Eight Days and Counting...

So, I've had some big news for a few weeks now. Some of you know it, some don't. I was actually waiting for confirmation of some paperwork that is needed, but since there is only eight days, I will mention my news anyway.

I got a job!!

I am moving to the other side of Canada (west coast) because I will be teaching in a Christian school - what I've wanted to do since I originally went back to university back in 2002!

Although school only starts on September 6 (the same as it does here), I do have to be there for August 31 because there is new teacher orientation that day and the next. From what I'm told, there are five of us new teachers who will be there (me, two from Alberta, one from Ontario, and one from Southern BC). I wanted to go about a week early so that I can get settled and have a chance to get to know my way around. I also need to take care of things like getting my drivers license changed over, setting up a bank account, etc.

I am trusting God in the details, and even though I haven't had confirmation of the paperwork (a BC teaching license), I took a step of faith and bought my plane ticket and have contacted a rental place about an apartment I've seen online (yes, there were some pics of the interior and exterior). I am hoping and praying that I get the license without having to take some courses to upgrade to what they want (if it's not the same as here), or at least permission to teach if I do need to take some courses. Like I said though, I'm trusting God with all the details.

This all happened quite quickly. I applied for the job on a Friday afternoon. I had applied for a couple of other jobs in another province (at Christian schools), but hadn't heard anything from them so I thought I'd give it a shot (I had debated on applying for this job for a week before I actually applied). I thought I would never know if this is what God wants for me if I don't even try - it's not like the school would come looking for me...anyway, the following Monday I got a call to say the position I had applied for (grade 1-2 split class) had been filled, but they had a position for a grade 3-4 split class with the possibility of it becoming straight grade 4, and asked if I'd be interested in that. I said yes, and was then asked if they could call me back an hour later to interview me on the phone!

By Tuesday afternoon, I had the job and officially accepted it Wednesday!

So, in eight days I will begin a new chapter in my life. There is a lot to do between now and then, but I'm not worried. I'm trying to go through some things to decide whether or not to take them (mostly clothes) as I'll have to end up getting most everything else (household items) when I get there. We figure it would be cheaper in the long run to do that than to hire a moving van and take everything out to the opposite end of the country.

Well, that's my news! Praise God for answered prayer!

Waiting

So, by reading my previous post (and some of the other ones as of late) you know that I've mentioned how I don't feel that God has been speaking to me, or working in my life.

Yesterday, Sunday, I woke up still in a bad mood, still a little depressed. The evening before I was driving home and had the radio on the local Christian station. They were playing one of those count-down/request type shows and the DJ (do they still call them that?) was telling about a girl who had been suicidal and that if God loved her and cared about, He'd have to tell her. The next morning she woke up and turned the radio on and there was a song playing (they mentioned which one it was, but it's unfamiliar to me) that talked about God loving someone. I told God that if He cared at all about my situation, and that He hadn't forgotten about me and was still working in my life, then He'd have to do something than other than having a song play on the radio.

Yesterday at church was a little difficult for me. It was a great service, but I found it hard to focus and concentrate. I don't want to say I scoffed at the message, but I was annoyed with it because it seemed like the pastor kept talking about things that don't concern me (i.e. marriage, kids, etc.).  I'll even go so far as to say I was a little emotional during the service. I've had a hard several days prior to the service, and I think I was just stressed out and it came out in emotions I hate expressing in public. 

So, to make a long story short, I realized that God was using Pastor J's sermon to speak to me - to tell me to keep waiting on Him, and even though it might take longer than I would like, He is sill with me and I need to wait for His perfect timing. To be honest, I even "felt" like something is going to happen soon. I hope it does - but if it doesn't, I hope that I don't sink back into the funk I was in lately.

Everything in the sermon yesterday, as well as the verse from Psalms that I mention previously, are all pointing to me to just put my hope in God and not in the world, to wait on Him. So, that is what I'm am really going to try and do...but I do know, I can't do it on my own - I need the Lord to help me!

Thank you God for still caring about me, for still loving me, and for still having a plan for my life - even when I don't feel you do.

Prayer Request

I am a supply teacher.  I have my teaching license and am qualified to teach.  I just don't have the permanent job yet.  It's something every new teacher has to go through.  I'm working on getting my foot in the door, and when I visit a school, I leave a business card with my info on it at the office, and with the teacher I fill in for.  I hope that by doing this I will get more calls.


The month of January was difficult for me.  I only had about three days in total for the month; it's kind of difficult to pay the bills with so little work.  I'll admit I felt somewhat depressed about it, and could sense a spiritual battle going on as well.  Definitely not fun.


Since joining a small group/Bible study, I get asked every week if I've been getting any work.  It's nice when I can say that I have been, but it makes me feel like a "loser" when I don't get any - especially with a full-time teacher and another supply teacher (who has been getting a lot of work) in the group.


Last week we were asked to share a piece of good news and bad/not so good news with the group (if we wanted to).  I told them that, at that point, I had worked that day and had been booked to work Thursday as well (I ended up working this past Friday, too).  Not only did I have a couple days of work that week, but I had also been booked for this coming entire week!  That's the first time I've been booked for an entire week, and a week in advance!  The group was happy for me, because it has been an ongoing prayer request of mine - to get more work, especially since student loans are coming due soon.  In that sense, prayers have been answered, but this will be an ongoing prayer request until I can get a permanent classroom of my own (that is also a prayer request I have).


I'm looking forward to the full week of work.  I'll admit the pay cheque is going to be nice.  I've been to this particular school a couple of times already, and the only thing that I don't look forward to is the fact it is a middle school.  I really don't like working with this age group; my preferred group would be from kindergarten to grade three as being ideal for me.  However, at this point in time, I can't be too choosey.


So, with this post, I am asking for prayers for this coming week that I can do a great job, that the kids are good and listen to me, that they don't give me too hard of a time, and that I don't lose my marbles!  If you can remember to pray every day, I'd appreciate it.  If you can only pray once, I'd appreciate that too.  I appreciate any and all prayer I get.

I Wonder Why...

This semester seems to be more difficult for me. I can't seem to get my focus or motivation up, and when I do, it doesn't last very long. The only thing I can think of that is causing this would be the fact that I only had four days of vacation over the Christmas break. The rest of the time (2 1/2 weeks) I worked.

Today in Sunday school the pastor (he teaches the class) asked if we needed any prayer and I had mentioned this fact to him, about not being able to focus, and he prayed for me. That was good. Also, we went over the Armor of God and he had mentioned at one point that we should pray before things happen during our day - if we have a meeting to go to, if we are going to meet up with someone, if we have school work to do, if there is a lot of work to get done, or anything at all. He said it's a good idea to pray in the morning (or before you face the particular situation) and ask for God to help guide your steps along the way.

Tonight before I tackled some of my homework (which I had been struggling to do all afternoon), I prayed for God to help me focus on what I needed to do. It worked. I got my article read and am ready to do the one page "report" on it. It's not due until Tuesday though, so I might wait until tomorrow to work at it. I also need to find some research on Gender Separation in classrooms for my group presentation this coming Wednesday.

My group met last week to figure out what we were going to do for our presentation. We've figured out how we're going to go about presenting (mostly involve the class and have them present what they find out from info we give them) and who is going to do what part. For my part, I am in charge of the scenarios. We are going to present two different scenarios and have them come up with ideas of what they would do or not do if they were faced with that particular situation, and why. So, what I'd like is to have some info to contribute somewhat (give facts or something, i.e. 'studies show that...').

We have another group meeting tomorrow afternoon and I found some articles on the subject, but I don't know if they will work with the scenarios. I'm just afraid that the others in the group are going to think that I'm not doing anything (with regard to research and doing my part well enough). It just seems like I'm the only one struggling with this. And the fact that I can't focus just makes things feel worse...so, I am going to pray about it again.

Dear Lord,
I pray that you will help me to focus on my studies. Please help me to stop procrastinating and to get some motivation. Help me to do my work as though I'm doing it to present to you and not my professor and fellow classmates. In Jesus name, amen.

Annyong Haseyo

The title of my post is Korean for hello. So, annyong haseyo everyone!


Things have been better since my last post. In fact, the next morning I was much better and the feeling of homesickness was gone. I've been keeping busy with work, and I'm sure that has helped. However, I did a lot of praying that night and I know that definitely helped! God heard my cries and helped me get over my homesickness. Yay God!


This week we have had three days off from work - actually, we have one more day left to our holiday. Today, September 25 is Chuseok here in Korea, and that is their version of Thanksgiving. So, after working Saturday morning for three classes, I have had a holiday. It's great to have this time off to help relax.

Yesterday Sarah, Lorie, myself and Tiffany and Katherine (two other ESL teachers here in Yesan) went to a bigger city called Chonan (I'm never sure how to spell it because I've seen different spellings for it). We went to an English movie with Korean subtitles, and it was ok. The movie was Irish, and was called "Once". It wasn't too bad, though I didn't find there was really a plot. The best thing about the movie was the music, and that was written and performed by the two main characters from the movie. I want to see if there is a CD available with the songs on them because I quite enjoyed those.

I thought I'd include a couple of pictures here. To the right is the view up way on my street here in Yesan. It is empty today because of Chuseok. Normally the street (which is smallish) is crowded with parked cars (on both sides none the less) and many people walking about. It's not too loud and noisy though, but you can hear noise from there in the apartments at times.
For comparison, here is a street in Chonan, yesterday. I would think that things were pretty quiet there today for Chuseok...maybe not, though. I suppose they could have had a festival or something. I honestly don't know though. It doesn't look like a lot of people in that picture, but trust me, there were tons of people out on the streets in Chonan yesteday.

At any rate, I'll try to post some more pictures at another time to show you my adventures in Korea!

Day Four - Or Is It Five?

Well, we have been in orientation now for three days and so far it's not going too bad. We've had some lectures on things such as how to teach English in Korean schools, Conversatonal English, Co-teaching, being an ESL teacher...it's been interesting but nothing too exciting.

On Sunday we went to a Korean Folk Village. That was pretty interesting. It is a village done up to show and tell about the Korean history and culture, with replicas of the types of houses the Korean's lived in, their lifestyles, etc. It is fully a working village and has actual people planting and raising crops, taking care of animals, etc. As I said, it was pretty interesting. There was only one thing that really ruined this trip for me and that was the heat. It was so uncomfortably hot! I don't normally do well in heat, so I'm surprised I didn't totally faint or anything. I had about 4 bottles of water during the course of our stay there (about 5 hours), and a slushie which was really refreshing! My stomach was turned from the smells of the food being cooked in the eating area so I didn't have anything to eat. I was also not really hungry because of the heat but I had a couple of cookies to help me get by.

I've actually not been eating a lot - not because I don't like the food or anything, but because of the heat. I just haven't felt like eating. I've tried a little of the Korean food - Kim Chi, which was too spicy for my liking, and some kind of vegetable dumpling things (don't know what they are called). There was a couple of other things, but can't remember what they were. Today was special, food wise. For supper they served spaghetti and french fries, among other items to choose from. I was so excited to eat "real" food - not that I haven't eaten it already this week. They have salads of different kinds, lots of fruit, cereal and scrambled eggs at breakfast, chicken wings, and some other items I can't recall offhand.

Tonight we're going to a movie they are showing in the auditorium in one of the university buildings. It's a Korean movie with Englih subtitles, and I hope it will be good. We went to one last Friday night as well, and that was rather enjoyable.

I've had an answer to prayer today. We met a couple of other Christians at orientation, and they informed us that they've met other Christians here too. I was beginning to think that we were the only Christians here. Two of the Christians are assigned to the same province we are assigned to, but I don't know about the others. We don't know if we'll be in the same city or not though because we only find that out at the end of the orientation.

Please keep praying for my back as it is still bothering me. It is getting better, and is generally the most stiff and painful when I wake up in the morning or if I've been sitting any length of time. I'm getting better walking without the muscles clenching up and can also walk a little faster. I'm still praying for healing, and I know that God can heal me.

Well, we'll probably be heading to the movie very soon so I'm going to sign off for now. Have a blessed and Christ-filled day!