Ephesians 3:20-21 "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory. . ."
Today is Earth Day! Therefor, my class art project on Friday was based off of the importance of recycling. I found the idea from the blog For the Love of Art. Considering this art project was designed for 5th graders, my 1st graders did a pretty good job! :) Enjoy the step-by-step pictures from my cute little kids!
Step 1:: choose a design (flower or dragonfly) and get the necessary pre-made (by me) stencils. I numbered each piece so they wouldn't get them mixed up.
Step 2:: trace the stencil onto any kind of recyclable paper: magazine, old art project, comic paper, etc. {I just want to eat this little guy up!}
Step 3:: cut out your stenciled pieces.
Step 4:: glue the pieces down onto colored butcher paper.
Step 5:: cut out the shape leaving 1/4 inch of the colored paper around it.
Step 6:: glue this new piece onto black butcher paper and repeat step 4.
I like having things to celebrate, and today just happens to be
Chris' half birthday! Neither of us have ever celebrated our half birthday before, but hey - it's never to late to start! To be honest, I thought about it two months ago, because I had a leftover can of pumpkin from Christmas, and it's Chris's favorite. So I figured out when his half birthday would be, and then put an alarm on my phone to go off a week before so I wouldn't forget!
So. . . happy half birthday to Chris! We're celebrating with pumpkin pie, American Idol with Erik and Amanda, and planning for IB Economics (blehhh! complete sarcasm). That, everyone, is the unfortunate news about next year's teaching assignment for Chris. But because this is meant to be a happy and celebratory post, I won't utter the words again. They have the connotation of a four-letter word to me at this point.
But the pie. . .
The pie was good.
Sorry, the crust decided not to show up for this picture.
It will be Chris' motivation to get up early enough for breakfast tomorrow :)
American Idol was good too.
It's fun to have an American connection, and watch it with friends on a weekly basis.
{Philip is my favorite! I'd have his CD on repeat all day.}
Goodnight from Jakarta!
annnnnnd. . . dummy of the year goes to me! just realized it's NOT Chris' half birthday after all -- it's next month. wow, that's embarrassing. don't make fun of me, because i'm being honest and posting this blog anyways! it just means we got to enjoy pie :)
As the first blog post since being home from our trip, I feel like this should be a recap. However, I feel this is more on my heart to share right now. Our trip was incredible, but that can come later.
I just want to share a song that has been encouraging over the past couple of days. Sometimes, certain songs have a way of moving you in ways that you wouldn't expect, and in the times when you need it most. During our 12 hour flight coming home from Turkey, I had my headphones in playing worship music really softly, as I tried to drown out cabin noise, but also sleep. I'd kind of forgotten about this song, but I came to brief consciousness just long enough to hear the chorus of "You are holy" being repeated. I can't really explain it, but I felt such a joy and peace at that moment, and drifted back to sleep (or the groggy delirium I wish I could have considered sleep).
Then, yesterday, we had quite the discouraging day. I'll fill in details at a later date because things have been changed up several times already (teaching assignments) and I don't want to say anything until we have all the details ourselves. Chris and I were both far from cheery moods and smiles, when I was reminded of the song that I'd heard when I was barely awake, two days earlier. Chris put away his work for a little bit, and we just sat and listened to it play. I didn't realize how on the edge of tears I was. It didn't take more than 2 seconds into the chorus, and I was a goner. In the midst of frustration, discouragement, and some bitterness, we were covered in a peace and reminded of God's "infinitely beautiful and perfect love", glory, and holiness. God has plans to prosper us, and we're trying to keep that in the forefront of our minds even when we don't understand the "whys" of every situation.
I have no idea what this song will mean to you as you listen to it, but I'm sure you can all relate to a time when you've heard just what you needed to hear. I've had this song on repeat whenever possible. . . doing dishes, falling asleep, during my school prep times, you name it. I wish I could just make it the soundtrack in my head right now. Here it is, I hope you enjoy it, and are encouraged as well.
