In the meantime...

Some of you that actually check this blog are probably wondering where the next day is on my journal of the vacation that Grace and I took this past summer. Well, if you see I like posting pictures that go along with this journey to help document what the things that we did look like. Well, the next day tells the story behind our trip to Universal Studios and I had the unfortunate luck to get my camera very wet. So most of my pictures turned out through what looks like fog. Our friend Cheryl has a bunch of pictures of the day since she got to go with us and so I am waiting for her to send me the pictures...but in the meantime I thought that I would post a few of the things that have been going on here. You know one thing that I like to do sometimes is grip, but usually not on here. I like saving this for the things that God is doing in my life rather than the things that I really need His help on...and that is where I am right now. This is going to be some gripping but mainly it is to be used as a prayer. If you would like to join me in praying for the things that are in this blog, believe me, I could sure use it.


This past week was my Fall break. We had the entire week off and several teachers got to go to other countries around the area. I have chosen to put close to $900 a month onto my student loans so taking that kind of a trip is rather tough at this point. So I had the wonderful time of spending the week working on things like my plastic canvas art, cleaning, putting my home theater together. You know the basics. But towards the end of the week I just really hit a whirlpool and struggled with just about everything. I started not feeling well and so I missed church. And I really like this church. I hope to video tape it some day so that you all can see what church I'm going to.



It really hit me that this school just has me bending over backwards and forwards just trying to keep my head above water and I'm suppose to be thankful for this. Let me try and explain...starting in Nov. we will begin putting our soccer teams together. There are both boys and girls teams in the following categories (under) 18, (under 16), (under 14). They do not pay their coaches here, and so there is very few teachers who want to give up their precious valuable free time to coach one of these teams. Which means that I get to coach all six...I also have been spared this past quarter from being on one of the curriculum teams...we are getting accredited this year and so we have to have all this information. I also am a new teacher here and so even though I have lesson plans for the whole year different school use different programs and so this school uses something called Rubicon which just takes FOREVER to do anything on. Then we also are a school that wants the students to assess themselves, and since we want the students to do that, why not the teachers as well. All teachers old and new have to fill out this long self-assessment by the end of Fall break, which I haven't even looked at yet. Then I thought you know what maybe I could do this at home during break...good thought right...WRONG. The internet connection at my house is terrible...sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Most of the time it takes 10 minutes to open up a page...and sometimes certain web sites never come up. So working from home is not really an option.

I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Lord never gives us things that we can't handle, BUT, and it's a big but, it's one of the biggest buts you'll ever read about. BUT, it is really close at this point. You just got done reading about my insane schedule, but please remember that I am also still new to this country and am struggling trying to get used to being in 100+ degree heat every day. I go home to a house that is normally in the 70's back in the states, but here it is low 90's inside my house. My cable that I bought is scrambled most days and so I get worked up over not being able to watch things just to take me away. I also bought a car here and have yet to have it for an extended period of time without something wrong happening to it. Even now it is still overheating and I am just not having fun with it. I know that I will only have it till the end of next year, where I can hopefully sell it outside the school and make a good profit on it. I know this seems like a lot, and it usually is. I'm just used to being able to go to people and either talk about this stuff or vent or whatever, but there is no one here to be able to do that to. Grace, my wonderful girlfriend, and I just celebrated our one-year anniversary. I have never dated someone this long and I had to celebrate this from a long way away. The week before this splendid day we talked and decided that she will be staying in Korea for at least the next year to help out in the transition of leadership there. I am 100% behind this because this is where she feels God is leading her...doesn't help the human side of me. I already miss her a lot and making this work for another year will be hard, but I know that if the is in Gods plan He will let it happen.

It just feels as though things and events and just stuff is being piled on all at the same time. And I go to bed every night feeling guilty for my thoughts and feelings about either my reactions with Grace, or the happenings at school, and I know that it wasn't any one thing that gets to me. I know it's the heat and the life here in Khartoum that just adds to the frustration level and so my level of tension already starts out pretty high, and who ends up getting hurt or who do I end up making feel worse...the ones that I love the most. The ones that are already praying for me everyday, the ones that really miss me as well and want whats best for me. To those people I offer my deepest apology and only pray that they understand that I never mean anything personal by the things I say. I get frustrated by a computer that won't allow me to talk clearly to the people I love. I do have an amazing time of peace and solice when Grace and I have our "date nights". Grace and I send each other copies of a show called McLeods Daughters which is kind of like a soap opera that takes place in Australia on a farm...it is a great show and I have enjoyed getting into it. Grace and I would watch one or two episodes a night when we lived in Korea, but now we don't have that luxury. But on our date nights we will press play at the same time and watch an episode together...it really is nice. I will go back and watch it again just to remember those feelings. It's not the same obviously, because we are not in the same room, however, with the way things are for now...it'll have to do.

So please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I try and take each of these things head on...you know I once heard someone say "Go home. Write down all the things that you worry about. Ninety percent will never happen, and the other ten percent you can't do anything about that stuff anyway." But right now it feels like the other way around...

I leave you with one of my favorite bible versus that sometimes gets me through times like this... Jer. 29:11 "For I know the plan I have for you, says the Lord. Plans to give you a future and not to harm you."

Peace out...Later on