I found this quote as I was randomly flipping through my old Bible. Someone mentioned it at some camp event or something, and I scribbled it down on a scrap of an old post-it note, and shoved it between a couple of pages between the introduction and the marriage/death page.
The quote has made me think a lot - it IS all about the person you're becoming. The quote rings with passion and excitement to me. God's not too concerned about what pants I wear, but WHO I am. And he loves ms too much to leave me unchanged. Everything happens for a reason, and the things that happen NOW are probably God's way of preparing me for something else in the future.
My thought process ties in with a couple of books that I've been reading recently - one I skim through every 6 months when I'm home, and the author talks about Christianity being something involving passion and excitement. Life is meant to be enjoyed, not suffered through. He talks about his daughter going off and doing crazy things, and her family (grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles) kept telling her to settle down and go to university. The author says that his daughter kept changing countries and jobs and missions until she fell totally, head over heels, in love with Jesus.
I guess I identify with his daughter a little bit. I did when I left, and I still do. There's something that makes me want the excitement and passion of living with abandon. Why not? What's there to lose?
The "getting out of the boat" feeling is similar to walking off of a cliff, and unfortunately , it's quite addictive. If you know that God's going to catch you, why not? What is there to lose?
Life is a process, and I want to enjoy it. There's no place that I could possibly be that God won't catch me. I want to become and be, and sometimes that takes you far away, and sometimes it moves you closer to home. In my case, I'm rather terrified to move home, and THAT just might be the getting out of the boat this time.
It's not about who you are, but who you are changing to be.
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
Monday, December 27, 2004
Tsunami Thailand
So, the Tsunami hits Thailand, and EVERYONE freaks out. I'm not even kidding.
I had phone calls today from people I didn't even know knew that I was in Thailand - they were checking to make sure that I was ok, and my people were ok, and that this was no where near my school.
Yes, I am ok. I am ok because I am in Canada. My friends are ok, mostly because God saved them from an untimely death. Alright, entirely because God saved them from an untimely death. Now that I know that my friends are safe, now my mind wanders to the other people I know who are affected - the people at church who were going on holidays, family of the Thai staff at school, the STUDENTS who regularly vaccation in those islands....
It seems like one of those things that might possibly get worse before it gets better.
It also seems like one of those things that makes you realize how much other people know about your life! It's neat to know that parents of my highschool friends will call my house, just to make sure that I am safe, and in one piece. I guess it's encouraging to hear from all these people who suddenly make the connection.
So, to end this - thanks if you've phoned (or emailed), I'm fine, and please continue to pray for this event. I have no idea how this is going to affect the school, but it undoubtedly will.
I had phone calls today from people I didn't even know knew that I was in Thailand - they were checking to make sure that I was ok, and my people were ok, and that this was no where near my school.
Yes, I am ok. I am ok because I am in Canada. My friends are ok, mostly because God saved them from an untimely death. Alright, entirely because God saved them from an untimely death. Now that I know that my friends are safe, now my mind wanders to the other people I know who are affected - the people at church who were going on holidays, family of the Thai staff at school, the STUDENTS who regularly vaccation in those islands....
It seems like one of those things that might possibly get worse before it gets better.
It also seems like one of those things that makes you realize how much other people know about your life! It's neat to know that parents of my highschool friends will call my house, just to make sure that I am safe, and in one piece. I guess it's encouraging to hear from all these people who suddenly make the connection.
So, to end this - thanks if you've phoned (or emailed), I'm fine, and please continue to pray for this event. I have no idea how this is going to affect the school, but it undoubtedly will.
Quoteable Quote
- It's harder to lose all your ducks if you don't put them all in one row. (thanks Kenn)
Monday, December 20, 2004
Christmas is all about Jesus
Wow, guys! I'm sorry it's taken so long to actually post again here. Time goes SO fast!
Last week, Deona (the other K3 teacher) and I decided that our goal for the week was to have the kids understand WHY Christmas is important. It turned out to be a much more difficult task than I anticipated. You see, it's easy to get them to RECITE what happened to make Christmas special, but I still don't think that they UNDERSTAND. Maybe that's just because they're 5 years old, and their minds can't put all the details together yet. Even though they don't put it all together, it's really amazing to see their minds start to match the details.
In the course of the week, there were some precious moments - here are a few you might enjoy:
- Mean came up to me one day and asked "Miss Rachel -- baby Jesus-- boy or girl?" It was cool to see him (in his very limited English) connect the dots in his own head.
- We did a worksheet one day on the wisemen, and it had the kids brainstorm and draw gifts that they would give to Jesus. One of my girls, Mee-mee, drew a big heart. It made me wonder if she really understood the story.
- We started advent calendars with all the kids - something they don't do in Thailand. Each student had their own calendar, and every morning, we would give a new sticker for them to put on the day. After, we would count how many days to Jesus' birthday. It was really neat to see them get really excited about Jesus having a birthday. Month would hop up and down from one foot to to the other and ask, "Miss Rachel, 12 day, and then Jesus' birthday Miss Rachel?" Seven would just jump up and down and clap his hands. Their excitement was contagious, and I found myself getting excited about it too. On the Friday before school was let out, we made a cake in class and ate it at the end of the day. We even sang Happy Birthday. That was pretty cool too. I've never done that before.
On Thursday, we had a break from regular school, and went to Safari World. It was SO much fun! Field trips like that are always a little bit hectic, but it was pretty fun. We divided the kids into groups, and I had Nat, Mind and Month. They all stuck pretty close to me, and ended up in the same postions every time -- Mind on my left, Month holding my right hand, and Nat with her hand dug into my back pocket so she wouldn't get left behind. The funniest part about that is that she kept playing with m cell phone, which was in the same pocket. THAT feels funny.
We saw some cool stuff though -- some dolphins and beluga whales, and some sea lions. It struck me again how amazing God's creation is.
And now, I am home! It's strange to be on the other side of the world again, but at the same time, it's so normal. Things go on here -- Eric still has to work, Steven is still bored, Lisa still feeds her horses every morning. Some things change too -- Cora is engaged, Mark and Melissa are moving closer to home, and Robbyn has a new job.
Being here makes me really thankful for the time I spend with my 11 kids, and it also makes me appreciate all my family and friends here.
Merry Christmas! May God bless you richly in the coming year! And remember, Christmas is all about Jesus.
Last week, Deona (the other K3 teacher) and I decided that our goal for the week was to have the kids understand WHY Christmas is important. It turned out to be a much more difficult task than I anticipated. You see, it's easy to get them to RECITE what happened to make Christmas special, but I still don't think that they UNDERSTAND. Maybe that's just because they're 5 years old, and their minds can't put all the details together yet. Even though they don't put it all together, it's really amazing to see their minds start to match the details.
In the course of the week, there were some precious moments - here are a few you might enjoy:
- Mean came up to me one day and asked "Miss Rachel -- baby Jesus-- boy or girl?" It was cool to see him (in his very limited English) connect the dots in his own head.
- We did a worksheet one day on the wisemen, and it had the kids brainstorm and draw gifts that they would give to Jesus. One of my girls, Mee-mee, drew a big heart. It made me wonder if she really understood the story.
- We started advent calendars with all the kids - something they don't do in Thailand. Each student had their own calendar, and every morning, we would give a new sticker for them to put on the day. After, we would count how many days to Jesus' birthday. It was really neat to see them get really excited about Jesus having a birthday. Month would hop up and down from one foot to to the other and ask, "Miss Rachel, 12 day, and then Jesus' birthday Miss Rachel?" Seven would just jump up and down and clap his hands. Their excitement was contagious, and I found myself getting excited about it too. On the Friday before school was let out, we made a cake in class and ate it at the end of the day. We even sang Happy Birthday. That was pretty cool too. I've never done that before.
On Thursday, we had a break from regular school, and went to Safari World. It was SO much fun! Field trips like that are always a little bit hectic, but it was pretty fun. We divided the kids into groups, and I had Nat, Mind and Month. They all stuck pretty close to me, and ended up in the same postions every time -- Mind on my left, Month holding my right hand, and Nat with her hand dug into my back pocket so she wouldn't get left behind. The funniest part about that is that she kept playing with m cell phone, which was in the same pocket. THAT feels funny.
We saw some cool stuff though -- some dolphins and beluga whales, and some sea lions. It struck me again how amazing God's creation is.
And now, I am home! It's strange to be on the other side of the world again, but at the same time, it's so normal. Things go on here -- Eric still has to work, Steven is still bored, Lisa still feeds her horses every morning. Some things change too -- Cora is engaged, Mark and Melissa are moving closer to home, and Robbyn has a new job.
Being here makes me really thankful for the time I spend with my 11 kids, and it also makes me appreciate all my family and friends here.
Merry Christmas! May God bless you richly in the coming year! And remember, Christmas is all about Jesus.
Saturday, December 11, 2004
Strange things happen when there's stress in the workplace...
Ok, so this week has officially been the strangest week ever. We're working on Christmas programs, dances, and performances. It's a little bit hectic, and more frustrating than everything else. (maybe because you spend an hour every day trying to coordinate 25 5-year-old feet to move the same way at the same time...)
Strange things happen when you all try to pull something like this off.
For example -- a couple of days ago Kristin was making clouds for our program with cotton batting, and it turned into a cotton fight, and the cotton stuck to everyone's shirts. And then i went to 7-11, and had a big cotton ball stuck on my front pocket of my GES shirt.
Today is officially the second Christmas program night, which means that I did mine yesterday. Yesterday was a little bit of a crazy day -- I spent an hour before the program getting everyone organized and into their WHITE angel costumes. And then Por's Mom comes in carrying a box of pizza. GREAT!! Now that they're into their white costumes, give the boys pizza and pepsi. that's a great plan. I left before I found out if anyone spilt. I didn't want to be the one trying to sort that mess out.
The evening program turned out ok -- for some reason, half of the kids forgot EVERY dance move Deona and I taught, and then ended up crouched on the ground for half of it. I guess it's the thought that counts, right?
All in all, this year's performance went better than last year. The kindergarten program was done by 6:30. (that beats last year's time of 9:00!!!!) Afterwards, we all worked out our stress by walking down to 7-11 in costume for icecream, and singing to Ut (the fruitshake lady) and the people at 7-11. (see!! strange things happen....)
And the Thai dance this year??? Well, seven of us have spent hours in the last two days sitting in front of our thai makeup "artists", who have decided that we are much more beautiful with pasty white skin, black eyebrows, loads of pink eyeshadow, and bright red lipstick. Today we wore our dance dresses all day. It felt a little strange to be parading around in traditional thai outfits. To make it just that little bit stranger though, Sue has decided to take us out on tour tomorrow, and we are being forced/coerced/shoved (whatever you want to call it. we can't get out of it, and so i guess it's forced) into performing at the local Jusco (it's a big mall). Yeah. Can you hear the excitement in my voice? It's ok to make a fool of myself at school, but now we're on camera, and we get to perform it for all of Thailand. That's just wonderful. Oh well. Good publicity. or something like that.
Anyway, I should get going. I'm supposed to be eating cafeteria food outside with everyone else. (can you hear the excitement in my voice??)
have a good one!
Strange things happen when you all try to pull something like this off.
For example -- a couple of days ago Kristin was making clouds for our program with cotton batting, and it turned into a cotton fight, and the cotton stuck to everyone's shirts. And then i went to 7-11, and had a big cotton ball stuck on my front pocket of my GES shirt.
Today is officially the second Christmas program night, which means that I did mine yesterday. Yesterday was a little bit of a crazy day -- I spent an hour before the program getting everyone organized and into their WHITE angel costumes. And then Por's Mom comes in carrying a box of pizza. GREAT!! Now that they're into their white costumes, give the boys pizza and pepsi. that's a great plan. I left before I found out if anyone spilt. I didn't want to be the one trying to sort that mess out.
The evening program turned out ok -- for some reason, half of the kids forgot EVERY dance move Deona and I taught, and then ended up crouched on the ground for half of it. I guess it's the thought that counts, right?
All in all, this year's performance went better than last year. The kindergarten program was done by 6:30. (that beats last year's time of 9:00!!!!) Afterwards, we all worked out our stress by walking down to 7-11 in costume for icecream, and singing to Ut (the fruitshake lady) and the people at 7-11. (see!! strange things happen....)
And the Thai dance this year??? Well, seven of us have spent hours in the last two days sitting in front of our thai makeup "artists", who have decided that we are much more beautiful with pasty white skin, black eyebrows, loads of pink eyeshadow, and bright red lipstick. Today we wore our dance dresses all day. It felt a little strange to be parading around in traditional thai outfits. To make it just that little bit stranger though, Sue has decided to take us out on tour tomorrow, and we are being forced/coerced/shoved (whatever you want to call it. we can't get out of it, and so i guess it's forced) into performing at the local Jusco (it's a big mall). Yeah. Can you hear the excitement in my voice? It's ok to make a fool of myself at school, but now we're on camera, and we get to perform it for all of Thailand. That's just wonderful. Oh well. Good publicity. or something like that.
Anyway, I should get going. I'm supposed to be eating cafeteria food outside with everyone else. (can you hear the excitement in my voice??)
have a good one!
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
Welcome!
Ok, so i found out about this today, and it seems like a good thing to do. Especially because I'm on the other side of the world, and this might be a whole lot easier than trying to email everyone updates (which I'm terrible at). Maybe if I just have to write it once, it will be easier to keep in touch...
Let's try.
Enjoy!
Ratch
Let's try.
Enjoy!
Ratch
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