meet murphy:

my new little China buddy :)

scribbles

My gramma sends me cards every few weeks. I'm so grateful for them. They have divine timing, just like the one I had waiting for me in my mailbox this afternoon. Her cards always make me smile, but this particular one gave me a good laugh. When I opened it I found two newspaper clippings, and one of them was called 'Mood Meter: Tips from experts for getting happy.'*  She left a few subtle markings next to one of the items on the list:

Not quite sure what she's trying to tell me, but I thought it was worth ignoring my stack of grading to post about it ;)


*Apparently the government is trying to measure happiness levels? The UN has already published a World Happiness Report, too. Read it here--http://earth.columbia.edu/articles/view/2960

thankful

Tomorrow is Thankful Thursday. We have Thankful Thursday every week in my classroom. We take the first few minutes of our day to write down the ways God has blessed us--in big ways and small ways--during the week: birthdays, fishing trips with dads, new dogs, not having dogs in school because they're scary (said by one of my students last week!), letters from friends, etc.

I thought I'd make my list a day early. Here are a few things that I am thankful for today:

•  gorgeous fall weather
• catching the early (3:30) bus home twice this week 
• healthy check-up at the doctors
• my renewed love for reading
• naps
• homemade beef jerky
• quality time/talks/walks with some of my favorite China friends

 Thankful for so much more, but that's a good summary of this week :)

in the name of science

Today's chemistry lesson was about mixtures and solutions.

What better way to grasp the concept of solutions than to watch your teacher doctor up her cup of coffee?

Number of substances mixed together: four (realizing they may have been simplified a tad)

Names of substances: coffee, sugar, creamer, and the germs of ten third graders

After my students were wow-ed by the coffee, we ate the home-made trail mix (made up of pretzel Goldfish, gummy bears, chocolate chunks, and walnuts) that was used as our mixture manipulative.

What we learned today: A solution is a mixture of substances that cannot be separated. Walnuts look like butterflies and brains. And Miss Farrell will still drink her cup of coffee even after ten little noses sniff over it.

psalm 37

I've been thinking over and rereading this paraphrase* by EE and how I really want my life to be a reflection of this...

Trust in the Lord and do good.

Dwell in the land (make your home, settle down, be at peace where God puts you).

Delight in the Lord (make the Lord your only joy) and He will give you what your heart desires.

Commit your life to the Lord.

Trust in Him and He will act. 

Be quiet before the Lord.

Wait patiently for Him, not worrying about others.

...this year especially.


*taken from Loneliness by Elisabeth Elliot, parentheses included.

cozy cato

requests

I wrote this back in March:

Learning. I'm still learning: to give up my expectations; to be "fully here" even when my heart doesn't want to be; to not miss those God moments; to fight back when the enemy tries to make me stumble; to enjoy my season in China; to rely on His strength and not my own; to live one day at a time.

That pretty much sums up where I'm at right now (again). And I'm wrestling with these life lessons that seem to be magnified as I enter my second year in China and forth year teaching overseas.

I'd really appreciate your prayers--
-to have joy in being here for another year and remember that God has me here for a reason
-to settle in to my new apartment and new teaching year
-to be motivated to finish my grad class (taking it for credit towards my teaching license)
-to not think about the "what's next?" after this contract so that I can focus on serving well this year
-to trust that God knows what He's doing when it comes to my life, even when I don't
-to spend more personal time in prayer about these things

Thanks in advance.

twenty-seven

 

 

 

it's going to be a good year.