Junior High

I can't even remember how long this has been going on... [a year? does anyone know? is that pathetic I can't recall?]

Junior High-ers have a class on Sunday mornings at Chinese fellowship and Drewbs and I get to trade off as teacher.

Attendance is super low and irregular, and our Chinese overseers have structured the group more like a school class. Yet, in [...however long it's been going on] we've made a few thirteen year-old friends. 

You know what we're going for here? 

1. Meet felt needs at our fellowship (just do whatever they want us to do! how they want us to do it!)

2. Let some thirteen year-old kids know that they're loved (be pals!)

3. Plant tiny seeds and trust these will grow.

The main thing I've learned in the past few months is that our relationships are way more significant than lesson content. Perhaps because our overseers structured it like a class, and we wanted to teach well, initially we gauged success based on how well the students participated and grasped the material. Forget that. Now to us, success is -- Did we chat? Did we get to know somebody better? Did we listen well? Did our friendship increase?

Ms. Zhang is our nice boss. It's an honor to work beside her.

She likes to give us all kinds of homemade Chinese snacks like spicy pickled radish.

Ok! Here's the last thing I must tell you. 

THIS WEEK vbs English camp is happening at Chinese fellowship; it's our second year [amazing that I was able to remember that huh?]. This week I teach M, T, R, F all morning. Roughly 98% of the students are from families not involved in fellowship. So again, planting tiny seeds and trusting these will grow. That's our petition! Please keep our lovely students in mind.

counting the graces

thank you Father for

pleasant early morning breezes

moment of sudden clarity

it just struck me today that I get to be a mother of three kids! wow! what a significant and joyful job I have every day long into the future

tibetan earrings

day off from teaching vbs tomorrow

teamwork at chinese fellowship, pulling off this vbs together

learning, practicing submission to overseers

first-ever homemade grape juice

visit from maggie of the butterfly home

reading a print newspaper