Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight.
We are now teaching at the preschool and elementary school every day, and we are going to be joined by two more volunteers at the end of the week. This is going to be a lot of fun and I am very much looking forward to seeing these fun kids every day for the next two weeks. They are so energetic and so excited to learn English. As much as I love teaching these kids and spending this time with them, I have a much bigger appreciation for all that teachers do. My voice is really feeling the impact of talking and singing all day long and there is no amount of water that seems to help. I would just like to say, “thank you” to all those teachers out there who do this every day for a living. I couldn’t do it.
Our kids are doing much better with their school work and are actually getting things done on time with little struggle. I sure hope this lasts and that we are more consistently having days like today.
I am also loving our time in Thailand, but just like Germany, I can’t believe it is already coming to an end. We leave here in 15 days and head for India. Time sure does fly. It takes us about 3-4 weeks to get settled and figure out a routine, and then we have about 4-5 weeks of routine before it is time to change things around again. I love it! We get a chance to get comfortable and enjoy it, and then move on to something else.
I have an observation regarding our first 4 months of this year-long journey, keep in mind that I am basing this observation only on the 2 countries we have visited thus far (Germany and Thailand). Everything moves at a different pace, a much slower pace. Plans made are pretty tentative until you are actually doing it. For example, our teaching schedule was not laid out for us prior to getting or even once we got here; it is a constant work in progress, changing as needed. The best way to describe the cultures both here and in Germany is a flexibility to change. I know that when I was home in the states, this would have been exceptionally difficult for me to accept; change was not easy and for some reason I took it as a person failure when I needed to adjust or change things. However, both volunteer opportunities, in Germany and Thailand, have been so incredibly fluid, constantly changing and evolving, and even more amazing is that both places seem to thrive with these constant changes. It makes me wonder, why is change so hard for us Americans? People here seem to be more relaxed and happier given the constant changes happening around them and I wonder if there is a sense of peace and serenity in all the change. I do not feel the same stresses that I felt at home to be constantly adhering to a rigid schedule, but rather a sense of peace to just enjoy the moment and move with the world rather than trying to make the world move with me.
Just a random Monday thought!
I just had to share this picture. I was teaching my 3-4 year olds this morning and we were trying to figure out the game of “telephone” using the word “cat”. You can see the kids laughing as their teacher was making her way around the room trying to explain the game to them. The kids didn’t get it all, but we all had a good laugh before moving on to something else. Flexibility at its best. No one got frustrated or upset, we tried something and it didn’t work, we all got a laugh out of it, and then we moved on to something else. It was wonderful!
Sara's Daily Scripture and Journal 