Tuesday Summer School Update!

I will tell you again how much I love working with this group of students! This morning in chapel with the kids, I had asked the 5th grade teacher, to share about "A Brand New Me" . . . focus on the life of Paul and share how we get a new start in life when we turn our lives over to Jesus to control. I Cor. 5:17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" This was our theme verse for the day. Mr. Eyke (as he is called) shared some videos of people getting a "new life". They were given ear surgeries or implants to allow them to hear for the very first time. We talked about the extreme change gaining hearing could be and how it dramatically transformed their lives. We then talked about the transformation in Paul and how we can change when we let Jesus lead us. Well, I wanted to review this with my students when we got to class. I was so impressed with them because they predicted my line of questioning before I even asked it. We are reading a book about a dog that has just gone blind. Yesterday we had talked about what a huge change that would be for him. Today, immediately, one of the girls said that the dog was getting a "brand new life." We then talked about how brand new lives could be for the good or for the bad sometimes depending on the choices we make. As we read on, God designed it so that the section I was reading to them today ended with the main character of the book, a 10 year old girl, talking about her "brand new life." God tied ALL of our lessons together today! As we prepared to end for the morning, one of the girls asked to pray. (I am blessed to have a group of children in my classroom that all profess to be Christians and on fire for Jesus. It is my prayer that they will so deeply fall in love with Him that they will NOT be swayed by peer pressure, or the negativity of adolescence that so often pulls our students away.) Her sweet prayer - so on target and truthful - nearly led me to tears. I had shared with my class that my mom is going to have hip replacement surgery on July 3rd. Each day now (for two days) they have tenderly and sweetly prayed for her, without my even bringing it up to them again. Maybe God brought me here to bless me, not the other way around, neh? Again, as I was trying to sneak home for my gluey rice lunch (oh, that rice that never cooked yesterday? Well, it turned into quite a mess of glue. . .it is awful if I don't say so myself) two of the girls ran up to give me a hug and begged me to stay with them all afternoon long. They want me to be with them so we can "make the best time ever of our short 18 days together!" Aaaah...so sweet. Tomorrow in chapel, we will again review the life of Paul and I can help the students learn some songs to solidify their lessons. I will have lunch duty too, so I plan to play some songs for them while they eat too. (I'm intentional when it comes to hiding God's word in their hearts. I will do it subconsciously if needed!) This evening, we have a missionary Bible Study fellowship. It has been a quieter afternoon. I even managed to sneak a nap in. I have done some light housework and taken care of some work around the house. What a blessed day!