The Been Briefing

aren't jody's new chacos pretty cool?

hmmmm.... trials, trust, and time passing...

so i don't know when i'm coming home exactly. jody and will be having dinner with my boss wednesday night. she said she would give me my ticket information then. i'm assuming we'll also discuss other details - like visa information and storage of things for when jody and i return in the fall.

in the meantime, i'm encouraged, because i can make a little money writing up curriculum for each book from home. it's rather monotonous, tedious, takes a LONG time and doesn't require a lot of thought (for me as a native), but it's invaluable for ERC in having some teaching materials for these books. so i take comfort that in a small way i can still help out the school and make some money before i leave. mrs. kim also mentioned going to the english bookstore in suwon to pick out other books. there has been some talk of the little house of the prairie series. how wonderful would that be? i love them. and quite a glimpse into american history.

i wanted to post a picture of little ari spruill, the new son of my good friend jacque and her husband asher! i cannot believe i'm at the age where i can get married and friends can have children. i mean, they're allowed to have children?!?!? that's just ridiculousness. YAY!

and then, here's a picture way overdue from cinco de mayo. a bunch of us went into itaewon for some mexican food. it was great fun... from the LEFT (alex, chris, me, jody, hillary, ellen, stefanie, christan, katie). chris and alex met and married in taiwon and are now teaching at jody's school. hillary is the new teacher at jody's school. ellen is stefanie's friend. christan goes to cypress creek church (the church connected with jody's school). and katie is the kindergarten teacher at jody's school. so pretty much everyone was connected with AEI - the school that jody teaches at.

oh, the food was great. i got chicken fajitas. yum!

and then, another wonderful thing happened. my dear friend from governor's school and college, stephanie cole, made the trip out to korea again to visit her then-boyfriend jarrod. it was so great. jody and i went into seoul and hung out with them at jarrod's place last saturday. we played settlers of catan, which jody totally dominated. i'm not sure how i feel about his high level of game competition. it was pretty tense towards the end. i have decided to ban board games in our household. LOL! it might be bad for our marriage. HAHAHAHA!

we were also privileged to be the first to know of their engagement! YAY! congratulations to jarrod and stephanie!!! i am so excited, so very thrilled to be part of this season in their lives, and i must say having stephanie along at the same point in our relationships has been an immense encouragement. it's hard not to feel a little alone facing pre-marital challenges without the immediate support of friends and family. stephanie and i met for chicken fingers and coffee in seoul last week, and i cannot tell you how much it meant to be able to talk with a friend from home. someone who knows me and has known me a long time. someone who knows God and who has waited for His timing and His purposes, too. i am truly thankful for God's provision in big and small ways while i'm hanging out in korea... not doing much.. haha.

here we are...

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Psalm 23