day 128: glass half empty/full?

i'm learning more & more everyday that life is all about perspective. no matter what happens we always have a choice to respond to our circumstances by either focusing on the negative (which is by far the easier option) OR by choosing to see the good that our Heavenly Father promises can come of any situation (romans 8:28).

it's definitely rainy season here in cape town & that, paired with the crazy wind, makes for lots of problems. what do i mean? well, today we were laden with leaks. leaks at home. leaks at school. BUT who would have thought that at the end of the day, as i write, i'd be so grateful for them!?

glass half empty #1:
i woke up to find another leak in the ceiling of my bedroom this morning. it was yet another morning where i'd gotten up early on purpose to spend time in the Word & then something unexpected stole that precious time away. frustrated & in a hurry, i moved my things around & out of the way of the leak & we ran out the door. with a few spare hours this afternoon we moved all my furniture into a different part of the house.

glass half full #1:
it's much warmer on this side of the house. there are no leaks. & i can't hear the rats :) so, i slept better than i have in what feels like WEEKS!

glass half empty #2:
when we got to mzamomhle school thursday they, too, were experiencing leaks due to the heavy rains. one of our grade 7 classrooms was leaking so badly that the learners had to be split up into the other 3 grade 7 classes. so, upon walking into the first class we saw that there were almost 2 times as many learners in the room (40-50 kids). on the inside, we freaked out a little. we already really struggle with maintaining control of the classroom at that school...so much so that last week we asked the principal to speak to the students. NOW there's twice as many in each class!?!?!

glass half full #2: 
at the end of the day, it was probably the BEST week at EVERY school...especially mzamomhle. we've had the opportunity to share the creation story with ao many students INSIDE the classroom...& i cannot tell you how incredible it is to look into the eyes of a 7th grade BOY who is getting it!!!! thank you, Father for your faithfulness in drawing the xhosa youth to YOU!
in after school club we started storying through Scripture, too. the girls did SO WELL!!

watching learners share the Story NEVER gets old.
i just stand back & smile.

so PRAY with & for us as a team, that despite what the enemy throws our way, we maintain the right PERSPECTIVE...that God is far more victorious than we can fathom...& far more in control than we tend to think!