Hey all! As I write this post, I have a number of things that are pressing on my heart. First of all is an urgent prayer request: please pray for a matter of legal urgency here at the school. I can't go into further detail, but the school would greatly appreicate as many sincere prayers as possible!

Second, I just received news that my great-grandma has taken a turn for the worse in her battle with pneumonia, and she is now in critical condition. Please pray for her and my family (my Mom's Dad's side).

Third, I am writing this in a rather sleep-deprived state. Things here at the school have been fun, joyful, and exciting as usual, but I've had a TON to do lately. The demands of a classroom teacher are seemingly endless (and they are compounded when the teacher has a deep desire to see all his/her students do well), and unexpected responsibilities are surfacing more frequently. It is quite taxing. Add to that an intermittent longing for home, and I realize just how hard life in another culture can be. I have taken heart, however. This morning, although I had to rise at 4:00 to finish writing a test, I purposely set aside time to seek God first, and as is always the case, it set the course of the day in the correct perspective...I had been longing for refreshment so much, and He gave it! It's so easy to become spiritually dehydrated even though the Living Water is always there. He is so faithful!

One final thought before I head home for the evening (to finish a bunch more work that needs to be done before the quarter ends this Friday). I don't think I've ever felt so much pride in my students as I did last Friday during the 5th grade chapel! They did such an incredible job, and it was heartfelt through and through! I got to thinking about why it meant to much to me to watch them in action. Then it hit me: The goal of any teacher is to see his/her students live out on their own what their teacher has taught them. For the most part, I had very little say in how the chapel would look; my students planned the whole thing, organized it, practiced, wrote scripts...everything. And my joy couldn't have been deeper. And isn't it the same way with the Master Teacher? He walks with us and talks with us, teaching us His ways, revealing Himself and His truths in the word. But that's not the ultimate aim of our Teacher. He teaches so that we might live it out those teachings...that in living out His word (abiding in Him and having His words abide in us - John 15:7), we would come to know Him. He doesn't call us to obedience just because "that's what humans are supposed to do...we have to obey God if we love Him." Could part of the great joy that fills God's heart (Nehemiah 8:10 says that this joy is our strength) be found in His desire to see us creatively apply the gifts He's given us to carry out His commands? He knows what He wants us to do and He informs us of that, but could He not also excitedly anticipate how we'll use the abilities and interests He's given us to carry out His will in a unique way? I realize that so often I obey because that's just simply what I'm supposed to do. Obedience to the Master Teacher, which is faith lived out, takes on another dimension when we approach it as a way to creatively worship God! We can obey God, but how will we do it?

Of course I provided a guiding and leading voice for my students last week and during our dress rehearsal, but I left the performance up to them. And the knowledge they demonstrated in those 45 minutes far outweighed that which could be assessed on any written test or assignment, for their learning was in the realm of life experience! That's God's classroom: life and its experiences. He's always speaking, always guiding, always pointing the way in which we should go. Will we heed His voice, His wisdom, His counsel, His love, and trust Him enough to creatively apply our God-given abilities in the day-to-day happenings of our lives? "LORD, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the LORD, who counsels me. Even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the LORD always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure...You have made know to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand" (Psalm 16: 5-9, 11).