There are six weeks left in the school year. Already, I've finished classes with my grade 12 students. Hallelujah! No more Calculus! For the next two weeks my grade 12 students will be writing their International Baccalaureate exams. Although the end of the school years seems so close, my desk is still piled high with papers to mark, curriculum projects to finish, exams to write, and review materials to prepare. Teaching at SPH this year has been a lot of work. Yet, despite the hours and hours of work I have often found an irrepressible thankfulness rising up in my heart. I am thankful for these little blessings:
- Six other single women whom have shared this journey of first year teaching in Indonesia
- Coworkers who are flexible, understanding, and dedicated
- A supportive community among fellow expatriates
- Living close to my best friend
- Having the opportunity to travel and see new places
- Wearing a uniform so I no longer have to deliberate over outfits (really, but not really, I want my full closet back, haha!)
- Living within walking distance to the grocery store and anything else I should need
- Friends who also have to "work" after work
- Blue skies and sunshine when the smoggy Jakarta air lifts
- Air conditioning!
- Cheap tickets to the movies
- New friendships with people from all over the world
- Experiencing a life different than what I've always known
- Random holidays the government declares
- Motor bike rides with the wind blowing in my face :)
- Beautiful city lights at night
- Learning about another culture and what they value
- Getting mail from home!
- Trying all sorts of new foods and increasing my "spicy" tolerance
- Dinners outside in the cool-ish evening air relaxing with friends
- Discovering bubble tea!
- Coffee shops that I can go work at when I'm unmotivated at home
- Capturing life on the other half of the world with my camera
- Encouraging words or notes from friends on rough days
- Candles to make my apartment seem like home
- 2+ hour spa appointments with friends that result in uplifting conversations
- Dinner multiple times a week with friends
- Friends who take me to karaoke on my "mandatory annual celebration of the aging process"
- Fresh flowers adorning my table
The list could go on and on. I was nervous when I moved to Indonesia. I was letting go and sacrificing a lot of things: being near family, sharing life with friends, living in a culture I understood, driving my AWESOME car . . . so many things. In my head I knew that God would take care of me, but today my heart knows it. These little blessings in the midst of this year's trials testify to it. This year God has provided for me physically, relationally, and spiritually in ways I could not have foreseen or imagined.
In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus states that we do not need to worry about what we eat, drink, or wear for God knows ALL our needs and will meet them. He says, "the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." I was tempted to not come to Indonesia because I feared being lonely, living far away from loved ones, or not having certain physical comforts. Yet, God saw ALL my needs, even the ones I didn't know I had, and he met them. God is my shepherd who makes me lie down in green pastures and leads me beside quiet waters (Psalm 23:2). He is my provider.
"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:19
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