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.