Ok, so I'm not going to give a summary of what's been going on this summer, maybe because I haven't written about it much in my paper journal but also because my h. has been over it so many times on the phone or with friends in person that it just seems like a song I can't get out of my head.
Anyway, something I have been learning is that I need daily grace. I'm working at this test prep place where I worked last summer and I'm struggling like last summer not to give into how boring it is and how tough it is on the kids. Basically they spend from 8:30 to 2:30 every day working on multiple choice tests and the like and when I have them (from 11:30-2:30) they're expected to do that and read and write. What kid in their right mind is going to enjoy writing or reading/discussing a book after so much boring multiple choice? Especially when they have homework every night as well? So, that's where the daily grace comes in. I don't so much mind the long train ride out there but it's that moment when I enter the empty church building that smells of bad take out. That's when I remember how annoying some of the kids were yesterday or how much work I have to force them to do for the day. So, I've started praying for grace right then to do my job and to make it as interesting and useful as possible for the kids. I don't like to think that I'm helping them waste their summers. Although I guess they could be doing far worse things with their time. For the most part they're well behaved and they seem to be pretty well-motivated or at least their Asian parents are motivating them.
I can't spend too much time thinking about what I'd rather be doing with my time either. Although I'm not looking forward to answering the "how was your summer?" question from teacher friends and parents once I'm back at GS. Oh well, the Lord will surely give me grace to deal with that as well.
