My last day on Island!

Yet another full and busy day - - What? I'm supposed to be packing? Oh . . . well, I'll finish this first.

This morning, when I woke up I wanted to get a "last walk" around the neighborhood in, and take some final pictures of the school. I thought things were looking pretty good because we were supposed to have rain (there is a typhoon lurking in the area). I set out pretty early and wanted to watch the sun rise up at Zakimi Castle.

This is where they Okinawan people used to store their rice. The ladder is down on the ground right now, but they would have to climb on up to get things out.

Once up on the wall, I noticed a HUGE grey rain cloud approaching. I realized I was about to get wet. I prayed and asked God to give me a nice afternoon (so I could enjoy some beach time with Lisa), but I also really wanted to take some pictures looking up at the school from the "bottom" of the hill. I know if He could part the Red Sea, he could part the clouds to keep me from getting wet.

As soon as I started walking home from the castle the clouds let loose! I was absolutely drenched and dripping in seconds. I walked for a good 15 - 20 minutes in the downpour. However, as soon as I got to Kanehide, the rain stopped and the sun came out again. By the time I got to the bottom of our hill to look up at school (where I wanted to take the pictures) the sun was so bright I couldn't even look at it. How like God is that? He not only parts the clouds, He shows His awesome brightness - at exactly the time I asked!

As the last day of school, I was hoping to make it a special day for my students, but we had many unexpected activities that kind of changed my plans. All week we have been having some amazing discussions about how special we all are in God's eyes, how God has made us all different, but sometimes it is a challenge to get along. We also talked about the power of words and why we need to be careful with what we say and how we say it. Unfortunately, today we had to have another discussion about this, but for a different reason. The other discussions came about because of our topics we were learning about in our reading curriculum. Today, however, we had emotional struggles between the girls in the class. I hope and pray that things ended well for all of them. They are a sweet group of kids that I have grown to love very much.

After school was out, I walked through the check-out process and then left with Lisa to spend the day with her.

First, we got our toes done! (Photos to come later...)

Then, we ate at the "Sushi-Go-Round" and got a "Quickly" at Jusco before heading back to school.

At school, I said good-bye to everyone in the office before getting ready to go down to the beach.

God was wonderful to provide and absolutely beautiful day at the beach. We stayed to watch the sunset!

Now . . . hours later, I still need to pack, clean, and finish laundry! Sleep? Who needs it! (me!)

I am extremely grateful to have been allowed to come back to this beautiful island and to serve at OCSI. Gail Anderson said it best; she said, "When you come to OCSI it is like you get attached to a bunji chord. You never know when it is going to bounce you right back here." Very true. I am blessed to have been allowed to return - I am tired, but blessed! Thank you all for your prayers.

Oyasuminasai!