It's almost time...

The past two days have been our annual registration days for the middle and high school students. They come to get their classes scheduled, a locker, their books, and to reconnect with one another after a summer away in Europe or other areas of the country. My job was helping with the locker assignments both days. As I was handing out locks, checking combinations, and teaching kids how to use them I got the chance to get to know one of our new French teachers (who was helping also), to meet some new students, and to reconnect with my old students. I've been advising the same group of students since they were Freshmen and now they are Seniors. I can't believe it flew by so fast. Some of them came in ready to "get this over with for the last time." and others lingered longer and "really aren't ready for this to end." I realized how much I am in the second category. Realizing that this is my last year here, with this group that has affectionately been called my kids, hit me today. I've seen them grow from about my shoulder as Freshmen to towering over me now (which is good for the basketball coach, but hard for me), I've seen many tears when friends abandoned them or grandparents passed on, and joy when new members of the family were born or a relationship was restored. I've learned to love each of them and seeing them smile and laugh brightens my day. There, of course, have been those days where I just wanted to get them out of class, but I don't think I'll have those anymore. We have just about ten more months together until we all scatter the globe. I wonder if they are ready for what they will encounter, if they will succeed, if they will be good parents and spouses, and if I will see them after this year is done.
I pray that:
1) they are ready to work hard because, "All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty." -Proverbs 14:23
2) that they will succeed in finding the truth in life through the word of God, "Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him." -Proverbs 30:5
3) that they will be excellent parents raising up truth seeking children that they will, "not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." --Philippians 6:4
4) and that I will see them in eternity, "I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me. To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, 'Here I am, here I am."
It is with great expectations that we begin another year of school tomorrow. I'm sure, as with the start of anything new, tomorrow will be chaotic, but I'm filled with a sense of peace and joy in knowing that I have another ten months to be a positive influence on my kids, to see where God moves, and to see Him glorified here.

Rap it up....

This is a poem written by the guy who consumes lots of food chez moi...(that's at my place). He also happens to be a really good friend who writes good stuff. Enjoy..

The lesser of the great satisfaction
Gives cause for intense reaction
Breaking the soul into fraction
Eternal faction
Distending the extent of the world’s interaction
for holy desires
Burning bridges with wicked fires
Digging deeper like spinning tires
Crossing empty chasms from truth to liars
Like stumbling through the catch of briars
Entire
Families lost to the cause of the blinded
Absent-minded
Impossibility reminded
Or rewinded

Incomplete holes in the distresses of stresses
Wandering from places to places
Empty stares from empty faces
Forever casket cases
Arise from the ignorance of a broken heart
crushed from the start
Pierced by the sting of the fiery dart
the darkness becomes beautiful art
From the despair of hatred in the souls of the eyes
do the repairs of shattered dreams fail to rise
in the Kingdom – subsidize
capsize
in the raging storm of the fallen,
down-trodden,
brow-beaten,
treasure-seeking,
conscience-tearing,
misery
leading into the bleakest history
such a mystery
to chase after a deceitful imagery
so fake
to taste
the bitterness of a lake of counterfeit
illegitimate
children of the rotten fruit
living in the filth of the pollute
does not constitute
and cannot refute
the astute
apprehension of purity
confession of honesty
acclamation
of the proclamation
ascribing the substance its glory
like a neverending story
whose conclusion can never bore me
He said, “you tore me”
And then you will adore me
For this tragedy, Lord
Please do not abhor me
But Restore me!

There is no reason
For this mutiny and treason
That caused a King to bleed some
And now we must all heed Him
I need Him
For freedom
How can I ever please Him
If only to believe Him
No matter the cost
Count all as the consequent loss
of a longing unsatisfied
broken, hard, battered and tried
I fell on my knees and cried
And with a deep breath I sighed
As His hand rested on my head
Being led
Into the bed
Of everlasting peace
The gentle release
Where gladness meets
A purpose complete

He said to me, “I have chosen you,
And I have broken you
I have always spoken to you
And have told you that you are my child
Even though you were once so uncontrollably wild
Your pleasures were just too mild…
Compared to what I have planned
From the beginning of time yet spanned
Nothing worth having will ever be banned
And you will stand
In the midst of pure ecstasy
Next to me
For eternity
To be known to me
You belong to me
A sweet song to me
You’ve done nothing wrong to me
The cross declares you not guilty!”

So I sit and I rest
I am so blessed
to confess
It’s surely understood
That I deserve nothing good
Being called into the holy brotherhood
Of the unstained
Unashamed
Renamed
With the same name
Above all other names
A claim to universal fame
His perfect glory remains eternally the same
Because He is the same
Yesterday, today, and forever
But because of Him, will I ever be the same? – never.

More pink than my closet...

We were getting ready to eat dinner when a beautiful thing caught my eye. The sunset was amazing over the ocean. I often think about the glory of the Lord and how everything in creation reflects that glory from the ocean as it slaps the shore to the creatures far beneath the ocean that we will never see. When I saw the beauty of this sunset I wondered if it would even compare to the day when we will gaze upon his beauty in his temple.
"One think I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the
house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the
Lord and to seek him in his temple."
--Psalm 27:4

Mountain Trip

Rarely in my life have I seen something so beautiful. Maybe pictures might compare, but I doubt it. Recently I took a trip with a few friends to the highest point in North Africa. The trip itself was fairly uneventful, but the view was spectacular. The idea was to get out of the city and relax for five days, and relax we did. The first three days, we stayed at a small "hotel" at the base of the mountains. The view from my window was a small mountain stream and some hills through the fog in the distance. Of course after waking up with altitude sickness the first day, I wasn't looking out the window much (mainly because I kept falling over). After some medicine and about 8 more hours of sleep, I was walking upright again and enjoying the scenery. The rest of our group met up with us at the end of day three and we drove straight up to where the path basically stopped and stayed at a small hostel for the next two days. We wondered what we'd gotten ourselves into as we stepped inside, but at $1.50 per night, we couldn't complain. A small group of us hiked around and took a few pictures the next day. We got a bit lost in a couple villages coming back, but made it just as a big rain was coming in from the other side of the mountains. All in all, it was just the trip out of the city I needed to make me remember why I love the countryside. A small village, winding paths that lead to another, mules and donkeys carrying supplies further up the mountain, villagers eager to say good morning in their best English or French, and their surprise when we try the familiar "sba l'khir" back in Arabic. I love this place and the reminder I got about the mountains and God's love from Isaiah:
"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing
love for you will not be shaken..." -- Isaiah 54:10