Blessed to be a Blessing

You know, in all this that we do over here, in the end we just want to bless the local people and be a glimpse of Christ.  I don't really know how successful we are, but everyday that is our main goal.  Often times there is a battle going on in my head telling me that we are far from that and really shouldn't bother loving and serving the folks here.  But we press on,  not really seeing the earthly value or results of our work.

It's a faith thing.  We know He has called us here to love and serve those around us.  We do our best to be the fragrance of Christ and leave the hard work of changing people's hearts up to the Holy Spirit.

All that to say, it's pretty easy to feel ineffective and like a failure.

So...

Lucy's teacher called me this week and wanted to schedule a meeting to say goodbye before I had to leave.  We settled on Thursday at 2:00.  Come Thursday, I dropped Lucy off at school at 1:00 and headed downstairs to the PTA room where I spent the majority of my Spring.  I had planned to just hang out in there with my friends for an hour until my meeting.  It was locked.

When I went back upstairs to look for some of the PTA ladies.  I found them and a few other friends all dressed nicely and surprised to see me.  They were acting funny.  I asked why they were so dressed up and they sort of choked out that they were headed to tea party.  I teased that they didn't invite me and one of them said, "Well, you're meeting the teacher at 2:00, so we couldn't invite you."

How did she know I was meeting the teacher?

Then I was sort of hanging around outside and a different friend said that I should go on home and relax until the meeting.  And, that's when I knew that something was up.

I had an hour to prepare my heart.  I just drove around our neighborhood and then found myself in our old neighborhood.  I turned on worship music and prayed for all the folks that I have encountered over the years.  I prayed and cried and thanked the Lord for how far He has brought us.  He is so faithful!!

At 2:00 I showed up at school for my teacher meeting.  As we entered the conference room all the moms were there.  I figured just a few that I was close to would come, but almost every single one came.  A few teachers came and even the principal dropped by for a few minutes.

Of course I burst into tears again.  I just couldn't believe that it made a difference to them wether we were moving or not.  I was just so blessed by their love.

They gave us a huge framed picture entitled Mutululuk- happiness.  Of course I didn't get a picture of it because I was opening it.  And they gave Lucy a sweet little dress.  Even though I had a bit of a heads up about this, I think I was in shock the entire time.  I just had no idea that that these women even noticed me!

Our amazing teacher!
(I should have used the extra hour to go home and change clothes!)

Everyone brought food

When it's eating time, back up or you'll get run over!

When the bell rang, the kids all came in to eat with us.

There were more moms that this, but some had to leave early!

"Every time I think of you, I give thanks to God."

Phil. 1:3