02.21.07
Keep it Coming! :)
Well, it turns out we will be able to find a ticket for Mandie and she has decided that she wants to go, so please keep the money coming! We need another $400 for her to be able to go too.
Thank you for your support 
02.20.07
God’s Provision
God has given us two specific examples of His wonderful provision in the last month.
The first is that my support for the missions trip is now over 100%! This is less than two weeks after we e-mailed the letter out! Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed! Don’t feel bad! If you still would like to contribute please do so. Mandie is considering possibly going, and if she does then we would need a total of $1400, rather than the $700 for just me. We currently have $1,030 raised (that we know of), so please continue to contribute if God lays it on your heart. If Mandie decides not to go, then we can always use the surplus to help one or two of the students who may be struggling with his/her support. And of course, what we covet the most is your prayers! Especially for me in a leadership roll b/c this is the first time I’ve ever done something like this. I hope to watch the other teachers closely to learn as much as possible.
The second is that apparently (without my realizing it), ACSI has decided to give me a 5 year license (instead of the 2 year provisional that I have). Under the 2 year license, in addition to the CEU’s and the Philosophy of Ed. class, I would need to complete a 3 hour teaching methods course in order to renew it. Now all I need to do are the CEU’s and the Philosophy of Ed class, and I can do both here at the school. (in fact, all I have to do for the latter at this point is write a 6 page paper and read about 5 books, and I have a year to do it!).
So at this point, I’m looking at options for where to go next in my education. This removes a huge burden, because now I don’t have to pay for a class while we’re still trying to pay off our school loans. So priority #1 is loan consolidation. Priority #2 is finding somewhere to continue my education. I’m leaning towards two options. The first is an MBA, which would probably help me out in my business duties for the school (esp. if it had an international business focus). The second option is picking up a MDiv somewhere. For both options though I need to be able to do it 100% correspondence, and have somewhat inexpensive tuition. I’m looking at possible Taylor for the MBA, but am open for other options. For the seminary, I have no clue. Masters is an option, but I don’t know if they offer correspondence, and I know they’re expensive. Also, there’s an Asian Theological Seminary in Taiwan which offers classes at $50 a class, but I don’t know much about them.
Thanks for all your support and prayer
More news
Valentine’s Day was wonderful! Mike really went out of his way to make our first Valentine’s really special. We also have been saving up all month so we could afford steaks that night and make dinner really special. They were delicious! (Even if they are a little expensive.) We are eating vegetarian meals for the rest of the month to make up the difference. If you have any good ideas, let us know . . . we’ve already done spaghetti, waffles, quiche, fried rice, mac ‘n’ cheese, and several soups. Lettuce is pricey this time of year, so I’m avoiding salad.
School is going well, for the most part. This weekend was Lunar New Year, which means we have a five-day weekend. It has been a welcome break - though, as usual, the list of things I said “oh, I’ll have time to do those over break” hasn’t even been touched yet. Oh, well, such is life.
God has really been blessing with the missions trip. It is amazing to see how he is providing. We still don’t have a list of names for who to write thank-you notes too (I think Liz is waiting so she can just send us all the names at once.) But, in the mean time THANK YOU so much for your generosity.