And another step here. . . tonight I (started) moved across the hall into a 2-bedroom apartment - Jenfer, my best friend, moves in with me completely tomorrow. It's exciting, I'm excited to have someone to talk to. There are some things I will miss a little bit about being alone in the apartment. A lot of things in life feel temporary to me at the moment. . . teaching, living in VA, etc. . . Yet in other ways there are a lot of things I want to hold on to - my new friends in the area, my parents' relatively good health (I'm a little worried about my dad's knee), my brother not being in the military.
Teaching has been going really well. Week one, down! My classes are mostly really good, except for my first year class which is just so big I don't have a good feel/read on them yet.
Thanks to a great gift, this might be my new favorite song: Which Way your heart will go - Mason Jennings. If you've never checked out Mason's music, you should.
have a great day.
God surprises us in the most amazing ways.
I have gotten bad about blogging lately and it's a little late tonight . . . but just a quick update.
I am excited and a little anxious about the schoolyear (just anxious because I still have a lot to do before Tues. morning!) The staff is overall so positive and great. I really hope the kids appreciate being in a new school and how hard the staff has worked.
Last night was the first football game. Great turnout. I saw many students who were surprising to me in many ways. . . but one in particular. My favorite student from last year, she is the sweetest, most upbeat kid. So we were exchanging greetings and I asked her how her summer was, and she replied that it had been bad. I of course asked why, and she told me how her best friend had committed suicide shortly after the schoolyear ended and right before she went to visit him. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. How could this have happened to this sweet girl. She was obviously changed by it, matured unfortunately by life's hardship in her path. I wanted to hug her (more) and take her somewhere and talk about it, but that was not the place. Point being, I feel so blessed in knowing that I am an important adult in her life (as evidenced by later parts of that and other conversations), and that she can trust me and hopefully I can nurture her through my love for her through Christ and help her this year. I know that Christ will give me my cross to bear, my constant new duties, wherever I am, and as easy as my job may be in some ways sometimes.
I am also so blessed to have made close new friends at my new school!! I adore them :) and we have been hanging out almost every night this week. So fun, I love those ladies and it's nice to have close new relationships with some people my age as well as my older co-workers who I consider my friends but it's not like we'd go have a beer together. Jenfer moves in next week - aaaaaaahhhhhhhh I am so excited - it almost makes the first week of school seem like a subtext to these larger things in my life. (Maybe God is building me up for the hard work he will give me to do in my job in the year ahead. . . we'll see)
I am thinking very seriously about traveling in Europe next summer. I just read up online last night about spending some time in Taize - I would love that - I should maybe talk to some pastor about that? Additionally I think I would love to go to Italy - a kind of goodbye to t hat strong passion in one sense. I will not be taking students. I don't know whom I will go with - I wish it were safer and not so lonely to travel alone.
Life is Good.
