Year 2 in Full Swing

Lately, God has been pouring out blessing upon blessing in my life, and lesson upon lesson. I still cannot get over how much better the second year here is going in comparison to the first.

I'm being challenged so much in my teaching- not by the lesson plans or behavior problems or usual things that bog teachers down, but challenged in my actual teaching, challenged in the craft of helping these kids understand not just how to do mathematics, but the whys behind it all.  It's such a joy to not waste so much energy telling little Johnny to sit down and be quiet and so be able to really craft and deliver lessons.

I'm being challenged and stretched in my social life as well.  I've had such good times with a wide range of people and God has been working in my heart through many different conversations.  It helps so much to have that year of history to fall back on- either history with people or just history of understanding how the social subculture in which I live really works.

I'm also being challenged in my words. Somehow, lately, my little tiny feet keep getting put in my big fat mouth, but people have been exceptionally kind and forgiving with me and I am slowing learning to think before I speak.  The entire process has been revealing a lot of my critical and judgmental nature and God has really been working on me, on the inner source of the things I say, and not just on getting a better filter.  He's been challenging me in so many of the areas in which I judge and criticize others so heavily- and teaching me a lot about his grace.

I'm being challenged at church too.  I'm going to a small bilingual church near my house that has an amazing heart for the lost and a Spirit of life that I have never experienced in a church setting before.  The teaching challenges me every week, while at the same time speaks directly to new believers and the questions and difficulties they face.  I'm so excited about being a part of what God is doing in that place.

And today I was reminded not to become complacent in my life here, not to take things for granted.  Thing is, so much here is already so normal to me that I don't even notice it. And while part of that is necessary for transition survival, I also don't ever want to forget the great privilege I have to live in Thailand.  I have so many other thoughts from the past week or two, but they're still all floating around in my head, waiting to fully crystalize.  More soon :)