Spring is in the air...

Things are changing! Soon we're leaving for outreach. This past week was our last real teaching week of the DTS. We've all been going around saying things like "This is our last breakfast all together on a monday! This is our last Friday of teaching! This is our last weekend all together!" etc. It's pretty weird! It's almost like the DTS is ending... even though there's still over two months left. But just the fact that we all know that we'll all be splitting up, going to different countries all over the world... I guess that makes it seem like the DTS (as we know it) is ending. I guess it is!

But anyway, on Monday, as I was walking to the classroom for the morning teaching session, it was raining. And I was SOOO happy! I was so happy it was raining and not snowing! In my last blog I mentioned that I'm tired of winter and want it to be spring now. Today I was walking around Skien a bit, and I could just SMELL spring! It smells good. But soon we'll be leaving and then it will go from being still a bit cold to being FLIPPING HOT AND HUMID! I'm praying that I'll get used to that kind of weather, aheh. :)

This past teaching week has been amazing. Amazing, inspiring, encouraging, and exciting! The topic was: MISSION. Our teacher was Sigmund Evensen, who was a missionary (or he would say "linguist" or "Bible translator") in Papua New Guinea for 20 years. He is now the leader for Wycliffe Norway. He had so many cool stories, and such a refreshing view on missions. Ah, it was marvelous. :-)

Now we're all running around, getting things together for outreach, preparing dramas and devotions, trying to learn a bit of the language of the country we're going to (that would be Thai for my team and I), etc, etc, etc. I get to be in charge of the Thailand Team 2007 BLOG! :-) As of now, it has nothing on it. But that will change hopefully very soon. So here's the URL if you're interested: www.thailandteam2007.blogspot.com tada!

And on Tuesday, we're all having one last Team Week before outreach... with our outreach team, if that makes sense.

So today is a Saturday... I have to buy a backpack, do laundry, help with the Thailand Team 2007 newsletter, work on the blog, and maybe learn/practice some more dramas or something.

COUNTDOWN TO MY BIRTHDAY: 11 days
COUNTDOWN TO THAILAND: 13 days

Happy March!

I read the following verse this morning. It strikes me in some way, but I'm not sure what that way is. So I'm chewing on it.
Jeremiah 2:13 ~
My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

What is sin? Sin is what separates us from God. In this verse, sin # 1 that the israelites were committing was forsaking God, the spring of living water. Sin # 2 is replacing the spring of living water (God) with their own failing, broken cisterns. hmm... I need to keep chewing.

Anyway, a couple days ago I came to the conclusion that the culture shock I've been experiencing in the past month or so (to different degrees), must finally be going away! I figure this, because I feel like myself again. I didn't realize how much I didn't feel like myself until I actually felt like myself again. What does myself feel like? Happy, joyful, and sometimes hyper... or typered (tired+hyper=typered).

Yep so right now I'm on a Team Week here in Skien. Today I played with two little kids for two hours. The three-year-old spoke a little bit of English because his dad speaks English to him. That was so much fun, being able to communicate with a little kid! (I miss that... being able to talk to and understand little kids. I miss being able to communicate with elderly people, too.) We taught each other colors. And other things. It was marvelous. It was grand.

Next week is another teaching week. A man who was a missionary in Papua New Guinea is coming to teach on Mission! I am so very excited!!!

And that is all.

Goodnight, God bless, sweet dreams.