10 days...

I can't believe I only have 10 days left in Peru. It really, honestly doesn't feel real. Praise God, I don't feel super stressed, yes, I am very busy and tired and am doing a lot, but it is getting done. I don't feel like I have so much to do and it won't get done, so that's definitely a blessings. We have 3 more days of school. On Friday I plan on giving my kiddos their goodbye presents (class pictures decorated with their names and a note along with a pencil and a snack) and saying goodbye, I will see them again at the Clausaura on Wed., but I may or may not get to see them all and I want to be sure to say goodbye. Oh man...thinking about saying goobye...I try not to  think about it too much. This weekend we have a wedding on Saturday and Sunday is our last weekend at church and Mary's goodbye party. Monday we have to go in to school to clean/decorate for the clausaura (final program) and Monday evening we (the teachers) are leaving for la Raya (a place 4 hours away where there are hot springs) and we will get back Tuesday evening. Wed. we will have to go to school in the morning to prep and then the Clausara is at 4. Thurs. we are supposed to go to school and clean everything up and we are planning to have the teachers over for lunch to say goodbye. Then, we fly out Fri. morning at 9:10 :O Busy...no? ;P There's some more things I wish I had time for...but I just don't think there will be. Prayers for me in this time would be great. I just need to focus on one day at a time and all the amazing things God has planned for it.

The one that Jesus loves

Each week we have a meeting of the missionaries from EMM. We usually study a book. Our current book is called "What's so Amazing about Grace." In one chapter he discussed how John describes himself as the one whom Jesus loves. We really should describe ourdelves in the same way. So often we define ourselves by our jobs, our frienships, our families, or our overall sucess...the problem with that? We aren't perfect and cannot be, so we will always mess up and that will affect how we then view ourselves. It is so much better to just simply define ourselves as the one that Jesus loves. Trust me, this is definitely something I need to work on, but it is so freeing; it takes away so much pressure. God gives us all this freedom and we sometimes still choose to live bound, I have no idea why...

"She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what He said."

"As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.  She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said.  But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”
    “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things,  but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
~Luke 10:38-42

In three weeks I will be back in the United States. It's hard to believe. I am feeling a mix of emotions. On one hand, I am very excited to see my friends and family. It is also the end of the school year, and I am feeling kind of worn out and could use a break. On the other hand, it is going to be so hard to say goodbye to my kiddos and all of the amazing people I have grown close to this year. This past week I found myself thinking about all this a lot. It was consuming my mind, which was no good. God gave me a picture. It was of a girl dancing, happily, in a field. Things started to be thrown at her which hindered her from dancing. Then the things stopped coming, but the girl could still not dance because she was too worried that the objects would come back. God showed me that I need to focus on one day at a time and all of the amazing things that He has in store for that day. And to take the time to sit at His feet in the midst of craziness (like Mary).