City on a hill

I admit, I broke down yesterday... and today. I've been hyper emotional since yesterday's post about my two students. Hyper emotional since learning this morning that a teacher here at ICS who had a tumor removed from her brain, received the news that it was cancerous. And hyper emotional since hearing the news that some friends we've made here will be returning to the states very shortly for family reasons.

This snowball effect resulted in me suddenly realizing how overwhelmed I am. Who knew that it would be so much work and stress to change countries, change schools, change friends, change foods, change languages, change students, change age group of students, change curriculum, change churches, change apartments, change lifestyles, etc. And I had the fleeting thought of, "Wow, this is soooo hard. I feel like a sinking ship!" So I broke down at school and started crying when one of the principals asked the loaded question: "How are you?"

His response to my crocodile tears was simply, "Can I pray for you?" And seriously, who says no to prayer? So he prayed for me and I felt so much better after. God reminded me that while yes, my environment and circumstances have changed, God is still God. God is still faithful. God is still loving. God is still holy. God is still gracious and merciful. God is still just. God is still everything that He was in the states. And my purpose here on earth is still the same despite being half way across the world from everything that was familiar. This lesson seems all too familiar... something that God taught me when I was in Spain 10 years ago when I committed my life to Him. But as I said before in my last post, this heart of mine is a wandering, sinful heart that easily forgets His faithful promises.

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden" Matthew 5:13. I pray that my life would set apart from worldly things and be a light that reflects Christ at ICS unto my students... because that's my purpose as I live half way around the world.