Friday, August 10, 2007

Finished!

Yay! I'm finished the Suzuki Violin Book 1 Teacher Training Course. These two weeks have certainly been intense... but I've been able to learn and grow so much. As this time in my life our Lord seems to have called me to serve through my love of children and music by teaching it to them. And I love that with the Suzuki program, it's not just about learning to play the instrument -- it's about developing a beautiful heart. Perhaps at some point I'll share a few of the written assignments that I completed as part of the course here, to help better explain the philosophy and approach of this method.

It's so amazing how the days here seem to have sped by, and yet have at the same time gone so slowly! It seems like yesterday that we arrived, and yet it feels like we've been here forever. And we have done so much each day that by the time late afternoon comes, morning seems like a long, long time ago. There were days when I would exclaim "Was it really this morning when we did such-and-such?". Such is the never-solved paradox of time, I suppose! Thanks be to our good God Who gives each moment to us. May we wisely choose how we spend each of them.

The next big event around the corner for me is speaking (tomorrow morning, no less) at the Illinois State Fair. If you remember to offer a prayer for me sometime around then, that would be so appreciated. I'm going to be doing an Extempore Speech -- meaning I'm handed a topic when I get there and 45 minutes later, have to speak on it. Definitely a practice of The Rebelution's motto "Do Hard Things". :) You see, through all my years of public speaking with 4-H, etc. I always said I would/could never doing an extempore speech. It's now my final year as a 4-H member, and I decided for the county contest in Feb. that I would tackle the thing I "could never do". It ended up being a great experience and... I was selected to go to State Fair. So it's the whole nine yards now. :) I am going to have to speak on a current event (will be handed three from a hat to choose from) -- I just hope it's something I'll know what to say about. :) I'm actually looking forward to it, though...the exercise of pushing yourself "outside your comfort zone" is so freeing -- and so good for learning how to trust Him more. I'll be sure to update here on what happens...

Now, it's off to pack my bags!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Claire!

I stumbled across your blog awhile back, I honestly don't remember how...but I would like to say that I did extemperaneous speaking back in high school (I graduated the same year as you) competitively and was on the debate team.

I LOVED doing extemp speeches...they are quite nerve racking and it is easy to forget what you tried to come up with in your 30 minutes of preparation, but I tried to always be funny, as it is easier to remember, and come up with little sayings or clever sentences as a segway into each part of the speech to help me remember. And I always tried to watch a lot of news in the coming weeks before each event :)

I'm sure you will do well! Just try and do something to help you remember each topic. Best of luck from Dallas, TX!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations on completing your course, and good luck on your speech! :D Thank you for your letter...hopefully you have received mine. You are in my thoughts and prayers often!

Lisa

Claire said...

Anonymous: Thanks for your tips and words on encouragement! Being at Music Camp, I didn't have any time to watch/read news the few weeks leading up to the Fair, but it still went well. :) Perhaps you'll see (or have seen) my update post.

So you only got 30 minutes to prepare? Wow! I used every second of my 45! :) (Although I got interupted a few times by well-meaning but clueless individuals... I was in the Fair's "Media Tent" and there was no one else around - don't ask me where all the media folks were! - so I was asked by a few different people who came in if I "wanted to interview" them... had to tell them quickly that I wasn't from the press and that I was writing a speech under the clock!) =)

Lisa: Great to hear from you! I got your letter today (we got home this afternoon). Thanks for your prayers! Hopefully we'll be in touch soon!

Bethany said...

Hey Claire!
Thank you for visiting my little home on the web and dropping a note -- it is always fun to find out who is all reading my blog! I have enjoyed visiting yours as well.

Blessings to you!