making deals with God

I looked at the tentacle pinched between my chopsticks. I silently promised God that I would eat every grain of rice served to me from that point forward - if only He would make all of the octopus on my tray evaporate...

Seems my bargaining wasn’t too persuasive.

What I wish my "school lunch face" looked like, and how our "school lunch faces" actually look

But I suppose if choking down cafeteria lunch is the biggest challenge of our jobs, that must mean we have pretty great jobs.

Andie teaches at two elementary schools, each about a half hour bus ride from the city where we live. Andie’s main school, Pyungchon has about 70 students. Her second school, Ungsan has around 120 students. Andie teaches kindergarten-6th grade at both schools and she mostly teaches her classes solo. Her favorite part of her job is teaching the 5th grade students at Ungsan, who always seem excited to be in English class and have even invited her to play badminton with them after school on Fridays. She also enjoys quiet mornings of lesson planning in her classroom at Pyungchon that overlooks a large reservoir. 

Andie's main school and the lake she can see from her classroom.

Halfway up the mountain near our house,
you can see most of Yesan behind us

Garrett teaches at Guemo Elementary school, just a short walk from our apartment. Guemo Elementary is the largest elementary school in Yesan, with about 700 students. Guemo is situated in the center of Yesan’s “downtown” area, providing a nice view of the city from Garrett’s classroom on the 3rd floor. He teaches 4th-6th grade with a different Korean co-teacher for each grade. Along with his 4th-6th grade classes, Garrett teaches an after school class of ten students Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday, as well as an adult’s English class on Thursdays. These classes have proven to require a little more creativity in lesson planning but have also provided space for Garrett to really get to know the students who attend. Garrett’s favorite part of his job so far has been seeing a particular lesson actually go as planned in the classroom. This hasn’t happened every time, but it’s made the classes where the students really connect with the material that much more rewarding.

This morning we attended our third Sunday at Yesan First Methodist Church with Yellow. The more we get to know Yellow, the more certain we are that we met the Korean “Mother Teresa”.

Garrett just finished reading C.S. Lewis’ The Great Divorce, in which the closing chapters feature a simple woman, considered by all to be a saint. She is being parading around by the company of those she knew on Earth. The protaganist in the story asks the Teacher, “Who are all these young men and women on each side? ... What are all these animals? ...”

The Teacher responds,

            “Every young man or boy that met her became her son... Every girl that met her was her daughter... Every beast and bird that came near her had its place in her love. In her they became themselves. And now the abundance of life she has in Christ from the Father flows over into them.”

This is Yellow. Since our first Sunday at Yesan First Methodist, Yellow has introduced us to every elder, the senior and associate pastors, their wives, and we’re pretty sure she even made us official members (our first Sunday).

Enjoying lunch with Yellow, her family,
and our translator after church

Yellow, and the church as a whole, has done so much to welcome us into their congregation. Every Sunday they have provided us with headphones through which one of the kind elders tries his best to translate the service for us. They've provided us with a Korean-English hymnal. They have even invited us to eat lunch with them after the service.

Many years ago, Andie’s mom learned a simple, yet profound prayer:

“God show me that you are with me and deeply connect me to your people.”

We've seen this prayer answered for us here. May this prayer also bring comfort to you, wherever you may find yourself.