Meeting Friends

This has already been an amazing week!  It is neat to see relationships and doors open up.  Since we live right next to the park, it has been great for the kids!  The boys love playing with all the other kids in the park.  They have started to develop friendships with some of the kids they see regularly.  One of the kids our boys play with lives right next door- it's fun to see them interact.  The other day, I brought out the boy's Transformers, and they all played right next to the park.  I was able to talk with our neighbor, and he gave us a neat gift of food.  In addition, Erin has met other neighbors because of the park as well.  One friendship has led to another and we are starting to get to know our neighbors.  Erin met one neighbor the other day and told me I had to meet them.  So I went over after work, and met the husband.  He in turn took me to our next-door neighbor and I met him.  They invited me to play soccer with them last night.  It was a blast.  We played in a indoor-type arena. It was great fun kicking the ball around and just hanging out.  After the game, we just sat at a table and talked.  My two neighbors speak fluent English, so we were able to converse easily.  I hope to be able to hang out with them some more!  The next soccer night is in a couple of weeks, so hopefully I can go and be a part of that again!

The only bad thing about soccer was my back.  As many of you know, I hurt my back some years back (no pun intended).  I had some concerns going to play soccer, but I just couldn't miss this opportunity!  So I played, even though my spine started to scream at me five minutes into the game.  Then the pain seems to subside, so I figured everything was okay. Well, long story short, I am typing this with a heating pad behind me, and my back is messed up again.  We are praying for a quick healing, and I guess I will have to go next time as just a spectator!

School-wise, I am starting to put together some year-long plans, but I have a ton of work yet to do.  It will all work out, but these next few weeks will involve a ton of new work.  That's okay though.  I met my mentor teacher the other day, and he's also the history department head, so we got to talk about the Asian History class.  I now have a better idea of what to do, and soon I will figure out how to do it as well!  God's been good, as usual- so it will all work out in the end!  It's such an exciting and crazy time right now!

Thanks so much for your encouraging emails and prayers.  Please continue to lift up Kadin and Jace.  It's been hard for them at times, and we are praying for a smooth transition.  Overall, they have handled things like a champ, and we are proud of them!  But they do mention their grandparents (and friends), and they miss them a lot.  Pray too for my back and for me as I prepare for my classes.  I want to be a good steward of my time, and that takes discipline.  I will try to post some more pictures in a bit.  Kadin and I caught a huge lizard on our walk home from school the other day!  It was cool!  Take care and God bless! -mekj