A Much better First Day

Yesterday was the first day of classes! My Middle School Principal also dubs it "the day of screaming children" because everyone is so excited to see each other again after the super long summer apart. Some MK's, who were on Home Assignment in the states or Canada or Korea, were even gone for over a year, so the tears flow readily. It's a very happy reunion.
The big highlight is the Opening Ceremonies for the entire school (high, middle, and elementary), faculty, staff, dorms, parents, and friends. We all marched in to happy music, and then they switch it dramatically for the Class of 2011 who parades in carrying the flags of all the countries represented by this year's student body. This year it's 52 countries!
Normally, the first part of the ceremony is a speech by the Director of the school. Since Tim Shuman resigned last year, our new interim director, Phil Peters, was on the schedule. But I didn't see him anywhere in the front row. Weird. Suddenly, the lights dimmed, and a spotlight shown on this big black box in the rafters where Phil was emerging and within 10 seconds was rappelling down to the stage. Highly cool. The kids absolutely flipped out with laughter and applause.
From there, things went on pretty normally. The Middle schoolers split off from the big group for our own assembly, ID photos, and textbook collecting, and then I took the 6th graders - my Homeroom Class!!! (so adorable) - to our classroom. Following some housekeeping items that took nearly an hour and a half, we then entered a mock schedule where the kids visited all their classes and met their teacher for 8 minutes. It was super busy day, but all in all, I'm so glad school's starting, and I no longer have to be in the planning stage.

Here I am in the Middle school office with my friend, Rachel (the Science and math teacher).I hope soon to introduce you to my students a bit.

A "Crappy" First Day

That title makes it seem like I had a horrible first day back, and that's not quite true, just a horrible first hour. Literally crappy. And here's why:

** Warning: not for the weak stomach!**

It needs to be said first of all that flying is not very kind to my bowels. I get bloated on planes and of course feel very uncomfortable throughout the whole travel experience, so I'm always happy to get back to a real house with a real bathroom. When David picked me up from the airport, he took me straight to my new apartment, which was SOOOO exciting. After we brought up the suitcases and he took off to let me nap, I immediately headed to the bathroom to do my thing. Forgetting that the pipes hadn't been used in 3 months, I proceeded to press down the button to flush. It didn't send out flushing water, however. Instead, it sent out a high-pressure burst of air that in turn sent poop and pee flying all over my bathroom and all over me.

Needless to say, I was not very happy (though grateful my mouth had been closed). I only freaked out a little though and was able to quickly find a rag to clean up my mess, hose down the shower, peel out of my clothes, and then quickly douse myself in pure water. I also ran around the apartment opening all faucets to let water run out. Welcome home, huh?

Yuck.

So kiss me and smile for me

Because I'm smiling pretty big right now. As of yesterday, my support is at 100%!!!! WOHOOOOOO! I still can hardly believe God made it all happen!!! And truth be told, that is the "unofficial" number, which means enough people have told me they'd like to support me, and 100% of the costs could be covered. However, the "official" number is lower, meaning not everyone has told WorldVenture yet, so they still think I'm at 95%. But I'm sure people will let them know in the next couple of weeks.

I leave today on that jet plane! 7:40 tonight. I'm scheduled to arrive in Basel tomorrow at 2 pm local time, and the Loves will pick me up and take me back to my new apartment, lined wall to wall with boxes that need unpacking. You can pray for me for the next few days:
- to get over jet lag quickly
- set up my classroom
- get the first week of lessons planned well
- find lights so I can see in my apartment
- can get settled enough that I'm don't freak out living among boxes for a few days

THANKS to everyone for the love and support this summer. THANKS to God for allowing me to return to BFA on time!

I would go to the ends of the earth

To be honest, I had my first "this missions thing stinks" today. I haven't had one up until now. Sure there have been rough patches and mornings I didn't want to call another church and "beg" for money, but I never was sad to think of going. I never doubted that my calling into missions was the greatest thing ever! Today though, when my parents drove off and I left my brother and his family at the airport, for the first time, it wasn't so rosy.

I suppose meeting Olivia had something to do with it; she'll be walking the next time I see her. It's also the fact that as a family, we've always had the next get-together on the calendar, even if it was nearly a year out in the future, there was something certain to look forward to. Furthermore, I've never left for a two-year stint to anywhere. The most was 11 months in Taiwan. 2 years!?! It just sounds so much longer!

I was feeling pretty low in the car on the way back to Shoreview tonight. So God showed up in the form of a song on the radio again (he's done it before). The song "Jesus, I believe in you" has ministered to me before, but never quite the way it did tonight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErYjQNg_BAw.

Jesus, I believe in you,
and I would go to the ends of the earth
the ends of the earth
For you alone are the Son of God
and all the world will see that you are God
You are God!

It's all about Him. I've had the privilege up until now that it could also be somewhat about my love of Europe, my own knowledge of German, and my comfort of living cross-culturally. the cost hasn't been as real to me, but now that it is, I need to remind myself daily that it is still all about him. As they told us in training, nothing will keep you in your calling as much as a commitment to obedience. So, the "stinky days" will probably come again, but I know who's God, and I know where I'm supposed to be.

Yikes!

In faith that the final 7% will come in, I went ahead and bought a ticket!!! Not quite sure it was the wisest thing yet, but the prices were too good to pass up, plus you kind of need to book at least a couple weeks out in advance. However, I won't be able to use it until WorldVenture registers 100% support. Please pray!