Friday morning - week one of Summer School

I got up early this morning to go for my morning walk, but alas . . . I started to get rained on as I walked. Therefore, I find myself in my classroom doing some pre-school work instead. I remain blessed to work with the sweet class that I have. 5 students. I hope to take their pictures today. Because I only have five of them, we are able to do quite a bit of oral work and they get a lot of individual attention. It is pretty hard for their thoughts to wander off. One bright little girl, Himari, got all excited yesterday because I apparently taught her how to turn fractions into decimals and percents. She said, "I learned something new today!" and skipped off. That was fun to see. Chapel continues to go well, but like last year, I have some concerns. We have at least one angry young middle school student. You know how one negative attitude can bring down a whole group or activity. The same is extremely true with chapel experiences. I continue to pray for this young man and I pray that God will preserve and protect the atmosphere of chapel. It is not going at all as I have planned - it probably never will - but at least the lessons are of top quality and they are sharing God's truths. This is better than I ever hoped for, so I hope the students and teachers get that much out of it as well.

It is amazing how much energy it takes to make it through the few short hours of school each day. I have to be on my toes and ready at each moment. Elementary is truly a different part of my brain and a totally different part of my personality. It's a nice switch though. I spent quite a bit of time yesterday trying to arrange and organize some potential get - togethers for the faculty and staff here. We'll see if they can come together in the days to come. Yesterday - early evening - a friend and I decided to go snorkeling. Since it was just the two of us, and it was rather wavy, we decided to explore a bit in the process. I didn't really want to drive all the way up to Maeda, so I suggested that we try "Zampa Arches" . . . who knows what they are really called. I knew it would be 20% guess, 80% recollection to see if I could find it. I also had to rely on an overturned trailer to mark the entrance to the cane fields. Luckily the trailer was still there! We found it and parked, prayed for the habu to stay away from us, and set off! First we tried a path that led to the right. It was the "arches" that I remembered, but the waves and current were too strong. We climbed back up the hill and tried a less used path to the right. It took us through thick grasses (again praying away habu) and then to a cliff on the edge of the water. The cliff had some ropes attached to it and enough of an edge to create a patch down to the water. With snorkeling gear and water shoes it was a bit of a challenge (which I loved). We made it and it was beautiful -- however, still a bit too wavy. We swam around a bit, but decided a calmer day would be better. Then, we went to Nirai Beach at hotel Alivila. We should have gone there first as it was calm and glassy, but not really great snorkeling. Fun none-the-less. I marvel at God's creativeness and His continued provision and protection. What an honor to serve Him each day!