First two weeks of inservice

Peru.

This word carries thousands of pictures, faces, words, scenes, and feelings in my mind when I'm not here. Those who have lived outside of the USA can probably identify. Now I'm back, and the images of home are those which haunt me. I'm so glad we can lean on God. His presense and His Word sustain us no matter where we go!

When I was preparing to leave the States for Peru for the 6th time (that is counting the time I came back for my sister's wedding ;) earlier this month, I wasn't excited about saying good-bye to my family and friends. One, I was a little apprehensive about the possibility of a new position at the school that would involve more responsibility and require more of me. Two, I was saddened by the thought of leaving family members again and close friends. But I know God wants me here. I was and am certain of it. When I arrived at the Lima airport, I had the uncanny feeling that I had never left. That was perhaps due to the amount of time I had spent there in December. ;) And it didn't take long before my feelings of sentimentality and sadness changed to match my thoughts. "Yes, I am in the right place. I know this is where God wants me. I am glad to be back."

I had been a little bummed that I had chosen to fly back on Thursday with a 7 hour lay-over in Houston. Most of the other teachers were flying on Friday or Saturday. However, as it turns out, my friend Katrina was able to postpone a short trip she was making to pick me up from the airport, take me back to her house, introduce me to her new boyfriend, and treat me to lunch! We got to catch up; what an encouragement! And as it turned out, I realized after I arrived that I needed to move all of my things from the house I was staying in before I left back to the teachers' house. I wouldn't have had time to do that and organize everything if I had come back on Friday or Saturday. God knows what He is doing!

I found out on Saturday that I was not going to be taking a new position at the school, because there was no one to teach 5th grade. Although I had been excited about a new opportunity--Relief flooded me!

On Monday our entire school staff headed out for a retreat. We had nine spiritual emphasis sessions with topics like "The Mind of Christ" and "Having a Biblical Worldview." We also had team building games and great bonding time!

Thursday and Friday we began work at school. Many of us were assigned to committees for revision of handbooks for parents, personel, and academics.

The next week our work on committes continued as well as work in our classrooms and on our computers--lesson plans!

This week we have POM (Parent Orientation Meetings). Please pray they will go smoothly, and that we would be able to connect well with the parents in order to establish long-lasting, spiritually relevant relationships.