*January Tenth*
Wow.
I think that date's going to be engraved in memory for a while now.
Its the date that's been looming on the horizon for so long, and yet has come so quickly. The date of doom. ;-P The date when we all have to tell King Car whether or not we want to stay here another year after this semester. I know it's been a pretty difficult decision for some of us, while others have known for a relatively long time what they should do. I don't know yet what each person has decided, but I pray that each one of us will now have confirmation and a peace about the decision that we’ve made.
*Peace*
Peace is an incredible phenomenon.
“…the dayspring from on high has visited us…to guide our feet into the way of peace.”Luke 1:78,79
During the past nine months I’ve been experiencing this phenomenon of peace as a guiding force when making decisions. It’s a new experience for me, and it’s really cool. :-) Last April, I also had to decide whether to stay on for another year of teaching or go home and start college, (as I had been planning to do). Whenever I would think about staying in Kinmen, I had "a peace.”But whenever I would think about going home and starting college, I just“didn't have a peace.”Then, once again, when I was deciding about whether or not to switch from elementary school to Jr. High for this coming semester, I had “a peace” about choosing Jr. High. I didn't have the same “anti-peace” about staying in elementary school that I'd had about going home, but when I decided to teach Jr. High, I was able to recognize that same peace that I'd had when I'd decided to stay here for another year. And now, finally, I've just made a decision about whether or not to teach yet another year after this semester. As soon as I'd finalized my decision to go home and not come back this fall, I felt like crying -- because I don't know for sure if I'll ever have another chance to come back here -- but I also immediately sensed that now-familiar presence of peace. And what I find most amazing about this peace is that it's not really a feeling. It's too tangible and steady to be a feeling.
It's the knowledge that nothing is “off,” and it's like laying a
burden down as soon as I decide to follow it.
May God bless each one of us with a definite confirmation of our
decisions in the weeks to come, and may His peace rest on us and our families.
~BJ, Kinmen team
“…the peace of God…passes all understanding…”Philippians 4:7
