It's Starting To Get Cold

As I sit in my room and write this evening my window is open, but it is chilly. Yesterday and today we were blessed with rain. Thank you Jesus! It's amazing how the weather changes with just a little bit of rain! This is just the beginning of cold weather! I'm loving it but dreading it. It will eventually be too cold for my blood...haha

Beit Jala

These past few weeks have been great! I'm really enjoying getting to know my class inside and out. I've been privileged to visit a family or two and see my kids outside of the school environment. It's also very wonderful visiting their families and getting to know them as well. The fifth graders are a bundle of joy! Sometimes though I do have to remind myself they are not perfect, when they disappoint and I try to remember myself at that age. Sixth grade is another story. They are still a very hard class to deal with. The dynamic of it is totally different than 5th. They do not like school, studying, or reading; therefore it is very hard to get them motivated. I have a handful of students in that class who are very intelligent but suffer because of the attitude of the others. Still working and praying on ways to engage them more...a break-though is going to happen...I KNOW IT!


Matt blowing out his fireworks candles

Things have been pretty busy around here lately. Well...with me that is. Our friend Matt in Jerusalem just turned 25 so we had an amazing progressive birthday party for him. We had appetizers in the park, dinner at our friend Ben's apt, and it was concluded by dessert at our friend Jill's house. It was so much fun.

View of Tel Aviv (Ramat Gan)

There was a day trip to Tel Aviv for Jen on Sunday. She is currently in Jordan for her visa right now. Please pray she makes it back safely.(also for mine as well b/c we should have it by Sunday) Becuase Jen was going to Jordan we had to go to the Jordanian Consulate in Tel Aviv for Jordanian visa. It was a very fun trip. Tel Aviv is only about an hour away, and it was neat for us to try to find our way around on public transportation. We took the bus up and then we took the train back down. I love taking the train,; it's always a nice trip. It was great to be with my friend. We laughed so much we had Israelis looking at us!

View from the train window

Two other things that are taking up my time are Bible study and small group. I'm leading a small group with the 7th grade girls. I had these girls last year, and they are a blast to be around. Things haven't been going as smoothly as hoped because of all of our scheduling, but hopefully soon we'll have it all ready to go. We'll be talking about inner beauty and purity. I'm excited. Also, I started going to a Bible study on Revelation this week. It's an in dept study on the book of Revelation and we're meeting 3 days a week. It's a very relaxed atmosphere with food, friends, and fun. It's at a local house of prayer and being led by a missionary pastor visiting from Siberia. It's really incredible! His motto is, "I don't want to give you head knowledge, but I want you to apply this book to your everyday life."

Finally an update on Mahmud. About two weeks ago he and Imad flew back to Canada on a Canadian medical flight. All the other family was planning on returning to Canada by the end of the semester, around Christmas. This week I learned from Nada that her dad is doing much better. He is talking and seems to be recovering well. Also, she told me that instead of the whole family moving back to Canada that Imad will be flying back here in a couple of weeks. Their dad's brother will take care of him until he is able to come back home! The girls are in such better spirits and it will be so much better for Imad to be here with the majority of his family. Thank you all for your prayers.