It's the most wonderful time of the year!

I can't believe the Christmas Season is already upon us! The time we have spent here so far has gone by so quickly. We are almost halfway through our school year, the first term will end in January.

As with all firsts, I have learned a lot this first semester of teaching. I am beginning to realize now that there are so many more things I still want to teach for Conversational Fluency and I have so little time left. Looking back I realize that some of the lessons that I already taught were kind of silly and there are other things I would rather teach now after struggling through conversations about the weather and being sick (since so many people here are sick lately), I realize those are some things that my students need to learn about. I am overwhelmed by the amount of things that I could teach them. But I am also excited about how much better I will hopefully do next year if we decide to come back. I remember feeling the same way when I taught at CCS. It was hard the first year to look back and think, "I wish I could have taught those students more, but at least with the knowledge I have now, I can teach the next group of students better!"

Just a little bit about teaching, that has been one of my main focuses lately. I have been spending a lot of time lesson planning. I have also been spending a lot of time wishing that I were in my old hometown, so that it would "feel" more like Christmas. But what a selfish thing to wish... And what does it really take to "feel" like Christmas. For me I guess it is just the old familiar things that have always taken place at Christmastime, watching Christmas movies, listening to Christmas music, Baking, Christmas shopping, Decorating a Table for The Women's Brunch at New Life etc. But most of those things have nothing to do with the true meaning of the holiday.

We have plenty of those things here, but sometimes it doesn't "feel" like Christmas. I don't think that those things are bad either, they are wonderful, Gd gave us those things to enjoy. But when we put them before Him and before the celebration of His Son's Birth, they become id*ls. I don't want to put id*ls before my Savi*r this year. I truly want to celebrate the coming of my King while enjoying the bl*ssings that He gave me.

That is my hope this season and my hope for all of you. That together with your loved ones you can celebrate the coming of our King. Oh what a bl*ssing it is that he has given us s*lvation! No one deserves it. That is why I am here, but I am hoping that others like me, undeserving s*nners, will accept it and share in the bl*ssed gift of that first Christmas.