A bit of our fourth grade chapel.

Each year every elementary class is responsible for one chapel. This year the elementary is learning about the fruit of the Spirit, and we were in charge of Peace. It was alot of work and by the end I was exhausted, but I'm so thankful for the opportunity.
This clip is just a piece of our chapel. It's adapted from the book Sneetches by Mr. Seuss. But I thought a lot of you back home would love to be able to see my kids in action. They're brilliant actors :) and I was so impressed by all the work that they put into this. We as a class learned alot about Peace and hope that we were able to pass some of that knowledge onto the rest of the school.
Thanks for all your prayers back at home!

Filipiniana Week.

Mabuhay! Welcome to Filipiniana week! The elementary celebrates the Philippines and the Filipino culture every October. It's a week of festivities and filled with cultural experiences.

Monday morning started off with a ceremony where all the classes came up on the stage and the teachers smashed a clay pot (kind of like a pinata).

The kids are excited and ready for the flying candy.

The clay pot. Whacking like it a pinata seems kind of dangerous.

Then the blindfold you... awesome

... and in front of the whole school. I had to turn on my unagi ;)

Whack! I got it on my fourth swing.

The kids went crazy! It was so funny to see them going crazy.

And then for lunch another Filipino school came to join us. The Faith kids brought lunches for the other kids and then they were supposed to show the kids around the playground and teach them their favorite games. It was absolutely amazing to see these kids pour their hearts out to this school. Alot of the kids from this other school were living in an orphanage or were squatter kids and so they've lived hard lives. My 9 and 10 year olds were paired up with some kids who were in 2nd grade but were 12 years old! Seriously though, I have never been so proud of kids before. At the end of the day my class felt so good. They went on and on about how much fun they had with the kids and giving them lunch. It was so fun to see their smiling faces.

It reminded me of a little girl long time ago who took a trip to Mexico with her family. She had never felt so proud of the work she was doing even though all she did was pass out tomatoes to the squatter camps. I think that trip planted a seed which eventually led me to overseas missions. There is nothing like a toothless smile on a kid who has just experienced the love of Jesus Christ. I'm so glad I was able to share that with my class this week.

The kids were a little overwhelmed at first. Faith kids are in blue, the other school is in yellow!

A Prayer.

Why do I doubt? You have always answered my prayers and yet I am always taken aback. I've been asking you for months about a place to live and for someone to share that with. God you are so faithful and you have answered both of these prayers. Thank you for reminding me how wonderful and giving you are.

Lord thank you for friends to get together with. Even though I may not have a family here, and when I miss having siblings around I am blessed with friends to share special occasions with. Please continue to send people into my life to encourage and fellowship with. There is no other time when I feel your love more than when I am with others who love you as I do and are worshipping you with their lives. Please bless the families here in the Philippines for the sacrifices they have made to be here, and the people they have touched.

Please continue to make me into a more devoted servant. I am here to serve you, and I want to touch the lives of my students. Please give me the wisdom to pass on to them, and so I may better serve you. Teach me what it is like to be a disciplined devoted servant. Give me discipline. Show me my weaknesses so that I may better serve you.

You are always faithful Lord and I am learning to depend on you with everything that I have and with my future.

"We're depending on God;

He's everything we need.

What's more, our hearts brim with joy

since we're taken for our own His holy name.

Love us, God, with all you've got-

that's what we're depending on (Psalm 33: 20-22)."

In your precious holy name, Amen.