stream of consciousness

 So I should be going to bed right now and winding down from a ca-razy day, but instead I want to write and tell you all about the wonderful things that happened today.

To say that it was a crazy day would be putting things mildly. My class is doing another Samaritan's Purse project, and today we put on an Italian restaurant (Cinque Stella, which means Five Star in Italian) at lunchtime. It was pretty organized chaos, but it was so worth it. I love watching my kids get excited about reaching beyond themselves. To see them put on their little service roles and play a part in something bigger than themselves was just beautiful. And they did so well! They served everyone with smiles and they were serious about their jobs. And you know what, we raised $232 in one day! The Lord truly is Jehovah-Jireh.

This year, our goal was to raise $444. We decided to dream big (last year our goal was $250), and God is doing big things in return. Not only are the kids getting excited, but so am I! When we counted up the money today, I might have done a little dance and screamed.

Welcome to Cinque Stella Ristorante!

Not only is the Lord doing wonderful things through our fundraiser, but He is doing wonderful things through our Christmas musical coming up. Each child is being stretched in ways they did not know were possible. One hard thing to find out today was that one student will not be able to be here for the musical. His family is Colombian, and they have an appointment that was given to them by the U.S. Embassy to come to Juarez and receive their U.S. visas. When he came in this morning and told me that, I thought he was joking. I was speechless. This particular child has been struggling academically and is just now getting on his feet. Not only has he improved in every single class, but he has been working so hard on his part and has all of his lines memorized and is doing it well. And he won't be able to show everyone just how amazing it is. But what my co-worker Peggy pointed out, and I have to keep reminding myself, is that God knew this. He knew before time began that this little boy would work so hard and come so far and then have to give the part to a classmate. He knew and He has a plan and a purpose in it beyond what we can see.

One last thing. I promise. Another student has been struggling with saying her lines with expression and has been somewhat monotone, and as Peggy and I tried to work with her, the lines seemed to just come out exactly the same. But this afternoon in staff meeting, her mom shared that as she prayed with her last night, her sweet daughter thanked God for helping her with her lines and for helping her to do well. When her mom talked to her about how great it was that she had made progress, she said, "It wasn't me. I thought I was saying them the same way. It was God. He did it."

He is so awesome.