One Month Of School Left!

Well folks the countdown is on! Officially from today we have only one month left of school. As said many times before, it's bittersweet. I'm sad that i'll be leaving my kids for the summer, but i'm excited to see my family and get a break. Also, i'll be excited to see all of you either at Heritage or stop by to catch a small chat at Beans & Strings. I'm so super excited to be working with Eric and Vanessa this summer!

Things here at JSB seem just to be passing by so quickly. For the first time, i'm feeling very confident as a teacher of the 5th grade. I feel like i am pushing them really hard and expanding their minds. Challenging them!! This class will be prepared to go to the secondary school. I also hope that i'm challenging them spiritually too. I really want then to have and desire a relationship with God, not the religion that they see around them. I think the one thing that i want them to walk away with this year is that no matter what happens, how bad or even how good, God is still God. He is still good and He loves them and does all things (even if they dont realize it) for their good.

Right now, i'm reading them Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. This book has been my brother's favorite book for years now. He's always been telling me to read it, so finally for Christmas (he couldn't take it any longer) he sent me a copy. I read it and liked it so much i wanted to read it to my class. We're halfway though the book and they are enjoying it so much. It worked out really great that my history curriculum was doing a chapter on ancient Greece when i started reading. I've been able to explain about the myths of the Greek gods and have now decorated my room with different posters explaining the myths. Also, i'm planning a toga party with the first ever JSB Olympic Games (done in togas, of course)! Pictures to come soon.

Last weekend we were treated to a long weekend because of Palestinian Labor Day. Michele and I needed a real vacation, so we set out for an adventure. We rented a car and headed out to Tel Aviv. Sometimes it is a nice feeling just to feel like you're a normal American again, so we stopped by the new Ikea store.
We browsed for hours just having fun trying out the furniture and had lunch in the store. Then we went to this craft bazaar that happens every Tuesday and Friday in this old market place of Tel Aviv. It's one of my favorite places to visit. I love the atmosphere. We ended Friday eating at a small Arab restaurant with Michele having a huge piece of St. Peter's fish. Saturday because of Shabbat most things are closed in Israel, so we decided on a beach day. We also took Amy with us. We found this beautiful beach that was open and just enjoyed out time there. We just sat and basked in the vastness of the Mediterranean Sea and God's beautiful creating. I did a lot of basking and got burnt. When Shabbat was over we found a nice Ethiopian restaurant and broke bread together....we'll Ethiopian break really cant be broken...but kinda torn. On Sunday, we tried going to the Jordanian Embassy because Michele is going with the seniors to Jordan, unfortunately Jordanians make their own schedule and closed 2 hours earlier than the hours said. We defeated came back to Jerusalem and hung out in the Old City lavishing ourselves in the sites and smells. We did have a lot of laughs and fun. I think we may have come back more tried than when we left.

Please continue to pray for me and the other teachers. While school is winding down, we're all very tired. Exhausted actually. The kids are getting antsy, we're getting antsy, and it's just getting hot! Please pray for patience (that's our 3rd fruit of the spirit we'll be talking about tomorrow..haha) and just focus for the end of the year. We need them both. And even a lot of laughter to lighten the load. Thank you all for all that you do. Without you none of this could be possible.