Today was the final exam for math. Everything went smoothly ... most of the kids said that the test was easy (which it should've been if they studied their review sheet). A couple kids stayed right until the end, but not because it was difficult. I started in 5B, reading the questions aloud, then went to my other three classes. As time was finishing, I went back to 5B and found one of my students crying. He doesn't understand English very well and struggles socially. Throughout the year I've made sure to help him as much as possible, working with his mom too who is very supportive and teaches him at home. I confess that I forgot how much he would need help reading the questions ... after drying up his tears, I helped him through the last couple problems and then the test was finished.
After I picked up the exams from the principal, who counts the tests and signs for them, I started grading. A couple teachers offered to help and I gave them the True/False, Multiple Choice, and Matching sections. They were the same teachers who helped me during the midterms, so it was easy for us to work out an efficient system to get everything graded. After they finished their sections, I graded the solving section and totaled up the scores. They checked the scores with a calculator and we were done by 2pm. I spent the next hour helping other teachers (which included signing papers for John who couldn't really write with his fingers taped together) until all the grades were submitted to the c.c. He gave John and I a ride home. After Hannah and I filled each other in on our day, I scrambled to get ready as we left for a "Caribbean" party at the Bishop's! It was our last big team bash before Hannah, John, and Mary head off for the States. We took the party to the roof where the Bishop's grilled beef and chicken skewers and served tropical drinks. The kids splashed in the pool and we lounged around...
Fun team pics...
Zephie's lookin' good:
Once we'd cleaned up dinner and the kids were in bed, we played a geography trivia game and the name game. Girls totally beat the boys! After it was dark, Andy set up a projector on the roof and we started a late night movie. The mosquitoes were pretty bad though, so we moved inside.
Popcorn, Girl Scout Cookies, Pineapple Upside-Down Cake ... our team knows how to eat it up! The movie finished around 2am and Andy and Lisa drove us home (while Adam stayed with the kids). Definitely a night to remember!!!
Friday, May 24th:
It was hard to get up this morning, but I wanted to go to fellowship and see everyone again. The lesson in 1 Peter was really encouraging as we continue to discuss what it means to be in Christ and how this identity shapes our conduct (rather than focusing on our conduct to shape who we are). In a world where appearances are everything, and everything is shameful - from putting on chapstick in public to laughing out-loud - it is good to remember that we are well-beloved, we are complete in Christ. His gain is our gain. We looked at the way people around us invest so much of themselves in football (Are you for Barcelona or Real Madrid?) because this gives them a sense of identity. They can associate with something outside themselves ... when their team wins, they feel a measure of personal glory for themselves. As Christians, our end is to glorify God. When He is glorified, we ought to be so closely identified with Him that we sense this glory ourselves.
Another point that was brought up is the fact that God looks on us as we are meant to be. It is easy to focus on our weaknesses and short-comings and feel that somehow we have failed. In reality, God is glorified in our lives and sees us as completely perfect in His Son. An analogy was given - after struggling with a certain employee, a fellow expat realized that the characteristics that cause so many problems (independence, ingenuity, efficiency) are the traits that will make this employee the manager of the company someday. When he told this to the employee, the employee was dumb-founded and went back to his work with a different attitude. We are like this employee. It is easy to think that no one appreciates who we are, that who we are only causes us grief, and that we are relegated to the tasks no one else can/will do, but in God's eyes we have a place of honor. He looks on us as sons and daughters, people of value and worth. And the things He places in my life are to help me "reach my potential." God brings trials and temptations into our lives so that we can become what He intends us to be, so that we can overcome. How we come through the trial is not up to us because we are assured the victory in Christ. Christ's victory on the cross is our victory. The glory He now has and will have, is ours too. As we live out our lives, wrapped up in His life, we continue the cycle, bringing glory to Him. Someday, whether it is acknowledged here or not, "every knee will bow and every tongue confess" and all will "glorify God."
As a self-perfecter, I need to be reminded of this (often) as my tendency is to focus on what I am not, rather than on what I am going to be (and already am in God's eyes). I know what I should be, but I constantly feel the burden to get there myself. And when I see the flesh that still lies in me, I'm depressed and discouraged ... I must not have done enough; I must not have come through that lesson; I won't ever be enough. But when my eyes are fixed on God's glory and the confidence that my gain is found in His gain and in His glory, then I don't need to fear my failings.
I stayed afterwards and chatted with everyone over snacks. A couple of the girls and I taxied together (I dropped them off and went on home). I took a long nap, and then the Nelson's, Hannah and I went to Texas Chicken for dinner. After Henry went to bed, Hannah and I went over to the Nelson's for games.
