Repeat

Well, it's universal...kids say surprising things. Here are some of the highlights from today...

It started off this morning with one of my little girls as we lined up in the hallway to go to class. She asked me in Thai, "Teacher, for Christmas, what are you going to give your children?" (Meaning my little band of five and six years olds.) My thoughts...1) What! It's only August and 2) Most Thai people don't even celebrate Christmas...where did that come from? Although our kids did start randomly humming/singing Christmas carols at least a month ago.

During English class I asked my kids if they knew what today was. After they replied "Tuesday," which is normally a pretty good answer, I told them that it was Miss Brittany's birthday. They didn't understand in English and instead of just saying the word in Thai I decided to sing a bit of "Happy Birthday" which was actually just as effective, they caught on quickly. Brittany told me later that they went up to her during break time, sang "Happy Birthday," and gave her hugs.

My kids have been struggling to pass a math facts speed test for a couple weeks now. The first student passed last week and this week another of my students finally passed. The other students sat a little sullen as they failed, yet again, to complete the test in the allotted time. I could see the disappointment on their faces, yet out of their sadness one of the little girls looks at the two students who passed the test and says to each of them in a sweet voice speaking in English "Good job. Good job." I was so proud of her.

My kids have been struggling with how to be good friends, with including everyone and being kind to each other. I have a hard time combating this as I can only talk with them a little about it. We had a discussion as were lining up for lunch because we were having some problems in the classroom. As we were eating I heard them start talking about it again. I turned around from the table I was at to look at them so I could focus on what they were saying because I was concerned the conversation of ten minutes ago had been forgotten. So as I watched them, sure they were about to start fighting, I saw them all put their hands in the middle of the table on top of each other's after the fashion of a sports team about to yell "break." They said something in Thai and threw their hands into the air broad smiles on their faces. They showed such unity which I was quite thankful for.

After lunch as my kids were once again lining up in the hallway, one of my little girls was filling my water bottle for me, as she came back another of my students said (in English) "Thank you, dear." You can always tell what you say a lot when your kids start to repeat it. I got another taste of that a couple minutes later when we were upstairs going to computer class. Walking into the class I realized that I had left my computer vocabulary flashcards downstairs. I did say out loud, "Oh, darn." (I know, what a terrible example). One of my students was at that time walking behind me and said, "Oh, darn." It was then that I remembered, they will repeat, even when they don't understand. I don't know why the repeat button was turned on today, but it sure was.

Just thought I'd share a couple of stories from the day, moments that made me smile and laugh out loud. I never cease to be amazed at what my kids say in Thai or English. I'm thankful they are becoming confident enough in English to speak it on their own initiative and in different situations. I'm also thankful for their character development, I pray they continue to grow in love, selflessness, and encouragement for each other.

Friendship

Yesterday was a bit of a sad day for me. Sad for several reasons actually but all having to do with friendship. The feelings of sadness began to wash over me in the morning and just continued throughout the day. It was a quiet day at school, I just had four of my kids. During phonics as we were working through a sheet coloring only the pictures that began with the letter d, I noticed one of my little girls looked on the verge of tears. I gave the other girls instructions and took this particular little girl out in the hallway where I asked if she was okay and she proceeded to burst into sobs...not tears...sobs. She gasped out that one of the other little girls had taken her pink pencil, it shook her world. As I wiped her tears away and told her it would be okay, I saw myself in her. She was trying so hard to hold in her hurt and never had any intention of telling her friend about the hurt she had caused. After a little while, we walked back into our classroom where I gave some more instructions and then took the other little girl into the hallway. I proceeded to talk to her about the situation, after which she ran in and swapped pencils with my broken hearted girl. As I looked at them both sitting side by side not quite at peace with each other, wisdom from a dear friend came to me. I never really learned how to communicate with others effectively about feelings and hurts...it is something that only recently I've been learning because of this very loving friend. We've had some practice hurting each other, stewing while trying to hide the pain, then sitting down and talking through it, usually involving tears. The amazing thing is that after our conversations our friendship is so much stronger and we are able to keep moving on together. It would be quite unhealthy if we just stuffed our feelings down inside and weren't able to communicate them with each other.

Because of what I've been learning I tried to help my girls begin to learn how to communicate with each other after they had been hurt. It is just a beginning but hopefully they will learn how to lovingly and gently use unfortunately painful situations to strengthen and build their friendships instead of letting them be torn down.

The sadness came when thinking about these beautiful friendships and the truth that because of life circumstances and callings, friends who you depend on being near end up far away. To me, goodbyes are one of the most difficult things about life, and they break my heart.

The following song by Watermark fits perfectly with some some people I am so thankful to have in my life. Cherish friendships like these as long as the Lord sees fit to bless you with them.

"Something brought you to my mind today
I thought about the funny ways you make me laugh
And yet I feel like it's okay to cry with you
Something about just being with you
When I leave I feel like I've been near God
And that's the way it ought to be...

CHORUS:
'Cause you've been more than a friend to me
You fight off my enemies
'Cause you've spoken Truth over my life
And you'll never know what it means to me
Just to know you've been on your knees for me
Oh, you have blessed my life
More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah
More than you'll ever know, yeah, yeah, yeah

You had faith, when I had none
You prayed God would bring me a brand new song
When I didn't think I could find the strength to sing
And all the while I'm hoping that I'll
Do the kind of praying for you that you've done for me
And that's the way it ought to be...

You have carried me
You have taken upon a burden that wasn't your own
And may the blessing return to you
A hundredfold, oh yeah...
A hundredfold, oh yeah..."

"More Than You'll Ever Know" by Watermark

Unmoving

You know, this week it hit me again. Hit me hard. So hard that I was ashamed, ashamed to have needed to be reminded.

Reminded of the cross... and what exactly Christ's blood bought. I sometimes think, "Sure, we're saved." "Yeah, God has given us grace." "Of course it's great that we don't have to pay the price for our sin." WHAT! What am I thinking?!? How cheaply do I view the agony and blood of Jesus Christ?

"We are not servants to the penalty for our sin, but that guilt and penalty have been removed at the cross." When I truly think about it, I deserve to suffer. I deserve to feel terrible for the countless times I sin. But I don't have to, because Christ did all that suffering for me. Why? Why, would He do that?

Because... I am so depraved that there is no way, ever, that I could make up for my sins. No matter what rituals I complete, what sacrifices I make, or what merit making things I attempt I can never succeed. God knew that so HE sent righteousness to me to meet this need. Righteousness in the form of His son.

"The Spirit of God and the absence of an attitude of defeat go hand in hand." Am I sinful? Yes. Do I sometimes live in the flesh? Yes. On the cross, did Jesus condemn sin in the flesh? Yes. Does that mean that I am not bound to my flesh and the defeat it brings? Yes.

"We do not fulfill the law by walking in the Spirit instead of the flesh, but God fulfills the law in us when we walk after the Spirit of God." I was amazed yet again, by the craziness of this. I can't save myself...I don't even have to try. When we believe in Christ and the work He did on the cross we receive righteousness and a new life. We don't have to walk a life of flesh, we are not bound to it. The way that we do live, in view of the truth, shows others the Spirit of God.

You know, all this amazes me. That God would do this for sinful people... Why would He care to send us righteousness? Why does He want to redeem us? What are His motives?

I can only think of one...

Love.

One of my favorites songs has the words: "When did love become unmoving? When did love become unconsuming?" (You Can Have Me by Sidewalk Prophets)

When did it?

This week I had to think about that...love of this magnitude...why I am unmoved? Do I really think that God desires to save me because of all I would do for Him? Or because I would understand the depth of His love and respond appropriately? No. He knew I wouldn't understand, He knew I would never do amazing things for Him, He knew I would never love Him as He deserved. It didn't matter though, because He loved me that much. He loves you that much too. Do you believe that? Are you moved? Are you consumed?

* Quotes from King James Version Bible Commentary on Romans 8

Days of Our Lives

It's been awhile since I've posted anything, I've been working on a few posts that just are not ready for public consumption yet. In the meantime, I thought I'd show you some pictures of what my students have been up to recently and share a couple stories about what has been going on in our 1st Grade Classroom.

Science...an excuse to play in mud...right? Well, we were learning but there was a little bit of playing involved. What's it worth being a kid if you can't get a little messy?

Story of the Day: Every morning when we troop in from assembly where my sweet students sing the national anthem extremely loudly and often off key we start the day with milk box in hand. We always pray the same little prayer and the students pray it with me. Today as we finished with, "...And thank you for each other." My little boy looks at me and says, while doing the motions, "head and shoulders?" As if asking if that is what we were saying. Oddly enough it did kinda sound the same as "each other."While I think it is a wonderful thing to thank God for our heads and shoulders I explained to the class that we were saying thank you for everyone in our room. I proceeded to say "Thank you God for _______" inserting every one's names. After I had finished one of my little girls blurted out, "Thank you God, Miss Emily!" It made my heart smile.

Today I had my "counselling" class, a required Thai government class which I teach more like Sunday School. We talked about how God loves us when we are good or bad, a point which was a little bit hard to get across. Today in a mix of English and Thai with some help from my class we got the point across that God loves us very much no matter what we do. The one who actually most clearly understood and said correctly in Thai was one of my little girls who comes from a Buddhist background. I never cease to be amazed with how God works.

I wanted to share this picture of my class taken just after we made our beautiful "God Loves Me!" necklaces. The looks on their faces in this picture are good snapshots of their personalities. I'd like to say that my sole male student is doing our Bible verse hand motion for Jesus Christ but I'm pretty sure he's just karate chopping something. I wouldn't have it any other way. Please continue to pray for understanding for the kids as we are really trying to intentionally and clearly share the Gospel with them.

So, as the middle of the term draws near, the numbers of mosquitoes increase, and the heat actually subsides a bit we keep on keeping on. I continue learning how to love others, teach my students, and seek after God each day.

Pressing On

I learned something about life from one of my little girls this week. It happened like this...
This student can do and will do her work, but it just takes her a little bit longer than the rest of her classmates. During this particular math class when the students were working on independent worksheets she would continually read me the problem in English in hopes that I would help her figure out the answer. Now she is perfectly capable of doing the work on her own, it is just easier and faster (she thinks) if she asks me. So, several times I responded to her by telling her in English and in Thai to think carefully and do the work herself. On maybe the sixth occasion of me saying that I was finishing up with another student and was just about to go over to see what progress she was making. As I went over, her head was down, and I could see that she was crying. My heart went out to her remembering times when I felt similarly frustrated. I sat down with her, rubbed her back, and told her she could do it (in Thai). I let her sit for just a minute or so and then said, "Are you ready?"(in English) to which she responded emphatically, "Yes!"(in English) She then proceeded to work with more focus and energy than she had all day. She finished her work in record time. I was just so surprised by her response. I don't know what I expected, maybe moping, maybe more tears, maybe a struggle. But she just overcame her emotions and frustrations and carried on in a joyful and determined manner. I think I need to be a bit more like that. "...I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14

Thank You!

Thank you all for your prayers, love, and support. You are a part of bringing the hope of Jesus to these precious children! We would not be where we are without all of you. Please take one minute to watch this video...to see these beautiful children... and to pray for their futures.

(Click on the button on the far right with two arrows to see video in full screen.)

Refuge

It began with a typical rainy season thunder storm which deceives by starting slowly but then suddenly pouring water from the heavens. After running outside to rescue shoes from drowning, I stood on our porch as the water cascaded down so close yet not touching me. And in that moment I thought, "This is it...this is what it feels like to be secure, perfectly content, and peaceful in the shelter of His wings." Gazing out into the storm that embodied both danger and life realizing that life's storms are quite similar. In life sometimes, I feel very much caught in a raging storm out from under the safety of my porch. All the while not realizing that I have the choice to step from the deluge into the refuge of the Lord. Sometimes, I focus on the wind whipping the trees to and fro and don't notice the light blue in the distance promising sunshine once again. Actual rain brings life to thirsty creatures, growth to miles of rice fields, and for a little while relief from the heat. Spiritual rainstorms also bring life to thirsty souls and grow faith and trust in the Lord.

~Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, for my soul takes refuge in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by. ~ Psalm 57:1