March Madness!

With basketball and softball games, basketball practice, PJ day, grading, conferences, craft days and parties, church searching, staring term 4, getting "hit" by a car, and all the other normal responsibilities of being a teacher, spouse, and friend, I would say that March has for sure been one of our craziest months so far. Even though we didn't have that much more of a load than normal, we have been going without a break since Christmas pretty much! 3 months is a lonngggg time for us teachers and for our precious students :)
Needless to say, we are looking forward to our spring break coming up this Friday! For those of you who don't know, we're headed off to Turkey and Greece to follow Paul's 2nd missionary journey! We are SO excited for a break and of course to see and learn all about a place we have never been! When we get back we'll be finishing up term 4, celebrating our birthdays Indo style, and then heading to our home(s) in the States on June 8th! I can't believe how fast this year has gone. It has been incredible and challenging. Even though, we are definitely looking forward to the summer with family and great friends (and FRESH air ... and good FOOD .. and sunshine ...) - I know that we will be excited to come back to our home here. It's amazing the peace and joy you feel when you believe you're doing what the Lord wants! This promise has really reigned true lately {from Psalm 37}

Trust in the LORD and do good;

dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.

Take delight in the LORD,

and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Commit your way to the LORD;

trust in him and he will do this:

He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,

your vindication like the noonday sun.

Be still before the LORD

and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when people succeed in their ways,

when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Refrain from anger and turn from wrath;

do not fret—it leads only to evil.

For those who are evil will be destroyed,

but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land

I hope those words encourage you like they do me :)

Before I sign off for now, here are some pictures from our pajama/reading day at the beginning of March. It was so much fun - the kids really loved it! They sure know how to make me smile :)

The books after the madness was all over. I think this proves our day was a success!

All the primary teachers (K1-G2) in our PJ's. I love all these ladies and am SO thankful for all of them!

We divided all the kids up into groups with different ages and they read to each other

Mrs. Heather (the G2 teacher and her husband) doing a skit/readers theater with "Green Eggs and Ham"

7 of my 10 K1 students! Aren't they cuties ... :)

Bye for now my friends ... Thanks as always for the prayers, love and support!

Luffa's and Little Things.

These are luffa's. You can obviously guess which one is who's ...

{You're probably thinking "why in the world is Amanda blogging about Luffas". Well, let me tell you in advance that this blog isn't meant to be interesting, educational, or insightful, I just wanted to share a sweet story}

Anyway, the other night I was taking a shower and I voiced my annoyance about how every time I take a shower I have to take Erik's Luffa off over the faucet to then take off mine. I asked Erik if this also annoyed him every time he took a shower - he of course said that he never thinks about it. Silly annoyance I know, but hear me out - many times I forget that his string is over mine and I pull mine off and they get tangled and then I usually burn my finger on the faucet. So I kinda have a reason to be annoyed ;)
So tonight, as I was in the shower I realized as I took my pink Luffa off the faucet that his blue one was not over mine. That thoughtful husband of mine remembered my complaint and put my Luffa back on top when he was finished using his. It was something so small that made me smile. Erik definitely got some brownie points for that one - and little did he know that something so small would mean so much to me.

As I was thinking about how much this "little thing" was so big to me I was thinking about how much little things matter to me [in good ways and in bad]. I need to think about the little things that make me smile on a daily basis. When I do so I am always amazed at God's amazing grace and love towards me.

Some other little things that have made me smile this week ...

• Coffee/great conversation with 4 very special friends of mine at this season in my life
• The perfect song at the exact moment I needed to hear it
• Baking a cake from scratch and not messing it up or yelling at things in the kitchen in the process
• 18 four-year-old's smiling shyly and happily at me as they walk into my classroom
• Skype dates
• An encouraging message from a friend on Facebook
• McDonald's delivery
• A ride home from school when I wasn't expecting it
• A student telling me "I love school"
• One of my closest and dearest friend getting engaged
• Coming home to a clean apartment thanks to our helper
• Coke
• Finding the new best chips at the store
• Thinking about my sister in Africa
• Kids in pajamas
• American Idol nights
• Thunderstorms

I am sure there are so, so many more little things that I have smiled about this week, but these are the ones that come to mind tonight.

Thank you Lord for Luffa's and little things.

"So, my very dear friends, don't get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures."
James 1:16-18 [The Message]