The past four days have been a cycle of taking one thing at a time. Everything seems overwhelming. By the end of the day, I don't really remember what I've done.
Here are some of the highlights:
* Time with my friend. We went to the fish restaurant for lunch and had a spiritually encouraging conversation.
* Tuesday evening, I had girl night by myself. In Sarah's honor I ate an extra brownie and finished off the moose munch that I'd been saving from Mom's visit. :)
* I've exercised a lot and enjoyed time in the sunshine.
* One night we had team time on the roof around a campfire.
* One of my students brought over a pizza on Thursday. I think she wanted to cheer me up, knowing that my roommate is gone :)
At school, I've had a break-through with 6B. Whenever I walk in, they swarm me with requests to go to the cafeteria, go to the bathroom, questions about homework. The other day I asked them to tell me how I would be greeted if I'd been invited into their home. "Miss, we would get you a drink of water." "Ask you to sit down." "Ask if you wanted anything." Then I asked if they would brush by me and tell me that they needed to go to the market for something. They looked surprised. "Of course not." I explained that walking into their classroom is like walking into their home. One of the students immediately jumped up and shook my hand, pretending to kiss me on my cheeks in the traditional manner. The class had a good laugh, but I think they grasped the idea. The next day they let me walk into the room and get settled before asking questions. Several of them had thought about what I said and remarked, "Miss, it's like we've invited you to come and teach us math and we need to show you that we want you to share math with us. Just like we would want to listen to you if we invited you to our house."
This week has ended Phase 3, so there has been plenty of grading to do. Thankfully it is all completed and my students showed improvement since the beginning of the year.
Most evenings I've been able to Skype with Mom and we have had a one or two hour therapy session. God is teaching me a lot right now, but I haven't had time to fully comprehend it, so I'll have to share later.
Fellowship was encouraging as we continued our study in Daniel. Chapter 8 is the revelation to Daniel about the future of the temple and the terrible things to come after his time. We talked about what difficult truth means to us. First, how we relate it to others, especially in this cultural setting where bad things just aren't talked about and it is okay to lie in order to spare someone bad news. Second, we were encouraged that we can continue about the king's business because we know, even through difficult circumstances, that God is still God. The disciples heard the worst news imaginable in their minds, but their response revealed that they didn't understand the Father's purpose. May we learn to respond with an understanding of the things of the Lord, believing that all things are brought about for the glory of God.
Funny note from home:
One day Caleb decided to wear Mom's shoes to school. She asked him, "Caleb, do you know those shoes have pink on them?" "Yeah, but they fit me and they're comfortable." When she picked him up for school, he mentioned that another boy from school had made a comment about the shoes, pointing out the pink in total disgust. Mom hesitantly asked him how he'd responded. Caleb imitated the way he'd looked at the boy, then said, "Duh! Breast cancer?!" What a character! LOL
