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5/17/2009 The End is NEAR... How is that for an encouraging title? :o) I just realized that my last post was five months ago exactly...I am pretty pathetic at this whole thing, or I am just so busy that I don't have time to think about it...I'll let you decide! It is amazing that my last post was about winning the soccer championship, which of course, on Guam is a HUGE thing. Well, we have done other things, some just as big, others on their way to bigness... The Lord has really blessed this year with giving victory in sports. Our tennis teams came out 1 and 2 on island, the middle school guys and girls won first, and the girls soccer team won second. We all know that first is a more "braggable", but when you come from an almost winless season to winning second place, there really is nothing to complain about. And just last night, our guys volleyball team won second place...if you would have told me last year that they would be able to accomplish that, I would have laughed at you, really! I just sat through our Baccalaureate service...my fourth as a teacher. This year, however, means so much more. This year I get to watch "my kids" walk down the isle and get their diplomas. The same kids who sat as scrawny, immature little freshman my first year are now not scrawny (for the most part), somewhat more mature, almost adults. I have seen them grow up, make right choices, learn from bad ones... I have seen them grow as a class...grow in their abilities and talents in music, sports, academics...and just in life in general. I am in no way admitting that they are portraits of perfection, but recipients of grace, most definitely. It is often easy to get irritated or frustrated with consistent bad choices. But I have had to learn that just as I am, Lord willing, becoming more like Him everyday, learning from my mistakes, growing through trials, so are they. I am so thankful for the opportunities that the Lord gives to be involved in ministry, whether full-time or not. I am thankful for opportunities to invest in people, to see them change, to see them grow, to see them become more like Christ, or even just to be more open to the the Gospel. I have been reminded that it is not my job to convince them to be saved, to grow, to change, but to be an example to them. It is my job to be obedient to God, to be transparent and to let them see that I need God as much as I tell them that they do. I am leaving here in less than three weeks, and as I do, I hope that I leave something behind. I hope that when my students think of me, that they think of someone who cared for them, who loved them enough to show them Christ. I am not foolish enough to think that everyone of the seniors that will walk across the stage and receive a diploma has also received Christ as his Savior...but I would like to think that maybe I planted or maybe even watered a seed that will someday spring up into a heart that realizes its need for a Savior. |
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