Well, well, well. The last time you heard from me was over 2 months ago. I haven't forgotten about this blog. There are moments in nearly every day where I think to myself, "I should write about this later". But when it comes down to actually sitting at my computer and DOING it, I am just.... TIRED.
I wrote last time about maybe biting off more than I could chew and my need for a lifeboat. More often than not these days, I come home from school, and I just sit. Sometimes I turn on music. Sometimes I put on a movie so my apartment doesn't feel so empty. Sometimes I come home and just sit down on my couch and stay there in perfect silence until it gets dark. Because sometimes that is what I need to do to recover from my day.
This semester hasn't been some deep dank pit of busy-ness and stress though. In the moment, it often feels like it is, but there have been so many moments of joy - great joy.
We've had two student retreats, one of which was with 2 other Christian international schools and both of which I helped organize, and they have both been fantastic. This year, I have witnessed my students cry out for God, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and pray healing over perfect strangers. Organizing high school retreats kind of feels like herding cats, but they resulted in so many precious moments that I wouldn't trade for anything. It's good for me to be reminded that my students are human. They are striving to live Christ-like lives. Like, that is the deep desire of their hearts. But they fall short. Just like I do. What I see on a day to day basis is often the falling short part. I see their frustration and their bad attitudes rather than seeing their hearts.
I've made some great friends - American friends - this semester. And we've had some wonderful adventures all over this great archipelago. They all have such a heart for Indonesia, and they see this place for what it is - a beautiful nation full of beautiful people. I get so EXCITED when I meet people who see Indonesia through God's eyes! Because so many people just write off Indonesia as dirty, backwards, and something to be tolerated.
Last month, an entire team of teachers met with the parents of a struggling student. This family is new to Indonesia this year, and their son was previously in the public school system in America. These parents told us that they have never had an experience like that before - where ALL of their son's teachers so desired for him to succeed that they set aside time to meet together with them and to pray together for their son. I am so thankful to get to be a part of that!
Thanks to El Niño, we have had an extended dry season. This has been a very selfish joy. I hate the rains. They should have started last month, but now, well into October, we are still having blissfully sunny days, and I am soaking them up. Unfortunately, other islands are experiencing serious problems because of the lack of rain. Sumatra and Kalimantan are both experiencing widespread forest fires which are having a SEVERELY negative impact on those areas. People are dying because of smoke inhalation. People are losing their homes, losing their jobs, falling behind in school. It's been months of inescapable smoke. Hospitals are running out of oxygen tanks. Outside of Java, the situation is dire. Many areas are now in a state of emergency. Please pray that rains would come and clean the air!
A lot of things that were keeping me so busy were specific to first quarter. Now that we're in second quarter, I feel like the workload has lessened a bit. I commented to someone the other day that I had some extra time AND energy, but that I'd forgotten what to do with that combination!
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