6 year remix

Yesterday, I completed my 6th year teaching and coaching at ICS. It certainly doesn't seem like it, but there is proof. This year's graduates where 7th graders when I started teaching here. I struggle to believe that I'm this old. HA! As I look back on this year and on years past I see so many blessings. Most of the blessings I see are the faces of those students that I have taught or coached. Some briefly, some for 6 years.
As I reflect, I am reminded of what a privilege it is for me to be here. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be a teacher, let alone a teacher in South Korea. At times it has been so hard and at other times it is so easy. I think it is through those hard times that I have been most blessed. This is because it is in those times that God grew and stretched me beyond measure.
I am thankful for the stretching and growing that has been happening during my time here. This year is no exception. It has been a difficult year, for many of us, but I think what has helped us the most is the thought that our Sovereign God is in control and whether or not we like the circumstances, He is at work. It is easy to focus on the circumstance and be hurt, saddened, or angry. It is much harder to seek God's hand through it. I don't have answers to all the questions that I've had this year. The only thing I know is that God is teaching me to be obedient, disciplined and consistent in my walk with Him.


I have spent some time reading Elizabeth Elliot this last month. Her words are powerful and seem to be directly in line with what God is teaching me. Sometimes it hurts to read her words, but man is it worth it. In the book I just finished, Finding Your Way Through The Wilderness to God: The Path of Loneliness, Elliot writes, "My theme is oblation - the offering up of ourseves, all we are, have, do, and suffer. Sacrifice means something receieved and something offered." This stands out to me because it seems that my focus has been off a little in my time here. I know very little sacrifice in my life. Yes, it is hard to be away from my family and my friends at home, but I have been given so much here.

I have been given so much, yet, I rarely offer the good up to Him, much less what I perceive as bad. On many occassions before I read this book, I had heard the statement that "This is a gift from God" yet I never really understood until now. (I will be 30 this summer, so I'm sure this old age is where this understanding comes from. lol) This "bad" thing could be anything from hardship, lost friendships, singleness, pain in watching loved ones (this could be students) make bad choices, etc. The problem in thinking that these things are bad is that we forget that God, the One Who knows us best, Who knows what we need, Who knows the future, is in control. What we perceive as bad, God may be using to stretch us and grow us. If we try to "deal" with the bad thing on our own we fail. Like Elisabeth says, her theme is to offer everything up to Him. Let Him use it for His glory. Let Him use it for our good.

So as I reflect on what has passed and I look forward to more years teaching at ICS, may I remember the good and the bad, may I offer it to Him as a sacrifice, may I trust in His goodness and mercy for my life and for ICS.