God is in control...

These past five months have not been easy in any sense of the word…I am wearing out, getting tired, losing my patience, and just trying to hold on to my sanity for my sake, and for the sake of those around me as well. Ha.

The two girls who were talking about running away ended up staying… however, we thought for sure that they were going to be gone the next morning… my roommate and I stayed up talking and crying with one of the girls, and we never thought we would see her again. It was an emotional roller-coaster, but she, and her friend, ended up staying… I don’t know if it was something that we said to her, or if she was just wanting to see what our reaction would be… who knows, but I am just so glad that she is still here, and she will be continuing with school soon as well.

The kids get mad over silly things… like how much food I serve on their plates… it’s always too much, or too little, never just right. I sometimes just come back to my room and laugh at the things they get themselves worked up about. Like I said, I’m trying to keep my sanity! It’s not easy on some days… and other days, they are all in great moods, and everyone is happy. I know that these kids have been through more than I ever wish to know, and that they are so sensitive, but it’s still emotionally draining.

A few weeks ago I was asked to teach the Kindergarten English classes which made me so happy! I have been here for five months, helping out with chores, kitchen duty, pool duty, and little things here and there, but nothing like teaching! I know that the little things count too, but I always felt like I should/could be doing more… and I’m so glad that I will now have an opportunity to teach. I finished making up all of my lesson plans today… I still have some details to work out as far as the class activities go, however, I am well on my way to being finished with them.

Lately I have really felt God close to me, and working in my life… First off, being asked to teach Kindergarten English was a huge answer to prayer, and I am scared/excited to start teaching! I know God will help me through.

Also, last week I was talking to my friend Lauren, she’s a student missionary in Majuro right now. I was chatting with her on facebook when she mentioned that she was planning on working at a summer camp in Alaska this summer! She told me that I should check it out, and see if I could work there too! I just laughed at her because I already had my summer plans made up in my head. Work, then Europe, then back home to take summer classes/work, and then back to Southern. Not to mention that I wouldn’t be getting back home from Europe until the 9th of June, and most summer camps have already started by then. I told her all of this, and just said, “haha, you’re funny Lauren, there’s no way that’s a possibility… I don’t have the money for that, and I’ve already purchased my ticket for Germany, so I will need to get a job to pay for that trip! Sorry, it sounds like fun though!” Well, she didn’t give up as easily as I thought she would… she kept talking about it, and told me that this camp in Alaska didn’t start until late June and that they pay really well, and that I would earn enough at the camp to cover my Europe trip! She told me to just email the camp director, and see what happens… well, I agreed to that...I figured there was no harm in one email. I emailed Laurie, the camp director, that same night after talking to Lauren. I told her about myself, what I was interested in, and what I was currently doing, along with three references. I prayed a lot about it, and called my parents and talked a little to them about it. I was really excited about the possibility, but still had no idea how it would ever work. Well, the next morning I sent the email to Laurie, and within minutes I had a reply from her! She said that there were female counselor positions open, and that if I was serious about wanting to work there to send in an application as soon as possible! As soon as I read the message I knew that that was what God wanted me to pursue this summer. I called my mom and told her, and I started the application process. I spent a good three hours filling out the online application, and when I finished, I plugged back into the Ethernet cord, but in order to get to the online application, I had to first create an account, and when I unplugged, it logged me out of the site! So, you can only imagine what happened next… I went to send the application in, and I pressed the button to send it, and nothing but an error page popped up saying that I was no longer logged in! I was so upset… I hadn’t saved the application information anywhere else. Three hours of my day were gone, wasted. I was so discouraged… Well, later that day, my mom went to the camp site, and saw that it said it’s location was in Idaho! Laurie wanted me to email the application to her, not into the website… so, that was a blessing in disguise! I tried several different ways to get my application filled out… however, there is no scanner or fax machine here, and so I was so discouraged… after filling out my application several times, and losing it over three times in one day, I was done. I was wondering if God even wanted me to go to Alaska after all. I talked with my roommate, Hannah, and she said, “why don’t you send the information to your mom, and have her fill it out for you, and scan and send it to Laurie?” I couldn’t believe how simple she had just made my predicament! So, I did just that. Before the application was even sent, I had an email waiting from Laurie saying that my references were checking out really good, and that she needed my birth date and middle name to book a ticket for me!! I was so excited to hear that… my mom sent the application to her, but I haven’t heard anything more yet… so, now I’m just waiting for the “officially official” message.

Please pray about my summer plans, because I want God's will for my life, and I know that I had my whole summer planned out, but it seems as though God had/has other plans for me! I still have no idea how I am going to afford all of my traveling this summer, but I know that God will provide… the last thing I want to do is worry…

Thank you all for your prayers! Love you all!

Laurel

P.S. One of the volunteer’s parents just arrived, and when Shearin found out they were coming, she asked all of us student missionaries what we “needed”… well, I replied with Fire Cheetos, and M&M’s! Obviously I thought very long and hard about what I needed…haha, I thought that I would pay her parents back, but Shearin just delivered the “goodies” to my door, and said not to worry about a thing! I am super happy right now! Ha ha! Who knew American junk food could make me so happy? Lol…

Another good part of my day… I was playing soccer with the kids, and I hadn’t been playing for more than maybe 30 minutes, and the ball was kicked right to me… I took my shot, and kicked the ball towards the goal, and I made it!! I made my first goal since being here! Haha, took me long enough! Well, I should say, my first goal during a bigger game. It was quite a surprise to me AND to my teammates! However, there were no complaints on either end… :)

And, just to give an example of the mood swings of the kids here… as of today, there are about two or three girls mad at me for reasons I’m not so sure of… however, most likely they will be over it by tomorrow sometime late afternoon. Ha. Oh the joys of drama…