Tomorrow is our last day of classes for the semester which is hard to believe. We just have one final left and then Christmas break. While we really love the learning we are obtaining, it'll be nice to have a break from all the reading and busywork and hopefully have a chance to do some of our own reading and study in the Bible. After a semester of study in the Old Testament, you begin getting excited about the things to come in the Bible. I'm so thankful for the chronological study we've been able to have here. Ben and I both see the benefit of studying the Bible in this way. I feel like there's a lot to update on this time (i.e. this is going to be a monster update), so I'll try to categorize to make the reading easier.
School: Like I said, this has been such a good semester. Ben and I have both enjoyed everything we have learned, but most of this update will be from my viewpoint because he doesn't like to write, unfortunately. If you want to hear his viewpoint, you'll have to call him :) Our favorite class this semester is one we just had: Old Testament History. We have really loved the teacher, Rich Bruce. We have also really loved the content. One of our assignments was to write 15 write-ups. We had to choose a topic we saw in the Old Testament (Man's sinfulness, Man's pride, God's mercy, God's justice, etc) and make an outline of where we see it in the OT plus apply it to our lives. This was a great assignment to help us think about how the Bible applies to our lives and why God puts certain things in the Bible. It also allowed us to dwell on the big ideas in the OT. I really enjoyed this class after taking Prophecy at Grace College. Prophecy class helped me to see what the prophet books are really for and to understand that God took Israel and Judah into captivity because of their sinfulness. Going through the OT chronologically has helped to truly grasp how big of a deal it is that God took them away. He LOVED these people so much, and he warned them so many times. He had mercy on them and turned his wrath away many times. But finally, after years and years of disobedience and idolatry, God followed through on his promise to destroy them (because they did not stay faithful to him). When I got to the end of 2 Kings, I was devastated because I finally grasped the frustration and heartbrokenness of God.... he warned them so many times. He desperately wanted them to choose him so he wouldn't have to send them into captivity. But they just wouldn't listen. I know from reading thing that I must look at my own sinful heart though. There are many times that I choose to continue in my sin... sins like being selfish and prideful... rather than trusting God and being 100% faithful to him. All in all, this class has been a blessing, and we look forward to studying the prophets when we come back after Christmas break.
Christmas Break: We will get to spend some time with our families which we are looking forward to. We also will get to go on a short "Babymoon" (last "hoo-rah" alone before Baby comes) to a cute cabin in Ohio for a couple of days. The rest of the month-long break we will be here in Jackson working.
Work/Provision: Speaking of work, God has been teaching me. I know when I first came to Bible school that we would have to pay for school somehow and that we wouldn't have much. I might have mentioned some of this in a previous post, so sorry if I repeat at all. After hearing so many stories about God's amazing provision for people in situations like ours, I know there was something in the back of my head that kept thinking/hoping God would provide anonymous donations. I've been learning that God IS a provider, but he's provided in different ways than what I thought at first. He's provided through jobs. Jobs might not be the most fun way to make money. Especially ones that are part-time and not in our "specialty" fields. But they're jobs, and they provide money, and God has been gracious to us through them. I have been getting decent hours week after week, and often, I've been getting more hours than what I expected. I requested around 20 when I interviewed because of school. I've been getting closer to 25-30 hours most week, and God has been good to make it completely possible for me to handle all of those hours. The extra money has been very helpful. Certainly my paycheck is small compared to most that normal, functioning, American families make, but it's been enough for us to live off of so far which we are glad. We almost have our car paid off too which is very exciting! Ben has also been getting some hours at Red Lobster. He doesn't work a lot right now, but the extra hours he gets on top of mine are helpful, and hopefully by time our baby comes and I have to stop working, he will be serving and having more hours. Sometimes when we think about a baby coming and our school bills, we get anxious, still. Please pray that God will continue providing for us and that we will continue to trust his provision.
Baby: We're so excited about having a little girl. We're thankful to still have time to prepare though as we know she will make many changes to life as we know it. I am 25 weeks now, and so far everything has been looking good. Please pray that both her health and my health will continue to be good throughout the pregnancy.
And we do have fun sometimes, so we'll finish out with some pictures :)
1. This is Hae-Jung and I. I had the privilege of being one of her language helpers this semester. She is from Korea and is a student here at NTBI. She does really well with English, but listening and comprehending is still difficult for her. Her kids have also been getting sick a lot lately which takes away from her time to study. Please pray for her as she gets frustrated at times and desires to understand English. She's a hard worker.
2. This is at one of our friends, Beth's, surprise birthday party. Laken is on my side, and Payton, our neighbor, is on Ben's side (Laken is married to Jason, and Payton is married to Grace).
3. My friend Grace Cale had a cookie party... with the purpose of evangelism. We got to make cookies and some people invited friends that they have been witnessing to (I wasn't able to invite anyone as I could only stay a short time because of work). It was fun! And yumm cookies!
4. This is my friend Jessica. She is one of the single girls here at school, and I love spending time with her. She's from Canada. She watches Survivor with me on Wednesday nights when I don't have to work. She also helped me make the yummy cookies that I took to the cookie party.
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