About Me

My name is Molly-Ann. But recently, I've been called "Miss Wells" more than anything.

I finished my degree at Concordia University, Nebraska, in December of 2013. Finishing with an education degree in December, I had no idea what God had in store for me for the following semester. Little did I know he was going to send me to Shenzhen, China, to teach kindergarten at an international school! After teaching overseas for a semester I decided that before I ever consider teaching EFL students again, I needed to get more experience teaching students who have English as their FIRST language! So, that leads me to where I am today! I am currently teaching at a Lutheran school in Brighton, Colorado. I just wrapped up my first full year of teaching with 19 first graders who stole my heart.

As an avid blog reader, mostly of the teaching nature, I'm pretty excited to finally have my own. Will I inspire other teachers with exceptional ideas? Maybe! But that's not my intentions. My purpose for keeping this blog is a bit more personal than that. My hope is to be able to look back on this blog in future weeks, months, and maybe even years to see the journey I went on. 

Now...What's with the name?

Tried & True

In the summer of 2012, I worked as a camp counselor at Heit's Point Lutheran Camp. If you've never been to camp before, I'll fill you in: YOU SING A LOT! At camp there's always an occasion to sing. Whether it's around the table or around a campfire, singing is a must.


At the end of each campfire, we always ended with the song "Sanctuary":
One of my responsibilities as a counselor was to share a devotion with the campers. So, one night, I based it on the song "Sanctuary". I started the devotion off by explaining to the kids that I'm not the greatest singer. I never took a music class growing up. I don't play a single instrument. I can't even read music. I then shared with them what a very close friend told me. He told me that my voice was a unique instrument that ONLY I had. And with that unique instrument, I had the ability to praise God with the words I sang. This gave me an entirely new perspective on my voice! He reminded me that even though my voice may not sound beautiful to me (or the others around me!) it sounded incredible to Jesus and that I shouldn't hold anything back if it was all for Him.
From there, I based my devotion on this idea of singing as a way of praising or talking to God which makes it important to understand the meaning of the lyrics we are singing. For the rest of the devotion I explained the meaning of each line and then dove deeper into the meaning of the words "tried and true".

To explain tried and true, I used Paul's life as my main example. Paul went through some EXTREME trials because of his dedication to Christ. He is the definition of tried. He was thrown in and out of prison, experienced hatred, beaten, etc. all because he was sharing the Gospel. But did all of the trials, or the times he was tried, keep him from being true to Christ??? NO! He (along with others in the Bible) showed us that we, as humans, have the potential to stay true to God through all the temptations and trials this life comes with. And thankfully, we have a forgiving God who still loves us even after we fall into temptation. (Because even though Paul is an incredible role model, he wasn't perfect. He too needed forgiveness. In fact, he calls himself the worst sinner of all in 1 Timothy 1:15. Hard to believe - huh? If you don't know the story of Paul, spend some time in Acts. His story is incredible!)

In John 16:33 Jesus tells us that we will have troubles in this world. It's not going to be easy. He tells us that we are going to go through rough times. Times where we'll think we have hit rock bottom and can't get up. But, he tells us to take a chill pill (not in those exact words, but you get what I'm saying!) because he's got it all figured out. We have this assurance from Jesus himself that he has and does take care of us. Even though we screw up. Move God to the bottom of our priority list. Sin. He's still there for us. He's beaten our sinful nature. He's defeated Satan. He has OVERCOME the world. 

Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary,

Pure and holy, tried and true,

With thanksgiving, 

I'll be a living sanctuary for You

As Christians, it's our job to do our very best to remain true to him even though we are tried. It is in those hardships and trials that we become stronger (2 Corinthians 12:10). 

I explained this concept in simpler terms to my campers, and I pray they understood what I was saying. I also pray you understand too. For it is my goal, like Paul, to do my very best to please the Ultimate Teacher in not just my profession, but in all that I do.

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

(John 16:33)