Today has been a good day. I slept in. Actually I forced myself to sleep until 10:00 so that I would then have at least 7 hours of sleep. I woke up for the first time at 5:00 this morning! It is sort of annoying that my body has a hard time sleeping in on Sunday’s when I normally don’t go to bed until 2 to 3 in the morning. On the flip side, I also do not mind because it also means that I am becoming a morning person again. Something that I have been working on for the last 20 months! I got up, got dressed, ate, went to school, got some recipes of the internet (found a great new recipe website that I love--http://www.recipezaar.com), worked for a few hours on school stuff and now have all of my lesson plans and weekly overviews ready to hand into Grace for the rest of the year. One the way home from school, I stopped at E-mart to pick-up some tomato sauce and a few wedding gifts. I came home, did laundry, cleaned, and then made enchiladas and completed the first step for making refried beans (my first ever attempt to make refried beans—normally I just open a can) for the dinner party Pam and I are having tomorrow (We have invited 4 ladies over for dinner). On top of all that I am now writing this Rambling which means I will get to bed late…but I would say that I have used the past 13 hours fairly well. Wow…now there was some great run-on sentences in that paragraph! I hope you were able to keep up with my train of thought.
I was doing the math a few weeks ago and I have now been in the Korea right at 21 months. I am getting closer to 2 years all the time! Within a month of being here God clearly placed on my heart that I would be here 3 years. Now, did that mean only 3 years? Or at least 3 years? I have no idea; He still hasn’t clued me in yet. However, if it is indeed just 3 years in Korea…then I am nearly 2/3 of the way done with my time here! It also means that I might have hit my mid-tour point. It also means that if I leave at the end of my third school year…there are many people who are at the Hospitality House that will say goodbye to me…not me saying goodbye to them. And it also means that any new faces that come after August will also say goodbye to me and not me to them. That is just crazy! Of course, God might have me here longer than three years…but I must admit my mind has started contemplating these things. I am also seriously seeking the Lord on what He wants me to do and am starting to look into my options if God did mean only 3 years in Korea. And yes Mommie, one of those options is returning to the States…maybe not Texas…but there is a program working with the behaviorally challenged kids that I am looking into. I love my job here in Korea, but I must admit that it is hard to find alternative international schools. I would like to live overseas a little longer…but I am not sure if that is what God has for me or not! There is a lot more I am contemplating…but I’ll stop now. If you really want to hear all the things that my brain is contemplating and that I am looking into and praying about…shoot me an e-mail. I do respond well to letters from people.
If I am indeed in Korea for only 3 years, it also means that I need to start getting things put together for the math department, and cheerleading, and discipleship, and other things so that I have something to pass on to the person after me. Our school is still very much in the foundational stages. The math department was not in bad shape when I got here, I just have been working a lot on the standards and such…and the math standards needed some help! Well, they still need some tweaking, but I am working through them and I think I should have something fairly solid put together by the end of next year.
Sort of on this same track, but not really…my time in Korea has felt like a wilderness experience spiritually. During high school and even through college I felt so close to the Lord. Now, I still love Him, and am getting to know Him better, and am serving Him, but He does not seem as close. It is hard to describe. Despite this, I have been pressing in to Him, particularly this past year. I am still processing all that God is saying to me…but it seems that in the last month in particular He has really been speaking to me. He is starting to answer a lot of the questions I have been asking and waiting for answers. I have come to a few conclusions. The more I get to know the Lord, the more I realize and know at a heart level and in a real way just how messed up I am! This is a good thing as long as I don’t allow it to distance myself from the Lord. The more I see how messed up I am, there is a temptation to pull away from the Lord because I don’t measure up. I don’t deserve His love. I don’t deserve His grace. I don’t deserve to be able to enter into His presence. But you see, it is not about ME. It is all about Him. He came for the “ragamuffins” as an author in a book I am reading describes us. I need Him. There is not a single area in my life that I can handle. Any success that I have experienced is only because of His power and character in my life. I love the fact that He is really showing me how messed up I am. And while at times I am sad to admit that I have allowed what He has revealed to keep me from Him, but what a blessing it is to realize just how much I need Him. There is also freedom in not trying to maintain this outward face as having it “all together”. There is freedom in recognizing yourself for who you are. Then you don’t waste a lot of energy trying to hide what you really are or what you want others to see. Anyhow, this probably does not make sense and I have been Skyping my sister Alicia while writing this entire paragraph…further dooming it to not making a whole lot of sense.
I will share more of what God is teaching me when I am not multi-tasking, something I am horrible at! The weather Korea has been awesome this week. It has been sunny during the day with a breeze. You could wear shorts and be comfortable in the afternoon…but by late evening pants and a light jacket are necessary. Everything is turning green and flowers are blooming everywhere. I do enjoy this season in Korea and am enjoying the beauty while it is here. I need to buy some sunglasses in the very near future!
Oh…I didn’t get to wear my sari this weekend liked I had hoped. I tried for an hour to get it wrapped around me correctly and failed. I finally quickly threw on another dress I had and ran out the door so I would not miss the bus for Seoul. My week was good last week. It was good even though I hardly taught all week.
One of my MANY attempts to wrap the sari correctly!Okay…so I have been chatting to my sister almost the entire time I have tried to write this Rambling! One of these days she will not be online when I am attempting to write. I know it is not the best so I will quite now. Anyhow, sorry for the multi-tasking letter and I promise to soon write when I am not distracted.
Until next time,
Amber
Below is a quick photo journal of my past week!
Tuesday—Independence Hall Field Trip
Wednesday—Traditional Korean Dress and Korean Feast Day…they are cuter than my kids!
Thursday--Suwon Folk Village Field Trip--it was packed!
Friday--Soccer Tournament. These second graders attended the cheer camp in October and supported our girls team by saying the cheer they learned over and over. Aren't they the best? The future cheerleaders of ICS-Pyongteak.
Saturday--NICS Banquet at the Dragon Hill in Seoul. The Dragon Hill is a hotel on base that has beautiful landscaping and GRASS(rare in Korea)! We enjoyed the beauty of this courtyard area very much!
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