7.24.09

It’s Jason’s twenty-eighth birthday!!! This morning I made him coffee cake which was actually edible. Apparently, God still works miracles. Today as a team we are celebrating how old he is by telling him he has one foot in the grave. By the time most of us graduate college, he will be thirty, only ten more years to over the hill, and half way to sixty. One of the pastors said his daughter will come visit us in America when she’s twenty. She’s only a few months old. That means, when she comes, Jason will be fifty. Ha.

Fridays are long days of teaching here in Reheboth. On Fridays, class begins at 6:50 am and lasts until 1:30. And I teach all twelfth grade classes. Basically, that means I loose my voice by the end of the day just yelling, “Blae Stel!” or “Be Quiet!” The most difficult thing about that grade is their age. Many of them are older than me, and they’re figuring that out. I only have one more class to keep them guessing, then I suppose I can tell them. Oh, if they actually knew I was younger than them…I can’t imagine what they would do in class.

Theonette (I wrote about her earlier, a girl in my Monday Bible study), came into my classroom today absolutely sobbing. When I saw her tears, I hugged her, and asked what was wrong. In broken pieces of language, she said, “Just hold me, Miss Amy.” So I did. It took her minutes before she could catch her breath and explain what the matter was. She told me she had received an SMS (text message) from her mom that morning. Her mother said that she was tired and needed to get away from the world. She told Theonette that she loved her and would see her soon. Theonette tried to SMS her back, but her mother wouldn’t respond. Theonette was terrified for her. So was I.

We hugged for a while longer, prayed for her mother and her, and then I told her she needed to go to class. When I found her after school, I asked if she had heard anything. Nothing. Just dead space, empty static, a blank phone screen.

I’m amazed at how faithful the Lord is. Remember what I wrote yesterday? I specifically felt the Lord’s guidance to say that if anyone, namely a parent, committed suicide it was not their fault. I don’t know if Theonette’s mother has or will kill herself, but there is still this awe that fills me, knowing that our Master knows. I guess that’s what I’m reminded of today. He knows. He plans. He understands, especially when we don’t. When we think we are speaking air He fills our lips with words that nourish and strengthen and point others to Himself. It makes me think of Jesus’ words to the disciples when He says something like, “Don’t worry about what you’ll say at that time because the Holy Spirit will provide you with what you need to say.” Yeah, it was like that in my life yesterday, and I see the fruit today.

This evening we had our family over for dinner. Since we had one family over for American pizza, everyone wants to try it. It was a funny, very apparent, culture difference in the evening. We invited one family of five, so we made a few pizzas, set the tables for that many, and made a birthday cake to serve for dessert. Then a family we didn’t invite showed up. Hmmm…we thought they might leave before the other family came, but sure enough, the other family came too. And then another one. I think there were seventeen in total. We realized that when we invited the one family, they invited their extended family. It was so much fun, but just not at all American. So we cut small pieces of pizza and made some veggies to stretch the meal, and didn’t even serve the cake (I think each person would have gotten a bit or two…haha). When everyone had left, there were three pieces of pizza left, and I was praising God we actually had enough.

I’m starting to wish that our culture was a bit more like this. I wish I had the attitude of sure stop by anytime and I’ll make you coffee or tea or a pizza. I am so often stuck on invitation and social rules. Well, let’s forget the social rules. Let’s forget about being offended if more people come than you expected. Oh, I wish I knew how to do this better.

After everyone left, our team drank cheap wine and ate Jason’s birthday cake…yes, almost the whole thing (and don’t worry, Moody people. I kept contract. Don’t be “convicted” to go talk to Steph for me. Haahaa.) We talked about how thankful we are that Jason’s on the team. And, friends, I am so thankful for him. He’s such a good listener and is always the first to be willing to try something new. I have really grown to love him like a brother (yes, his quirks and all…did I mention those? He wears Dr. Suess boxers, his screen name is “Zargon_2.0”, has no problem farting on people for revenge, he’s made his own version of Dungeons and Dragons, and he uses terms like “bountiful spread”, which I now know means lots of food. He’s priceless.)

Dear Jason,

If you’re ever reading this, don’t take it personally. You know I love you. And if you want to take it personally, I guess that’s okay. Because by the time you’re reading this, you’re back in NY and I’m back in Chicago. Ha. Try to fart on me from there.
Love you.
Amy