this was a night to remember...forever.

by

this week in general was one that i will remember for a very long time to come. there were moments of rough but so many real smiles and laughs, things that were missing for a while in my life. my heart was lifted, burdens removed, there was too much goodness almost, if there is such a thing. it was my first week of classes and i will blog about that tomorrow i think. for now i just want to focus on this evening. tonight i got to go to universal with the boarding students from the school and it was such a wonderful experience.
there were so many languages, so many laughs, so much singing. if there is such a thing as getting too much culture, i think i am getting it:) the teachers that went along took me to bubba gump shrimp company. i don't eat fish but that was a place on my list of places to go and i got to cross it off! AND i ate a mushroom burger and if you know me, you know mushrooms are NOT my favorite but this is a time of newness and adventure for me and that means eating mushrooms:)
it was so nice getting to know them. we walked around a bit and the craziest thing started to happen. rain. BUT not everywhere...only in certain spots:) you could walk two steps to the left and be in rain and step back and be in the dry! how crazy is that! we just walked and laughed and found NBA city. joe and joni you would have been so proud:) i took a photo with a giant basketball man AND the rain decided to pour down so i bought a nice blue NBA city poncho...me and one other teacher did, and we wore them proudly:) and laughed and just had such a lovely time.
on our way back to the school i had a really wonderful conversation with a chinese student. he was talking a million miles per hour and i didn't understand everything but he loves learning english and basketball and he is so happy and that brought so much joy to my heart. the students here just melt my heart. as time goes by, the more i can't believe that i am here and i just feel so undeserving and i am so undeserving but i am so grateful that we are not dealt what we really do deserve. i think you know what i mean.
when we got to the school i got off the bus and landed into a huge puddle of water and just laughed. i walked down the street to my car and jumped in every puddle i could find! and i laughed and laughed:) the puddles here are perfect for that after a good rain. i stood really still for a while and the most amazing thing happened...i really heard the music of nature. really. it was so loud and it seemed like everything was working together to make it happen and it fit and my jaw dropped. there were frogs and crickets and other bugs and they all worked together to make a song. i got to my car and just stood there. i listened and said goodnight to students walking by and just teared up. we miss those little things sometimes. and when we just sit and listen, they really aren't even little things, they are huge.
i drove home and listened to this song on repeat...it is the same song i have been listening to for days now and i will share it one of these days. it is beautiful, about Jesus. the drive was calm and rainy and my heart felt peaceful and full.
the past couple days were rough for me. to feel peace tonight and get that wonderful gift, it was good and i am grateful. it is late...off to bed:) big weekend ahead, the apt is coming together so nicely. lena, thank you for the help!
photos to come...