Resurrection and the breath of God

Daniel came home from school today beaming. 

He declared: Mom, I'm getting really good at school. 

No matter that its taken almost the entire year. 

For months on end, Daniel would whine and cry and try every 4-year-old tactic to stall in the morning. Inevitably we'd arrive tardy and one of the staff members would have to carry him down the hall to his classroom. 

This week Daniel woke up, buttoned up his polo shirt by himself and finished his cereal before 7am - without fussing once. This is miraculous.

It is Teacher Appreciation week. Matt came home with a manila envelope full of slips of paper with messages written by his students and players. Words of affirmation are not Matt's love language. And yet, these hand written notes reveal something deeper, more powerful.

God is at work bringing new life and resurrection:

"This was easily the best theology class I've ever had...overall, thanks for being an awesome teacher."

"I am grateful you came to VC to teach us. I feel more solid in my faith because of this class. We appreciate you."

"Thank you for providing a comforting environment for me to grow in my faith...I owe a large part of my faith to you."

"Thank you for letting me play soccer this year. I stopped playing years ago and this year really made me love soccer again like I use to. I wasn't gonna play this year but you and some other students changed my mind."

 This, too, is miraculous. 

Matt gave a simple "yes" to teach and to coach this school year. He was never trained to teach or coach and had never considered it before.  But when God moves and we are obedient to Him, miracles abound.

And there's more. 

For the past few months God has been revealing a new and unexpected call for our family to serve abroad. Rather than a countdown for the days of school remaining, our kitchen calendar has a countdown to the days until we fly to Asia: 46. We'll be assisting with a mission trip and visiting missionary friends.  

We've started sharing the news of our departure with our school community here. Transition is never easy, and yet God's grace abounds. While there are many practical details to figure out, God shows up again and again to remind us that He always provides. We only need to fix our gaze on the Lord and follow Him.