most recent school and life photos :) Listening to: Give Reviving by Sandra McCraken Psalm 23-The Message 1-3: God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction. 4: Even when the way goes through Death Valley, I'm not afraid when you walk at my side. Your trusty shepherd's crook makes me feel secure. 5: You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies. You revive my drooping head: my cup brims with blessing. 6: Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life. I'm back home in the house of God for the rest of my life. It's been a turbulent month. Moments where I literally felt like I couldn't take life overseas anymore and wanted to throw in the towel, go home, call it quits. A lot of doubt started creeping in-"Are you enough? Are you sure you want to stay another year in Thailand? Are you sure you want to teach 6th? Are you sure you want to live there, with them? Are you sure you were called to this, for now or not? The more doubt I had, the more I realized that I was thinking of myself and what I thought was comfortable, safe and known-forgetting God's sovereignty. Nothing is known. That's the beauty of the life I live. Spontaneous adventure of trust that comes when I've reached the end of the rope and I'm through. Acknowledging I don't know anything, I'm not sure of anything...but I am sure of and know someone who does and has shown me that He is faithful (which I continually need reminders of). The heat (108-110 degrees, people!), dry pollution and lack of space to just rest and even think, was getting to me. Once spring break came, it was more than time for a much needed escape. Where to? A bucket list-end of the earth (or rather middle earth) location...New Zealand! God knows exactly how to give me rest and knew what would give reviving. A steal of a deal presented itself (unheard of airplane ticket prices, with a sketchy airline...haha) and within a few days my fellow 4th grade teacher and I booked flights and a campervan for almost 2 weeks to drive around the north and south islands. Traveling around a country (especially NZ!) in a campervan was the best decision ever! The week with our "Kea" (type of NZ rainforest parrot) van was equipped with everything we needed for our trip (minus food and shower) and saved us a lot of money! Nothing like good tunes, open roads and no wifi! The scenery was incredible during the day and there were so many stars at night. I had forgotten what quiet and space felt like. It was what I needed. There were so many highlights, although the van made it possible to travel to locations like Queenstown's glacial blue lake shores lined with snow-capped peaks; rainy Milford Sound to a land of thousands of waterfalls and clear-blue waters; through mountain passes, rivers, gorges, glaciers, rainforest and coast and later dry, high desert and volcanos. We saw many of the landforms and biomes you can experience...all in one place! No wonder they chose to film Lord of the Rings there! Pictures below...take a look! Other big news: Upon returning to Thailand, it has been decided the school will be moving into a Thai bilingual school that is already established and we will be sharing space with them for the next 2 years while the basic foundations of our new school building are being built. This is a huge relief, yet also presents enormous challenges with how to leave the current neighborhood without creating dissension within the community (this link shares our story) and transportation issues for many students and families that live around our current location, since we'll be moving further south. The present stress is how to move an entire K-12 school with over 500 kids to this new location. GIS has decided to end school a week earlier to help with the move. This means I only have four more weeks with my students...a crazy end to the year and still have a lot of teaching and learning to do. Simultaneously, I'll be moving houses to where I will live next school year AND packing up to go home to Colorado for 2 months (a bit longer this time around). So.much.movement. I ask for your continued prayers during this time as we wrap up this school year and when we're in "check-mate" or in a spot where trusting God is all we can do. As I'm preparing to return for the summer months, I'll soon be posting a calendar link on here for you to fill out when to see me, hang-out or meet with me! Time goes fast and I want to ensure those of you who want to get the real, live stories and details that opportunity while I'm home. I'm also open to speaking engagements, dessert and share evenings and if you'd like to host me, I'd love that too! More info to come soon! Praise: 1. Provision in the midst of big changes 2. A wonderful, reviving, safe, break Prayer: 1. School move, house move and wrap-up (saying goodbyes...again....booo....) 2. For spiritual protection-the enemy seems to be attacking more lately and I need strength to stand firm-not doubt God's goodness and future plans. Thanks reader! As always, I love to hear from you and if there's anything I can pray for you! New Zealand Photos...Enjoy!
1 Comment
Karen c
4/17/2016 06:54:28 pm
Wow. How beautiful! Glad you had some refresh and renew time.
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