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.