I've been teaching for almost two weeks now. I don't know how else to say it, except with the cliche "I love it." I really do, and I'm surprised. I remember how for weeks and weeks (I guess it's really months and months) leading up to this, I would tell people about my decision to go back to DGS with a martyr's sigh - God called, what can I say? I'm sure there will be joy offering myself up as a living sacrifice. (And I pictured this almost in literal terms... that DGS would kill some part of me.) But so far, I haven't cried yet, I haven't gotten angry yet, and I don't hate the students. Wow. God is really generous to me. I've started to wonder if this is my life calling (albeit reluctantly... there is so little glamour in being a teacher). I get a little thrill - the kind of thrill I would get as a kid in the summer when I think up some new, fun project like planting a little flower bed or making a picture book - every time I come up with an idea for a discussion topic or class activity. I find myself thinking about material for class when I'm reading magazines, watching TV, looking at ads in the MTR, or observing people on the street. I enjoy coming up with lesson plans and thinking about ways to push the girls forward. Oh but the best part is definitely when I'm with the students. Maybe I have fault memory, but I'm quite confident that DGS girls have become nicer since my days there. They were a bit shy at first, but after the first few days of introductions, I would walk into a classroom, and see these bright young faces smiling at me. When did I ever smile at a teacher in a classroom? And when I try to tell stories in class, I can't help but feel flattered when they listen attentively, their eyes following me. Why should they care about my experiences? What has the Lord given me? More and more, I am realizing the great responsibility that comes with a captive and willing audience. I can tell jokes or feed them from me to try to make them like me more, or I can give them what comes from the Lord. It's been only two weeks, and I realize how incredibly easy it is to get caught up with filling lesson time with fun activities and getting through the syllabus, forgetting about the eternal things. How can I give them the best? "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." - Acts 3:6 "If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, hiswork will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it tolight. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test thequality of each man's work." - 1 Corinthians 3:12-13 I want to build with gold, with the power in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Next week I will start meeting up with the girls in my class (the class for whom I'm the Form Teacher) one-on-one. It feels a little like Stint, in an exciting way. I'm eager.