Back In Korea

Well, I'm back in country. This will be my fifth year teaching music at ICS. You would think by now that I'd know what I'm doing, but I feel even more at a loss this year for some reason - I feel very unprepared and overwhelmed at times. It's an odd feeling after four years of being ready to come back in August and start up a new year.

Today, however, was the second day of school, and little by little, the feelings of nervousness and uncertainty are being replaced with a sense of familiarity. It's that odd little moment when I find myself thinking, Oh, yeah - this is how it works...different kids, new faces, but the same routines and subjects.

The great thing about having been here for a few years now is that the country itself is very familiar and comfortable. It's been wonderful to come back to kimchi and Korean signs and peppers drying on the side of the road.... The peppers above have been precariously balanced on the wall of the stairs leading to my apartment the last couple of days. Maybe this shot will give a better angle on their position:

(That's the roof of the gate into my courtyard to the left of the peppers, and the neighboring courtyard across my alley behind the peppers.)

Something else I enjoyed coming back to is my cat, Purrl. I inherited her from our former director and his family (specifically his daughter). She moved in a week before I left in June and then had the run of the house to herself while I was in the States. She seems to have survived the summer and adjusted to living in a new place. She even seems to have adjusted to me and constantly talks to me now.

The window sill is one of her favorite places to sit and spy on people. She makes me laugh often with her personality quirks. I'm really enjoying having "someone else" in the house with me.

We have nine new teachers this year and all of them seem to be very professional and ready to work hard in their new jobs. I've been impressed with the caliber of our new staff. Former staff are missed, of course, but I'm grateful that God brings exactly who He wants in this place at the time He wants them here.

Please pray that we will each find our role in this new year and that we will be faithfully obedient to the Spirit's leading. There are many opportunities and challenges ahead for all of us, and I know that God desires to use those things to grow each of us, as well as the students and the school as a whole. Pray that we will intentionally and diligently live out Truth before our students so that when we speak it into their lives, it is backed by what they have seen in us.

Thank you for your prayer and support. I look forward to being able to share another year of God's workings with you all.

Fingerprints

I've been saying a lot of goodbyes lately. I've cried over many of them and tried to absorb the thought that I will not see them when I come back to Korea in August. How strange it will be to walk into school and not be greeted by certain familiar faces - some of whom were the first faces to ever greet me in Korea.
Quite honestly, I don't want them to go. Selfishly, I want them to stay and be a part of what God is doing here - not what He's doing over there, wherever "there" is for each of them. As much as I love living overseas, there are times when I hate the transitional nature of this lifestyle, the fluidity of relationships that is simply a part of this community. People come, and people leave, and some of us are left to continue on without them until eventually, it is our turn to go.
And yet, I know that I would not trade the relationships I've had as a result of living here for any level of stability or security that could possibly be offered. Those relationships have been transformational - they have become a part of who I am, and I would not give that up for anything!
When I was younger, I used to help my mother clean our church building each week. One of my jobs was to clean the big glass doors at the entrance. I grew to hate fingerprints. Every week, there were smudges all over the glass where people had put their hands and every week, I had to wash them off - only to have to do it all over again the next week. (To this day, I will not open a glass door by putting my hand on the glass - I will only use the handle!)
I was thinking how the people in our lives are like those fingerprints. They leave their mark - their smudge, if you will - on us. There are some prints that need to be washed off, whose memory is enough because of lessons learned, but who are not meant to be a lasting part of who we are. And there are others that we will wash around because we don't want to ever get rid of their imprint.
And then, there are people whose prints go even deeper than just a glass surface. They are the people whom God has used to mold and shape us, whose touch on our lives impacts us in a way that will always be a part of us. Like an extra set of hands that the Potter allows to be a part of His creation, they leave behind the imprint of His work in them and through them in our lives.
So to those of you who are moving on to another location to continue doing the "good works He has ordained" for you to do, know that you have left an imprint that will not be easily dismissed. You have made an impact and a difference. You have been that influence, that role model, that friend, that teacher, that student, that brother or sister in Christ who will never be forgotten because you have been who you were created to be in this place. You leave behind lives who will never be the same because you were here, and for that, we will always be grateful.
Thank you for your faithfulness, your compassion, your courage, your example, your encouragement, your enthusiasm, your conviction, your obedience. Thank you for the laughter, the friendship, the conversations, the listening ear. Thank you for times of worship, times of prayer, times of stillness. Thank you for allowing the Lord to use you and to work through you, and thank you for being who He created you to be.
May He fill you with His peace and cover your going with His grace, and may we continue to faithfully run towards Him no matter where that takes us.

Philippines Update

Thank you to all of you who prayed for us last week. God faithfully and abundantly answered those prayers. We still cannot stop talking about everything He did during our time there, and we've been back in Korea a full week, now. He is awesome and amazing, and I'd like to give you a quick glimpse of some of what He did during our trip.
Saturday, April 5: We left Songtan at 5 am and took a rented bus to the airport in Seoul. Four members of our team were meeting us in the Philippines for various reasons, and so we took off with only 32 of us. At the airport, one 7th grade boy had to be sent home because of an expired passport that was somehow missed in all the preparations. The biggest lesson I learned from the airport is that it takes a long time to get 31 people processed and through security. We just made it to our plane.
We landed safely in Manila, met our contact's wife and boarded a bus. Our first stop was Burger King and then on to our "home" for the next week. We ended up staying in one wing of a building that used to be a dormitory/boarding house for missionary kids. It was great being all together - I loved the community that developed in the close quarters.
That afternoon, we toured the children's home and also a community center for the village. Our contact, Jeff Long, is involved in many different ministries, and it was great to see the practical ways he and others have served the people there. Meeting physical needs such as free sources of drinking water leads to opportunities to share the Gospel.
We also began our nightly habit of gathering as a group and "debriefing" the events of the day. We were excited to see what God would do throughout the coming week.
Sunday, April 6: We attended church in Manila, ate out for lunch, visited a war memorial site and stopped at Krispy Kreme donuts before heading back to do our first block party and soccer camp. Because the soccer group was putting on a "clinic" as they called it, the VBS group - not a "block party" group - was called upon to put on the block party. I was very proud of our kids' flexibility and their willingness to step in and do what needed to be done, even though it was not exactly what we had prepared for.
One of our teachers had been experiencing extreme fatigue throughout the day, and so she stayed behind to rest. That night during our debrief and worship time, she shared her struggle with the group, and so we gathered around to pray over her. It was an amazing time of watching the Body of Christ in action.
Monday, April 7: Instead of beginning VBS as we had planned, we were told we were splitting up to do two block parties in the morning and then one big one that afternoon. The plans changed again, however, and the soccer team was told they were holding a soccer camp in the morning and in the afternoon. That meant that once again, the VBS group was left to do block parties. By the end of the day, our VBS group had completely bonded, and we were sad when we actually did split into our block party groups!
Our morning block party was held in an extremely impoverished area, in a huge field that was rocky, rutted and covered in trash. About 50 people came out for balloons, face painting, puppets and a Gospel presentation. Then in the afternoon, we traded locations with the soccer group and they held a soccer camp in that same field. We held a block party that ended up with over 300 people there. Amazing!
That night during our debrief, many of the students mentioned the people at the place with all the trash. It was obvious that those people had begun to win our hearts, and the idea was mentioned of going back to pick up trash in the field.
Tuesday, April 8: Our first - and only - day that we actually followed our original plan. We held VBS and soccer camp in the morning, working with the pastor of a local church. VBS was great. I was so proud of my team and how well they worked together. We had a blast. That afternoon, we split into our actual block party groups and held two block parties in different locations.
But it was what happened between the morning activities and the afternoon block parties that revealed that God had unimaginable things in store for us. Our team was given the option of going swimming or going to pick up trash in the field we'd been to the day before. About half of us volunteered for trash duty. As we were filling garbage bags with all kinds of unimaginable filth, hordes of children swarmed out and began helping us work. That is one of my favorite memories, because to me that was one of the clearest pictures of true worship we experienced. In the heat of the day, teenagers and adults gave up their "free" time to serve a group of people that has never had any group of foreigners come to them - and all because of the love of our Savior. Most of this area is unchurched, and not only had they now heard the Gospel, but they had seen it lived out before them.
Tuesday night's debrief time began the same as all the others. But then the Holy Spirit took over, and we experienced a time of brokenness and vulnerability such as I have rarely been a part of. It lasted for nearly four hours as we sang, cried and prayed for each other. God was moving, and He wasn't going to let our selves get in the way. We had to be broken, to be poured out and emptied so that He could fill us, and He could work through us and in us.
Wednesday, April 9: VBS and soccer again in the morning. By now, we were beginning to recognize and build relationships with the kids at these activities. They loved singing and the skits and stories and especially the crafts. If they have done anything artistic before, it was probably limited to coloring with crayons. But through the generosity of some friends in Korea, we had been able to purchase craft supplies, and they had the opportunity to glue and glitter and use markers and to be creative each day.
This afternoon, we went back one more time to the "trashy" field, this time as an entire team. We picked up more trash for about an hour, and then held another block party there. The kids came out again to help us and it was so much fun to see that already they had made connections with our team and to watch our junior and senior high students play with them.
Wednesday evening, we were given the opportunity to either attend a college-level basketball game or to go shopping. Because we got back late from these activities, there was no group debrief time, and many of us thoroughly missed it. We looked forward to Thursday night when we could meet again.
Thursday, April 10: After VBS and soccer, we split into two groups for the afternoon. All of the girls who play soccer at our school were taken up to Faith Academy - a nearby international school - to play their soccer team, while the rest of us held a block party elsewhere. When we finished, we joined the girls in time to see the last bit of the game, and then we went swimming at Faith's pool. The evenings there are beautiful.
After dinner, we held our nightly debrief. It was obvious that God was still working, as many of us were convicted by the poverty we saw everywhere, and the thought of just how much STUFF we have. And the thought that came out that night was, What if Jesus really meant it when He said, sell everything and give it to the poor? What would that look like in our lives?
Friday, April 11: Our last day of VBS and soccer. It was hard saying goodbye to these children who had blessed us in ways we can never explain. We finally tore ourselves away and went back for lunch. After eating, it was time to shop. We went to a mall area that includes an area of booths and vendors where you can bargain and haggle over prices, and sometimes get really good deals. Lots of fun!
Friday night was our final debrief. We spent the first part sharing things God had taught us throughout the week, and many shared that they didn't want to go back to Korea. They were excited and encouraged by what they had learned, by who they had become during our week there in the Philippines, and they were afraid of going back to who they were before. Once again, our worship time became a time of brokenness as we sought the Lord's face together, praying for each other and for ourselves that He would give us the strength and the courage to be who He had shown us we could be in Christ.
Saturday, April 12: We packed up and loaded up the bus to head to the airport. Once again, checking in was a long process and we made it to our gate just before boarding. The flight back was uneventful. On the ride home, we pulled out the guitar for one more time of singing together, and then finally went our separate ways after arriving in Songtan.
What an incredible journey our mission trip was! For many of us, it was a powerful reminder to never underestimate what God can do through a group of young people - even 7th graders - who are dedicated to seeking His face and to serving Him. We were shown that when we seek Him, and we prepare for Him, He shows up and He reveals Himself to be greater and more majestic and awesome than anything we could ever imagine. Now we are back here in Korea, back where it is comfortable and familiar, and our challenge now is to take what we learned and who we were in the Philippines and to live that out in the reality of our lives here, to continue learning to be who He created us to be.
Pray that we will be faithful, that we will walk in obedience and freedom and that we will shine with the light of His glory as He revealed it there - that we will not put the veil over our faces, and go back to blending in. We want others to see the reflection of Him in us.

Thoughts From The Philippines

These are things the Lord started - or continued - teaching me last week while we were in the Philippines, not necessarily because we were there, but because so many other things that tend to drown out His voice were missing....
One of the things I have been struggling with is discerning the voice of the Spirit. So often when I think He is speaking, I hesitate - not so much because I doubt Him, but because I doubt myself. Am I really hearing Him, or am I deluding myself, imagining that my own words and thoughts and desires are His voice?
For much of last week, I had a mental image of myself skirting around the edge of a cliff. God kept asking me to jump off, to trust Him and to leap out in faith - and I hesitated. Was that really His voice? What if it wasn't and I jumped and then He didn't catch me?
Each morning, He gave me a simple direction - you could call it a "word" for the day. The last day, it was simply, "Peace."
I sensed Him calling me to peace - to rest and be still instead of striving to figure things out so much. In my mind's eye, that picture changed from me skirting the edge, to placing my hand in His and peacefully following where He led - whether that was along the cliff's edge or over it. Because if my hand is in His, then there is no question where He is leading, and I can be sure that I am following.
The other lesson in this skirting the cliff's edge was about His love. In one of the books I've been reading, the author makes the point that Jesus did not perform miracles simply to demonstrate His power. He performed miracles as a result of His great love and compassion for the people. This love led to a demonstration of His power on their behalf.
We are called to love as He loved. So often, we ask God to demonstrate His power by reaching the unreachable, by performing miracles in the lives of those who are in desperate need of His intervention. We think that jumping off the cliff is demonstrating our faith that He will catch us, that we trust His power to hold us up. But do we ask only as a result of our desire to see His power? Are we asking for that demonstration as a result of His love flowing through us? Are we willing to jump off the cliff because of His overwhelming love in us for that other person, for the needs of those people? Or are we like the generation that asked for signs - a faithless generation that had to see miracles to believe?
What if we learned to be so completely in-tune with His heart that we would know what His loving response would be to each person and each need He brings across our paths? Perhaps then we could truly be His hands and His feet. Perhaps then we would know how to pray, what to ask, what to speak, what to do.
Thirdly, and lastly for now, I am becoming more and more convinced that Jesus intended for us to take Him literally. When He said "sell everything you have, give it to the poor and follow Me," I think He meant it. When He said "love your enemies and do good to those who hate you," He meant it. When He said, "love your neighbor as yourself," He meant it. When He said, "love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength," I know He meant it.
So why don't we do those things? Why don't we give away what we have? We have so much! I saw people in the Philippines who were so excited about small things because they didn't have so much else to distract them from the best things.
Why don't we love our enemies? We behave as though the Gospel belongs only to people like us - not those who disagree, certainly not those who persecute us and most definitely not those who terrorize our country.
Why don't we love each other as He has called us to love - sacrificially and unconditionally, with forgiveness and grace? We seem to think we are better than our Savior who gave up the glory of Heaven for the shame and humiliation of the Cross.
Why don't we love God above everything else? Why don't we pursue Him with everything in us? We can focus our attention on so many things for hours, but we must make sure that the worship service ends on time, and don't ask us to spend our own free time seeking His face. After all, we've already had our quiet time for the day.
He also said, "if you love Me, you will obey My commands."
I wonder where the people are who love Him enough to jump off the cliff of what is considered normal and sane and truly obey what He has said. I wonder if I could be one of them.

Philippines '08

Spring break is almost here! I know that students and teachers alike are looking forward to this break from the school routine. We have been so busy with everything that must happen in a school, and seeing that we are a small school, it seems that everyone is involved in everything that must happen. It makes for some extremely busy schedules!
Just a quick update on a few things before I move onto the main purpose of this update....
ICS held its first-ever Day of Prayer on Monday of this past week. We started out the day with elementary and secondary chapels before breaking off into various groups for prayer throughout the rest of the day. At the very end, we all came back together for an all-school praise and worship time. Having Kindergarten all the way up to 12th grade really packed our cafeteria/auditorium, but it was wonderful to come together and worship as one school body. God really moved in the hearts of our students and they came away asking for more days of prayer.
This same week, we had a high school senior boy lead our chapel and I was thoroughly impressed with God's work in our students once again. He truly was speaking what all of us - students and teachers - needed to hear. What an incredible thing to see God raising up teenagers to do His work in our school!
My former roommate and good friend, Julia, came to visit over Easter. We had a blast surprising everyone else with her coming. I was the only one who knew, and it was great to see people's faces when she appeared at school the next morning. We really enjoyed our time together - it was good to have her "home."
On to Spring Break: this next Saturday, April 5, we leave for the Philippines for a week. We have 36 people going on this trip and only 12 of those are adults. The student interest in this trip has been overwhelming and I truly believe it's just one glimpse into the amazing things God is doing in the lives of these young people.
We have spent the last few months preparing for this trip and are excited to finally be almost ready. We will be splitting into two teams in the mornings - one to lead VBS and the other to lead soccer camps. (I will be with the VBS group.) In the afternoons, we will split into two teams again (different combinations), and do block parties. We will have clowns, face painting, ballooning, puppets, songs, and skits to draw crowds. Once we have attracted people to our "party" we will give testimonies and present the Gospel to everyone there. Afterwards, we will simply break up and go talk to people. All of our activities have an evangelistic focus.
Please pray for us as we go. Pray for safety and wisdom as we take 24 teenagers into another country. Also pray that we will be flexible and servant-hearted as the schedule can change many times in a day. Pray that we will have opportunities to plant seeds of the Gospel and that people's hearts would be ready to hear. Pray for the ministries that we will be working with, that they will have wisdom about where best to use us. And pray that we will come away changed because of what God wants to do in us over this trip.

A New Year

2008 is less than 24 hours away. God has been so good and so gracious throughout this year and I am looking forward to what He will do in this next year!
Just to quickly go over some of the last happenings of this year:
The Christmas program was a huge success, with a completely packed house. More parents attended this program than any other in the time I have been at ICS. Even more exciting is the work that the Lord was doing in me through all the rehearsals and practice time to find a way of gaining an eternal perspective on this elementary school tradition. We had the opportunity to present the Gospel through the story of the program and through a program insert explaining the plan of salvation. Our prayer is that many parents and relatives of our students heard the Gospel that night and that seeds of Truth were planted.
We are in the midst of preparations for our spring break missions trip to the Philippines. We will be going back to work with the same ministries as last year's group, but this year we are taking well over 20 people. The interest among the students has been phenomenal. They have willingly stepped out in faith that God will supply the costs of going and have committed themselves to being available for His use in this way. We held a Christmas fundraising dinner and God hugely blessed us with the generosity of people in this community.
The last days of school were a blur of activities - staff Christmas party, final chapels, high school lock-in, etc. I spent Christmas Day here with friends. I miss my family, of course, but the community here has truly become a family to me, and being able to be with them takes away some of the homesickness. The day after Christmas, a group of us left for Snow Camp. We went up to a nearby skiing area and spent three days up there. It was a great opportunity to invest in kids' lives over Christmas break. Even though I didn't manage to actually learn to ski (I did try!), I had a blast, and was blessed by the girls that I counseled.
Please continue to pray for the harvest that we are seeing among our students. Pray that we will be faithful in the areas that God has given us to work and that we will continue to pursue Him first and foremost. Thank you as always for your support and encouragement. Many blessings to all of you throughout this next year!

Choir

So far, my high school choir this year consists of eight boys and three girls. Life is interesting when the boys outnumber the girls by more than twice their number. We've had some great discussions; for instance, does Miss Teat find the ability to sing to be an attractive quality in a guy...? (Believe me, I didn't bring up that subject!) Then there was the day that they brought up - well, let's just say, they're very good at being adolescent males.
Anyway, today, we successfully sang "Jubilate Deo" as a round with four groups after several attempts.
After the last try, Sam rubbed his ear and complained, "I think I'm deaf-tone, now!"
One of the other boys, Casey, instantly corrected him, "Don't you mean done-teaf? I mean - I mean, tone deaf!?!?"

Fall '07

It's been awhile since I've updated this page. I've written some other stuff on here (under "Thoughts and Things" if you're interested), but not a general update on news. I guess it's about time for that, so here goes.
The Lord usually gives me some sort of expectation or insight for the coming school year, but this August, as I came back to Korea, I really had no such thing. The only clear direction He gave me was that I needed to be open to His goals for this year, and allow Him to shape my focus and activities into what He wanted for me. I like to have goals formed in my mind, so it wasn't an easy thing He was asking of me, but I've tried to be obedient, and I've been overwhelmed by what I've seen Him doing in this area of the world.
There is definitely a growing sense of unity and urgency among our staff to see students saved and walking with the Lord. It's been awesome to see pockets of prayer spring up among both teachers and kids, led by many different individuals. Evangelism is another burden that I've seen several people take up - not just to carry, but to actually go out to do something about it. Discipleship is beginning, and people are rising to the challenge of making the schedule work around the time necessary for teachers to meet with their groups of students. The best part of our discipleship program this year is that we have two groups where upperclassmen are discipling younger students under the guidance of a teacher. Praise the Lord - that is what discipleship is all about - growing and training these young people so that they are ready to turn around and lead others to walk closer with Christ!
We just finished our Spiritual Emphasis Week, and we saw some amazing things this week as the Holy Spirit worked in kids' lives. There was brokenness and repentance, recommitments and salvations, and we are overwhelmed with what He has done in the past few days. Pray that we will continue to sew and water and look for the harvest, that it will not end with this week, but that we will be faithful stewards throughout this year. Pray that we will be faithful to disciple the students who made first-time decisions for Christ, as well as those that re-dedicated their lives this week.
The Lord has been teaching me so much about the importance of eternal investments, and He is giving me more and more opportunities to do that with relationships here. Pray that I will be faithful as He leads me into different areas of ministry around here. I believe that He is preparing some of us for some different outreaches into the community here, and we desperately need His wisdom and direction.
Thanks to all of you who are such regular supporters of the ministry over here in so many ways. I appreciate all your encouragement and the knowledge that we are not alone in this. Please continue to pray for us, that we will be faithfully obedient, and that we will accomplish His purposes this year. It means nothing if it is not of the Lord!

Fourth Grade Escapee

This is an email that our fourth grade teacher sent out this week - it speaks for itself....

I was really hoping I would never ever have to write something like this, alas, the day has come. The 4th graders have Hercules Beetles as their pets in class. (the name Hercules should tell you something about the size of the beetle-they are huge) One of them has escaped. On top of that, the kids tell me that the beetle flies. If you find it roaming around the school, please don't kill it. You are allowed a loud scream (that is what I will do if I find it) You can call my room and I will send one of my kids to get it.

I don't know what to say for a closing,

Laura

Rabbit Trails

I am always amazed when God shows up.
I don't know why it surprises me. He has said He will answer our prayers, and that is what I have prayed for - why am I astonished when it happens?
He showed up this week. Not the way we expected. Not when we expected. In His time and in His way, He came, and He moved and He revealed some more of Himself to us.
What a truly awesome God we serve! We know that in our heads, but how often does it overwhelm us as it should? How often do we stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, and watch as He shows His power and love and grace?
This week we saw hearts broken and walls come down as students were convicted of the sin and darkness in their lives. And none of it can be attributed to us. It was all of God - His Spirit working in lives and souls that we have been praying for.
I am constantly reminded that there is a battle going on that we cannot see, and that we belong to another reality. I am learning to live in that other reality, to see with spiritual eyes, but it is a slow process. Even this week, when we didn't see results when we thought we should, it was a lesson in prayerfully standing at attention, awaiting His orders and being prepared to speak when He directed.
What a blessing that as we yield ourselves, as we die to ourselves and we pursue and seek Him, He does show up, and He deigns to reveal more and more of Himself to us. And not only that, but He chooses to use us to fight in this battle, to expand His Kingdom and to accomplish His purposes in our community.

The Body

Last night, I was a witness to the Body of Christ in action.
A group of us went down to what we call the "strip" here. It's a shopping area directly across from the main gate of Osan AFB. There are numerous bars along the strip, and it's not a very pleasant place to be on Friday nights.
But we weren't down there to enjoy it. We were down there because we have been convicted about making a difference in our community, especially in its darkest corners.
A couple of us got up and preached to the crowd, some of us stopped individuals and groups as they passed and witnessed to them, and some of us prayed as the others spoke Truth in whatever capacity they were led.
All of us had a role and a purpose in being there last night. All of us were called to be a part of reaching the lost and of giving hope. All of us were necessary, because that's how it works in the Body.
All of us who have accepted Christ as our Savior and have made Him Lord of our lives belong to another Kingdom. We know this, yet, how often do we LIVE it? How often do we recognize it as reality, and not just a theory? How often do we take our place in the Body, in the Kingdom and be who we are created to be? When will we begin to truly put to death ourselves so that Christ's righteousness, our new nature, can be lived out in our lives? When will we recognize that we are dead, yet alive in Christ? When will we learn to keep in step with the Spirit so that we can accomplish the things He has purposed for us to do? When will we choose to be God's ambassadors, His chosen people, citizens of Heaven on a mission here in this world? When will we put aside petty differences and preferences and stand together, united in Christ, against the evil and darkness of this world, and be the light that He has told us we are?
When will all of this cease to be theology and doctrine and head knowledge only, and become obedience?

Back To School

My fourth year is beginning here in Korea. I am looking forward to it with mixed feelings. Last year was an incredible year in many ways, and I saw so much growth in the students, the school and myself, that it's hard to believe this year could be any better. Last year was also very hard in some ways, and in my mental perspective, I still carry some of the difficulties I faced. It's hard to let them go some days.
The Lord is really impressing on me how important it is to let Him have this year, and to allow Him to shape it into what He desires it to be. It is not up to me to figure out what it should look like or to decide for myself what my goals are. It is up to me to listen for His direction and to keep in step with the Spirit so that I can be obedient and so that He can use me to accomplish what He has purposed to accomplish through me and in me this year.
I enjoyed my summer this year. Julia and I had a fantastic road trip with lots of unexpected adventures, and lots of time catching up on the past year. It was good to be with her again. I was also blessed to see other friends from Korea at a wedding in Ohio, though the time with them was not nearly long enough! For those of you who know the Mooneys, I can't believe how much Micah has grown.
I also had a little over three weeks with my family in Texas. Rain prevented some of the things I had wanted to do, but it allowed lots of time at home with my mom and sister, and that was very special. My youngest brother flew in the weekend before I left, and it was nice to have our whole family together. My niece is walking and trying to talk, and she is definitely the center of attention anywhere she goes. She's adorable! (And I'm not the least bit prejudiced....)
I'm still jetlagging a little, but teacher orientation began today, and it was good to see everyone and to hear about their summers. We spent today in meetings, and it's a little overwhelming to look at the year looming ahead of us, but I know that it will all fall into place. We are up over 190 students in our enrollment, which is an enormous praise. All of our teachers are here, safe and sound, and all of our positions are filled. The Lord's provision is such a blessing to us.
One more thing: last spring, I had the opportunity to be involved in leading a Bible study with two exchange students from a communist country. Both of them were interested in practicing their English, and both girls started out the study believing the Bible to be nothing more than a book of fairy tales. After I left for summer vacation, another teacher continued the study with one of the girls. To our great joy, this girl accepted Christ last month! I will see her tomorrow before she leaves to go home, and I look forward to seeing her not just as a friend, but as my sister. The Lord is so good!
Please continue to pray for us, that we would be diligent and fervent about what the Lord is calling us to do. We cannot make a difference without His Spirit's presence in our lives, and we need your prayers that we would remain faithful and that we would lean on Him for our strength. Thank you for all your support and encouragement, and I look forward to sharing what He is doing here this year.

This is in the seniors' section of our yearbook and I liked it so much that I'm stealing it....
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
~ Marianne Williamson
It has been a little over a year since I felt the Lord leading me to "come out of the shadows." It is not always easy or comfortable to come forward and use our gifts, but if we will take that first step out in faith, He will meet us there. He will show us who we are in Christ, the gifts He has given us, and how He desires to use us.
After all, of what value are spiritual gifts if we are not equipping and edifying the Body of Christ as we are called to do?
If we would be truly obedient, then we must do the works He has prepared in advance for us to do, and we must use the gifts He has given us to use. We must step out in faith even when it means bringing all our most secret insecurities into the Light and facing our deepest fears. We must, because walking in faith and obedience is the only way to truly live.

HSL: Humor in a Second Language

The other day, as I was encouraging my choir class to practice "active listening," I mentioned a poster that I had seen in a catalog. It states that "Listen" and "Silent" are spelled with the same letters. One or two students understood right away, but it was very comical to watch the others as they struggled to figure out what I meant. They frowned intently as they spelled it out in their heads - I could almost see them listing out the letters of each word.
Finally, I took pity on them and spelled both words on the board. Instantly, several "lightbulbs" clicked on, and there was a general sigh of relief as they finally understood the connection....

Huh?

Sixth grade quiz question: How is a percussion instrument played?
Sixth grade answer: By hitting it and physically disturbing it.

Kindergarten

Today, Kara, the Kindergarten teacher, made my day.
She had been faithfully reviewing the Bible Wheel questions that we use in elementary chapel. One of the questions this week is: Who is the Greatest Teacher? Obviously, the answer is Jesus.
Kindergarten is notorious for coming up with their own, unique answers to these questions. In response to this one, someone piped up and said, "Miss Teat!"
She was finally able to help some of them find the correct answer, but she told me that from that point on, the answer was either "Jesus" or "Miss Teat."
I feel quite honored!

Giggles

Table full of teenage girls in cafeteria: loud laughter and giggling.
Miss Teat: Try not to be so silly. Someone might think you're high school girls or something!
Table full of girls (except Kim): smiles and chuckles.
Kim (looking confused): but we are high school girls.
Becky: Kim! Sarcasm!
Kim: Oh!!! I get it.

VIsitors

I recently moved into a new apartment. Part of having a new house is showing it off, but the other night I had an unexpected "open house."
My new landlord's mother lives downstairs with his family. I often see her out in the little courtyard, and she is usually friendly, but she speaks no English. So we nod and smile at each other and continue on our separate ways (except for the day that she gave me a bag of lettuce as a gift). Two nights ago, she was outside when I came home. I actually didn't think she saw me and so I went on upstairs and started getting ready to go to bed. All of a sudden, I hear loud knocking on my door. I wasn't able to answer it right away, and so it came again. As I went into the living room, I saw her face pressed up against the window. She knew I was home, and she probably couldn't figure out why I wasn't answering. (Thank goodness I'd remembered to lock my door - Koreans have a habit of just walking into a house unannounced. I realize it's a cultural thing - at least, I think so - but I'm still North American enough to value my privacy.)
I let her in, and she smiled at me and said something in Korean. Then she proceeded to walk through my house, into each room, inspecting my furnishings, pointing at various items and making comments on them. I have no idea what she actually said, but I imagine she wanted to see what I'd done with the place, and was letting me know she approved of my interior decorating skills. That's what I choose to believe, anyway. Who knows what she actually said....
Then, another night, I was over at my old apartment with Julia. We were eating dinner and watching TV, when we heard someone yelling outside. Now, that's not unusual here, and since we couldn't see them or understand them, we ignored it, even though it was right outside our back window. A few minutes later, a woman in some sort of uniform appeared at our front window. She tried to tell us something and we just looked blankly back at her. Then she said something about water, and headed toward the door. Julia let her in, and once again, she said something about water, but we still had no idea what she wanted. Finally, she took off her shoes, walked into the kitchen, turned on the faucet and walked back outside. Julia and I just looked at each other. This was interesting. Very soon, she reappeared at our door, walked in, turned off the water, thanked us, and left. We still wonder exactly what she was doing.