My school year at Ivy Academia ended with a mixture of sadness and joy. Sadness for all the amazing students and faculty that I am leaving behind, but joy in the knowledge that I have once again successfully finished the school year (my 5th teaching year). The last day of school was particularly challenging. Almost all my students came on the last day and by the end of the day nearly 1/2 of the girls were in tears since they knew I wouldn't be teaching at Ivy next year. I almost started crying myself, but I knew that if I cried I wouldn't be able to get them to stop. By 4:00pm on Friday, June 18 I had finished all my teaching requirements at Ivy and I said good-bye. On the positive side...it has been fun to receive e-mails from my former students (and facebook chats/posts). I hope that I will be able to stay in touch with them throughout the years.
This past week has been spent trying to sort out my belongings (again) into three piles: take, give away, and store. I finished the last of my "take" packing on Wednesday, but I'll probably go through it again (for the 4th time) and take stuff out since my bags will be too heavy. Thursday and Friday were spent putting everything else away (Goodwill or storage). Finally, by 3:00pm on Friday, June 25 I no longer had anything else to pack, store, throw away, etc. HALLELUJAH! Since my sister, Sara, was also moving out of our apartment we (Sara, our mom, and me) have been frantically been trying to finish everything before our "move dates" (mine: June 25, Sara's: June 26). Thankfully it all worked out...not sure how, but God sent us a wonderful woman (our mom) to help us finish.
Yesterday (June 25) I flew out of LAX at 10:37pm for my TCK: PFO training in Houghton, New York. The lines were long at the airport (check-in and security), but I made it with plenty of time to spare. I even had someone famous behind me in line during security...Morgan Spurlock from Super Size Me. I didn't actually care, but I figured some of you would. :) I arrived at JFK this morning around 3:45am (our time) for my 3 1/2 hr. layover and I was exhausted, hungry, and not a very happy person. I can usually sleep on the plane, but the stress of the last few weeks ended up being too much and I wasn't able to (I did sleep for approx. 1 hour in the terminal). At 10:55am (NY time) I left JFK for Buffalo, NY and arrived in Buffalo at 12:15pm. Fortunately I slept most of the time on this flight due to pure exhaustion. As I arrived, I was warmly greeted by some of the PFO staff and we set off to meet up with other teachers for the PFO. (For those of you who are curious, PFO stands for Pre-Field Orientation.) Over the next 1 1/2 hrs. we were able to chat and get to know each other better. I also met the Johnstone family for the first time. They will be going with me to Vienna! If you want to hear more about their ministry, please check out their blog... http://johnstonefamilyadventure.blogspot.com/. We eventually left the airport and arrived at Houghton College shortly before 4pm (NY time). After getting my room and eating dinner, I crashed for a few hours before I began to unpack, shower, and write this blog. The next two weeks are jammed pack with a lot of training, fellowshipping, and mentally preparing for the next adventure God has in store for me. As difficult as it has been the last few weeks with everything I have needed to do, I have still been able to feel the calming presence of our Lord and Savior. What an amazing God we serve!
Support Update:
God has graciously provided me with the minimum amount of funds that I need in order to go. Praise the Lord! I am SO thankful that I don't have to worry during the last few weeks in the states about getting my final support amount. I can enjoy the time I have with friends and family. God knew that one of my biggest struggles with leaving as a missionary teacher was the idea of support raising. I can't even begin to tell you just how overwhelmed with gratitude I am that He provided for my every need. People can still send support or sign up to be monthly supporters if they desire. This will help provide a little extra during times of need.
1st PFO Picture:
Here we are waiting for our bus to arrive to take us to the PFO at Houghton College. I'm the blond on the right side of the picture who was oblivious to the fact a picture was being taken.
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