{Psalm Twenty-Three}

Warning: This blog post is really honest and exactly what I am thinking…. 

A week filled with discouragement, feeling sick to my stomach, headaches, crabbiness, lost of joy and the feeling of wanting it all to go away, but just can’t seem to push it all aside no matter how much I give it to God. Surrender. Asking for joy. Trying to focus on the positive. Faking being okay. I am tired. I am tired of feeling this way. I want change, but it’s not coming. I don’t know what to do anymore. I am going to be honest: I have no idea what to do. I don’t know how to move pass where I am. I don’t know where I am suppose to be. I have spent hours praying. I have spent hours reading God’s word. But I feel like I am in a fog. I feel like I am struck and I just can’t get out. I feel so small. So indecisive and scared. I am scared of what’s to come. But my Savior has faithfully been showing me this week that His perfect love castes out all fear. 

I boldly prayed early this week that God would show me each day how much He loves me. How much His love covers me and fills me up. That I am completely His and that He is with me. He hasn’t promised that life would be easy, but He has promised that He will be with us and that ’s what I am clinging to these days when I just don’t know. He showed me in such amazing little ways throughout this week His love for me.

One way that He showed me was when I was talking to my parents. Let me stop for moment and tell you how amazing my parents are. They have been so supportive. a listening ear. encouragers. pray warriors. and have given such great wisdom from across the world. One night I was facetiming with them and my dad starting praying Psalm 23 over me. And tears immediately came to my eyes.  Let me explain that this a special passage for my dad and I. It’s a passage that my dad has prayed over  me too many times to count especially when I was little and went through a phrase of waking up with nightmares every night for a month. I am so thankful to my parents for always pointing me back to Christ in all situations. And the passage goes like this: 

“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 

He makes me lie down in green pastures.

He leads me beside still waters.

He restores my soul.

He leads me in paths of righteousness 

for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the 

valley of the shadow of death. 

I will fear no evil for you are with me; 

your rod and your staff, 

they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me 

in the presence of my enemies;

you anoint my head with oil;

my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life,

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord

 forever.

{Psalm Twenty-Three}

I have no idea what tomorrow will look like. I have no idea where I will be in a week or month or a year. I have no idea how I am going to move on. How I am going to be the teacher that my students need me to be. I have no idea how I am going to walk through this valley of death. Face my enemies. Face my fears. But I do know that I am not alone and that only one person can answer all these questions so I just have to keep walking with Him. He will restore my soul. Lead me in righteousness. Lay me down in green pastures. He will comfort me. Prepare me for my enemies. Anoint me. My cup will overflow again. And I will walk with goodness and mercy following me and dwell in the house of Lord. It may not be in the timing or way that I am imagining, but I surrendering that and laying my desires at the feet of Christ.  

And that’s all I have to say tonight. I am exhausted. My bed is calling my name again. Prayers are always appreciated! Thanks for listening (reading)! 

Love, Daniella

The Storm Hit

The honeymoon phase that I was so afraid would end actually ended a little too soon at school. Emotionally. Physically. My heart. My soul. are still hurting. It has been one of the longest first two full weeks of school. I can’t believe the year is not over yet. Some of you have seen on Facebook the pled for prayer for the school that I teach at. Some of you know exactly what I am about to say. Some of you have faithfully been praying without details. Thank you!

About a little over a week ago my school administration announced that our school didn’t have enough students to make budget. We currently had too many teachers and not enough students so changes needed to be done in order for our school to stay open so four teachers were let go. I am going to be honest and say that lots of confusion and hurt followed and we are still working through the ray of emotions and consequence of the decision made. It’s hard to think that the four teachers leaving will no longer be physically here in our community. One is my roommate. Another is a husband to a lady who has loved me so well. The other is a sweet family who brings so much joy and another a teacher who has so much education knowledge.  My heart is so sadden. I am going to miss them terribly! I don’t want to go into anymore details of the specifics because I want to be respectful to all involved. I can just say it has been some very emotional and hard days. 

Emotionally and physically I am exhausted. My body has zapped all of it’s energy and started doing unpleasant things. My eyes find tears frequently and at random times. BUT spiritually God has held me. I can hope and I can trust that God is holding me close and that He is powerful in all situations. God has given me so much peace through His word and through listening to worship music filled with His truth. I have been on my knees in prayer constantly and soaking in His presence. Psalm 37 has been a passage that God has constantly lead me back to over and over again this past week: 

“Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your justice as the noonday.” 

{Psalm 37:3-6}

Something that God laid on my heart this summer was to be patience in His timing. To trust that His timing is always the best. Not mine timing, but His. As I have been reading and mediating on Psalm 37 I have been reminded again that God is in control and that His timing is always the best. I love that I can trust in this completely and whole heartily!  

I have no idea what the rest of the year is going to look like, but I do know that I can cling to God and believe with my whole heart in His truth:

“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” 

{Isaiah 41:10}

Never would I have imagined that any of this would have happened especially with all that has happened since first arriving in Korea. BUT I know that God is working through all things and that He is drawing me closer to Him through every valley and mountain.  As I wrote in a early post about my summer I was really praying about this school year and asking God for peace, but I was having a hard time feeling at peace about coming back. God did gave me peace about being the best teacher that I could be for my students filling me with peace to pour on them and that’s what I am now asking for strength to do because right now it takes all of me to do that.  I came back asking God to help me to finish well  here in Korea. I really have no idea what is going to happen in the next coming days or even this whole year, but I do know that I am taking each day at a time and focusing on the task that God has for me. I can and do trust  in Him completely. 

"God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do NOT banish me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and give me a willing spirit." 

{Psalm 51:10-12}

Your prayers and encouragement are greatly appreciated. Thank you so much to those of you who have encouraged me so much this past week as well as your prayers. I ask that you would continue. I don’t feel like the story is finished yet and it all needs to be covered in so much prayer. Thank you again! 

Love, Daniella

Prayer for the school year

The school supplies are brought. The lesson planning is in full swing. The classroom is decorated and ready for a dozen little ones to begin exploring. My third year of teaching has officially begun. I survived the first three days with my biggest class yet since student teaching and I LOVED it!!! I absolutely loved it. To be honest I was terrified coming back to Korea after last year- it was a year filled with too many challenges that completely overwhelmed me and left me exhausted, but my summer was filled with rest, healing and seeking after God. I know coming back this year is exactly where God wants me to be even though I fought it for many months. There is purpose in being here and there is nowhere I would rather be then where God’s will is for me and for whatever reason right now it’s here in Korea. I had a lot of time this summer to pray about this next school year. I laid down all my fears, failures, desires and hopes for the year and asked God to place on my heart what He has for me this year.  He filled me with peace, JOY and an overwhelming excitement to pour into my students. It scares me a little bit that I am experiencing the “honeymoon” phase, but I am praying with all of my heart that I will depend on God each and every day to fill me with grace, love, peace, understanding and JOY for teaching and mentoring and loving on my community. I really want this year to be done well- to commit all that I am to what God has called me to and to not be stuck in the wishing of being somewhere else. And now I feel like I am rambling, but I want to share with you with my prayer each day:

"God, crate a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do NOT banish me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and give me a willing spirit." Psalm 51:10-12

And I am praying the ABC’s over my students this year. If you feel God laying it on your heart to pray over my class this year I would love that so much. I am a strong believer that prayer is so powerful. 

As I mentioned before I have twelve students this year and I am so excited. I know I know that class sizes in USA are bigger, but for my tiny school  in Korea twelve is our biggest class size and I am SO glad that I have the privilege to love on them and teach them. I have also had a huge ahha moment  that I am designed to be a teacher to a big class. It’s just the way I am. I love having twelve students. It was such a struggle last year having five students- of course I loved them, but it was so hard for me to be an awesome teacher. I love that I have received this realization to keep tuck away for the future. :)

Well, I am gearing up for our first full week of school with goals of going to bed by 9:30pm (oh, the teacher life of early to bed early to rise), running three times a week and quitting sugar (another blog post to come about this new adventure of mine).  Hope you have a beautiful week! 

Love, Daniella

P.S Here are some  pictures of my classroom this year...

Refreshing Summer

Summer was perfect. It was filled with laughter, smiles, beauty, love, relaxing, quiet moments, family, friends and much more. It’s all that I could have asked for for this summer. Yes, of course there were unpleasant moments, but the good moments far outweighed. 

A lesson I learned this summer is that I need to slow down and follow God. I want to rush things so badly in this world. I want things to go in my timing. My way. But when I attempt to take control instead of allowing God I bring a big fat mess. Oh, Daniella- let go and let God lead you. 

This summer started out in chaos of leaving Korea terribly sick and exhausted, but transition into the most amazing time with so many surprises by God. The very first was my best friend (who was also my college roommate) surprised me at the airport. And then we got to spend three sweet weeks together in Montana. Sipping on tea. Hiking. Running. Exploring. Talking. Baking. And much more. I wouldn’t trade those weeks for anything. 

I also got to go camping and hiking in Glacier National Park. You don’t even know how long I have wanted to go camping in Glacier Park. Let’s just say it has been ever since I was a little girl and I finally got the chance. It was beautiful. Breath-taking and everything that I hoped it would be. 

Spending quality time with my family was much needed. Each member of my family encourages and challenges me in different ways. And I am so thankful for that.

Never did I think I would go to the final ladies World Cup Soccer Game and see the USA team win or a Seattle Mariners baseball game with my siblings! Go Teams! Go!

Ice cream was basically my diet this summer. You can’t pass up homemade Sweet Peaks in Montana or Edaleen Dairy in Washington or the yummiest flavor ever coffee caramel oreo in Ashland, Oregon. You just can’t, but now I have started my no sugar kick and it’s going to kick me!

Sister dates are my favorite, but I think we have a hard one to beat from this summer. Our attempt to try something new and adventurous turned into a night of laughing and talking about “live” fish swimming in our stomachs. Yes, we tried to eat sushi! Haha! And ended the night with frozen pizza! 

Friends are just great and I loved being able to spend the night in my best friend from high school’s new home and talk to friends on Skype when the midwest is still just too far. Boo! 

My older brother got married this summer and it simply was the most wonderful and perfect thing. A day filled with so much genuine love and happiness. I now have the best sister-in-law ever!!!

In the past elven years I have not missed a summer of being at my grandparents. What a special and time I will always treasure. We have so many little traditions that I love! Birch Bay. Starbucks. Gardening and much more! 

It was an honor to be apart of YWAM Lynden and host Lorean and Darlene Cunningham. They are always such a beautiful encouragement to me.  And while I am talking about YWAM- seeing my “auntie” Amy and her husband as well as “uncle” Mac at my brother’s wedding was so good for my soul. Thank you for your kind words!

A “spontaneous” road trip to Ashland, Oregon with my sis and grandmama was just wonderful. I loved being able to listen to my grandmama go down memory lane the whole trip. And we had an oh, so interesting experience with the plays! Oh, my!

Huckleberry picking happen again which was exciting because it had been awhile since I have been in Montana for the season. You can’t beat fresh huckleberry muffins. And the hiking was just stunning!

My summer in the states ended with a night with my first friend I ever made in Korea, but has now moved away, Emma. It was a lovely night of catching up and encouraging one another in our walks in life.

And lastly I can’t get over how beautiful the sky was  this summer between early sunrises to start the day and late sunsets telling me it’s time to sleep. Breath-taking. It helps me to remember how  thankful I am for each and every day.

The past week has been spent working hard on getting everything ready for school to start from setting up my classroom to writing lesson plans. It’s a lot of work, but God keeps reminding me the purpose in it all- to use teaching as my mission to love on each child that enters into my classroom. One more teacher day. One day of open house and then it’s the first day of school round three. Oh, where has the time gone?! I have so many thoughts about this next year that I have decided to save it for another blog post! Your welcome! :)

Well I hope you had a beautiful summer!  In a way it’s hard for me to move out of summer mode into school mode again.  It’s not that I am not excited about this year, but I just loved this summer and think it would be wonderful if it could have lasted a little longer! 

Love, Daniella 

Twenty-four

Twenty-four and so excited for this year of living passionately for my savior. For my birthday this year I just wanted to spend the morning alone embracing this time in my life. Those of you who have read my blog continuously know the journey I have been on and right now I can honestly say I am exhausted not only in my body, but also my soul. The past two years have definitely been years of learning, growing and challenging. But lately as I have been asking God why? He has pointed me so clearly to His truth. He is definitely using these years to draw me closer to His heart and transforming me to become a Proverbs 31 woman of excellence not perfection. I have tried to live my life for so long in perfection filling my schedule packed full, trying to do everything so well and putting a lot of pressure on myself. I am slowly learning what it means to depend on God completely and alone instead trying to do things on my own or depending on the world.  With all this to say I really felt like I just needed to set apart time to refresh, remember and refocus on my birthday.

My students surprised me with a "healthy" cake!  

I made the adventure to Seoul by myself. I loved every minute of it. It was so peaceful, exciting and relaxing. I found this really cute street of shops and coffee shops. I just browsed through stores and then sat at my favorite Starbucks for an Early Gray Tea Latte and greek yogurt! Journaling and blogging have become my dear friend since moving overseas- it has been a beautiful way for me to express what’s on my heart and process it all. (Really this blog is more for me than anyone else, but I am glad that you enjoy reading it and hope it points you to Christ!) Three words came to my heart as I was journaling, soaking in scripture and being still in God for this year of living out twenty-four refreshment, remembering and refocusing.


Refreshment: Something that I have been striving for for so long is rest and longing to have energy. It has been a struggle, but I believe this is my year to be refreshed. And I am starting it by having a nice and relaxing summer with family and friends. Many hours will be spent sipping earl gray tea, reading, soaking in the sun, time apart with my Savior, and being spontaneous.  For the rest of the year I want to be intentional and not feel guilty about setting apart time each day to relax and reenergize whether that’s through reading, running, journaling or napping J! I have been learning that “our mornings, our evenings, and our every hour-in between have purpose, and that purpose is to know Christ and to make Him know”, but this can’t be done apart from feeding on the Living word of God and choosing to have our identify rooted in Him.  I say this because I believe that my soul will find refreshment the more I focus on God and see that everything that I do has a purpose even the little things like washing dishes or big things loving on my community or students.  Instead of allowing these worldly things to suck my energy I am choosing to change my mind-set to see them as a way to bring glory to God and make His name known!

Remembering: I believe of a lot of this year will be remembering. Remembering the past twenty-four years and how faithful God has been.  Sometimes when you go through hard seasons it’s hard to see how faithful God is, but can I tell you He is so faithful in every season. Oh, my! How faithful God has been. Remembering the people who have impacted my life and encouraged me so much the past twenty-four years. Remembering the memories that I have been so blessed with you. It hit me hard this birthday how blessed I am to be alive and that I have been given twenty-four years of life so far. I don’t want to waste a single day focusing on worldly things, but instead living each day as an ambassador of Christ! One goal for this year is to complain less and focus on trying to see the best instead.

Refocus: I really believe this year is a year of refocusing on what God has for my life. Pressing into Him with the desires of my heart. Deep down in my soul I feel (expect) God is going to do BIG things in my life this year and I am ready! I have no idea what He has planned, but I am so ready to listen and be obedient! J A piece of scripture that God has laid on my heart for this season is Psalm 37:3-7:

“Trust in the Lord and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heat’s desires. Commit everything you do to the Lord. Trust him, and he will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun. Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act. “

This scripture speaks so clearly to my heart- there is so much in this chapter and it has so much more meaning to me than I going to write out because there are just some things that are meant to be kept between God and I. Just know that Psalm 37 brings hope to my year of twenty-four!

Twenty-four is year of expecting and waiting patiently! J Waiting patiently is hard for me, but I want to be able to wait patiently in God because He knows so much better than I do!

The rest of my birthday was spent going to church with my roommate, shopping for a bridesmaids dress for my brother’s wedding!!!!! (unsuccessful, but still fun), trying new things like raw sushi! and a late night of talking with a dear friend! It was a beautiful and refreshing day! So far I loving twenty-four!

My birthday day summarized in pictures!

Happy birthday to me!

Love, Daniella

2nd year of teaching

This past week has been a whirlwind. Nothing in this past week turned out how I had planned it and saw going to happen, but God knew. He knew perfectly well and gave me the strength, the wisdom and support from others to walk through it.

School suddenly closed down unexpectedly on Tuesday because of the MERS outbreak in our area. NO end of the year breakfast party or real good-byes instead I have to trust that sending a letter to each of my students will show them just how much I have loved having this year with them even though personally it was a very challenging year. These students showed me so much grace and love. They taught me how to practice more patience and God used them to help me draw on Him for strength throughout the day instead of depending on myself. It’s amazing to think that most of my day is spent with little second graders trying my best to teach them the world and to show Christ to them.

 As I reflect on this past year knowing it was only my second year of teaching my heart feels overwhelmed thinking that God has so passionately placed me in this profession to love on each child that enters my classroom door, to show them the world and grow their knowledge. The past two years of teaching have been hard trying to figure out how I want to teach and help my students grow. As I quickly packed up my classroom this year in the chaos I made a choice to not transfer a lot of my files from the past two years and throw away a lot of papers because I want to change. I don’t think I have been a bad teacher the last two years, but I also slowly was losing my passion- I want to be excited about teaching each and every day. I believe it is something that my students deserve from me. They deserve to have a teacher who is dedicated, engaged and a life-long learner!

Oh, this class of boys and one girl!

This summer is going to be filled with lots and lots of rest and allowing God to refresh me so that my heart and soul will be ready to teach and love on each child that enters into my classroom. I need so much energy to teach so I am going to try to store up on it this summer (that’s how it works, right?! J) This summer will also be filled with lots of research, studying and planning how I want to teach this next year! If you have any great ideas- please feel free to share!

My original class at the beginning of the year!

Anyways, back to my class. My class changed so much this year. We started out as a class of 6 then went to a class of 5 then 6 then 5 again! This class rocked transition and accepted each other so well. We became a little family- the good and bads. How can you not get a little annoyed with each other when there is only 5ish people to be pair with. We enjoyed lots of laughs and even more physically activity with all our energy (not the teacher’s energy though)! We loved learning about camping, and Christmas around the World! Science experiments were our favorite and we enjoyed being tech pals with another second grade class in Bolivia as well as being pen pals with a Kindergarten class in North Carolina! What a fun and challenging year of my second year of teaching! J

What a year it has been with these little ones!

Sara(h)s in my life

I am completely amazed at how God so incredibly works in our lives and how He knits and orchestrates everything in my life together for His good. For His glory. For His way. As I have been reflecting on the past ten years of my life (Wow! I can’t believe that’s how long it has been since I was a freshman in high school- I’m getting old!) I have noticed a common theme more like a common name no more like a common name of three amazing ladies and one little girl who have impacted my life, pointed me towards Christ, supported me and loved me so incredibly well! These four beautiful women all have something so in common even though none of them have ever met each other. These ladies all share the same name Sara(h). They may have different spelling, but it is still the name Sara(h). Sara(h) meaning “princess”, a noble woman. Each of these ladies reflects this name so well being a noble woman of God- seeking His kingdom first and pointing others towards Christ. I feel so incredible blessed to know these Sara(h)s  and just stand in awe praising God that He so divinely placed each of them in my life at a strategic time.

In high school, God placed Sarah Schmautz in my life as my Tuesday morning bible study leader. I would wake up every Tuesday and drive to “town” to hang out with other high school girl’s at 7am to listen to Sarah share her heart with us and point us to Christ while enjoying a yummy breakfast. She showed me so much love and how to dig deep into a bible study- one of my favorites was Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. She was so encouraging and loving. She met each of us where we were and encouraged us to seek Christ throughout the week with our actions and words as we lived out our role as students. Sarah- I don’t know if I have ever told you how much of an impact you were on my life in high school, but I want to take the time now to tell you! You blessed me so much and were/are an amazing example of a Godly woman.  My heart desire is to be able to do something like you did for me in the future for high school girls. I would love to have a breakfast bible study! J

Don't have picture of us, Sarah Schmautz, but this quote is perfect!

In college, God blessed me with another Sara, Sara James! Sara came into my life my sophomore year as my hall director and towards the end I became a PA under her meaning I got to spend so much awesome time with her my junior year. I would never trade that year for anything. Sara- I want to take the time to thank you for pouring into my life, for pointing me towards Christ, for believing in me when I didn’t believe in myself, for walking with me through heartache and unknowns. Thank you for loving on me and always encouraging me. One thing you taught that will always stay with me is seeing the fruit of the spirit as a way to see if I am living out my faith! It is something that I constantly come back to throughout my days. I miss our heart to heart talks. I miss you massaging my hair during PA meetings and your joyful spirit!

I love you, Sara James!

In my first real years of adulthood (aka. Life outside of college) God so divinely and purposefully even before I arrived in South Korea placed my name on a heart of a Sarah, Sarah Houser.  Sarah has heard my heart, my pains, my frustrations, my joys, my tears, my thankfulness, and my journey of learning what it means to live a life for Christ alone. She has been a safe place, an encouragement, a blessing, a joy, and a prayer warrior in my life. She has so graciously share her family with me and has allowed her family to become #myfamilyawayfromfamily.  Sarah- As we continue to walk our journey together here in South Korea however long God has us in the same place I want to make sure to never take advantage of gaining wisdom from you! Thank you for so faithfully pouring into my heart even when I don’t always deserve it.  You have shown me what it means to live a life of continuing to seek God even in the hard, even in the waiting and even in the unknowns, and even when we don’t see the reason, but we can rest in God because He is faithful and His timing is perfect, not ours. Thanks for being my cheerleader!

Sarah Houser- I love you!

One little girl, Princess which means Sarah!!! What this is crazy!!! God works in such amazing ways! This just blows me away that God so perfectly orchestrate this all together- my heart is overflowing with praise to Him. If you were sitting next to me as I am writing this you would see the biggest smile on my face and hear my voice singing! God- you are SO good. You are SO incredible! You are SO faithful and provide in such amazing ways. I completely blown away by you! Princess is the little girl who captured my heart in Kenya when I felt defeated, not valued, not loved or supported. She loved me, hugged me, laughed with me and smiled with me.  God used her to show me how valuable we are to Him. We are His beautiful daughters who are so loved, so cared for, so worth it and completely in need of Him alone. If you would love to hear more about Princess and the impact that God used Princess in my life you can read this blog post!

Forever in my heart, Princess!

Each of these Sara(h)s have allowed God to touch my life! It just overwhelms my heart to think that God loves me SO much. He cares about me SO much that He would take the time to orchestrate each of these Sara(h)’s into my life and use them to bring me closer to Him. How GREAT is our God!

Love, Daniella

**Just to clarify if your name is not Sarah it does not mean that God has not used you in my life. God has placed so many incredible people in my life and I am SO thankful for each and every one of you. The Sara(h)s that are mentioned are ones that God has been placing on my heart again this year as a reminder to me of His faithfulness in my life as I live out my 24^th year- a year of refreshment, remembering and refocusing! (More to come on this in another blog). Please don’t be offend or hurt that’s not my goal behind sharing this with you all! If you would like to talk to me about please do! **