a problem and the person would like to plead his/her case, the supervising teacher will give the verdict.  

I started the day in the elementary wing as per usual and entered the grade 8 classroom.  Now, there's this one young man who has been trying for the past couple of weeks to write a proper greeting on the board in French.  The first day it was: "Bonjour, classe.  Jemappelle Monsieur Hultink."   From there, it's moved on to, "Bonjour.  Jemappelle Hultink."  And this morning?  He wrote: "Bonjour, mon amour."  Maybe his parents coached him?  I don't know.  But it certainly made me smile. :)  The boys in both grade 7 and 8 tried very hard to get my heart, but they weren't very creative so it wasn't too hard to dodge their bullets.

Then came grade 9.  Oh grade 9 boys.  Let's see.  They tried blocking an entrance, putting the microwave on with nothing in it, refusing to sit down in their desks - same old, same old. While we were taking up some exercises assigned yesterday, I heard a knock at the door.  It was my dad.  And he gave me a huge hug and kiss and he brought me a rose.  One red rose.  How thoughtful is that? I love my dad.    Not 10 minutes later and I heard a knock at the door and it was an elementary teacher who had something in his hand - a small vase with a couple of flowers in it.  This one was from my adopted grandparents. SO CUTE!  It made me feel loved and cherished when I normally don't feel that way on Valentine's Day.

You would think that would be enough drama for the day, right?  Nope!  It keeps going.  The janitor came in to let me know that the lights were left on on the blue Mazda in the parking lot - mine!  I thanked him and then he paused and said, "I get your heart."  That's right.  My lights weren't on.  It was just a ploy to get my heart.  Stink on a stick!  Oh well - good thing it's all in good fun!   My whole lesson got interrupted by cries of dismay when girls acknowledged with much grief that their heart had to be handed to their peers of the masculine persuasion.

Lunchtime supervision was hilarious.  It was humorous to just look down the halls to see a sea of red and pink - such creativity in wardrobe.  And all through the lunch break, there were more shrieks and screams and screeches and howls and yells.  Quite amusing.  And then came the appeals, "But Miss Hultink, here's what really happened...."  And the explanation of why the girl should be allowed to keep her heart, how she was manipulated, yadayadayada.  I laughed so much! :)

The afternoon was relatively quiet, interrupted by a bit of emailing, a bit of marking, a bit of Pinteresting and a bit of prepping.  During this time I got an invite to go spend Valentine's Day dinner with some great friends.   So, my choices were to stay at the school eating cabbage soup, going home and eating cabbage soup before volleyball, or hanging out with friends.  My choice was obvious: Forget about the whole cabbage soup situation and relax.  

Decision made, I continued on with my afternoon of teaching and 10 minutes before the end of the day, I was presented with a massive bouquet of orange and red roses from a couple in the community who just wanted to say thank you for the work I do at the school!  I know!!  So touched.  And the smiling just didn't stop.

For dinner, we had some yummy spaghetti and garlic bread and salad and wine and red velvet cheesecake.    I had to leave my friends early so that I could go play volleyball.  It wasn't our best night as a team, but we had fun.  And now, I thought I'd keep my promise to blog more often and share these wonderful memories with y'all.  

Today was a very good day.

Intercepted

I recently intercepted this letter from a grade 10 student.  Note: The grammatical structure, punctuation and spelling has not been altered.

Dear Chris, your pencil case has been taken hostage. Because of the careless way of treating him, your pencil case is now at my mercy. I've beaten him and starved him for weeks. If you ever want to see you pencil case alive, you have to meet my demands. In exchange for your pencil case, you must provide me with the funniest joke in the world, if it doesn't make me laugh, your pencil case is dead. You better hope I'm in a good mood. Bring me the joke ASAP after you receive this ransom. Love: the mysterious and inidentifiable killer 

And the joke: Chuck Norris can whistle in 5 different languages - including sign language.  Needless to say, the pencil case was saved.

Some pictures from Line Dancing

Hello blog site!

I'm back from my hermitage and will make more of a concerted effort to write more posts!  


Here is what has been going on in my life since the last post in ... October?  Inserted sound of shocked voice here.


In October, I did some teaching.


In November, my friend Niki and I organized a Line Dancing event for the Young Adults which was much fun.


And then I taught some more.


December was filled with many fun memories.  With the YA, I visited an old-age home to sing some songs, skate, see ginormous amounts of food brought and eaten, and did some carolling.


School ended for the year on a Thursday at noon, and by 4:30 that afternoon, I was on my flight to Rock Valley, Iowa to spend time with my sister and brother-in-law and their four children.  I love this family so much! My heart was broken so many times during my visit - seeing how the chemo affected her physically and emotionally, and also seeing special things that each member in the family did to raise her spirits.  They would give a gentle hug, colour a picture, make a get well card, bring a toy, read a story, laugh with her, wear clown outfits, sing a song learned at school, share something from their supper that appealed to Sarah's appetite, play a game - anything just to see her smile, and cause her to come home sooner.  Most of the time the smile was returned quickly and with much enthusiasm, but other times - when she had the pneumonia, UTI, C-Diff, and infection in her pic line, it was harder for her to muster the energy to respond overtly positively.  She really is so precious as is their entire family.  Ahem ... now, before I tear up any more ... deep breath ... ok, I think I'm good.  While I was there, most of my family was there for Christmas and then left a few days later.  I got to make lots of crafts with the kids, do the paper route, visit the library, get groceries, drive to the Castle, skate on the rink in the backyard, read lots of stories - so fun!


When I got home, reality set in that I only had 2 weeks left of class so I had to fast-track a few things in my classes, but managed to get the bulk of it done.


After about a week and a half of near isolation and loooong nights in my classroom, I'm happy to report that the marking got done, the reports completed, and most of the things prepared for next term.  


So, next time, hopefully four months will not pass before I write you again.