the effects of kindness

Parent Teacher Conferences took place the last 2 days. 18 conferences later I am done! I did not particularly enjoy conferences last year. In a lot of ways I had to prove myself as a new teacher. This year though because I have already have a relationship with the majority of my parents just from going out to dinner with them, going to birthday parties, or just talking with them for a few minutes after school, they already know me and I think they know that I genuinely love their students and want them to succeed. It was so much fun just to sit and laugh with them about their student's behavior and to encourage them about improvements they had made even in these 2 short months.

One parent (let's not beat around the bush...she is my favorite parent to talk to) told me over and over again how much she appreciates me and loves me. She just kept saying, "you are so kind!" over and over and over. After she left the next parent came in and said how much her son loved me because of all the kindness I have shown him. For about 2 minutes I was walking pretty tall and I felt pretty good until I remembered that the only reason I am kind is because of the kindness God has shown to me. Just that morning I had been praying over my conferences and praying that God would be glorified in them, that Christ would shine through me. How encouraging to see that my prayer was answered. God was glorified when they recognized His Kindness being poured out onto their children. I am just humbled to think that he chose me to be the vessel to minister to these students and their parents. Be praying for continued relationships and conversations.

This last month this particular worship song has been the cry of my heart for what I want my life to look like. I hope it blesses you as it has me!

truly blessed with a miracle!

I don't know how to describe what I experienced this weekend! On Saturday I went to get a Lasik eye operation. It was a long day. I had a pre-op appointment from 10:00-1:30 and then I came back for my actual surgical appointment at 4:30. By 5:15 I was out of the operating room and I could see! :) I began to cry with joy because I can see! God blessed me with a miracle this weekend! I no longer need contacts or glasses. I came back from the center at around 6:00 that evening. I took 2 Valium, went to bed and woke up the next morning and went back to the center. When I went back, they took off my eye shields and I was just amazed by what I could see. They tested my eyes and I can see 20/20! I feel so blessed to have this opportunity. I now know the joy the blind felt when Christ healed them.
  I cannot shower for a week (I have to go get my hair washed.), I can't sweat, I can't rub my eyes, and I have eye drops I have to put in 4 times a day. Because I am not allowed to wash my hair, I decided to go to the salon and get my haircut. So now I have new eyes, a new haircut, and I am ready for a new week with my students. I have observations with my administrators and parent teacher conferences coming up. It will be a stressful two weeks but every time I look around now, I am reminded of God's goodness, faithfulness, provision, and His working in miracles big and small in my life.
"And my God will supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus!" Phil. 4:19

On my own again

So my two weeks with my family has come and gone. They are back and settling into life in Pennsylvania again and I am getting back into my routine of long tutoring days, going to the gym, and paying for my own dinner! :) To say I was nervous about their trip would be an understatement. I was worried about my roommates being upset about my family "invading" our house. I was worried about my parents (student's parents) being upset that I canceled tutoring for 2 weeks. I was worried my mom and Adam were going to hate it, they were going to get stranded somewhere, they would get sick from the food, they couldn't handle the heat, etc, etc, etc. How fitting that I should be listening to a sermon right before they came about the sin of worry and its effects on our lives.

Their visit was better than I ever expected. It started out a little rocky. My mom was pretty sick in the beginning from the plane ride and I think nerves. I was super grumpy because I was working so hard to get everything done and ready for them to come that I was barely sleeping and running myself ragid. I think Adam and my dad were a little worried in the beginning about how everything was going to play out. I think I didn't get out of my "grumpy funk" until we went to Krabi.

That first day all I did was sleep. I slept in the van ride from the airport to the hotel and I slept in the chair next to the pool. I was so exhausted. That night I was laying in bed and God brought the story of Mary and Martha to my mind. I have never liked that story. My middle name is Martha and it always bothered me that I was named after the one who did not take the time to spend time with Christ. She was the one who Christ gently rebukes and who Christ has to remind that sometimes it is better to sit in the quiet with him than to be working and doing. I think it is fitting that I was named after her though because I can see this trait in my life. I am a do-er. I work and work and work to get things done, I do things for others to help them out, but it is not often that I simply sit and be still with the Lord. I know that there needs to be a balance and I need to work to find it. I had been working and working and working to make sure that my parents and brother were having a good time that I never stopped to spend good, quality time with them. I started instead to focus on enjoying the time I had with them instead of working to make sure they were having a good time.

Krabi was super beautiful! We went snorkeling and we went kayaking through mangrove tree forest. I think that this was my favorite thing I have done in my entire life! The beauty cannot be justified in pictures. As I was rowing though it made me so sad to think that this beauty is the fingerprints of God. These Thai tour guides got to see the beauty of God displayed before them in a powerful way everyday and yet they did not see Him. They saw rocks, trees, monkeys, but they did not see a Creator God. It breaks my heart to think that this is true of my students also. Thailand is a beautiful place and I was able to fall in love with it again when I saw my mom and adam experience it for the first time. But this beautiful place is so dark sometimes.

"For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse." Romans 1:20