What Now?

(My crazy 3rd and 4th grade classes from 2011-2012. I love the expressions on their faces.)

As some of you may have heard there are some changes coming my way. Life recently in fact has been so different than "normal". I've been able to see some of my sweet kiddos since school finished and they still call me teacher, but in truth I'm not. See, the Lord has shown me that right now He has some other things He wants to teach me. I'm not sure which path that is exactly, but I will follow obediently anyway. A wise woman recently told me, "The moment His specific plans for the future will change how you are living, He will reveal them to you." The Lord has been working in my heart and molding it to be what He desires. In fact I even wrote a post last October that is about obedience when you know God has called you. http://www.elenberginthailand.blogspot.com/2011/10/callobedience.html

Right now, as crazy, sudden, or thoughtless as it may seem I know that God is leading. I can't even describe how I know. I won't say that leaving my kids and the school is easy because it's not. The need is still great and I love them deeply. I won't say that leaving not knowing exactly where I'm going is easy. It stretches me far beyond my comfort zone and causes me to rely even more on God. I won't say that living without people I've come to love is easy. It is different and lonely and it broke my heart to say goodbye. But God never said, "Follow me, it's gonna be easy."

I am so thankful because I know He is faithful. I know He will provide. I know that He goes with me. I know His word is true and that He does what He says He will. I am so blessed that He has chosen me to be one of His own. I am so blessed that He allows me to be a part of His work in the world. I can truly say that sometimes I thought what He gave me here in Thailand was too hard. Sometimes I thought it was too much. Sometimes I wondered why me? But now I can clearly see that it has been one of God's sweetest blessings in my life. I can't believe He allowed me to be here, that He taught me, that He carried me, and that He changed me. I am so thankful. If I had the chance to go back to the beginning: before the tears, before the darkness, before the struggles, before the laughter, before the love, before the growth, before I knew what was waiting for me on this side of the world. If I stood at the beginning again and had to choose knowing what was in front of me I wouldn't have done anything differently.

That being said I'm just looking forward, putting one foot in front of the other, and loving God. What now? Only He knows. And I'm okay with that.

Numbers 13 and 14

Grade 4 was the class we almost didn't open. We started out with three students, lost one, and gained three more. Now with five students it is the third largest class. They bring my grand total up to fourteen which is still six short of the twenty students that certain friends were praying for me. :)

Our general school policy is that we are not accepting applications for this current school year. Mostly because the more students miss the farther they are behind and the harder it is to catch up. However, when they come and we are basically their only hope we make an exception. An exception we hope will change their lives for the better.

Meet two of our exceptions.

This sweet little girl has recently been removed from her "home." She has so many struggles and challenges to overcome. This kind of smile is fairly rare but is beautiful when it surfaces.

This little girl came to us two days ago with yet another heartbreaking story. We'll be taking her home as well as our other special little charge.

Please pray for these two little girls that they would quickly adjust to our school and that they would begin to thrive. Pray for their families and the healing that is needed in both situations. Pray that they would know the Savior's love for them and that would respond to His call.

Reasons to Smile

So I have to admit I think it's funny when he says plower instead of flower and fourn instead of four. Every time he says six it comes out like the Thai word for ten (sip) and the poor girl next to him gets confused.

It makes me smile when I go over to check on him and the other fourth grade boy because they are talking over a book in fun reading and I hear him explaining to his friend the Bible stories he recognizes from their pictures in the English Bible. They ask me if the statue in the picture is Christian or Buddhist and they don't quite get that it is neither.

I smile when he brings me a book in the library at break and asks me to read to him. When he excitedly calls a friend over and they hurry to the mats to sit down to hear the story. When it's finished they ask for another and when time is up they say, "Thank you, teacher" in English.

I smile when we're doing addition fact flashcards and he yells out "Seventyhaa." A strange mix between Thai and English which he thinks is so funny. Pretty soon we were all laughing, including my Thai co-teacher as we were going downstairs for the end of the day. He kept repeating it to himself and then giggling in the funniest way.

I smile when the ping pong ball taped on our back bulletin board in a solar system model randomly drops to the floor and makes that distinctive noise when no one is in the classroom and I am walking down the stairs.

I smile when one of my students from last year comes into the room politely, wais, looks confused and says, "I'm sorry teacher...um...I forgot what I'm supposed to ask." Before hurrying out to find Miss Amy again and ask what he is supposed to be getting.

I smile when I see my three third grade girls playing and giggling all together since one is a tomboy and the other has a hard time fitting in.

I smile when one of my dear little boys asks me "How are you?"before I ask him and when I ask him how he is he answers, "I'm fine thank you and you?" I wonder how long we could go in this cycle.

I smile when I am helping one of my students complete a behavior reflection form to help him think through why he got in trouble and how to avoid it in the future. We went through the first part of the Thai form fine with the name, date, grade and then I read him the first question because he can't read in Thai. He answered me and then went to write the answer and then asked me the Thai equvilent of "Now, does that start with an s?" (Which in Thai there are numerous symbols for the /s/ sound.) I looked at him and told him, "I have no idea." And then we both laughed because neither of us could spell.

I smile when they help each other (the one who really struggles helping the one who struggles even more) and encourage each other.

I'm thankful for these many reasons to smile and my thirteen blessings who cause them and the God who carries us all.

Grades 3 and 4

I know you've already seen the school and class photos but I thought you might enjoy a glimpse of these photos of the kids taken by my great roommate. They show some more personality than the other photos.

Grade 3

He cracks me up with his sense of humor and his use of informal English. He is the only student I have who will ask me how I am before I ask him.

He is the little boy who would show up to summer school an hour and a half before school started, by himself. He is our mystery child that started singing Christian songs and drawing crosses when we didn't have any idea where he learned them from. Today when I asked him if Jesus loved babies (we were reading a book about them) he said a definite yes. When I asked him if Jesus loved him he looked at me and said, "I don't know."

Another child from summer school this little girl is a perfectionist. She has a beautiful smile that lights up the room.

This little girl is very smart and does so well in class. She has a sweet and gentle personality. Even though she doesn't understand when I talk to her she still likes to come and sit with me which I think is brave. :)

This is my sweet charmer. He aims to please and usually tries his best. He likes to explain things in Thaiglish while wildly gestering so I get the point.

She is also very smart and diligent. She survived last year as the only girl in her class. Which actually didn't bother her too much as she likes playing sports and gets along well with the boys. (Of course they all fell in love with her which also doesn't seem to bother her too much)

This is my newest 3rd grade addition. He showed up yesterday so I don't know much about him yet.

He is smart and works hard, and like most of the boys likes to be silly.

He is super sweet and respectful. He struggles quite a bit to understand but always tries his best. Yesterday, with our two new students he was very gentle and would translate what I was saying to his new friends. I think he took pity on them because it is usually him who is totally lost. He did a great job with the translating though!

Grade 4

This is my newest 4th Grade student who always answers me with "Khap. Khap."(a respectful word that shows agreement) because he has no clue what I'm saying.

He is my sensitive student who struggled quite a bit during summer school. Now he finds himself doing so much better because he understands a lot of what I'm asking. He is doing a great job remembering and building on what he has learned. Every morning he arrives on his bicycle bringing our copies from his mom's copy shop down the road.

This is my only 4th grade girl. She works hard and has such a sweet and helpful spirit although she greatly misses her friend. We started out with another girl and through a sad set of events she might not be able to join us anymore (please pray that she will be able to come back.)

I also started out with one other boy from last year. However, his parents have decided that it is too far to bring him to school everyday and he will no longer be joining us. Please pray that the seeds planted in his heart last year will be watered by someone else and that he will come to know the Lord as his Savior.

I'm so thankful for these children that the Lord has given me this school year. Please pray that I will teach them well and that I will daily show them the love of Christ by my words and actions. Pray that they may know hope and that they may have a future in both Christ's kingdom and this kingdom of Thailand.

A Day of Rejoicing

This last year in Thailand I discovered something silly that is actually very important to me. I realized it by noticing the fact that it was lacking in our household. Well, we technically had one, but one that was sorely disappointing. As much as a couch, yes a couch, could be disappointing ours certainly was. It was made of a plastic type material which did not breath at all, which when living in Thailand is quite a problem. It had large rips that were duct taped together, it was hard, but worst of all it stank. So, the picture of curling up on the couch for morning devotions, or to read, to watch a movie, or visit with friends just sounded miserable. We ended up sitting on our floor all the time and our couch was turned into a bookshelf.
As, superficial as it is a new couch became an object that we all greatly desired. However, the thought of spending the money to attain our heart's desire was something that we all couldn't really justify. When two of our roommates left for good, the reality of purchasing diminished as the cost went up. (We had looked at couches but just couldn't decide if we needed one or if so which one would be best.) A couch became to us a symbol and an analogy for some of our heart's greatest desires. We would say that someday the Lord would bring us a couch (literally and figuratively). We all have been learning how to put our hearts into God's hands and commit fully, whatever lies ahead. I, for one, sometimes have a hard time trusting God's plans and that He really does know what I desire and need, and not only that but that He grants the desires of our hearts and provides for our needs. Months ago I put the couch situation in God's hands trusting that He saw our desire and that He would answer, although in His time. Recently, I have been challenged to focus on Christ as the all sufficient one, and on the fact that He alone can satisfy my heart's desires.
Upon arriving back in Thailand, the thought and desire for a new couch came up several times. Two days ago I even told my roommate Amy that I thought we should stop by one of the shops on the road to school and ask how much for one of their couch/chair things. OK so enough background story, hopefully you understand where we are coming from.
Two days ago our gate bell (similar to a door bell) rang and I peeked out the front door to see our landlady coming up to the door. Honestly, my first thought was, "Oh, no. She is coming for rent and we don't have the money." (Our boss gives us money for rent each month and we pass it on to her.) I answered the door and greeted her politely. She started out in Thai and I thought that she said she was going to switch the sofa. I asked to clarify and she said that yes our couch was may dii (not good) and so she was going to change it. It was about to storm so we made a plan for her to come back the next day at four. When we pulled up to our house at four o'clock she was standing outside (unusual punctuality for Thai culture) with her husband and two Thai workers. In about fifteen minutes they had removed our gross bookshelf (couch) and replaced it with.......a beautiful, soft, clean, non-smelly couch. Better than I could have hoped for. So this is on the surface meant to share about our great new couch (and kind landlady). But more than that I hope you see answered prayer and that God knows the desires of our hearts, big and small. That while it may not always seem like it God is always working and He knows how to give good gifts to His children because of His extravagant love. May I never forget that in good times or bad with a gross couch or a beautiful one He is the all sufficient one and therefore all I will ever need.