God's Grace

I'm not sure why this year is starting out so tiring....I have great students (although they have a LOT of energy) and have less planning to do than last year because I sort of know what I'm doing. :) Nonetheless, I cannot seem to get out of bed in the mornings or make my brain focus on much of anything before or after school. By God's grace, He enables my brain to work from the hours of 8-3. Today started off as "one of those days." I really don't like my schedule on Wednesday, plus, today was my day to teach chapel, and even though I was ready, I didn't feel prepared. I got to school with a bad attitude, really felt like my brain was full of cotton instead of whatever is supposed to be up there! We were supposed to meet our students early today for see you at the pole, so I headed downstairs at 7:30. I couldn't even call my students by the right name! One little girl looked at me kinda confused and said "Um, that's not my name." I apologized and told her (truthfully I might add) that it wasn't 8:00 yet, my brain wasn't working. After we prayed I did some last minute prep, and came to get my kids at 8:10. By that time, by God's grace, my brain had at least kicked in, and I put a smile on my face. I walked over to pick up my kids, and they said to me "Miss Chaplin, you look really happy today!" I was shocked, and asked why. She replied "Because today is a day that God made special for us!" What a great reminder. And as always, God's grace was enough. I made it through the day, and probably had the best Wednesday so far this year!

Jess' last week in Singapore

We were able to get tickets to volleyball. We weren't exactly sure what we were going to see, but we made it actually ended up seeing the USA girls play. :)We also made it to the zoo. Jess really wanted to ride the cow! She was not that impressed with the birds. Almost as much as she liked the fish! But I think she did like the lemurs! Jess and Hannah on Arab Street. One of the last nights she was in Singapore, we took Jess to Arab street for dinner. It was delicious! On her last day in Singapore, we took Jess to East Coast Park. It was a beautiful day, and we decided it would be a great time to randomly interview people at the beach. The first person we interviewed was Henry. He is a pastor from Uganda studying in Singapore. He said one of his favorite things to do in Singapore is sit at the beach, read, and enjoy the beauty that God created. The next person we were interviewing was flying a kite. (I think the picture is on Jess' camera.) It looked like so much fun, that we went and bought one. However, our kite flying adventures were not nearly as successful! Our kite spent more time in the sand than in the air. Only Hannah could even get it off the ground! We also walked along the beach. I love the sound of the ocean, and the feel of sand beneath my toes....why don't I go there more often?

Open House

Tonight was open house for elementary students. It was a lot of fun to meet my students parents and have a chance to talk to them. It was also great to be able to explain my procedures and homework policy....hopefully it will make more sense now. :) My favorite part of the night was when one of my students came up and asked if they could sing their memory verse to their parents. Of course I said yes. They ended up giving a mini concert. Since our door was open, they attracted additional guests to our already crowded room! But it was nice to show the parents some of the things they have been learning.