2011 Sounds SO Far Away!

Well, God just continues to shower us with blessings, and we are beyond thankful.  We officially both have jobs in Korea for at least two more years!  We talked to the principal at GSIS on Thursday and he offered Michael the full-time substitute job, with the chance of possibly teaching some Bible classes if they need him to.  Either way, we are just thrilled to know that he for sure has a job there as well!  So, we will both be working at the same school until at least July 2011.  Doesn't that sound crazy?! :)  This means that we will get really nice housing, and a lot more vacation time, among many other perks.  So, if you are in the market for a trip to Asia, please come see us!  We should for sure have an extra bedroom and bathroom just for guests.

We are also really excited about this because now we can begin planning our summer vacation to the US!  We're so excited to be able to have the chance to spend some good, quality time with family and friends.  We're working on the itinerary right now, but we know for sure we'll be flying to Denver the first week of June (my best college friend Heidi is getting married June 6th and I am a bridesmaid), and flying out from San Diego the last week of July.  Somewhere in between there we are planning to make it to Dallas, Houston, Baton Rouge, Searcy, and hopefully Connecticut.  The really awesome thing about all this is our current school pays for our flight home, and the new school will pay for our flight back to Korea.  Korea is so good to English-speaking foreigners!  We are blessed.

I know that I haven't even started as a librarian yet, but I just have this feeling that this is going to be my favorite job ever.  I think this is something that I can see myself doing for a long time, which is not something I could say about being a classroom teacher.  I know that it will be a lot of work, but it is going to be work that I think I will really, truly enjoy, and feel like I can do a good job at.  Praise God for this opportunity!

In other news, it looks like spring is finally arriving here.  We had a week of mostly sunny, semi-warm days this week, though tomorrow it is supposed to be 44 F and snowing.  Next week the weather is supposed to get up to the high 50s and 60s, which makes me soo excited!  Spring is my favorite season.  I love the feeling of seeing the sun after almost 5 months of just clouds and wind.  It makes me so happy!  It also makes me motivated to work out again.  I've been going back to the gym with more regularity, which in turn makes me feel better.  I lost half a kilogram last week!  haha  That's about 1 pound.  Anything is exciting at this point!

We do have a prayer request.  We found out this week that a dear lady from our old church in Judsonia unexpectedly passed away.  Her name was Hazel Wiggs and she was one of the most precious ladies we have ever had the privilege to know.  She was always such an encouragement to us when Michael was the youth minister and she was always one of his biggest fans.  She had gone in for a routine gall-bladder surgery over a month ago I guess, and had complications and just never recovered from it--basically had been in a coma for the last month.  She was a loving wife and a proud mother and grandmother.  She had a hard time hearing, and I can still envision her at church on a Sunday morning, with the earphones to hear the sermon better in her ears, practically dancing down the aisles during the meet and greet time, hugging everyone she went by and smiling her beautiful smile.  What a loss for us here on Earth, but what a prize for Heaven!  I know she is enjoying every moment she has with Jesus now.  Please pray for her husband, Alton, and her daughters and grandchildren.  Her grandson Jordan had started coming to the youth group for the last few months that we were there, and he and Michael really had a connection.  It is sad for us to know that we won't be able to see her the next time we visit.

Well, I guess that's it for now.  I just wanted to fill everyone in on what's been going on and again, thank you for your prayers!  

~Leslie