Great News!

I have great news!  My sweet friend, Nellie Lutz, will be going to Thailand with me!!!  

I am SO THANKFUL to have a buddy to experience the new culture with, to travel with, to have a little piece of home and Christ Fellowship there with me.  We don't know each other that well right now, but people have described her as "delightful," and that's exactly how she seems!  She will also be working at the school and will serve in a few different roles there.  And, we'll be living together!  Based on the time I have already spent with her... I anticipate much laughter.  :)  She won't be traveling with me TO Thailand.  I leave about a week before her - I have to be there by the 16th for teacher orientation.  She'll arrive on the 18th or 19th.

Anybody have connections in Dubai???  I have a 10 hour layover...

One good story before I go to bed -

God speaks to me in dreams every now and then, and I love it.  A few nights ago, I dreamt that it was the first day of school, and I had that anxious feeling of "oh my goodness, I don't have anything prepared," the kind that makes your heart race, not in a good way.  But as the day started, turns out, I DID have everything planned and ready to go, and as the day went on, I asked God, "Ok what do we do now??" And He directed every moment of the day, with all the materials already there and prepared.  When I woke up, I realized that all of my regular "first day of school" routines had showed up in my dream - things I hadn't thought about in a year.  I normally have those written down and in a "First Day of School" file, but I haven't looked through those plans yet.  I wondered... is this how it could be all year??  Why haven't I called on the name of the Lord to direct my lesson plans before??  Keep these ideas coming, Lord!  When kids' needed counseling or disciplining in the past, yes, I said a prayer for guidance, but I just thought it was awesome that I had a step-by-step picture of the ROUTINES for the first day at CRICS.  Pretty cool, Go God.  Always surprising me.

Busy & Blessed

BIZZY BIZZY BUSYYYYYY.  But very blessed in the preparation for my move.  I need to journal it and honor some people.

Why do we spell it "busy" anyway?  First graders sound it out "bizzy" because that's what should follow the language rules.  Crazy English.

Although I'm going to teach 2nd grade in Chiang Rai, I'm essentially assisting in a church plant.  The Penningtons (more info. on them in post soon...) are hoping for their school to be a platform for the Kingdom of God to enter into the city of Chiang Rai.  The presence of God is already affecting families in the school, and I am thrilled get to be a part of it.

God is fulfilling some of my dreams, and I'm only 26 years old.  *thankful*

But today I just want to give honor and shout-outs - I'll expand on the mission of the school, the Penningtons, etc. later.

Mrs. Mollie Newcom, who calls me her "other granddauRghter" (she's so southern and fantastic), invited me, my mom, Aunt Cindy, and her own dauRghter Nancy to attend a luncheon today sponsored by the Fort Worth Christian Women's Connection.  Mollie regularly attends, but this was my first time.  We enjoyed a delightful, girly afternoon with pretty food and presentations made by a lady named Dana from Girls 'n Grace  and Jana Vick from Stonecroft Ministries.  (Jana, if you see this, check the link and let me know if it's the right one...).  I've been so bizzy recently that I haven't had a lot of time to spend in prayer like I want to before I prepare for a big change.  But, God knows my every need, and He used Dana and Jana to speak life into me today through the messages they gave.  I shared a bit of my story with Jana, and she even prayed with me.  So sweet.  She mentioned Psalm 139 verses 17 & 18, "How precious are Your thoughts to me, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!  If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand...."
God thinks about me...He is thinking about you.  He knows, and He will be there, always - His presence is REAL. Just step into it!  
It was a happy time getting to see Mrs. Mollie and Nancy, too.  Love them.


Also super blessed by my co-workers April & Camilla!!!  Camilla took down EVERYTHING off of my classroom walls, and April put every single teaching document that she owns onto a flash drive for me to take to Thailand.  PLUS, they make me laugh from my gut, and you know I think the best thing is laughter from your gut.

Suuuuper thankful for my family, too!  Mom has helped me clean out and organize my classroom AND my to do list (she thinks I have ADD, I don't, she says "I know you don't think you do"...and really, sometimes I think I do) =/  Haha.  I like to attribute it to my ENFP weaknesses WHICH I really do try to work on.  

<3 you momma.  :)

Dad is helping me get the confusing things sorted out like International Insurance, plus he and mom cleaned out a storage space for some of my things when I move.  Also thankful for the fun times with Whitney, listening ears of Ami, a night out on a downtown rooftop with Cindy, and MANY more.  MANY, many more.

I may be bizzy, but I am blessed and thankful. 

Yes, I'm moving to Thailand.

You know I LOVE COWTOWN, love love it, but it's time for a change of pace for awhile.  And so I'm moving here:

At the tip top of that map is Chiang Rai where I'll be living for the next 10 months.  I'll be teaching 1st or 2nd grade at Chiang Rai International Christian School (CRICS), and I'll be living in a little apartment there near some other teachers/missionaries.  I'M. PUMPED. 

Here's how this all happened:  

I had been considering getting another job for awhile (had some health problems, I'll save that for another post), but hadn't considered going overseas again until later in the Spring.   *SIDENOTE - if you're thinking "wait, overseas AGAIN??" read the rest of my blog, it'll clue you in*  I was also open to staying at my school for another year if that's where God wanted me to be, but I juuuuust wasn't feelin' it.  Things even started to point toward closure within my classroom and the school, but, still didn't want to close that chapter of life until I was certain about it.  Actually, the decision was made when I ran out of Expo markers MAJOR BUMMER.  "No more Expo markers?!?!  THAT'S IT! I'm outta here! BYEzzzz."    

Kidding... that's not how it happened.  Although I did run out of Expo markers.  =]  And my projector broke. and my printer. and my school ID.  yada yada yada (who got that reference?).

We had to lose a 1st grade teacher at school due to numbers decreasing, so my team all applied within the district for another job.  The day before my first interview, I texted my sweet friend, Ami, :) asking for prayer for wisdom.  I was uneasy about the interview and was beginning to think more seriously about living somewhere else.  She sent me a sweet reply and that was that.  The next day (the day of the interview), she texted again and said, "You're not going to believe who just emailed... The Pennington's in Thailand still need 1st and 2nd grade teachers for this next school year and asked if I knew anyone interested."  

Ok I didn't credit it as God's divinity JUST YET.  ;)  I was sort of hoping for a completely different turn, maybe something outside of teaching.  However, it made so much sense, and it got my heart excited.  

• I wanted to try living in Asia at some point in life. 
• I left Kenya thinking, "I need to do this again...but in Asia."  
• I wondered if the reason I felt so uneasy about traveling to Haiti this summer was because God was POSSIBLY sending me out in the Fall.  
• God knows my heart.  He gave me a desire to work with international students.  He has ordained my days and knows each one of them before they come to be.  
• And considering the rest of this crazy year, of course I would move to Thailand, right??!  ;) 

After thinking, praying and researching, I decided to apply for the job and was accepted.  I feel so peaceful.  

I am a volunteer teacher so it is an unpaid, support-based job.  How humbling.  It will be good for me to sort of "detox" from worldly things and live in simplicity again.  I'm looking forward to it.  

I am sad to leave Cowtown YOU KNOW I LOVE IT, but thankfully it will still be here when I come back.  And maybe with some of the construction finished?  Have to admit, I kind of like seeing the construction - change is good.  :)  

I will try to update frequently so check back soon!