Thursday, June 23rd

The past two days at school the kids have been a bit more antsy and a bit harder to keep on track; I think they are getting comfortable with the situation. Perhaps too comfortable. :) I felt kind of badly coming down hard on some of them both days, but they really haven't seemed too bothered by any of it. I guess that's good.

My classes continue to go by very quickly. I feel like my time with the kids barely starts and then it is time to send them either down to recess or to lunch. I do know that I have three kids that I am worried about math skills for them. The rest are fine, or well above fine. They are in Summer School for the English and continued practice, not the math.

Yesterday, during chapel the kids were learning about Jesus' teaching and his being taken up to heaven in a cloud. However, before covering that story, our speaker talked about how Jesus commissioned his disciples to serve in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. We talked very literally about that that meant with the teacher showing a map of the area for the kids. When I brought the kids back to my room, however we had a good talk about what that call could mean for each of us too. I drew it on the board and then transitioned that into a lesson on Venn Diagrams for the kids. It made me think of my pastor in MN sermons before I left. :) Isn't it neat how God ties everything together?

Yesterday, Wednesday, after school I ran some errands around town and ended up at the vegetable market above the school. My plan was to buy the ingredients needed to cook my first meal over here (outside of breakfast that is.) I loaded up my basket and did the math - it would come to around 1,500 yen (about $15) then I turned the corner and they were marking pre-made bentos on sale for about 100 or 200 yen (1 - 2 dollars). Um, I made a quick decision that I would NOT be cooking. All my meals will be eaten in bento format for the next three weeks. It is far cheaper that way, but when I get home I may be craving a good salad of some sort. :)

I came home by around 6 PM yesterday and proceeded to fall asleep on a chair. I was basically asleep from 7 PM - morning. I was up for about and hour or two in the middle of the night, but that was my first good sleep in a while. Hopefully tonight can be a repeat? Thank you for praying.

Today, after school, I have a friend who is house-sitting/cat sitting at a place up North just a little ways. The house is right on the ocean and they own two paddle boards. We went up mid afternoon and spent the day up there. It was a fun way to relax this afternoon.

My only big prayer requests at the moment are for my 3 children who are struggling with math and that Jesus remain real to the kids. Today marks the anniversary of the end of WW2 - or the surrender of Japanese troups here on Okinawa. Apparently in the Okinawan religion/superstitions this is a day that nobody should be in the ocean. They believe you can/will die if you are in the water. We were supposed to have a field trip today, but due to some legalities with paperwork it had to be postponed a day. The kids who spoke to me were sure it was because of the water death situations. I told them that if we believe in Jesus, we don't have to be afraid of that situation. Every year this comes up during summer school and every year it leads to long discussions with the kids. I never remember what day it is, but they always bring it up in class. They obviously hear about it a lot at home and it remains in their thought processes at school. So far, I really get the feeling that my students love Jesus. They are very well educated in the Christian faith at school; I only hope it remains real for them. That they understand they don't need to fear all of the spirits and things that the people of Okinawa often do.